Part 2 of 4
There was little doubt that the question “Do Non-Believers Belong in Worship Services?” would stir controversy. Frankly, I felt the same way as most until recent topics addressed on this weekly blog (now in its 90th week) led me to see what the scriptures had to say about that question. Like most readers, I had assumed and never dared ask a question that conventional church growth models, nearly all churchgoers and even seminaries considered a foregone conclusion. Of course non-believers should be encouraged to attend church – any opinion to the contrary is callous and exclusionary at best.
However, it doesn’t take a great deal of biblical investigation to realize that “church” is by definition the assembly of “called out ones” who are “devoted to the Lord” – not a building, and not designed for non-believers. Countless verses support the argument that believers are supposed to BE the church between Sundays, responsible for leading people to Jesus – and only then are those new believers to join the body of Christ in collective worship.
Some readers understood how our modern-day redefinition of “church” has shifted responsibilities from members to pastors and staff – and turned attention from equipping and mobilizing to attracting and retaining. Yet others reacted quite differently, reflexively citing essentially 7 common arguments for why non-believers do belong in worship services. We’ll address the first 4 of those today…
1. “It’s the ‘sick who need a doctor’ and Church is a ‘hospital for sinners’”
Considering the sources (the first Jesus and the second generally attributed to St. Augustine), these two common quotes are often considered irrefutable evidence that there’s no better place for a non-believer to be than at church. It would seem that the “lost” are exactly who church was established to accommodate. In other words, all who don’t know Jesus are terminally ill so we should invite and encourage them to come to the place where they’re most likely to find healing – church.
Yes, the sick do need the Great Physician, but Jesus didn’t wait for or expect non-believers to show up at the temple. He didn’t set up His medical practice within a building. He was a traveling Apothecary – healing and preaching as He went from town to town. He also sent His disciples out to meet the “sick” right where they were – with the power to heal and instructions to evangelize, not to invite to a gathering. We should follow suit and not simply extend invitations to a “hospital for sinners”. Pastors can’t forgive sins and offer redemption, only Jesus can – and Jesus can do that anywhere. Churchgoers should act as medical advisors, telling people where to find healing – which is in Jesus, not in a church or pastor.
Each Christian knows the cure for spiritual “cancer” and yet few tell non-believers what it is. The “cancer” of sin has consequences far greater than those of the bodily illness (i.e. “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul…). Missing the opportunity to unveil the cure for “cancer”, withholding that potentially life-saving information in hopes the non-believer will make the unlikely decision to darken a church door, borders on spiritual malpractice. Much of that liability falls on church leaders who haven’t equipped and trained Christians to communicate that cure for sin “cancer” effectively. Pastors fear the consequences of holding a congregation consisting largely of fence-sitters and non-believers up to the lofty Great Commission standard. Therefore, most substitute a softer ask, that of inviting non-Christians to church, enabling members to believe that invitation fulfills the Great Commission and alleviating them of personal responsibility if their invitation to church is rejected. A church calling itself a “hospital for sinners”, failing to build disciples, and asking members to tell non-believers to come next Sunday for spiritual “healing” is effectively saying Jesus (the Great Physician) and forgiveness can only be found inside a church building (the hospital). Yet each of us is by definition the embodiment of “church”, called to be His hands and feet everywhere we live, work and travel.
2. “How else are non-believers going to find the Lord?”
Members are the personification of “church” so they are “insiders”, much more like employees to be trained and deployed than customers to be attracted and retained – to use a corporate analogy. A business would never rely on a 30 minute weekly presentation and 1 hour discussion led by an uncertified volunteer as the full extent of its training program for new hires. Yet that’s what most churches do today, conducting a weekend worship service and optional Small Groups, concerned that congregations don’t have an appetite for a greater commitment than that. As a result, few churchgoers are ready to step into their intended roles as evangelists and disciple-makers.
That failure prompts the question asked in this section, realizing that those most qualified to occupy the evangelist and disciple-making roles today are employed by churches. It’s true – churches have become the best places for non-believers to find the Lord. But that’s not what Jesus intended – He meant for His Church to be living, breathing believers fully equipped and empowered to take the Gospel to “Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth”. Instead, “church” is now seen as a place or event we should invite non-believers to come to hear the Gospel preached by the “professionals”.
