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Redeeming
the World of Sport by Redeeming the People of Sport
Relevant Gospel Outreach Through Sports
By Dr. Greg Linville
Part 5 -
The Community’s “Un-churched” Come to First Church
Introduction
He was desperate. “Everything we’ve tried has
failed. I’m the Senior Pastor. I’m supposed to know how to
do this, but I can’t figure out how to reach my community.”
Our Saturday morning discussion included a number of relevant
issues. First, how did his church define the community they were
called to reach: by geography, by demographics or both? Second,
what was the population of that community? Third, what cultures
or ethnic groups were present in that community? Fourth…I
continued to pepper him with diagnostic questions as he gave me a tour
of his facility and campus.
Classrooms? Commonplace and dark. Sanctuary?
Beautiful but empty. Gymnasium? Far from being state of the
art and a little undersized, but bursting with life.
Next we viewed a well groomed and spacious parking lot, filled with
minivans and SUV’s. Beyond the sea of cars a three field soccer
complex was brimming with excited adults cheering on energetic
grade-schoolers who kicked black and white balls down the field.
I asked “how many people in these leagues are your parishioners?
He scanned the crowd. “I see about a dozen families.” This
was perhaps 25% of the total.
“And how many in the gym are your folks?”
He paused, drew a mental picture of what we’d just visited and said:
“probably 5 or 10 families.” Again, a low percentage.
I said nothing and continued to watch the soccer games. He looked
at me, his frustration apparent and building. Beginning to wonder
if he was wasting time and money on this consultant, he blurted out,
“well can you help me or not? Can you tell me how to reach my
community?”
My reply stunned him. “I can’t teach you anything my
friend. Indeed, it is I need who need to learn from you!”
His puzzled look told me he still didn’t get it. I motioned to
the cars in the lot and asked:
“How many of these cars will be here tomorrow morning?”
Unabashedly, he quickly pointed out “oh we don’t let them park here
overnight, because we need the room for our….” His voiced faded
as his face turned crimson. Bull’s-eye. The realization hit hard
and yet the embarrassment quickly gave way to a relieved excitement as
he haltingly stated the obvious.
“How did I miss it? I don’t need to go to the community, they’re
already here! They’re coming to me!”
“Bingo! So, now are you ready to teach a seminar at the next
Sports Outreach Summit on how to reach your community?”
That church, like many others, was sitting on a gold mine and didn’t
even realize it. There was still much to do to help soccer and
basketball families experience a personal relationship with Christ and
assimilate into the larger church body, but this church had already
overcome a major obstacle – connecting with the “un-churched”
community. They were connected but still had much to learn…
I. The
Un-churched are not all alike
All “un-churched” people are not alike and local churches make a
tactical mistake by lumping all who don’t attend a church into a “one
size fits all” category. “Un-churched” people share certain
things in common, such as only entering a church building to attend a
wedding or funeral1 but there are many
distinguishing characteristics
which subdivide the overall category termed “un-churched” into three
major subcategories: the “never-churched,” the “other-churched” and the
“de-churched.”2 Additional
analysis reveals all three subcategories of
the “un-churched” can be placed on a continuum of how entrenched and
committed an “un-churched” person is to their particular world
view. This continuum of entrenchment can be charted and ranges
from “affiliated” to “antagonistic.” Thus there can be up to nine
definable subcategories of the “un-churched” and these are useful to
describe and define the many different and unique profiles of those not
affiliated with a church.
Churches that recognize each individual “un-churched” person has his or
her own unique profile are better prepared to create outreaches
specifically designed to lovingly share the message of Christ with each
subcategory of the “un-churched.” What follows is a brief
overview of the three major subcategories of the “un-churched,”
starting with a synopsis of the “never-churched.”
A. The
“Never-Churched”
 The
“never-churched” person is non-religious, which means they rarely, if
ever, participate in a religious activity or service. For the
most part, they have a secular mindset but most of them are more open
to church related involvements than either of their counterparts: the
“de-churched” and the “other-churched.” A few “never-churched”
folks may actually have a personal relationship with Christ, but not
with a church. Churches are sometimes surprised when a
“never-churched” person expresses an interest in knowing more about the
church and hearing about Christ!
