And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. Acts 10:24
Cornelius was not only not a Christian, he wasn’t even a Jew. He was a gentile who God was clearly working in outside of all Jewish or Christian structures. The Bible describes him as someone who feared God. The Apostle Peter goes to the home of this gentile to share the gospel and guess what happens? The Lord pours out the Holy Spirit upon this gentile man and his family. The first time God pours out His grace upon the gentiles—it’s not in a Temple or church building. It’s not even at a worship service. Consider this statement:
Many people who are curious about Jesus have a strong aversion to stepping into a church space to explore the Christian faith.
Church without walls
I’m not sure I need to argue this statement. I’m guessing most of us realize this. It’s why Jesus Himself did not minister to people only in the Temple. We see him out in the fields, on mountainsides, in boats, in houses, in places that seemed like bars, in the markets, and walking along country roads. Most of the work of Jesus was not done in church type buildings. It also wasn’t restricted to 10-11 am on Sunday mornings!
We see this same pattern in the first century Christians. They sometimes met in the Temple, but we see them gathering outside, in houses, in caves, in the Hall of Tyrannus, on rooftops, by rivers, under trees, and many other places.
Buildings
Why didn’t Jesus buy land and build a big church building for His followers? Why didn’t the early Christians seem to build church buildings? Was it that they wanted to but just didn’t have the resources? Was Jesus too poor and unable to build a church? Was He a terrible fundraiser and couldn’t raise money for a building campaign? Did Jesus just not realize how important big expensive church buildings are to advance the gospel?
The trend of building large cathedrals came centuries later when Christianity became more of a cultural thing. It became deeply entwined in power politics and even wars. Yikes.
Despite the ugly origin of big cathedrals for Christians, we are still enamored by big beautiful church buildings. From an artistic standpoint, yes, the architecture is beautiful. The spaces are designed to make us feel small and to feel a sense of awe for God. Somehow this “spiritual” reasoning helps justify spending millions and millions of dollars to construct and maintain these massive spaces. The strange thing is that there are thousands and thousands of these buildings across America that have only a tiny handful of members. The philosophy of “build it and they will come” is no longer working as it did in days past.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, there are many many big churches with fountains and steeples and food courts and basketball courts and cafes and kids castles and 1000 other things that church people love, love, love. Church people love for their churches to be like a religious Disneyland. Like a state of the art spiritual gym. But the massive multi-million dollar buildings primarily accommodate people who are already Christian, or who are fairly comfortable in church culture.
The aversion is real
The reality is that many people who are curious about Jesus are not comfortable entering a church building to explore Jesus and His teachings. Now, I’m not saying that no one curious will come to a church building. Many do. But, many do not. Sometimes we get a little snarky about this and say things like, “Well, there are churches everywhere that non-Christians can come to if they want to learn about Jesus. If they aren’t willing to come, then that’s their problem.” The problem with this thinking is that it’s not love. Love will always go out of its way to bring something good to someone.
I’ve been a lead pastor in the city of Providence for almost 20 years and have noticed that almost all the people who come to the church are already quite familiar with church culture. They maybe grew up Christian, or they were churchgoers but fell away and are returning. Or, they aren’t Christian but have several strong Christians in their family. In other words, they are comfortable coming to a church building. Again, there are exceptions. But most people who are far from God are very apprehensive to come to a church building Sunday mornings for a church service. And the further away from God they are, the further they are from believing and behaving as Christians do, the greater their aversion to stepping into a church.
There are dozens of reasons they don’t feel comfortable. I’ll mention a few. They don’t understand the peculiar culture. There are certain aspects of church life that have protocol. There are unspoken things you should and shouldn’t do in the church building. They feel like Christians are good. They feel shame. They feel dumb since they know nothing about the Bible. They worry someone will put them on the spot. They are afraid of some crazy Christian doing some crazy thing. They worry the pastor will notice them and call them out in front of everyone. These are valid concerns, by the way. For someone who isn’t a Christian this can be overwhelming. And, remember, they aren’t Christian yet. That means their language is still unsavory, their heart may be filled with lust, their attitude may be miserable, they may be controlled by anger, they may be addicted to drugs, and so on. No wonder they don’t feel comfortable coming to a church.