3. “So we’re supposed to turn non-believers away at the door?”
…phrased another way, “What’s the better side of the door for them to be on?” First, let’s consider whether there should be a “door” at all. Given that Christians are the “church” personified, shouldn’t there be a seamless interface between the churched and unchurched, at least physically, before and after Sunday services? Maybe it’s not about where non-believers should or shouldn’t be (i.e. in worship services), but more about where believers should be (and what they should be doing)?
On a related note, we’ve heard the argument, “Aren’t we as Christians supposed to be hospitable?” Yes! As we discussed last week, 1 Corinthians 14:22-25 says that even though preaching is meant for believers, no one should be turned away who wanders in. However, even though some non-believers may be present, pastors should not divert from teaching “the deep truths of God”, nor from offering deep discipleship. Any non-believer who comes to church to learn more about the Lord should be eagerly and enthusiastically welcomed. Yet the Bible clearly spells out that nothing in the message should be adjusted to make it more palatable for non-believers. Nor should churches proactively invite or market to entice those who don’t worship Jesus to join a worship service.
There are many alternatives for engaging non-believers in church-related activities in lieu of inviting them to Sunday services. Some churches reach out to their communities through local missions, fairs, workshops, counseling, and other initiatives and events open to any and all. Others encourage Small Groups to invite those who wouldn’t likely show up on a Sunday morning, some even renaming them Neighborhood Groups to in effect serve as a decentralized “churches” to the communities where the groups meet.
4. “But I accepted Christ in a church…I wouldn’t even be a believer now if I weren’t invited by someone.”
No doubt, many do come to faith during worship services. This argument for why non-believers should be invited to church carries powerful and personal emotional weight for those to whom this statement in this section applies. However, God had a plan to save each and every person who enters the Kingdom of Heaven and nothing, or no one, can thwart His plans. Also, who’s to say that millions or billions more wouldn’t have come to Christ if each and every churchgoer lived out the Great Commission mandate rather than largely abdicating that responsibility. Few non-believers are willing to attend or would be comfortable in a worship service, particularly given the prevailing reputation of most churches as more judgmental and hypocritical than caring and compassionate. Too often non-believers when asked about “church” echo the response the demon gave when confronted by the false disciples, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Society knows Jesus is compassionate and caring but doesn’t recognize the same characteristics in today’s internally-focused Church.
It’s Your Turn…
Which of the above statements summarizes your past or current opinion on this topic, or have you been swayed at all by the arguments these past two weeks that non-believers should not be invited into worship services?
Next week we’ll address the other 3 common reasons many churchgoers give for why non-believers do belong in worship services…
20 Responses
I have to admit 1st of all that I did not read your entire article. It was just too long for me to read. In this day and age of information overload, this was simply one more article that demands my attention. So even though you bring up interesting points, Im not sure its worthy of the length of time it would take to digest the article completely. Plus I am not sure I understand your position.
“Is Church a hospital for sinners” is indeed interesting. I hear this a lot, yet no one does this. We say it, but when the rubber meats the road, I dont think we Do It. Maybe we need 1 Church for the sinners and 1 Church for the saints. But then again, aren’t we all sinners?
Not sure I have an answer to this delima, thought my 1st thought is that I am not sure it is an issue, or should be.
My thought is that Church should be a place for the meeting of needs, no matter who they are, where they came from, or what label they put on themselves
Articles like these put the consumer in the driver seat-very imntorapt.
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Thank you so much for your insightful words of encouragement. I’ve been pondering this very subject because I believe the first church should be the example for today and every subsequent generation.
We are called to be separate from the world and inviting sinners into our worship is sin and that sin is the sin of disobedience for not witnessing and making disciples as we were commanded. The consequence is what Paul has stated, ‘a little leaven leavens the whole lump.’
And right now in our churches it’s bursting out at the seams.