There remains however, a significant portion of the “never-churched”
who describe themselves as either atheistic or agnostic.3 This
segment of the “never-churched” crowd tend to be less open to church
activities but still are much different than a “de-churched” person.
B. The
“De-Churched”
 A
“de-churched” person differs from the “never-churched” person in the
sense they have been “churched” at one time but left the church because
they had a negative experience with a church and/or church
people. Their negative experiences encompass a broad range of
hurts, wounds and disappointments. Some simply found the church
to be irrelevant and moved on to other pursuits. Many experienced
hypocrisy amongst church members and looked for authenticity
elsewhere. Others were angered by how they or a family member was
treated by a representative of the church. Perhaps a funeral or wedding
did not meet their expectations or the pastor didn’t visit them during
an illness. Regardless of the offense, they left angry,
frustrated and embittered. The worst “de-churched” scenarios are
those who have been victimized by a spiritual leader. These
deeply wounded people face a daily struggle of trying to forge a new
life, a life that keeps them as far from the church as possible.
Regardless of the reason, the “de-churched” are wary if not completely
antagonistic to the church and to anyone associated with a
church. This makes it extremely difficult for the church to reach
them. To successfully impact the “de-churched” a church must
commit to three things: intercessory prayer, long suffering patience
and a consistent engagement in strategic activities that foster long
term relationships with the “de-churched.”
Traditional strategies won’t work because the “de-churched” tend to be
secular in their thinking and lifestyle, and because of past negative
experiences the “de-churched” reluctantly, if ever, participate in any
religious service or attend any traditional church related function.
What often surprises church people however, is a significant number of
the “de-churched” have maintained a personal relationship with Christ
after disassociating with the institutional church. They’ve been
hurt by the church, not deserted by Christ. Many run into His
arms for solace over the “de-churched” event which caused their hurt,
but they vow to never again be associated with a church. While
the “de-churched” may not be “reapable” they are “reachable.” But
reaching them will not be done quickly and almost never through
traditional means.
A Personal “De-Churched”
Story
My friend was a young man of 30. This good man was active in his
church, lovingly supportive to his wife and doting with his children.
He was a good provider, had a wonderful house and was considered a
genuinely great guy by all who knew him. His one problem was his
“de-churched” father…
“My dad is so far from Christ. He used to be so much into the
church; in fact my dad raised me in the church. Many people tell
me my dad is the reason they are a Christian today and yet he is now so
far from Christ. What happened to him? I’ll never be like
him; he has disappointed so many people.”
My friend’s father was a “de-churched” person. The church youth
pastor having an affair with a member of his dad’s family was a blow
“but dad’s leaving had been coming on long before the affair. The
reality of the pain and disillusionment of my friend because of his
“de-churched” father became real to me at that moment.
Unfortunately, it got worse.
The pressures of work, the monotony of marriage, trouble with teenagers
all piled up. The thirty-year old turned forty and church
attendance didn’t rate as high on the priority list. First he,
then his wife started to accept a few work assignments on Sunday and
one missed Lord’s Day service led to another, which led to yet
another… Slowly but surely this man became a second generation
“de-churched” father. He still professed a belief in Christ but
gave little outward evidence of it. He was still a “great guy,”
maintaining high moral and ethical standards, but feeding his soul
through regular spiritual disciplines of Bible Study, Worship, Prayer,
Church Attendance and Fellowship all but disappeared from his
life. He still had a decent relationship with his wife and kids
but his wife turned cold to God after a son was permanently disabled in
a car accident. Blaming God, and believing He had let her and her
son down, she refused to go to church even when her husband asked her
to go with him. When she was finally ready to go to church her husband
had drifted so far away, he was the one who wouldn’t go.
What’s the church to do? There’s no easy answer, but its response
needs to be rooted in a three-fold principle for impacting the
“de-churched”:
• relationships more than religion;
• listening more than lecturing and
• praying more than preaching.
