In talking about the pros and cons of “celebrity pastor” culture, my friend Carey Nieuwhof quipped that one thing you’ll never hear is unchurched people sitting around evaluating preachers. “Comparing preachers is something churched people do, not unchurched people.”
He’s right, of course.
And he also noted why it’s a silly thing to be concerned about, much less competitive about, in light of reaching the unchurched. Unchurched people come to a church not because of a celebrity pastor (They don’t know any of them, and if they do it’s usually not a positive assessment.), but because a friend invited them.
And then, when they do come, they do not think about or evaluate things the way a churched believer might.
So just for fun, here are 12 more things you’ll never catch unchurched people saying—specifically, as they are walking out of a service they attended with a friend:
1. “Your pastor wasn’t hip enough. I was looking for skinny jeans, shaved hair, jewelry, hip sneakers. Something Kardashianish.”
2. “Where do you stand on Calvinism, complementarianism and pre-trib eschatology?”
3. “What denomination are you?”
4. “I wish they had played hymns and worship songs I knew. These were all new to me.”
5. “The sermon was too short. And there wasn’t enough Scripture.”
6. “Why wasn’t there an invitation at the end? There should always be an invitation at the end.”
7. “It would have been nice to have had more time for prayer.”
8. “I was a first-time visitor and was disappointed I never met the pastor, and I was also disappointed that I was never recognized or singled-out as a first-time visitor.”
9. “I didn’t hear anything about how to join a small group. That’s important to me.”
10. “People didn’t seem very engaged with the worship. Some weren’t even singing. And why weren’t more people raising their hands?”
11. “Everybody came and then left. I was looking for more fellowship.”
12. “I never did see a cross. Or a fish. Or a dove. Or even a Chick-fil-A logo. Just didn’t feel like church to me.”
There’s much more that you’ll never hear unchurched people say, but you get the point. Too many churches and their leaders have fallen prey to thinking solely as a traditional churched believer might think, and then catering to those sentiments as if that’s what it means to reach people.
And to be sure, it is a way of reaching people.
Just not unchurched people.
This article originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
