WHO WON'T COME

Here's a great post, stolen in its entirety from - John Laeger's blog


Why "church in a movie theater"?

Because of who WON'T come.

My observation is that most Christians who are looking for a church, are looking for a church that has its own building. But let me get right to the point. Meadow does not exist to reach Christians. They are already reached. (That’s why they are called “Christians”.) Being a “church in a movie theater” will actually give Christians who are looking for a new church, a reason NOT to come to Meadow and I am perfectly okay with that.

If you were to look back at the brief history of Meadow, we have had very few Christians come to Meadow who considered themselves (noticed I said “considered themselves”) “solid” Christians. Because the perception of a church that meets in a movie theater – to most “solid” Christians (whatever that means) is that it is not a “solid” church.

However, I would put the teaching of Meadow up against any other church. I don’t say this to create some kind of competition. Other churches are not our competition. I say that because we do teach solid doctrine. We just don’t use big words. Being a "church in a movie theater" has nothing to do with the content and focus of our teaching.

We teach what the Bible says about the tough subjects most churches (in their own buildings) won’t touch like money, sex, and leadership. We are clear in our teaching that unless a person puts their faith in Christ, they are bound for eternal hell. We just don’t lay it on with a major guilt trip. Our teaching is laser focused on LIVING out a relationship with Christ, not KNOWING more stuff about theology, parsing verbs, knowing the Greek tense, etc. Truth is, “solid” Christians have left Meadow because they wanted to hear more Bible “stuff” rather than change their behavior to be more “Christ-like”.

Bottom line is that being a “church in a movie theater” gives Christians who believe a church and its teaching is defined by a building - a reason NOT to come. And it creates curiosity in those who are far from God to come check us out. To many who are far from God, a church in a church building makes that church like every other church and that’s why they don’t go. Being a “church in a movie theater” at least raises the intrigue factor and gets them in the door – “maybe they are different”. Once they get in the door, they hear teaching that is real, Biblical, makes sense, and they can understand it – AND it makes their life better. They also meet others (you and me) who are also walking this path of trying to live a life that honors Christ.

We are working on a strategy to make sure every person in Scott County knows about this church in Shakopee that is a “church in a movie theater”. We believe that over the next few months, we are going to see hundreds of people come to Meadow simply because we DO meet in a movie theater. But they won't be Christians who believe a church is defined by its building.

Is it possible to be reaching 500 people every Sunday in 2007 because we are a “church in a movie theater”? Yes, it is!