Most of all, the church must trust in the promises of God beginning
with: “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it”4
and act in ways consistent with that belief. In this situation a
group of about a dozen families of my friend’s church committed to
staying in touch with this “de-churched” man and his family and
routinely engaged them in social activities. These friends of the
“de-churched” family understood recreational activities succeed where
traditional church activities don’t. Invitations to go out to
eat, take part in “card club” or a weekend “get-away” all enabled this
group to “relate more than push religion, listen more than lecture and
pray more than preach.” Their hope is to eventually see their friends
restored in their relationship with the church and with Christ.
The “de-churched” need loved as much, maybe even more, than any of the
“un-churched.” Winning them back to Christ and the church doesn’t
happen easily or quickly. It takes a sustained effort over many
years and through many relationships? Is your church up for the
challenge?
There is one other subgroup of the “un-churched: the
“other-churched.” This third group is unique and different from
both the “never-churched” and the “de-churched.”
C. The
“Other-Churched”
 One
unique difference of “other-churched” people is they are religious and
regularly participate in formal religious activities. They come
from the four other major religions in the world: Judaism, Islam,
Hinduism, and Buddhism; or from many minor sects, philosophies and
animistic tribal traditions. A few are secular in their thinking
but most have a religious world-view. A few may be open to
discussing or learning about Jesus. Many even have a high view of
Christ believing He was a prophet, a teacher or a good and wise
man. None would call Him God and to many, calling Jesus the Son
of God is blasphemous. Particularly Hindus and Muslims think highly of
Jesus but they reject the Christian claims about Jesus being a Redeemer
or the perfect God-Man.
So, “other-churched” people are those who choose a religion other than
Christianity. They may tolerate Christians and see Christianity
as a valid religion but they really have no desire to get involved in
anything Christian because they have their own religion.
A Personal
“Other-churched” Story
Barney was raised both culturally and spiritually a Jew. He
participated in Sabbath School during childhood and celebrated his bar
mitzvah. His Jewish heritage provided him with a religious
world-view but he felt something was missing. As a young man,
Barney drifted away from regular “religious” activity in the
synagogue. During this time he struck up relationships with many
people outside of his faith group, some who were followers of
Christ. His Christian friends invited him to join them in two
activities they shared a common passion for: music and sport.
Over the course of the next few years, Barney stayed involved in the
sports ministry of the church and became friends with other followers
of Christ. After a few years, he made a profession of faith in
Jesus Christ.
Sport was what initially attracted him but more importantly it was the
one thing that kept him involved over a long period of time in which he
was able to observe the gospel lived. Today Barney is happily
married with three children and he and his wife are raising their
children in the same church that used sport to reach him.
D.
Summary
Not all “un-churched” people are the same. The “un-churched” fall
into one of three subcategories: “never-churched” “de-churched” or
“other-churched.” Each group is unique and will be impacted most
effectively by a strategy specifically designed for them. One
additional analysis is necessary for fully comprehending how to
effectively reach the “un-churched.”
II.
The “Un-churched” Continuum of the Three Subcategories
Each of the afore discussed subcategories – “never-churched,”
“de-churched” and “other-churched” - contain members who fit onto a
continuum of three further distinctions: a) Affiliated; b) Active; c)
Antagonistic. Those who fall into the “affiliated” group are only
nominally or culturally associated with a particular world view or
religion. The “affiliated” members of all three categories
(“never-,” “de-” and “other-churched”) are usually more open to
Christianity whereas someone from the “active” segment of the three
groups is most often the hardest to reach. Someone who is
“actively” associated with another religion or an atheistic world view
has thought through their beliefs and is committed to them. In
addition, they have probably been committed to their religious group
for many years and have established habitual life patterns that are
hard to change.
 Conversely, the “antagonistic” have “an axe to grind”
because they have
been hurt or offended by a Christian institution or person.
Someone who is a “de-churched” or “never-churched” “antagonistic,” is
often the most difficult to impact for Christ. However, if they
are “antagonistic” to a religion other than Christianity, they may open
to Christianity and are much easier to reach.
The following more precisely defines and explains the unique
characteristics of this continuum.5
A. The
“never-churched” continuum outlined.
