Going Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley

Author:Andy Stanley [Stanley, Andy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2017-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

IS THE COMMUNICATION HELPFUL?

Finally, when you consider what an unchurched attendee hears at your church or in one of your services, you have to ask if the content is actually helpful.

I’m going to assume your content will be true and biblical, but is it also presented in a helpful way? What would a first-timer do with what he or she just heard in your church? What about a middle schooler or high school student?

This question—Is the content helpful?—applies to any environment where a presenter in your church is communicating. Is what they’re sharing actually helping people?

What we’ve learned is that if people are resisting at the macro level, they may be thinking, I’m not sure there’s a God; I’m not sure I take the Bible seriously; I’ve heard some questionable things about the New Testament. But content that’s helpful in a real and practical way can break through some of that resistance and lower the barriers. People who sit skeptically through a service may pick up on just one helpful point about marriage or childrearing and leave that morning thinking, Okay, that’s something I can use. It’s a positive takeaway for them.

As I speak, I often try to pull something practical out of a message and make that explicit to an unchurched attendee. I’ll say, “You don’t have to be a Christian to do this. This isn’t a Christian thing; this is just something good to know.” That’s my way of saying, “Here’s something helpful for you, whether or not you buy into everything we believe and say.” The content we’re sharing is true, yes. And it’s biblical. That’s nonnegotiable. But we also want to communicate what’s helpful about it, whether you’re a Christian or not.

Again, we’re not satisfied with our content simply being true. If it’s coming out of the Bible, we know it’s true. But that’s not where we need to start with the unchurched people who are listening. They want to know if it’s helpful—and when I say helpful, I mean useful.

Helpful content is directly addressed to how we live. This is part of the magic of creating an environment where unchurched people will come back week after week, even if they don’t believe what you’re saying. As long as they think it’s helpful, they’ll continue to come and listen.

In fact, I’ll often give unbelievers permission not to believe what I’m saying, while encouraging them to try it at home anyway: “Now you may not believe this is true; you may not believe the Bible’s inspired. But I’m just telling you, try this at home. Not because the Bible says it, but just try it. It’s helpful.” We have Jewish people and Muslims who attend, and they will admit they don’t believe in Jesus. But they come because it’s helpful to them and to their lives. Should that be offensive to us? No. I’m so glad these people are coming. But I also know it’s dangerous for them to come here. Because if they start hanging around

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