If the back door of a church is wide open, it doesn’t matter how many people are coaxed to come in the front door-or the side , for that matter. Yet most churches give the back door scant attention.
We’ve discovered lots of ways to reach people. We’ve offered the high-powered programs and slick marketing of attractional churches, the cultural savvy of missional churches, and the relational intimacy of small churches. But we’ve often become so focused on reaching people that we’ve forgotten the importance of keeping people.
Our Churches need to be stickier.
Stickier churches are healthier churches.
They not only draw in spiritual window-shoppers and lead them to Christ; they also grow them up to maturity. And that, after all, is what Jesus called us to do. He didn’t tell us to go into all the world and sign people up. He didn’t tell us to draw big crowds.
A great spiritual start is no guarantee of a happy ending. we have to abandon programs and traditions that no longer work. He told us to make disciples – a task that includes baptizing people and teaching them to obey everything he commanded.
Frankly, that’s a task that takes some significant time. to pull it off we need to be sticky.
What matters most is not the size of the church or the slickness of programming.
What matters is that those who come find a ministry and relationships (small groups) worthy of spontaneous word-of-mouth recommendations.
Because the back door never closes itself. We have to intentionally slam it shut.
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