Quotes About Unchurched

There's one thing that 82 percent of all unchurched people can't seem to resist. It cuts through their defenses and penetrates their barriers. According to surveys at LifeWay Research, 82 percent of them seem to have a single weakness: if a friend, or someone they know, invites them to church. Reread that: 82 percent of all unchurched people would come to church this weekend if they were invited by a friend.2

The vast majority of those who are unchurched are not actively seeking a church home. Further, they are divorced from seeing it as a need in their life, even when they are open to and interested in spiritual things.

What is to be gained if we are so intent in reaching out to the unchurched that we then unchurch the reached?

Something I've noticed. Church planters don't pray for revival. They pray for opportunity, favor with the unchurched and leaders.

If we're going to reach the unchurched, underchurched, dechurched, and postchurched with the gospel in a culture that's trending post-Christian, we must rethink our approach.

In his book Vision America, Aubrey Malphurs asserted that much of the perceived church growth in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s was actually due primarily to the redistribution of believers, not genuine church growth. He stated, "The problems of the church in the 1980s carry over into the 1990s. The church as a whole continues to experience decline and the unchurched increase."5

Does this mean that these people are upset with or even angry at the institution of the church? Not necessarily. When asked why they no longer attend church, many unchurched felt that it simply wasn't that important, while 34 percent said they were just too busy.5 And many others are looking elsewhere for answers to their questions about spiritual matters because they believe the church is answering questions that most of them aren't asking.

I do know this... I seem to reach a lot of previously unchurched people. So many people have told me they never went to church until they heard our message of hope that God is a good God who desires to bless those who are faithful and obedient to Him through Jesus Christ.

Today's unchurched are more likely to say they are simply not sure, reflecting their disinterest in churches generally, or are more likely to say they would prefer attending some activity other than the Sunday service.

In our experience, as believers practice loving attitudes and behavior toward others inside and outside their faith community, unchurched friends and family don't have to be talked into church participation. They seek it out, drawn by the promise of love.

All this data leads us to a direct examination of the reasons the unchurched avoid Christian churches. The biggest issue is a perceived lack of value.

Notice that the unchurched show little interest in attending a church known for the quality of its worship music or even the quality of its sermons. Millions of churchless adults are very sensitive to the balance between teaching and street-level ministry; they fear getting connected to a congregation that is all talk and no action.

Whom should you pursue? That question can be answered only after your church has done the hard work of getting to know who the unchurched are in your community. Your approach will vary depending on whether you have a substantial born-again churchless segment in your neighborhood or more people who are purely unchurched—that is, those with no background of church involvement. Your goal in both cases is to connect with the unchurched around you, but the way you approach them will differ.

Churches with high expectations not only reach the unchurched but retain them as well.

Yet in my role as a church consultant, I find a lot of confusion about the lost and unchurched population. Many Christians do not realize how unevangelized and unchurched America has become.

Myth # 2: The unchurched are turned off by denominational names in the church name.

IN THE PARLANCE of the Bible Belt, those within the faith used many words and terms to describe those outside of it. On the harsher end of the spectrum, the "lost" were referred to as heathen, unsaved, unclean, hell-bound, and just old-fashioned sinners. More polite Christians called them nonbelievers, future saints, backsliders, or—the favorite—unchurched.

To give the whole store away to match what this year's market says the unchurched want is to have the people who know least about the faith determine most about its expression.

The great irony for a man in my position is how little use I have for organized religion. I am essentially a member of the unchurched. Yet, since high school I've felt a strong sense of vocation, a paradoxical longing and belonging which somehow resulted in my becoming a nonreligious religious leader. I was on the very fringe of religion,