Lose the “We Want…”
It’s everywhere. On the church website, it’s “We want you to…”
In announcements, it’s “We want you to…”
It’s even in our mission and vision statements: “We want…”
I know, I know… These things you want for people are (hopefully) all GOOD things.
The problem with “We want…” is that it’s focused on us (meaning church leadership and staff) – OUR plans, OUR programs, OUR desires…
Consider the difference in these statements: “We want every man at ABC Church to be plugged into a men’s group,” contrasted with “You may be struggling to be a good husband and a good dad. You may feel like a failure. Next weekend, there’s something just for you…”
No one does this intentionally (at least I hope not). But language matters. Our language needs to say that the congregation is PART of the “we” of the church – that there is in fact no “we” and “they.” One exception – I’m OK with “We’re here to serve…”
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