Should Unbelievers Be Comfortable in the Church?
Every believer should want the lost to be saved and for people to come to church and hear the gospel. But someone recently asked, "How comfortable should unbelievers be in the church?" Perhaps the question is best answered by asking, "When?" When they arrive in the parking lot, comfortable? When they get a coffee, comfortable? When the people greet them at the doors, comfortable? When they drop off their kids, if you have a children's program or a youth program, comfortable?
All of that is fine. The church should be loving, welcoming, safe, organized, and Spirit-filled. That's just good manners and general kindness on a church campus. But how comfortable should unbelievers be in the church when the worship service begins?
Some church growth experts say that unbelievers should feel affirmed and very comfortable in the church. One pastor I spoke to insisted that sports should be on the TVs to make it attractive for dads. While some churches may start their services with secular music in their service order, others will play it in the lobby. All of this is to help unbelievers feel like the church can relate to them. Some pastors even choose to use crass humor or edgy language to make unbelievers feel comfortable. Others will downplay Scripture and aim to sound more like a self-help therapist than a preacher because they don't want to offend anyone.
None of this matches the purpose of the church in the Bible. The biblical apostles preached the unadulterated gospel. They called people to repent of their sins and taught that love for the world makes you an enemy of God. They preached imperative commands – truth without apology – and that love for Jesus means hating your sin. Of course, there's much more to the Christian life that the church should preach about, but never less.
In 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul the Apostle said,
“I determined to know nothing among you except Christ and Him crucified.”
He didn't come with clever words. He didn't downplay the truth. And while he loved the lost, he loved them by speaking truth to them. The church never tried to look like the world. When trying to reach the world in the Bible, you never hear about the church warming up the singing and welcoming unbelievers by jamming to the latest pagan tunes.
On the topic of the church and its relationship to unbelievers, Dr. Daniel Block recently said,
“Everyone can feel welcome, but not everyone should feel at home. We like to say ‘The church is a family gathering expecting guests.’”
Dr. Steve Lawson rightly insists that unbelievers should feel anything but comfort when the church gathers, saying,
“I would hope they feel out of place because they are separated from God because of their sin and are in need of Christ!”
The church needs to remember that the goal isn't to make unbelievers feel fine the way they are but to come into contact with a holy God and His holy people. When the church is operating biblically, an unbeliever may want to come back and check it out again. But eventually, they have one of two responses:
"I hate this place of worship and submission and all this talk of obedience to this God" or
"Truly, Jesus is the Son of God. I am the wretched sinner, and He is the only Savior. My life is bankrupt, broken, and empty. Every road in my life has been a dead end. But I, have finally seen the road that leads to true life. My mind is changed. I repent. I believe I want to follow Jesus."
Go to a church that worships like a church and prioritizes being a biblical church.