There are many cohabiting couples who attend church because they were invited to come, they are made to be comfortable in their sin. They will hear the sermon, some may even take communion and go back home into their den of sin to partake in the usual. No change.
In the Old Testament Israel was commanded to be holy (Leviticus 19:2; 20:7-8,26) and separate from the heathen, verse 26 explicitly states, ‘For I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.’
The same principle applies for the New Testament Church, we’ve been told to “Come out from among them and be separate, says the LORD.
Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”
I will be a Father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:17-18
The same God has commanded His church not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. 2 Corinthians 6:14.
It may be hard to swallow for some, we must pray that God would illumine those who belong to Christ, their error they’re partaking in, in profaning God’s holiness.
But a time will come, when the line of demarcation will be drawn and the real believers who truly love God’s strict standard for holiness will be tried and the unbelievers will be exposed.
BELIEVERS BEWARE!
Hi, everything is going nicely here and ofcourse every one is sharing information, that’s in fact fine, keep up writing.
I am hearing a whole new teaching and was wanting your input. Theology:
Church is for the saved. Set up and established for the saved. It is not for sinners. And when a person enters the church new to that congregation, someone needs to greet them and make sure they are saved. If not then they are given the gospel and an opportunity to receive Jesus right then.
The Pastor of the church is to teach and make disciples of the congregation and they go out and do the soul winning, bringing them back into the church to be discipled.
Actually, this is scriptural. And it helps eliminate the tares and the evil who would come in to destroy the church. Tell me what you think.
I have to add I have been in the mindset that many go to church to be saved though I have led many to Jesus on the streets and other places. I always viewed church as a place where the lost can go to be found, a safe haven from their storm, one place on earth that welcomes a sinner with open arms of forgiveness. And every church should have outreaches such as food pantry and clothes closet as it draws the poor and needy. However…
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 ¶ Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
When we do it , bless those who have less… of MY BRETHERN… not the world! Who is our brother???
Mar 3:32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
Mar 3:33 ¶ And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
Mar 3:34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Mar 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
Ok, I have my answers. Thank You Father for Your Word. I see. I get it. I understand. In Jesus powerful Name. Amen.
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I know your heart is in the right place, but your objections to the church not being a hospital are misplaced and have nothing to do with the church being a place which facilitates healing.
I just had this discussion with an Apostle who too believes the church is not a hospital. Here are my thoughts.
The reason why people say the church is a hospital is a hospital is a place where people of all kinds of ailments come to be diagnosed and treated. They may also be sent to other departments for more serious care, some even need surgery. The thing is they are expected to come out BETTER and be free of their ailments or at least on the track of managing their issues.
One thing that often happens in the hospital as well as churches is the passing on of infections which may worsen a person’s condition. This is medically termed as a NOSOCOMIAL INFECTION. In the church, that happens when some person or people, even the leader, is infected and handles the sick. It is this reason that we must be careful to be pure and if we are the leader of the church, to keep the entire fold as managed spiritually as possible. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little spiritual sickness and leeway for sin can affect the entire house.
Therefore, as it goes for your post, allowing homosexuals to flaunt themselves unchanged and post as thiugh God accepts whatever they are is not good for a church.
He rebuttled and said the Bible does not say the church is a hospital and mentioned how some people get healed in the hospital and others don’t, and somehow hinged that upon saying that God has standards (and He does, but that is aside from the functions of the church being a place where healing takes place).
Here was my reply to that:
The Bible does not expressively mention many things but the Spirit does give knowledge of things of the spiritual realm. The Bible does not say soul tie, nevertheless it speaks of David’s soul being tied to Jonathan’s, as well as the concept of what is a soul tie. In the same way, it speaks of healing and one of the purposes of a ministry is HEALING.
We cannot ignore that aspect, just because some people do not get healed. It is true, some people do not get healed in the church, just as some people leave the hospital and later on get worse. That can be explained spiritually, as I have mentioned one reason why that is so. I will not go into a long discussion on the sicknesses of those in the church or those who go in and out of the church, but I will repeat, one of the functions of the church is to bring healing, like the hospital institution!