I smoked so much pot before I was a Christian I felt like Pigpen from the Charlie Brown cartoons. Instead of a cloud of dirt there was a cloud of marijuana smoke around me. I would never step foot in a church in that condition! Even when I wasn’t high I looked high, or “baked” as we used to call it. Where does that leave people like me who for several reasons would feel uncomfortable stepping into a church to explore Jesus? Maybe “uncomfortable” isn’t even the best word, it’s too mild. The thought of entering a church on a Sunday morning with a bunch of happy clean Christians singing praise songs while I look and smell like a den of iniquity—was unthinkable! This is how many many people feel, perhaps more than we realize.
So what are they to do? Should they try to get cleaned up first before coming to a church? How are they supposed to be washed of their sins on their own apart from hearing the message of the gospel in the church? Is it enough to put a sign on our building that says, “come as you are”, in hopes that it will make them feel comfortable coming in? Can you see the problem? There are massive numbers of people around us who are secretly curious about Jesus and His teachings but don’t feel like a church building—especially on a Sunday morning—is a safe place for them to explore the faith. Just because someone you invited to service said no, don’t assume they aren’t interested in knowing Christ. They may just be terrified of going to a church service.
Safe, neutral, and comfortable
What is needed are neutral safe spaces for them to learn about Jesus and even experience Jesus. I think sometimes safe places can be established in church buildings. For example, some churches have done Alpha courses which are a meal and discussion of basic Christian teachings for seekers. But what I’m advocating for today is neutral safe spaces outside the walls of traditional church buildings.
In the region where you live, where can secular people go to explore the Christian faith? There are probably 1000 churches (or more!) within an hour radius. But how many neutral spaces are there? Where can the 21 year old Scott go to explore Jesus? Where can the guy who uses the “F word” in every sentence go to discuss the Christian faith? Where can the woman who is a stripper, and dresses like a stripper, go to learn about Jesus? What about the homeless woman who lives outside and carries all of her belongings with her? What about the person who does not believe yet? And has really crazy ideas about God? Where are the safe spaces for them to explore Christ?
Looking back over the years, some of my most fruitful ministry work was outside the walls of a church building. I remember doing college ministry at MassART in Boston, for example, and we had an informal gathering in someone’s dorm room late at night. There were a few Christians and a few students who were very much not Christians. I brought my guitar and we jammed for a bit. Then, we’d dialogue about God. It was a very safe space for them to explore the faith.
When we moved to Providence we started serving students at the Rhode Island School of Design. One of the many things the Christian community did was a Friday night dinner party. Some of them had this amazing multi-level apartment with views of the city. Every week dozens of people—both Christians and non Christians—showed up to eat food, play music, converse, and have fun. In that safe space we had so many good conversations about Christ.
westsideARTS
When I started the Renaissance Church, where I currently pastor, we were constantly trying to figure out how to get Christians and non-Christians in the same room making meaningful exchanges. In the beginning days of the church we were aiming to reach young adults, artists, and skeptics—those who we observed were “least likely to step foot in a church.” For that reason, we didn’t want a church building. We started our Sunday gatherings at the Columbus Theatre. This neutral space helped some people feel more comfortable, but it was still a church service, using churchy language, with mostly church people. We needed something more neutral, safe and comfortable for people to taste the gospel.
About year two, we decided to rent a small storefront space in the heart of the arts district on Broadway on the west side of Providence. It was formerly a barber shop that we transformed into a gallery space. It had concrete floors, a tin ceiling, and lots of natural light. We built a coffee bar and a small stage. We installed gallery lighting. We built seating throughout so we could pack about 40 people into the space. There was also an outdoor area in the back with grass that was three times as big as the inside. We’d project movies on the brick wall. We did film discussions. We hosted local artists to show their work. We had a weekly music venue for local musicians to perform. We did some fundraisers and art classes for kids. We called it WestsideARTS.