Some “never-churched” are truly “active” and committed atheists.
They have thought through many religious and spiritual issues and are
convinced there is no God. They don’t share the animosity of an
“antagonistic” atheist nor do they feel the need to vociferously defend
their belief or attack others beliefs. They live comfortably
within their world-view amidst their strongly held views. They
live comfortably without any interaction with a church or church
people. To them, at best, the church is irrelevant, at worst; it
represents an unenlightened and ignorant group of bigoted people.
Truly committed atheists represent a small minority of the
“never-churched” category.
The great majority of the “never-churched” are only somewhat
“affiliated” with the atheistic position by default. They haven’t
really thought through all the various world-view possibilities nor do
they have a strong emotional tie to this world view. They just
know they’re not religious and so assume the only other option is to
consider themselves atheists. They may actually be better
described as an agnostic, as agnostics claim they don’t know what’s
true about faith, religion and spiritual aspects of life. They’re
not involved in a religion but are certainly not antagonistic to it.
However, a small number of the “never-churched” are “antagonistic”
about things of faith and religion and most of these would be very
similar to the “de-churched” because they had a bad experience with
Christians who had offended them in some way. The
difference is, the “de-churched” were actually part of a church at one
time whereas the “antagonistic” “never-churched” person may only have
had a bad experience with a Christian, not a church.
B. The
“other-churched” continuum outlined
Someone who has been culturally raised as a Muslim, Jew, Hindu or in
any other religious heritage, typically has a benign view of religious
aspects of life and thus is only “affiliated” with their religious
group. Most are moral people, at least from a secular
perspective, but feel no compelling reason to choose one “religion”
over another. They “affiliate” with a particular religion more
out of ethnicity or because it is the predominate religion of their
culture but they would not want to be considered a religious fanatic.
They tend to be more open to Christianity, or any other religion, than
those who are “active” in a particular religion.
By comparison, someone who is an “active” “other-churched” person is
one who has studied, chosen and committed themselves to a specific
religion. They are satisfied in their religion and are by far the
hardest to reach and convert to Christ. They may be the Rabbi or
Imam, Cantor or Zen Leader, but whatever their position or level of
participation they are solidly committed to their religion. They
can be affirmed for their dedication and commitment and reassured their
desire to want to know God is a sign God is reaching out to them.
It should be obvious however; it will take a long time for them to be
convinced of the truth of Christ.
In contrast to the “active,” “other-churched” people, those who are
“antagonistic” to a particular religion are often open to hearing about
Christ. Think of this subcategory as a “de-churched,”
“other-churched” person. They have been hurt or disillusioned
with the religion they were raised in or had some association
with. They have seen the shortcomings of a particular religion
and reject it but are still open to religion in general. For
example many Arabic women who were raised as Muslims recognize how
repressive Islam is to women. They welcome Christianity because
of its freedom for women and its tenets which elevate women.6
Someone who was promised all problems would be solved through a
Zen-like meditation is still looking for answers after realizing the
meditative trance provided nothing more than a brief respite from
life’s nagging problems and issues. Unfortunately, Christianity
also has alienated many people and has much to make right with those
who have been hurt by Christianity. Both groups need loving
associations with Christians.
A “de-churched,”
“other-churched” story
I once asked the pastor of a very large Middle Eastern church how the
people who attended his church had come to trust in Jesus Christ as
their personal Lord and Savior; most of who were former Muslims.7
Considering the government of his country made it illegal for
Christians to initiate any conversation about Jesus with any Muslim, I
asked how these thousands of people had even heard the truth about
Jesus.
My pastor friend shared his church’s strategy for its
parishioners. Members of the church were to first establish
friendships with Muslim neighbors and family members. Second,
they were to engage their associates in some regular activity.
The church stressed the importance of participating in activity
designed to enhance the long term development of a relationship.
They recommended recreation and sport as the activity of choice because
these provided natural opportunities for sustained interaction.
