What Not To Expect From Church of the Cross (2): "Come To Our Ministry Because We've Got Newer, Bigger And Better!"

There’s a fine line between being observant of the culture around you and pretending you have it all figured out. That line can be even more fine when you’re a new church trying to find your way. Part of how each church finds its way is by understanding who they are not and what they will not pursue.

At some point, many churches decided that people should come to us. Many churches not only decided that people should come to us but that the best way to attract people was the same way many companies attract consumers: newer, bigger and better! Churches invested in newer, more state of the art buildings, comfortable chairs, wow-your-face lighting and woo-your-ears sound systems, all with great programs, something for everyone in the family, fun for all ages!

One of the problems, of course, with this approach is that it is driven by competition, both externally and internally. You are always competing with the church just down the road with the bigger budget and you’re always trying to outdo yourself. The next thing you know, you’ve spend $11 million on a youth building or $130 million on a new sanctuary.

But there’s also a deeper problem here: we’ve come to view people as consumers, even when it comes to spiritual matters. We’ve come to believe that people should come to the church rather than us taking church to the people.

So instead of cultivating our lives around God’s mission of and Jesus’ example of entering into people’s lives, many churches have simply sought to attract people to our facilities and programs.

However, at Church of the Cross, we take a different approach. We try to remember that what we win people with, we win them to (people come to expect what first attracted them). Instead of newer, bigger and better with the hopes of bringing people to us, we would much rather find opportunities to love and serve our neighbors. If it is true that what we win people with we win them to, then we want to provide every opportunity possible for you to meet Jesus, because Jesus is the point of all that we do (John 14:6, Colossians 1:15-20, etc). We want you to feel love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

We are striving to form a community centered on and dependent on the Gospel (the Good news of who Jesus is, what He has done and is doing). We may never have the biggest building or the fanciest lasers, but if you’re OK with that, we’d love to invite you to pursue Jesus with us.