These are the Words of Jesus Christ:
Luke 4:18-19 (KJV)
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Everywhere Jesus went, He preached and HEALED. Healing is a critical art of the ministry.
Please think about what you say before you cancel out a thing.
Furthermore, just like in a hospital, not everyone who comes in the church will make it into heaven, not all will be saved. Once again, listen to what you are saying and seek the Lord before you strike something down.
It is okay to mention how we should be reaching others outside of the confines of a church and other essentials to Christian living, but do not take away from what God intends for a function of the church.
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“Pastors can’t forgive sins and offer redemption, only Jesus can…”
Yet John 20: “22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
The Church is not for us (believers), we are the Church. The Church is for the lost. “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”
@Vann Spivey Many other verses tell us that only Jesus/God can forgive sins (Colossians 2:13-14 is an example). John 20:22-23, on the other hand, is Jesus telling his disciples that they will have the Holy Spirit with them. The Holy Spirit will then give them the ability to tell whose sins are forgiven and whose are not. It is not providing them the ability to forgive those sins, but merely allowing them the insight to know who is truly repentant (and, thus, forgiven by God) and who isn’t. So, if they say someone’s sin is forgiven or not, the person may be assured they speak the truth.
IS CHURCH REALLY A “HOSPITAL FOR SINNERS”?
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17 comments
Part 2 of 4
There was little doubt that the question “Do Non-Believers Belong in Worship Services?” would stir controversy. Frankly, I felt the same way as most until recent topics addressed on this weekly blog (now in its 90th week) led me to see what the scriptures had to say about that question. Like most readers, I had assumed and never dared ask a question that conventional church growth models, nearly all churchgoers and even seminaries considered a foregone conclusion. Of course, non-believers should be encouraged to attend church – any opinion to the contrary is callous and exclusionary at best.
However, it doesn’t take a great deal of biblical investigation to realize that “church” is by definition the assembly of “called out ones” who are “devoted to the Lord” – not a building and not designed for non-believers. Countless verses support the argument that believers are supposed to BE the church between Sundays, responsible for leading people to Jesus – and only then are those new believers to join the body of Christ in collective worship.
Some readers understood how our modern-day redefinition of “church” has shifted responsibilities from members to pastors and staff – and turned attention from equipping and mobilizing to attracting and retaining. Yet others reacted quite differently, reflexively citing essentially 7 common arguments for why non-believers do belong in worship services. We’ll address the first 4 of those today…
1. “It’s the ‘sick who need a doctor’ and Church is a ‘hospital for sinners’”
Considering the sources (the first Jesus and the second generally attributed to St. Augustine), these two common quotes are often considered irrefutable evidence that there’s no better place for a non-believer to be than at church. It would seem that the “lost” are exactly who church was established to accommodate. In other words, all who don’t know Jesus are terminally ill so we should invite and encourage them to come to the place where they’re most likely to find healing – the church.
Yes, the sick do need the Great Physician, but Jesus didn’t wait for or expect non-believers to show up at the temple. He didn’t set up His medical practice within a building. He was a travelling Apothecary – healing and preaching as He went from town to town. He also sent His disciples out to meet the “sick” right where they were – with the power to heal and instructions to evangelize, not to invite to a gathering. We should follow suit and not simply extend invitations to a “hospital for sinners”. Pastors can’t forgive sins and offer redemption, only Jesus can – and Jesus can do that anywhere. Churchgoers should act as medical advisors, telling people where to find healing – which is in Jesus, not in a church or pastor.
Each Christian knows the cure for spiritual “cancer” and yet few tell non-believers what it is. The “cancer” of sin has consequences far greater than those of the bodily illness (i.e. “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul…). Missing the opportunity to unveil the cure for “cancer”, withholding that potentially life-saving information in hopes the non-believer will make the unlikely decision to darken a church door, borders on spiritual malpractice. Much of that liability falls on church leaders who haven’t equipped and trained Christians to communicate that cure for sin “cancer” effectively. Pastors fear the consequences of holding a congregation consisting largely of fence-sitters and non-believers up to the lofty Great Commission standard. Therefore, most substitute a softer ask, that of inviting non-Christians to church, enabling members to believe that invitation fulfils the Great Commission and alleviating them of personal responsibility if their invitation to church is rejected. A church calling itself a “hospital for sinners”, failing to build disciples, and asking members to tell non-believers to come next Sunday for spiritual “healing” is effectively saying Jesus (the Great Physician) and forgiveness can only be found inside a church building (the hospital). Yet each of us is by definition the embodiment of “church”, called to be His hands and feet everywhere we live, work and travel.
