Welcome to Christianity Unedited
My church has seen crazy-tremendous growth in the past 3 years.
In fact, NewPointe was named as one of OutReach magazine’s top 100 fastest growing churches in America last year. We built a new (huge) building, moved in, and watched it filled to capacity with amazement. It still awes me to walk into church with 2,000-3,000 other people on Sunday morning, but I always see a few smiling faces I know shuffling along in the crowd and that reminds me that this truly is my church home.
So what’s attracting so many people?
- Genuineness. NewPointe keeps it real. No one looks twice at the gang of bikers who sits near the back of the auditorium, nor does anyone turn away the kid with 90 facial piercings. You’ve been divorced six times? You have a problem with addiction?- No problem, come on in. Christ meets us where we’re at in life. We all have faults, quirks, and imperfections and pretending they don’t exist doesn’t help anyone. Imperfections don’t make us defective, they make us human. Welcome to Real Messy Christians at work.
- Environments. NewPointe goes to great pains to create conducive environments. They begin by making you feel at home with a swarm of friendly and helpful greeters at every entrance. If you walk in with a confused look on your face, someone is right there to provide gentle direction. It’s the kind of place where you want to hang out. A volunteer is lurking around every corner and they somehow seem to make this enormous church feel personal and cozy.
- A “the sky’s the limit” attitude. At NewPointe, nearly anything is a possibility. We’ve had break dancing kids doing back flips off the stage, dirt bikes ramping and flipping in the air, secular movie clips used in the sermon, a stage full of local drum corps playing Little Drummer Boy, and professional quality light shows during the worship. You might sing Led Zepplin, Natasha Beddingfield, Toby Mac, Chris Tomlin, or traditional hymns during a worship service. I’ve never had communion the same way twice in my 4 years of attending NewPointe. “Just because it’s never been done that way before” doesn’t mean squat here.
- Truth. Dwight presents the gospel. Not the “feel good, proclaim it and claim it, God’s cosmic vending machine” version of the truth. The actual, straight from the Bible truth. My favorite Dwight-ism is,”Y’all ok?” Attendees hear this phrase anytime Dwight gives them the un-sugar-coated, toe-stepping-on, outside-your-comfort-zone, need-to-hear-it truth from the Bible. Dwight doesn’t pull his punches, but he delivers them with love and a smile (and without socks, because he’s cool like that).
What’s working for NewPointe can be used as a lesson for many churches, charities, and businesses. In this crappy economy and world off uncertainty, people are seeking. Help them find Jesus.
Keep in mind that I mean the REAL Jesus, the one from the Bible.
No one is looking for the judgmental, self-righteous, in-your-face, head-in-the-sand Christ follower. They need an honest to goodness, messy around the edges, someone they can relate to Christ follower to introduce them to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
That’s my goal for this blog- to let you see Jesus shining through my cracks and flaws so that you can get to know the Real Jesus. At Rising Upward, we want to meet you wherever you are in life.
So no matter if you’re a blogger mommy, a divorced dad, a back-slidden Christian, or a seeker- on behalf of the Rising Upward Team: Welcome to Rising Upward. You can find faith, hope, and love for the real world within these digital pages.
Filed Under: Christ Followers
Tags: NewPointe, real christianity, un-traditional church, welcome