1 Way Your Church is Like a Restaurant
Everyone has to make decisions. We make them everyday.
- If there’s not many to choose from (like: “I wonder what color pen I’ll write with today?” — and there’s only a blue or a black pen near you) then it’s easy.
- But when there’s lots to choose from (like: “I wonder what restaurant I should eat at today?” — and there’s dozens that offer good choices within a 15 min drive) then it becomes more difficult.
Then we choose based on what something is known for.
To use the example above; if you’re looking for fast, inexpensive, Mexican food; you’d choose perhaps Taco Bell, or Qdoba, or Moe’s.
But you quickly realize that you have to make a choice between everything within that category. And as you read each of those names; you thought of something that they’re known for. And that helps you make up your mind.
Perhaps:
- good service
- friendly servers
- fresh food
- free chips
- cheap food
That’s really what the restaurant is known for. That helps people make the decision.
What does that have to do with Church?
People need to fulfill their need for fellowship, spiritual desires, encouragement, wisdom (or many other things). Sometimes they choose “church”. But when they do (and the average person in most communities are now “unchurched”; which makes the decision uninformed) they realize they have several churches to choose from.
That’s why you need to be “known for something” outside of the category “church”.
Perhaps:
- friendly
- helpful
- sympathetic
- close by
- convenient service times
- practical
What is your church Known for? And would everyone who chooses you regularly verbalize that “something”?
You need to tell them (over and over and over) so they reinforce the message to those they talk to.
Just make sure you choose something that other churches in your area aren’t known for. Or the cycle of “choice” has to happen again.