Where's Number 10?

You may have noticed on the previous blog post that only 9 out of 10 were listed.  To be honest it was a mistake, a simple oversight.  But now that I look at what Thom Rainer lists as number 10, I think God may have had a purpose behind it...

In my previous post I listed 9 traits of church members that make a church inward focused. I praised God that Solid Rock does not resemble those nine traits. Then it was brought to my attention that I had forgotten number 10. So I quickly went to the book "I am a Church Member" by Thom Rainer and found the 10th.

Tenth Dominant Behavior Pattern of Church Members that Cause Inwardly Focused Churches

10. Evangelistic Apathy Very few members share the gospel on a regular basis. More are concerned about their own needs rather than the greatest eternal needs of the world and their community.

The reason I think God had a purpose in my oversight, in my forgetting to include this one, is because I think this is one that Solid Rock struggles with. 

I often joke that we cannot depend on our sign or the location of our building to attract visitors. Yet more than not people visit Solid Rock because they drive by.  Now, don't get me wrong I appreciate visitors who come in because of the sign, or people who are leaving their church and looking for a new one. But what about the people who don't know Jesus? What about the co-worker, classmate, neighbor who needs to hear from someone they know about the Good News?  

We spent the better part of 2013 saturating ourselves with the Gospel message in all of its implications. It's time! It's time to take that hope to the hurting. It's time to take the message of love to the lost. It's time to take the Gospel to people. We can't wait for them to come to us.

Dallas Gatlin, Executive Director of Carriage Town Ministries in Flint, said it well, "It's not enough to simply get ourselves to church on Sunday and cheer for Jesus, we must do more than that."

I hope that you will join with me in taking the Gospel beyond the walls of Solid Rock.