Third, the church instructed their members to pray a specific prayer
for the people they were recreating with. Since they were
forbidden to talk with their friends about Jesus, they were to
specifically pray for Jesus to talk to their friends…in their
dreams! In that Middle Eastern culture, dreams are highly
esteemed and are widely accepted as the means God uses to communicate
His message to people. Fourthly, the church instructed their
members to be ready for the time their friends would share their “Jesus
dream” and ask them to “interpret” what Jesus was trying to communicate
to them. These church members were prepared to be like Joseph of
the Old Testament and provide the true meaning of the dreams. My
pastor friend ended his story with a rather “matter of fact” summary:
“nearly 90% of Middle Eastern Muslims who were coming to Christ were
doing so because of a dream!”
What this church realized was how many Muslims had had bad experiences
with Islam. Many had never found true contentment through it and
were in essence “de-churched” Muslims. You can imagine the great
joy these new converts experience when they find real freedom and peace
in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus was best
proclaimed through relationships initiated and nurtured through years
of shared sporting activity.
C. The
“de-churched” sub-categories defined
All three categories of the “de-churched” sub-category are difficult to
reach, although the “affiliated” are the most open, primarily because
their reasons for disassociating with Christianity had more to do with
the church lacking relevancy or they simply got enticed away for some
materialistic or sensate reason. In the case of the “de-churched”
person, “affiliation” describes someone who is more likely to believe
the church is irrelevant than to have been wounded or hurt by the
church. Typically, the “active” and the “antagonistic”
“de-churched” are very similar. They have been wounded and share
a common anger and/or hatred for the church but the “active”
“de-churched” person has resolved their anger/hatred better than has
the “antagonistic” person or perhaps their wound was not as
severe. The “active” “de-churched” choose to ignore the church,
not wanting to be hurt again. The “antagonistic” “de-churched”
person bears a grudge to the degree they lash out at the church in
general and church people in particular. The whole “de-churched”
scene is indeed sad.
III.
How to reach the “de-churched” “never-churched” and
“other-churched”8
For the most part this section can be summarized by two phrases:
“jettison the jargon” and “win the right to be heard.”9 Here’s why…
A.
Language
The British playwright, Bernard Shaw, astutely recognized the dilemma
facing England and America. He described the dilemma as “two
countries divided by a common language.” A similar problem occurs
when people of faith try to communicate with their “un-churched”
neighbors and friends. Churches need to recognize and address the
language barrier they face when trying to communicate to the
“un-churched.” Three different languages may be employed by
Christians dialoguing with an “un-churched” person: a) secular; b)
religious; c) spiritual.
1. Language and the “never-churched”10
The main reason to use secular language with a “never-churched” person
is because religious and spiritual words are unintelligible to someone
unfamiliar with them. At best religious words don’t
communicate. At worst, many religious phrases repulse the
uninitiated. “Brother have you been washed in the blood of the
lamb” sends the uninitiated running for the hills, calling for the “men
wearing little white coats!” It is also important to use Secular
Language when speaking to the non-religious person because religious
and even spiritual terms can make a “never-churched” person a bit wary,
especially when used early in a relationship.
2. Language and the “other-churched”
By comparison, religious language may be used effectively at times with
religious people however, it should be used judiciously.
“Other-churched” people will be able to understand much of the
religious jargon and so religious language is suitable whenever a
common definition and use of words exists. Spiritual language can
also be used when talking with “other-churched” adherents but again, it
is important to have a common usage and definition of the religious
terminology used.
3. Language and the “de-churched”
Religious language is often acceptable and understandable to a
“de-churched” person and they will often engage in it themselves.
However, sensitivity to the hurt and pain of a “de-churched” person is
recommended because religious words and phraseology may have strong,
negative associations for a wounded person trying to avoid connections
to a painful past. When in doubt, revert to secular language.
B.
Relationships
Relationships are the key to reaching all non-believers. Only in
the rarest of occurrences does a one-time, cold-call home visit or a
big event ever single-handedly reach a “de-churched,” an “active”
“never-churched” or “other-churched person. It is true, God can
do anything and occasionally does reach a person through a one-time
event or cold-call, but even most of the successful cold-call decisions
for Christ occur during the “reaping” phase of evangelism and are the
culmination of the prior and unseen work of others. Cold-calls are
rarely the sole reason for the conversion. Cold-call success is
dependent upon and the result of a long process of preparing, planting
and cultivating of others. This success is only possible because
of someone else’s long-term, relational evangelism.
