Do the simple, ask the question.

I have been thinking a lot recently about our recent summer mission trip, our upcoming Saturday StreetReach micro-missions, our pumpkin patch, our trunk or treat event, and a couple of other events that are in the planning stage and I cant get away from a recurring and nagging fear - "What if nobody else in the church gets what we are doing? What if nobody invites their friends? How can we be successful in reaching this city?"

Instead of getting depressed by these questions or focusing energy on events from the past that have really been disappointing I have been thinking about what the potential fundamental reason might be for a lack of excitement about church. I have come to think that this is really where we are at - there is no excitement about church. There is excitement about a lot of things that we are doing in our lives, but there does not seem to be much excitement about church. A quick trawl through Facebook status updates and you find all sorts of messages about the things that interest us, but rarely a simple message inviting people to join us for church. Now some folks may suggest that a Facebook status update is an ineffective way of inviting people to church - if so then why do people use their Facebook status update to invite people to the town center for coffee, or to the park to hang out?

Reaching people for Jesus involves one simple thing - inviting people to go where they will encounter Jesus - church. If I have friend visit me from Belfast and I ask if they would like to see some baseball, then the obvious place for me to take them is to the Baysox. If we want people to see Jesus then the obvious place to invite them is to church. Yet we do not do it.

I am convinced that the reason we have not reached this city with the love of Jesus is very simple - we haven't reached out. We have not asked the simple question like, "I know this may sound crazy, but would you be interested in coming to our church on Sunday morning?" Could it really be that easy? Could it really be as simple as asking a question? What about some great training in evangelism? What about bringing in a well known speaker? What about spending a lot of money of literature and posters?

What about just dropping a hook in the water and seeing what bites?

When we go to the lake (SML) on vacation I go to the dock with my girls to catch blue gill fish. A little piece of cheese, a small hook and a Barbie rod with flashing lights is all that is required to catch fish. No special training, no special equipment, no expense - just a willingness to put a hook in the water and wait.

It is time for the church to rise up in all of its humility and put some hooks in the water. It is time for us to ask our non-christian friends and neighbors a simple question - "Would you like to come to church with me this Sunday?"

What a difference a simple question can make.