When people asked about it we told them our church started it as a gift to the arts community. Any money generated for concerts we gave straight to the performers. Our aim was to serve, to listen, to be with, to love artists and skeptics least likely to come to a church. Over the course of five years of doing WestsideARTS—this is not an exaggeration—thousands of very secular young people came through the space. We shared the gospel with many. We changed the way many of them thought about Christians. We dispelled countless misconceptions people had. We lavished artists in very tangible ways. We built trust. I remember a CD release party we did at the Columbus Theatre with about 100 very unchurched characters. The performer gave a heartfelt and lengthy shout out to me and the other Ren Church folks. She said, “They are the real disciples of Jesus.” Wow.
Vision for spaces
I could share many other examples, but what I’m pressing upon you is that we have to create neutral spaces for secular people to meet Christians and explore the faith. Twenty years ago when I started Ren Church it seemed like those least likely to step foot in a church were a rather small segment of society. But now it seems like more and more people fall into that category, especially the 18-30 year olds.
When I talk about “neutral spaces'' I don’t mean it has to be a rented space. It can be someone’s house. It can be a basketball court. It can be a park. It might be 5-6 women getting together for a walk and then discussion over tea. It could be a few guys having a beer (like, one) on a rooftop and talking about what it means to be a godly husband. It could be a group of ten artists making a mural and talking about God the Artist while creating. It could be three guys going out on a boat weekly to fish and talk about the parables of Jesus. It could be a handful of college students doing a weekly hike and discussing Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It could be a punch needle club that listens to a gospel podcast and talks about it. It could be a lot of different things in a lot of different places. Some call these microchurches, and the microchurch movement is taking off especially amongst the younger generation. They don’t have to be called anything though. It’s just a place where non-Christians can feel safe and comfortable to explore the faith.
Where are the spaces?
Most of you who are reading these letters I write I imagine are strong Christians who are passionate about reconciling people to God. When you think about the many secular people around you, let me ask this question: Where is a safe neutral space for them to explore the Christian faith? Can you think of even one? Where can people who are very far from God go to learn about Jesus? Listen, don’t wait for your pastors to create neutral spaces. They are already overworked in most cases. You think about who you want to reach and think about what kind of space they’d feel most comfortable in. You think about what kinds of things would happen in the space. Don’t wait for someone else to create a neutral space to reach the people you care about most, because—it likely won’t happen. You create it. You can do it!
Try something
“Oh but I’m not a strong Christian yet. I’m not a leader. I just don’t think I can create a ministry. I’m not creative.” Maybe the art gallery I started is something you can’t imagine doing. Then, don’t do that. Do something that fits you. Maybe you love to cook. Invite some young moms over and mentor them in cooking and talk about what it means to be a mom who serves Jesus. Maybe you love to build stuff. Great! Find a widow who needs serious work done on her house and invite some people to help you. Talk about God’s love for widows. Or, have a table theology talk in the corner of the break room at lunch in your workplace. It doesn’t need to be impressively innovative. Just do something. Ask the Lord to lead you. He will.
Don’t try to be something you’re not. Use things you are already interested in as ways to connect. Imagine if 100 of us, or 1000 of us, started some kind of neutral space for people far from but curious about Jesus? Imagine if we each led just one person to Christ over the next year and taught them to go do the same. Imagine if we each made one disciple who would go and make disciples—1000 becomes 2000 that becomes 4000 that becomes 8000 that becomes 16,000 that becomes 32,000 that becomes 64,000–and on and on. This is how movements happen. They have an ethos of reproducing in the DNA.
Start by creating a safe space for one person to explore Jesus.
If you are too busy to do this—then you are waaaaay too busy! Seriously. Most of us attend church services or small groups or church gatherings 2-3-4 times a week. That’s great. We need to gather with God’s people. But if we have no time left to invest in people who are far from but curious about Jesus—then we should cut our church attendance in half. This probably sounds strange coming from a pastor, as pastors are always trying to get people to come to church more, right? But the mission of the church is this: Go make disciples of all nations. If we have no time for the essential mission of the church then something’s got to give, ay?