SCL

Fine, I’ll say it.

I don’t know how to invite people to church.

I thought I did, I mean on the surface, “Do you want to come to church with me this Sunday?” is a pretty simple sentence to say. There aren’t any complicated words in there like “transcendentalism.” It’s a short and simple thought, and yet, I have a hard time saying that sentence.

So when I recently thought about inviting a coworker to church I went through a mental list of possible ways I could ask him:

1. The Sneak Attack

I could just slip the church invite into a long sentence that is otherwise about work, effectively cloaking it amongst other items. For instance, “Hey, did you get those promos done? I need the comps by EOD and the code needs to be in place by Thursday. Do you want to go to church with me and did you get the files you need from the software engineer?” See, you didn’t even notice it did you? You were on your way to church with me, weren’t you?

2. The Production Values

The friend I want to invite to church is a graphic designer so I could always focus on the way the church uses graphic design. It’s not a church invitation, it’s an invitation to experience a graphic design wonderland. I could say something like, “You would not believe the way my church designed the set for this new series they’re doing on ‘The Matrix.’ The graphics are ridiculous. I think you’d really appreciate the production values. You should come with me some Sunday.”

3. All the Single Ladies

I know, I know, for shame Jon Acuff, for shame. But I admit, there have been times when I’ve invited single friends to church and may or may not have mentioned the abundance of singles ladies at North Point Community Church. Which is actually pretty dumb, because it’s not like I know any of them. What’s my plan, to invite my friend and then just point out a group of single girls and say to him, “See, right over there? That’s where they sit. Go talk to them. Go on now, git!”

4. Topic Perfection

I could always just wait until there’s a sermon series that fits my friend to a T. That’s sometimes an easier sell, when you can hand them a postcard or forward an email invite and essentially say, “Hey, you know how you’re a red headed, divorced uncle with a beard? Well this week my church is starting a new series called ‘How red headed, divorced uncles with beards can find meaning in this crazy world.’ I thought you might like it.”

5. Lunch Hostage

Bottom line, people like home cooked meals. So invite them to lunch on Sunday and then say, “Why don’t we just meet at church and then go back to my house from there? My wife makes an amazing fried chicken and it would be a great meal to have after church is over. P.S. Which we both will have attended together.”

6. My Kid

People at work are always bringing in sign up forms for girl scout cookies or popcorn fundraisers. There’s a long, proud tradition of using our kids to spur action in coworkers. So instead of inviting them to a school play that your kid is in, wait until your kid is starring in some sort of church musical. Then casually and calmly say, “Hey buddy at work, you know how I went to your little league game last week? I’d love you to return the favor and come see my kid sing in this musical thing. We’re really proud of her. Here’s the address, just look for the steeple.”

I suppose at the end of the day, you could also try something called “honesty.” Or maybe even “prayer.” I’ve heard both of those approaches have worked for several people in the past. Just walking up to someone you have a friendship with and saying, “Hey, I really think you’d like the church I attend, want to come with me this Sunday?” That radical approach could work.

How about you? How do you invite people to church?

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