 |  Making a lasting difference in the place where your church lives.
Spring 2003
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Going Native
Settling for my way tempts pomos, boomers, in fact, every age group. And it's deadly.
Alex McManus
April 1, 2003
A few years ago, in a Los Angeles nightclub, we began a worship celebration designed to reach the west side of our city and the entertainment industry. That ministry grew, incorporating changes along the way to continue reaching new people.
But soon some of the original attenders began to complain that things were getting too "youthy."
"I can't handle it anymore," said one young woman. "All of this new technology is getting in the way of my worship." She was 26.
Someone once asked me, "Why do so many Baby Boomers, who were such advocates of change in the church 20 years ago, resist the changes needed to reach postmoderns?" But as the young lady from the celebration club demonstrated, even postmoderns exhibit resistance to change. Often they'll change the church to fit people "just like me," but no further.
How can we turn a church from being self-absorbed to being relevant to others?
Natives or conquistadors?
Both modern and postmodern churches are inhabited by "natives." Natives are people comfortable within their own culture. Ministries targeted at their tastes will attract them, and as long as those ministries continue in that culture, they'll stay. The gospel according to a native says, "Welcome into our community. But don't touch the stereo."
Churches also contain "conquistadors," people who have a sense of mission to take the gospel to the world. But they insist on taking their culture with it. The gospel according to a conquistador is, "Repent and remove the jungle gym from your face. Come take a pew. When you look just enough like us, we'll think of you as one of our own."
Six years ago I piloted a celebration not in our usual sanctuary, but in a multi-purpose facility. We mobilized artists and musicians, using visual components ...
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