On a Culture of Invitation

The Fifth Sunday after Easter

O LORD, from whom all good things do come: Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that be good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Having identified some of the issues linked to decline in the Church, before addressing possible solutions, there is one major question which must be answered. In the early Church, one of the early methods of exegesis used by the Church Fathers was that of skopos, a Greek word which means goal or purpose. The fathers would seek to identify the goal or purpose of the Biblical writer for writing a given passage. Whenever anyone presents a response for what the Church must do to address decline, they must explain their skopos: what the goal is. Is it just to fill pews and reverse a demographic trend?

Christian rock concerts and similar events may fill pews, associated altar calls may even bring many to profess Christ as their Lord, but does it truly bring about a conversion of faith that leads to discipleship? Discipleship should always be the skopos of any efforts to reverse any kind of decline in the Church. And it's simple enough to see how discipleship no longer plays front and centre in the language and skopos of the Church.

As discussed previously a significant part of decline in the church is cultural. Sixty years ago, Christianity was a cultural norm. The Church did not need to reach out to the world, it simply existed inside of it and people came as a matter of course. It was what their parents and grandparents had done and there was no reason for that to change. Until it did. During the massive cultural changes seen in the 1960s and the Post-War baby boomer generation, religion took on a more minimal role as society itself was restructured. Women had entered the workforce, jobs were plentiful, new conveniences were being introduced to the home that shifted society, a new wave of urbanisation hit as jobs again migrated to the cities, cars were more plentiful meaning people were no longer geographically centred and could commute longer distances to work and church. Throughout this process of social and economic change, the Church was complacent. What was needed was an invitation to Church.

Today, we still do not proper foster a culture of invitation, but rather seek to foster a culture of attraction. Rather than seeking to invite non-believers to, as Jesus said, “follow me,” our skopos is merely to get them through the Church doors. To that end, we are marketing Church to youth. What's more, we're doing it poorly.

Do away with vestments. Do away with stuffy hymns and complex liturgy. Update the words. Be inclusive. Fudge sin. Be energetic. Stir up the room. Be trendy. Relate to non-believers. Say what they want to hear. Church isn't hard; it's fun! No need to change or to be changed by it!

Each of these is something that can be seen today in different ways in how we market to the unchurched. Each of these propositions ultimately comes down to an attempt to modernise the church. It's about trying to conform the church to the world so that it can be consumed. Traditional vestments and hymns don't sell well, so do away with them, dress in stylish and hip clothes and play modern music. Kids wont cross the door if they think it's just to hear from a stuffy old cleric and sing boring tunes.

Traditions have meaning. Vestments have meaning. Traditional hymnody speaks clearly to the theology of the church. What priests wear, what they say and how they act speaks to the traditions and doctrines of the church throughout the centuries. In attempting to market the church, that is being lost. While it might get people through the doors, it doesn't do anything to make them stay. When the Church is simply asking, “how can we get them through the doors?” it isn't asking the far more important question of, “how can we encourage them to follow Christ?”

Seekers from every age have always, in their hearts, wanted one thing: the living water that Christ himself promised. They seek the authentic heart of God. You can get a sort of worship high out of modern music with its loud, repetitive chords and the excitement of a charismatic speaker. But if it does not carry with it the living water of Christ, those who consume it will still thirst.

When what they are offered is based on what is believed to appeal to people, the offering is shallow. Worse than that, it is rightly viewed as inauthentic. Modern generations are constantly bombarded by media. Buy this, consume that. This will make your life better. When Church is conformed to the world, even in the best case scenario the authentic word of God is lost in that tumultuous noise.

Church needs to stand out. Church needs to be different. Church needs to be authentic. Church needs to invite, not market. Fostering a culture of invitation doesn't mean that the church has to change its appearance or its doctrines, it means that those who remain it it must become more Christ-like.

Christ was the one who asked others to follow him. When Christ gave the great commission, it was a charge to all believers, and remains one that applies to all Christians today. It is the responsibility of every believer to themselves be a proper disciple of Christ, attempting to live his life of grace and truth, and to foster a culture of invitation where anyone can be invited and welcomed into Christ's presence, and where they can hear his gospel.

Invitation may be difficult, but it isn't complicated. During the push for the Alpha Course in 2013, Michael Harvey discussed the difficulty in inviting people to Alpha. He offered this simple model of invitation, “Would you like to come to Alpha with me?” It is no more complicated to invite someone to Church saying, “Would you like to come to Church with me?”

Michael Harvey offers this other piece of advice. Getting an answer of Yes is the destination, but No is the way you get there. In other words, don't be afraid of rejection, and invite!

Being inviting means also that once someone has entered the Church, the culture of welcoming must exist. All of these relate to two things. Being authentic disciples of Christ, and having a skopos that doesn't end just with getting someone in the door. This is the first step in addressing decline in the church.