The Competition

When I first began at The Fort, I had a member of the church going over a list of people that had left the church for varying reasons with me. That person would say a name and add something like, "Yeah, we lost them to Rising Sun (Church of Christ)" or this person would add another church name.

And it was so funny to me that this member thought that because a person or family left to another church, that meant "we lost them." Well, I do believe the church has competition.

Our competition is down the street and on about every street corner. Some have nicely manicured lawns. Some have big, fancy signs. When you drive by, some have full parking lots. Some have a simple approach. Others pull out all the stops to attract a crowd.

If you actually step inside the facility of some of your competitors, you'll see differences among them. Some are focused on variety; they offer a little bit of everything. They can deliver just about whatever you need.

Many of our competitors have a well-honed message. They know exactly what to say to get people to visit them instead of our church. They know how to hook our church attenders. And once they get them, we may never see them again.

Here's the surprise...I'm not talking about another church. Regardless of their packaging, methods, or affiliation, if other churches in our town are preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, they are not our competition. They are our partners. They are on our team, working with us to defeat the work of Satan.

In the Des Moines metro area (nine counties make up that region) there are almost 650,000 people! Do you have any idea how many of those people are going to die and spend a Christless eternity in hell? The answer is most of them.

We need to understand that other churches are not our competition. It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. So if churches are not our competition, who is? It is Jordan Creek Town Center, Valley West Mall, Southridge. It is any and every restaurant. It is TV and web sites and night clubs and sporting events.

It is every choice any unchurched person makes that keeps them away from church. And knowing this should influence how we do church. We should view our guests on Sunday morning with the realization that they could have stayed home in bed. They could have been at the mall. They could have gone to a restaurant. So we need to make sure their experience is a positive one when they visit with us.

We need to offer them services that are relevant and excellent. We need to design our services in such a way that we capture and hold the attention of our audience.

Once our guests meet Jesus and begin to grow in their faith, they will come to church for more spiritual reasons, such as continuing to grow, to help others, and to worship God. But until then, attending church is optional. We need to get to know our competition so we can win the battle for souls of the people in Des Moines! (Some of the material comes from Simply Strategic Growth, by Tim Stevens and Tony Morgan)