Travel Agency verses Tour Guides

Several weeks ago some of the Lead Team and myself had the privilege of sharing a dinner with guests who attended the largest Inside BridgePointe event since I’ve been at BridgePointe. At Inside BridgePointe I have the unique opportunity to share how we are fulfilling our singular vision of drawing people close to God. I express our heart-felt desire to seek movement in people’s spiritual life to discover faith, develop faith, and demonstrate faith. But I also share an important principle that partners with it: Personal invites are the most effective catalyst that encourage movement-  connection, growth, and involvement-  at BridgePointe.

As you may have heard me teach before, there is a big difference between a travel agency and a guide. A travel agency is the cooperate side of the trip. It is the formal attendant on the other side of the phone who books your ticket and provides you with necessary information for your trip.  But a guide shares the experience with you. This is the personal side of the trip. In a raft trip, a guide personally instructs you, gets in the raft with you, gets wet with you, paddles with you, eats lunch with you, and then carries the raft out with you. If you have ever gone rafting before, you know all too well that the guide will make or break your experience no matter how great the rafting organization is.

In a similar way, a church is the spiritual travel agency providing the needed information and event registration in a formal way. That’s the cooperate side of one’s spiritual growth. But that will only go so far. It’s the individual relationships at a church where that personal side of the experience “makes or breaks” the movement in one’s spiritual growth.  If you are wondering what that looks like, allow me to give one word: Invitation.

I’m not just speaking about inviting someone to join you at church on Sunday, although that is the most effective way of growing a church. I’m speaking about inviting friends and people at BridgePointe to join you when you attend events and offering to go with them. Invite someone you meet or know who is exploring faith or new to the faith at BridgePointe to attend Starting Point Group, or Equip  (formerly known as Basics) by offering to attend with them. Or ask someone at BridgePointe to join a Life Group with you. “Yes”-  Go with someone. This may mean sacrificing your plans and convenience for the sake of connecting with others at BridgePointe.

You have an opportunity invite a friend at church to go with you to the next Mpact, our men’s monthly gathering every second Saturday morning. Or, consider inviting someone from church to go with you to the Women’s Retreat coming in March, or the Ladies Night Out coming in February. Invite someone to volunteer with you where you help out. You get the point! If we rely on the church to be the spiritual travel agency that grows our church we will have limited and slow results. Or, we could see exponential growth at BridgePointe when we each assume the role and responsibility of being a spiritual tour guide in someone’s life. We can inform others of spiritual growth or share the experience with them. The difference will make or break one’s forward movement at BridgePointe.