A few reasons you should NOT join CrossView Church

I read this helpful blog post at The Resurgence website. I thought I’d put most of the reasons here with a few thoughts applied to CrossView Church. The numbers are from the original blog post and my thoughts are labeled as such. So here are some reasons you should NOT join CrossView Church…

1. If you’re looking for the next cool thing in town (We want to grow by conversion growth, not church-goer transfer growth).

My thought: Our church is not that cool. We want growth primarily by conversion, though we’re happy to grow by Christians who are homeless (not currently committed to a local church as a member).

2. If you’re a Christian and you don’t like your current church (You will find reasons to not like this church).

My thought: There are many reasons to not like CrossView Church! We’re a bunch of sinners who are also saints. We sin against God and each other. We have so many things that need to be developed. We are in many significant ways unorganized. We have some members that are less passionate for God, less missional, less engaging the neighbors and lost, less involved, and they need to be patiently and firmly moved along. There are more reasons that I’m sure you’ll find.

3. If you have a bad track record at churches of being unteachable and causing problems (You won’t change here, you’ll repeat the pattern).

My thought: You might change at CrossView Church. God’s Word is powerful. But you might not. Know this, if you join CrossView, you’ll be held accountable to believe and live according to God’s Word. We have our statement of faith and church covenant as outlines of what we hold each other accountable to. If you try to leave for a sinful reason and not a God given one, you will be held accountable to the point of church discipline and excommunication.

4. If you’re a consumer wanting to “go to church” 1x a week for a nice show (We are not a Sunday show, we are a community of disciples on a mission).

My thought: We value our Sunday corporate gathering. But being a Christian, following Jesus, and being a member involves much more than a Sunday gathering. We seek to gospelize throughout the week, which means we want to encourage one another throughout the week (Hebrews 3:12) and evangelize our lost neighbors and friends compelled by Christ’s love. We won’t forsake the gathering of ourselves together, but we gather to encourage others on Sunday and throughout the week together on mission.

5. If you want religion (This church will be built on the radical gospel of grace).

My thought: This is the gospel we preach.

6. If you have an agenda (We have our vision, our mission, and our values–your private agenda does not supercede them).

My thought: We’re glad to hear your thoughts, but don’t think that you’ll just shift the direction and agenda of the church over night. And don’t be offended when you give your thoughts and they are heard but not followed. We all want to follow what we can best discern to be Jesus’ leading for our church.

7. If you’re a wolf (We will sniff you out).

My thought: We sniffed one out already. Church membership and close relationships make a wolf’s scent much more noticeable.

8. If you think this will be a nice little church that stays the same size, where everybody knows your name and you have my cell number on speed dial and we have a picnic lunch together every week (By God’s grace, we want to grow).

My thought: We are a nice little church now. But we don’t intend to be. We do have mission teams that seek to be nice smaller sizes to share life more regularly together and engage others together. But the church as a whole won’t be that size and the pastors won’t always be your mission team leader.

9. If you think this will be easy and smooth (This will be hard and difficult; this will be a fight, a battle, and a challenging mission).

My thought: It’s hard work to persuade sinners to repent and believe in Jesus. It’s hard work to fight sin in your own life, let others in, and help others in their faith in Christ. Don’t be offended to be called on to fight sin and help others. You will be called upon at our church if you join.

10. If you want to hold onto your comfortable life (You must lose your life).

My thought: If you want to hold onto your comfortable life, you shouldn’t (and might not even) be a Christian.