Normally, the evangelism process takes place over the course of many
years. It occurs as followers of Christ engage in long term
relationships with “un-churched friends and family members. Someone who
has been deeply hurt by a church, or a Christian, doesn’t usually turn
around overnight. It’s not easy to convince a committed atheist
of Jesus’ claims to be God. It’s even harder to undo the hurt and
pain of someone who has been deeply wounded by the church. These
kinds of situations take much time, much patience and even more prayer.
The standard “rule of thumb” for evangelism is: the further from Christ
a person is, or the deeper a person’s hurt, the longer it will take for
a truly non-churched, secularized, non-believer to enter into a
personal relationship with Christ. It is typical for this process
to take 5-7 years! In addition it is often necessary for there to
be five or more positive relationships with a Christian before a
non-believer comes to faith in Christ.
This is what makes Sports Outreach so effective. Sports Outreach
provides repeatable experiences that enable Christians to initiate and
develop long term relationships with people far from God and His
church. Nothing else a church offers is as attractive to the
“un-churched” as sport and recreational activities. Certainly, it has
no peer for being able to sustain long term relationships.
IV.
Summary
It is right and proper for churches to follow in Christ’s footsteps to
“seek and save the lost.”11
Sometimes, they are fortunate enough to
sit on a “gold mine” having gyms and fields full of “un-churched”
people or they may have athletic facilities sitting empty, waiting to
be utilized for outreach. Regardless of what they have or don’t
have, churches truly wanting to successfully reach the “un-churched”
with the Love of Christ need to better understand the distinctive
subcategories of those they are trying to befriend.
However, the major reason for outlining all the subcategories of
subcategories is for churches to realize each individual person is
unique and churches would be wise not to think every “un-churched”
person is the same. Each has his or her own story. Each
thinks in his or her own way. Each is on a unique personal faith
journey. Each is in need of a friend, a church and a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ. The charge for the church has not
changed in over two millennia: “go into all the world and make
disciples,” especially of the “un-churched.”12
1 This should set
off all kinds of “wake up alarms” for churches who have never
envisioned how to make their churches welcoming to that
once-in-a-decade, wedding or funeral visitor.
2 See the accompanying
charts which help to identify the three major sub-categories and the
“level of association continuum” of the “un-churched.”
3 An atheist is defined as
someone who is convinced there is no God. An agnostic is one who
claims they don’t know if there is a God or not.
4 Philippians 1.6
5 See the graphs that
outline this continuum.
6 I realize not all
strains of Islam are the same, just as Christianity has
variations. In this regard, some strains of Islam view and treat
women better than others but it is Islam that prohibits women from
driving, voting and many other activities whereas by comparison,
Christianity led the suffragette movement and empowers women to be full
partners with men in the home, in the church and in society. Yes,
there may be an individual Christian home or church that wrongly
oppresses women, but no Christian society denies women basic human
rights as do many Islamic states.
7 This story is purposely
vague to protect those who actively evangelize in a country where it is
very dangerous for Christians to live, let alone actively share their
faith with others.
8 See the accompanying
charts which graphically outline the narrative of this section.
9 I owe my understanding
of the phrase “wining the right to be heard” to my staff days with
Young Life – an evangelistic outreach to non-churched teens. The
training I received from my Young Life mentors remain the single most
formational aspect of my preparation for ministry. No Young Life
phrase is more helpful than: “win the right to be heard.”
10 Secular language would
include words such as: macro and micro beings rather than God or Jesus
and people. Spiritual language would include: a Higher Power or a
Supreme Being. Religious language would be God the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit; Jesus Christ; Yahweh or Allah etc. Secular
language would describe a person’s interest in and interaction with
these concepts in terms such as meta-physical or para-normal; Spiritual
language would talk about a Spiritual or Faith Journey; Religious
language would talk about a personal faith and relationship with God.
11 Luke 19.10
12 Matthew 28.19
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