For those who’ve been living under a rock the past two months, Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin announced in May that they are going to plant a church in downtown Atlanta. And since that announcement I’ve heard nothing but worry from people in this area. From friends (from my church and from other churches), other pastors and even on blogs written by area pastors. The recurring theme seems to be, “Great. How are we supposed to compete with that?”.
YOU DON’T.
I believe that every church should seek the will of God so they may find their own identity, but not to set themselves apart from the pack. Church isn’t about making your service and atmosphere unique so that you attract Christians to your church. I don’t want more “Christians” joining churches!
Don’t misunderstand that last statement; being part of a church plant, I totally understand you need Christians in church to lead and for structure. But the primary responsibility of the church is to reach out to the lost. If your biggest concerns are centered around keeping the current members happy and having the coolest services so you can impress other “church people”, you are shooting yourself in the foot. I’ll say it right now: if you come to Four Points expecting a North Point, Fellowship, Gateway, Mars Hill, etc., atmosphere, you will be disappointed. Not that I have anything against those churches. They are all doing great work in their communities and are great churches to admire, and to some degree emulate. However, we don’t have the budget or resources of any of those churches. But if you visit Four Points I can guarantee this: you will see us using what we do have to the best of our abilities, you will see us doing everything with excellence, you will experience genuine worship, you will hear a Biblically sound message and most importantly, you will be loved.
To wrap things up, here’s the point: do what God has called you to do and do it with excellence. Four Points has a different calling on it than the churches I listed above, just as they each have different callings than each other. If you’re worried about competition from the church next door, you should rethink things a bit. We’re all on the same team; no one church can do this on their own.
J
