- It's boring is the main reason I guess - or I tried it and didn't like it
- It's a subculture they speak a different language
- I used to go but I got really hurt by what someone said to me
- It's irrelevant to the 21st century
- It's full of hypocrites
- I don't want to be bashed on the head with a Bible
- I don't want to be looked down upon
- If I have a different opinion I will be beheaded
- I don't really understand what's going on and why so much singing?
- I am not sure if people will like me
Actually I could think of a few more. The above gives us a lot to go on though!! Some of the above can't be avoided and there is nothing we can do about them but there are others that can be changed.People will always go off past experience and expect your church to be the same. We need to break through a lot of misconceptions. It's a hard job!! We could make it less boring though and we could watch our language so we don't use Christian jargon that no-one else understands. The fact that someone got hurt before we can do nothing about, we can be loving and accepting but people who are hurt by church will usually tar you with the same brush, and expect the same from you. No matter how you try sometimes it won't make a difference. We are all human Christians do let people down intentionally or unintentionally. God will never let us down. We have to try and make sure we portray who God is through our actions but we are only human!! We all have our bad days!!
We have to make church more relevant = Jesus was relevant to his culture - the message stays the same but the way we present it can be as modern as our audience needs it to be.
We may seem hypocritical and just maybe sometimes we are but if we try not to be who's to judge us. I guess Christians are always going to pick and chose what they see as important in the Bible to fit their culture but we need to be careful. We need to get a balance looking at the whole bible on a certain subject to get a big picture of God's opinion is. Stay open minded!! We will never know it all and its ok to say we don't!!
We should be careful not always to assume that new comers are Christians and we should make no attempt to force our faith upon anyone. Usually its more important that people belong to a community before they start to believe in the Jesus that makes us who we are. They will know we are Christians by our love!! I think the church should be one of the most accepting places in the world. Everyone should be invited and made welcome.
If someone has another opinion its ok to disagree but also not to make that person feel small and all gang up on them because they have a different view on things. Discussion is always good that's what the first church in Acts 2 did daily!!
We need to look at our congregation and their needs and cater to those needs without compromising the message of Jesus Christ and him dying to save us, rising again to dwell among us and for us to repent, be baptised, follow and bear fruit by spreading his message to others. Make sure we go out of our way to like and love people for who they are - its not our job to try and change people that's God's job!!
If you don't go to church for any of the 10 reasons I'm sorry - you should really try again or you may just really miss out!! :)
