Because churches are supposed to be for building up those who do believe.
I wouldn't say it's the church's main focus though. The church's main focus as outlined in the new testament is not evangelism or worship but building up one another. Evangelism and worship will come out of building up one another. So focusing primarily on the 'seekers' gets the focus of church wrong and squiffs it all.
Am I allowed to name names? Am I? Am I?
No. Because they wouldn't mean anything to anyone :P
Aww... and I was so looking forward to ranting about Vineyard churches...
Vineyard means something to me...! Though I best not say what. Church unity & all that...
True. I've just not had a good experience of them. It was like a cross between Soul Survivor and a fundamentalist street mission. And Mark can remove that if he doesn't want to be done for libel, or something.
I would see there being a problem with a church that was solely focussed on outreach, just as I have problems with ingrown churches. Everything in moderation - there needs to be a healthy balance between meeting the needs of the members of the church, and actively seeking out new members. The church of which I am a part (http://www.fbcpa.net) has a Sunday morning service which tends to more traditional styles of worship, and a Saturday eveing service which isn't supposed to feel like church at all, so that people who wouldn't normally set foot in a church building will feel more comfortable. IMO, we've reached a good balance.
That sounds like quite a good idea. I'd query your use of the word worship though, but I'm doing that with everyone at the moment so don't take it personally.
We had a talk on worship at church on Thursday - about how we should be doing it all the time, is this what you mean Matthew?
It is exactly what I mean. Specifically calling what we do in church (or even worse, singing) worship, though technically true, is (in the words of the great Vaughn Roberts) like saying "I'm going to go to bed to breathe." Think about it.
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Benjamin
Surely part of the church's job is to reach out to others too? The Great Commission and all that.