Attractional evangelism in its many forms has been used from the time of George Whitfield through to Billy Graham and has been the catalyst to bring many into the kingdom of God. Today it is still used in many church services where non-believers are invited to put their faith in Jesus. Yet alongside all of this good, there are some very real dangers to the over-reliance on attractional forms of evangelism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this method the church\nattempts to evangelise the community by attracting people to its buildings,\nservices, events, or programs. The idea behind this approach is that you offer\npeople what they want or enjoy and they \u201ccome\nto your church<\/em>.\u201d It is assumed that as they attend the church\u2019s programs\nthey will find Christ and become disciples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a number of major\nweaknesses in this approach:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. It\ndoes not make disciples; it attracts consumers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The attractional method typically\nappeals to the needs or desires of those it is targeting and must deliver those\nneeds and desires at a \u201cprice\u201d the target group is willing to pay. Is this more\nthan religious consumerism? At some point we must call people to a deeper level\nof commitment and sacrifice in their walk with Jesus. When that call comes\nlater rather than earlier, the person has already \u201cbought into\u201d a form of\nChristianity which has allowed him or her to be a Christian without being a\ndisciple. Too often this results in what Dallas Willard calls the \u201ccost of non-discipleship<\/em>\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. It is expensive\nand resource intensive.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bringing non-believers into a\nchurch using the attractional method often requires a steady menu of\nconsumer-oriented approaches, programs, and events involving facilities,\nresources, staff, and media. The focus too easily becomes the development of\nthese attractional features rather than intentionally and organically\ndiscipling people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. It is\nnot easily reproducible.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who have sufficient\nresources to support the attractional method can do it well. Those who do not\nhave sufficient resources will struggle to reproduce the attractional model. Because\nit is dependent on resources for its success, this method is inherently\nartificial rather than organic. At best it can lead to addition growth but\nnever multiplication growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. What\nyou win them by is what you win them to.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What is the effect on the church\nwhen it attracts people by giving them what they want or need? The church\nbecomes the object of its own ministry. The community becomes a means by which\nthe church grows, instead of the church being a means by which the community is\nreached. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How will an attractional approach affect the call of Christ on those who respond to it? Having responded to our offers and provision of what they want or need, they must move to a point where they obey Christ\u2019s command to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him! <\/p>\n\n\n\n It also unintentionally puts\nchurches in competition with one another. The reality is that those who respond\nto the attractional method will typically be those who are open to attending a\nchurch. Statistics indicate that in the future that will be a smaller and\nsmaller percentage of the general population and Churches will have to compete\nfor this group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. It\ncreates a weak \u201cpoint of connection\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you rely on the attractional\napproach you will connect people to your church by appealing to what they like,\nwant, or feel they need. This creates a very weak point of connection to the\nchurch. It is a very weak connection because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the attractional approach we\nmeasure the growth of a church in terms of the success of our programs (i.e.\nthe youth ministry is successful if it attracts more youth). If we are using\nour worship services to attract new people, then our worship services will be\n(rightfully) measured by how many people they attract. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if we are using our\nworship services to worship God, one must seriously question how prominent a\nrole increasing numbers should play in measuring the success of those services\nand in determining what we do in them. Perhaps there are other more important\nassessments we would want to focus on such as the spiritual qualities,\ntransformation, God\u2019s manifest presence, obedience, Biblical teaching, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we measure a growing church in\nterms of attendance, then we will pursue it in terms of attendance. If we\nmeasure it in terms of spiritual transformation and community impact, then we\nwill pursue it in terms of spiritual transformation and community impact. Of\nwhat value is a full service when the local schools and neighbourhoods are left\nunchanged?<\/p>\n\n\n\n While increasing numbers can\nindicate an increase in spiritual growth, it is questionable whether or not it\nis enough of an indication to warrant the current level of attention it\nreceives in modern institutional church strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, we must question\nwhether or not the numerical growth of services, programs, or meetings should\nbe the consuming focus of visionary church leadership and whether or not\nincreasing numbers \u201cin church\u201d means increasing numbers in the Church. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Attractional evangelism in its many forms has been used from the time of George Whitfield through to Billy Graham and has been the catalyst to bring many into the kingdom of God. Today it is still used in many church services where non-believers are invited to put their faith in Jesus. Yet alongside all of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n