2. “How else are non-believers going to find the Lord?”
Members are the personification of “church” so they are “insiders”, much more like employees to be trained and deployed than customers to be attracted and retained – to use a corporate analogy. A business would never rely on a 30-minute weekly presentation and 1-hour discussion led by an uncertified volunteer as the full extent of its training program for new hires. Yet that’s what most churches do today, conducting a weekend worship service and optional Small Groups, concerned that congregations don’t have an appetite for a greater commitment than that. As a result, few churchgoers are ready to step into their intended roles as evangelists and disciple-makers.
That failure prompts the question asked in this section, realizing that those most qualified to occupy the evangelist and disciple-making roles today are employed by churches. It’s true – churches have become the best places for non-believers to find the Lord. But that’s not what Jesus intended – He meant for His Church to be living, breathing believers fully equipped and empowered to take the Gospel to “Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth”. Instead, “church” is now seen as a place or event we should invite non-believers to come to hear the Gospel preached by the “professionals”.
3. “So we’re supposed to turn non-believers away at the door?”
…phrased another way, “What’s the better side of the door for them to be on?” First, let’s consider whether there should be a “door” at all. Given that Christians are the “church” personified, shouldn’t there be a seamless interface between the churched and unchurched, at least physically, before and after Sunday services? Maybe it’s not about where non-believers should or shouldn’t be (i.e. in worship services), but more about where believers should be (and what they should be doing)?
On a related note, we’ve heard the argument, “Aren’t we as Christians supposed to be hospitable?” Yes! As we discussed last week, 1 Corinthians 14:22-25 says that even though preaching is meant for believers, no one should be turned away who wanders in. However, even though some non-believers may be present, pastors should not divert from teaching “the deep truths of God”, nor from offering deep discipleship. Any non-believer who comes to church to learn more about the Lord should be eagerly and enthusiastically welcomed. Yet the Bible clearly spells out that nothing in the message should be adjusted to make it more palatable for non-believers. Nor should churches proactively invite or market to entice those who don’t worship Jesus to join a worship service.
There are many alternatives for engaging non-believers in church-related activities instead of inviting them to Sunday services. Some churches reach out to their communities through local missions, fairs, workshops, counselling, and other initiatives and events open to all. Others encourage Small Groups to invite those who wouldn’t likely show up on a Sunday morning, some even renaming them Neighborhood Groups to in effect serve as a decentralized “churches” to the communities where the groups meet.
4. “But I accepted Christ in a church…I wouldn’t even be a believer now if I weren’t invited by someone.”
No doubt, many do come to faith during worship services. This argument for why non-believers should be invited to church carries powerful and personal emotional weight for those to whom this statement in this section applies. However, God had a plan to save each person who enters the Kingdom of Heaven and nothing, or no one can thwart His plans. Also, who’s to say that millions or billions more wouldn’t have come to Christ if every churchgoer lived out the Great Commission mandate rather than largely abdicating that responsibility. Few non-believers are willing to attend or would be comfortable in a worship service, particularly given the prevailing reputation of most churches as more judgmental and hypocritical than caring and compassionate. Too often non-believers when asked about “church” echo the response the demon gave when confronted by the false disciples, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Society knows Jesus is compassionate and caring but doesn’t recognize the same characteristics in today’s internally-focused Church.
A way to know of each story that holds one down ..Then stand with him/hear with a kind and caring way. Every story is a ………show the care gentle and true.
It most certainly is not. Hospitals are actually meant to cure diseases. The church is a hospice for a disease (sin) that its founder (God) took from patient zero (Adam) and put it in the water supply (Original sin) to make us all sick.