I've been listening to a discussion between Ed Stetzer and Dave Fitch about being attractional vs. attractive and Dave stated that he believes the church should be attractive not attractional. He then quoted this verse at the end of Acts chapter 2. I must admit that I glossed over this portion of scripture but never really settled on it and noticed the fact then in reality the early believers (in this portion of scripture) enjoyed the favor of all the people. So to some extent the community of Christ-followers in Acts 2 was attractive to people around. They at least didn't find fault with them. The question then is at what point does a church go from being Attractive to Attractional and what is to say that it is wrong. For Dave it is when the attraction comes from the show rather than the way of life it turns the gospel into a product. I don't know if I would go that far. Simply because we are defining motive by appearance (if I take their statements at face value). I think we can design a public service that is attractional in nature as long as it is backed by something that is substantial. At my church we have a fairly dynamic Sunday service with incredible music, video and teaching. However, we understand the growth of a person from someone checking out spirituality to becoming fully devoted and engaged followers of Christ, can't happen by just coming to Sunday morning services (at least at our church). Our focus is to move them from being a visitor to someone who is engaged in our community through small groups, ministries and connection groups. Different people jump into the journey at different points but ideally they would become a part of the fellowship of believers that is described in the end of Acts Chapter 2. We also need to be aware that there are other parts of the church in Acts that we should use as criteria for a healthy successful church. Are people getting saved, delivered and discipled. Is the Gospel being preached or is it another gospel that Paul warned about.

Acts 2:47