Some great discussion on the blog and even some Facebook comments on this week’s Bad Church post.

If you’re like me, it’s so much easier to spot what’s wrong than to engage what’s right.  In part that’s human nature, in part it’s a product of being disappointed more than once, as Irene so aptly pointed out.

I’m still amazed that Jesus has put his hope in the church. I sometimes wish he stop using people to reach people, communicate universally or do something to take human error out of the mix. But you can’t read the New Testament and come to any other conclusion that the church is God’s chosen instrument.

So let’s turn the tables and ask: what makes a good church?  I’m not talking about creating a church where people who are already Christian have a ‘better’ time than at their old church.  That actually makes me sick to my stomach to think about planting another one of those.

I’m talking about a church that 90% of the population who doesn’t go to church might attend – a gathering where they might enter a growing relationship with Jesus.

So in your experience, what makes a good church?  What would make unchurched people come running?  I think we’d be surprised at how many people like – or are intrigued by -  Jesus.  What can we do better that would allow the church to be far more effective?

Thoughts?

A constant discussion at the leadership table at Connexus Church is how to engage Christians and people with no church background during the same service.

Musically, it’s tricky.  We have a fantastic music team.  Andy Walker, our director of music, has done an unbelievable job of crafting what I think is one of the best church music environments in Canada. (Yep, I’m biased, but you should hear our team.)

The tension is Christians always want to sing more music.  People who grew up out of the church generally want less. Where else in the culture, after all, do you sing out loud in public?  People with little church background generally love great music, they just don’t want to be asked to stand for 30 minutes to participate in songs they don’t know to sing lyrics they don’t yet believe with their friends standing next to them.  That’s why we rarely do more than 3 participatory songs in a service.

We ask: how do you bridge the gap? I had the chance to see U2 last month in Toronto and watched Bono do something powerful. It was a huge life-highlight for me.  Broke down and cried a few times, actually.

He blended transcendence, imminence and a universal message masterfully together in a way that drew 63,000 people at the Rogers Center in Toronto together. And he did it much better than I’ve seen in most churches.

I wonder if there’s a blueprint in that for those of us who are committed to doing church in a way that constantly includes new friends.

That’s what I’m blogging about this week. 

In the meantime, anyone else at the U2 concert?  What did you see or learn?