Go Versus Invite

By Mike Henry Sr.

Most of the Christianity we see any more takes place away from work. Those of us who live in the suburbs have to leave work quickly to get back to the ‘burb to attend Wednesday night services or practice with the choir. The Christianity we “see” takes place in and around that building we call church. Weekly Christianity looks like something done from a stage or a podium. We “teach” and “preach” and we “minister.” Most of what we do with our faith happens either around the local church or in our homes.

That wasn’t the case for Jesus. Christ went. He once sent out a group he wanted to “practice” ministry. In Matthew 10:6-8, Jesus told those people to go, preach and heal.

Go

Believers are to go. Going is part one of developing a missionary mindset. Our job is to take Jesus with us and go. I seldom invite coworkers to my own church services on Sunday’s. I’d like to go with them somewhere. Going somewhere helps me help them get acclimated. I’d like to go someplace close to where they live. If they live near me, sure, my church is an option. But I’d happily go with them to any bible-believing church service.

Don’t Invite

Many pastor’s have suggested that I invite my friends to come to church, but as our nation becomes more postmodern, I can’t see many of my non-believing friends wanting to come. I’d like to help them develop their own desire for Jesus, and let Jesus direct them to a local gathering of his people. Besides, the first step to someone coming to Christ is trusting a Christian. If they trust me, shouldn’t I say what I believe in a simple, compelling, reasoned way (1 Peter 3:15)?

Next time we will talk about preaching and healing. But ask yourself, “Where should I go today?” Then, whatever crazy thing comes to mind, figure out a way to do it. Our biggest problem isn’t that we don’t know what to do. Our biggest problem is that we don’t do what we know. May I do what I know today, too.

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3 Responses

  1. Ian, thanks. I agree with what you say. It’s hard to present a complete idea in a short blog post. Obviously, I didn’t do the work to make myself more clear.

    I don’t believe there is no time ever that we invite people. God can direct us to do anything at any time and I hope we’re open to His leading.

    Often, I feel pastors urge us to invite others from an idea that we (non-church-staff people) are not able or willing to explain our faith to others and help them come to know Jesus, or know Him better. As full-time ministers ourselves, we live a life that “invites” our friends to know Christ better, or at all. Sometimes we will invite them to visit or join our community of believers. Other times it may mean that we speak about our faith with them directly. And many times, it will mean that we go with them someplace easy for them. I feel my job is to serve my friends so they know Christ better and they become a full-time minister too. I hope I do whatever will help them establish their own relationships with Jesus and other believers.

    I’m sorry for not being clearer. My idea is: Invite is easy; Go is better. I may write another post with that title one of these days.

    Thanks for watching out.

  2. Hmmmm … not sure about this one. Where I do agree is that inviting shouldn’t be a CEO activity (Christmas and Easter only). It’s about timing. There’s a time when everyone who is going to be a Christian needs to be exposed to the fellowship of a Bible-believing church. That’s when we need to be Barnabas the encourager and introducer.

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