If you’ve been around the church for a while you’ve probably heard the adage that people belong before they believe. What may surprise you is that belonging and belief may be cultivated in different contexts.
In this little series of articles (that are shamelessly promoting a short online workshop) we’ve looked at some of the preconditions that make people more open to adopting a new belief system. We’ve also considered how hearing a warts-and-all story of faith from a friend is more likely to arouse spiritual curiosity than a slick sales-pitch gospel presentation.
So lets think about creating contexts where life can be shared and spiritual curiosity might be nurtured. I call these ‘belonging’ environments.
Most churches run some kind of activity to serve unchurched people: playgroups, community meals, conversational English classes – the possibilities are almost limitless. The most basic requirement is that they meet a felt need.
From there, it’s crucial that people who are yet to make faith decision form warm friendships with those who are already believers. The vast majority of people who make new faith commitments do so because of the influence of family and friends. Making friends with a believer is vastly more predictive of an enduring faith decision than hearing a presentation from a stranger.
Within that new friendship, there needs to be open, honest and natural conversations about the believer’s experience of following Jesus – not sales pitches, not contrived happy-ever-after stories, not cleverly-manipulative questions. No scripts, just transparency.
That said, belonging environments are generally not the contexts where people hear the gospel as a set of propositions or a cohesive narrative. What’s usually required is a transition to what’s technically termed a process evangelism environment. This might be Alpha, a discovery bible study, Christianity Explained or something similar. It might feel similar to a belonging environment, but the purpose goes beyond friendship to a focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Effective process evangelism environments meet at a time and place that works for the people they’re designed to serve. A discovery bible study for playgroup Mums might meet right after playgroup, or in same time and place but a different day. An Alpha course for uni students might meet over Monday night dinner. They’re often enhanced by a meal. Thought is given to things like childcare, ease of access, language and culture.
Process evangelism is an environment where people can ask questions and discover Jesus for themselves. At some juncture there needs to be a clear outline of the gospel and an explicit invitation people to respond.
Lots of churches run separate and disconnected belonging and process evangelism activities and seldom see people make the transition from one to another. As well as making the process evangelism environment attractive an easy to attend, effective transition is usually in response to a personal invitation: “Would you like to come with me” rather than “You should go to…” Further, people are more likely to take up an invitation once they’ve experienced enough of believers’ lives to become curious about their spirituality.
The world of local mission has no guarantees, but these basic concepts of applied missiology, when applied thoughtfully, can be the difference between frustration and effectiveness.
Want to know more? Sign up for this 90-minute online workshop – https://pathways4mission.com/product/belong-before-believe-online-workshop/