Sitting in an upstairs-room at the Roskilde Vineyard, I was preparing for the Sunday service about to begin. Several of the leadership team had come as well to pray together. Inspired by watching some highlights of the recent athletic championships in Moscow, the picture of an athlete doing the high jump flashed by mind, and immediately God’s Spirit whispered in my heart: ”Why did you lower the bar?”
I knew He was talking about the way, we as His church had tried to lower the cost of discipleship in order to attract people. For years, the tension between the ”attractional church” versus the ”incarnational church” has been pointed out by many popular writers, and it has caused many leaders to think that one is better than the other, and that they had to choose between the two. I don’t think there is any need for that at all, for I believe a church can include both aspects simultaneously.
The main issue lies with the deception that we think in order to attract the unchurched we ought to lower the bar, when in reality they have been waiting to see a ”real” church that is both radical and relevant. The world has always admired and respected those who totally sell out for what they believe in, and want to achieve. Jesus himself set the bar, and we do well to leave it there.
”If you try to hang on to your life, you will loose it, but if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” Luke 9:24 NLT
