Jan

14

The Social Impact of the Church

Post Category: Blog Posts, Church, Church Planting, Culture 

As human beings we are wired for interaction with other human beings. We gauge our social value by the number of friends we have and how often we go to parties or hang out with them. Social networking was the buzzword of 2007 with sites like Flickr, YouTube and Facebook making headlines almost daily.

The Church is a unique organization because it allows us to find common ground with which to form friendship with other like-minded individuals. Part of the reason it is so easy to form Christian sub-cultures is because we naturally gravitate towards people who are like us. Motorcyclists are drawn to other bikers because they share the same affinity for riding motorcycles. Computer guys like talking tech stuff with other geeks (guilty). And one huge benefit of the church is the social impact it plays in the lives of those who attend.

Lisa and I attended a church yesterday and the pastor asked everyone to take a moment to turn to the person next to them and ask them how long they had been coming to church there and what was it that drew them to the church. In the few people we talked to we got the same response every time: community. People are drawn to close-knit, welcoming, friendly communities where they can feel like part of a family.

I wrote about this topic back in July. Here are some questions I’ve been thinking about:

  • How do we create these types of communities that people are drawn to without it turning into a cliched, exlusive, sub-culture?
  • Where is the balance between meeting people’s social needs for family and friendship and turning into a country club?
  • What are the factors that most affect community in a church? Is it a good welcome team? Helpful ushers? Friendly people that come up and talk to you?
  • How well does the Church do at creating community compared to other social organizations?
  • Do people merely attend our church or are they a part of it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Comments

No Responses to “The Social Impact of the Church”

  1. Brian Gridley on January 20th, 2008 11:33 pm

    I think we see that with the original Jerusalem Church. Peter, et. al. became so preoccupied with the obvious needs of the local area, that since there were not enough resources to both meet those needs and step out, they neglected stepping out, until persecution and Paul.
    While a small, new church does need to develop a sense of community, there needs to be an external outlet once a core is established for “mission”, ideally one that almost anyone who is willing can take an active part in. Ideally, as we see in the case of Paul and Barnabas, the church will commission/bless/support some of its leaders in such an endeavor. I wonder whether Barnabas might not have been the original instigator who was used to kindle awareness in the Holy Spirit’s prompting?

  2. bradruggles on January 21st, 2008 10:22 am

    Hmmmm…those are some great thoughts. I think there does need to be a good balance between focusing on community while still keeping an outward focus on the needs of others.

    Brad Ruggles

    bradruggles’s last blog post..Bumper Stickers & Church Signs

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