We are ignorantly hurting the church by doing things the way we have always done them without ever questioning if that’s the way that we “should” do them.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 says we should “test everything; hold fast what is good”, but we rarely test anything. Many of the Church’s traditions need to be re-evaluated to see if they are still effective tools or they have now become ineffective, or worse, outright damaging to God’s work.
Door Knocking
I grew up door knocking. Every Gospel Meeting required a door knocking, and we knew we were doing a good work. Even though we were usually met at the door by someone annoyed or angry at our presence. Even though no one from the community every visited. We still kept unquestioningly knocking and feeling good about our efforts. If any practice needs a good testing, this one is at the top of the list.
The practice of door knocking wasn’t used by the Apostles or the early Church. It is a product of the 1940’s and 1950’s, when door-to-door salespeople were in vogue and Americans were more receptive to a stranger knocking on the door. For a time, this was a suitable evangelism medium.
In modern America though, the vast majority of Americans are hostile to having a stranger knock on their door. It’s viewed as an invasion of privacy, and the homeowner mentally lumps the Church of Christ into the same category as pushy, cultish denominations such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Then they tell their friends about their experience and their friends will also actively avoid the Church. One of the worst regarded groups in America are Used Car Salespeople, but even they wont show up at your door unannounced. Practicing door knocking in modern America is doing irreparable harm to the Church by giving it a terrible reputation and by killing any interest a potential visitor might have in ever visiting. It needs to stop and stop now!
If you hear of a congregation about to have a door knocking, please send them a link to this article and Lord willing they will reconsider this destructive practice. If you can stop one door knocking before it happens, you will have done immeasurable good for the work of the Lord.
Gospel Meetings
In the 1800’s, Gospel Meetings were a very effective tool. In the days before TV or radio, news of an upcoming Gospel Meeting would have been the talk of the town. The entire town would then shut down because everyone wanted to hear what the visiting preacher had to say. Many men and women in attendance would believe and be baptized into the Church, and a new congregation would be left behind in that town. The traveling preacher would then move on and start the process over in a new town; it was an amazing way to spread the Gospel and grow the Church.
Many congregations still rely on Gospel Meetings as their primary means of evangelism. In modern America though, Gospel Meetings have near zero impact on evangelism. Usually, the only people in attendance now are the congregation’s Wednesday night crowd, who would be there whenever the doors are open. Sometimes a visitor might wander in, and the flock in attendance get an extra dose of preaching that week, so it’s not a completely wasted effort, but as an evangelism tool Gospel Meetings are worn out and ineffective.
Meeting Together
The early Church met together often to discuss matters of the Church. To decide who it’s preachers, deacons, and elders should be (Acts 6:1-7). To decide how to best spend their contributions (Philippians 4:14-18, Acts 2:44-45). To brainstorm methods of evangelism and how to better spread the Gospel (Acts 15:22).
Today though, we often un-scripturally outsource these responsibility’s to our elderships. Many congregations no longer even meet together to discuss any work of the Church at all. This lazy approach to Christianity is hurting our congregations and placing our Elders in positions where they must rule over congregations in a method that is directly forbidden (Peter 5:3).
If we are ever going to reach our current generation with the Gospel, then we need to open a dialog about how to do that. We need to start meeting together regularly and brainstorming ideas like the early Church did. We need to study this generation and test new tools and new methods to see what is effective and what isn’t. And we have to stop relying on antiquated methods that haven’t worked in a long, long time.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 says we should “test everything; hold fast what is good”, but we rarely test anything. Many of the Church’s traditions need to be re-evaluated to see if they are still effective tools or they have now become ineffective, or worse, outright damaging to God’s work.
Door Knocking
I grew up door knocking. Every Gospel Meeting required a door knocking, and we knew we were doing a good work. Even though we were usually met at the door by someone annoyed or angry at our presence. Even though no one from the community every visited. We still kept unquestioningly knocking and feeling good about our efforts. If any practice needs a good testing, this one is at the top of the list.
The practice of door knocking wasn’t used by the Apostles or the early Church. It is a product of the 1940’s and 1950’s, when door-to-door salespeople were in vogue and Americans were more receptive to a stranger knocking on the door. For a time, this was a suitable evangelism medium.
In modern America though, the vast majority of Americans are hostile to having a stranger knock on their door. It’s viewed as an invasion of privacy, and the homeowner mentally lumps the Church of Christ into the same category as pushy, cultish denominations such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Then they tell their friends about their experience and their friends will also actively avoid the Church. One of the worst regarded groups in America are Used Car Salespeople, but even they wont show up at your door unannounced. Practicing door knocking in modern America is doing irreparable harm to the Church by giving it a terrible reputation and by killing any interest a potential visitor might have in ever visiting. It needs to stop and stop now!
If you hear of a congregation about to have a door knocking, please send them a link to this article and Lord willing they will reconsider this destructive practice. If you can stop one door knocking before it happens, you will have done immeasurable good for the work of the Lord.
Gospel Meetings
In the 1800’s, Gospel Meetings were a very effective tool. In the days before TV or radio, news of an upcoming Gospel Meeting would have been the talk of the town. The entire town would then shut down because everyone wanted to hear what the visiting preacher had to say. Many men and women in attendance would believe and be baptized into the Church, and a new congregation would be left behind in that town. The traveling preacher would then move on and start the process over in a new town; it was an amazing way to spread the Gospel and grow the Church.
Many congregations still rely on Gospel Meetings as their primary means of evangelism. In modern America though, Gospel Meetings have near zero impact on evangelism. Usually, the only people in attendance now are the congregation’s Wednesday night crowd, who would be there whenever the doors are open. Sometimes a visitor might wander in, and the flock in attendance get an extra dose of preaching that week, so it’s not a completely wasted effort, but as an evangelism tool Gospel Meetings are worn out and ineffective.
Meeting Together
The early Church met together often to discuss matters of the Church. To decide who it’s preachers, deacons, and elders should be (Acts 6:1-7). To decide how to best spend their contributions (Philippians 4:14-18, Acts 2:44-45). To brainstorm methods of evangelism and how to better spread the Gospel (Acts 15:22).
Today though, we often un-scripturally outsource these responsibility’s to our elderships. Many congregations no longer even meet together to discuss any work of the Church at all. This lazy approach to Christianity is hurting our congregations and placing our Elders in positions where they must rule over congregations in a method that is directly forbidden (Peter 5:3).
If we are ever going to reach our current generation with the Gospel, then we need to open a dialog about how to do that. We need to start meeting together regularly and brainstorming ideas like the early Church did. We need to study this generation and test new tools and new methods to see what is effective and what isn’t. And we have to stop relying on antiquated methods that haven’t worked in a long, long time.