Paradigm Shifts Series - Belonging Enables Believing

Belonging enables believing. This one is straight out of the book Tangible Kingdom (a good read for everyone.) I first read this book in the summer while we were planning City Church. Ben had been researching other churches around the world and trying to learn from their practice. He assigned me this book to read as part of our planning. (We even met with one of the authors, Hugh Halter, which was a big plus.) The principle is that traditionally in order to feel comfortable at church, you must first believe. I spent my whole life in traditional forms of church. The ones where we made all the guests stand during the service and applaud them. The ones where we did nothing except say welcome at the beginning of the service (my seeker church experience.) And the ones where we got all your info and showed up at your house during the week for a “visit.” I myself had tried other churches through the years searching for a deeper place with Christ. In all those situations and in all those experiences, it never occurred to me that in order to “fit in” or be accepted by the church, you first had to become a believer. It’s no wonder people do not want to visit a church. The whole experience is one big “there is something wrong with you” event. Guests feel judged and uncomfortable more often than welcome. (That is the surveys talking not us.)


The simple fact is that Jesus lived among the people – believers and non-believers. He made them all feel welcome. For many, it was this simple fact – that Jesus met you where you were in life – that made the difference between their believing or not. We have to shift this paradigm. We need to be an environment where people feel comfortable and like they belong – even if they do not believe. The Holy Spirit will move when it is time for them to believe. In the meantime, Scripture is a story of people (us) being sent into the world. And the only way we can do that is to meet people where they are and allow them to belong first and then believe. We have to love people in a “belonging way” and not conditional to believing. This also explains why we throw so many parties to get to know our neighbors. It gives them a way to connect to our church without feeling the uncomfortable feeling that normally accompanies visiting church.