The Church Answers Podcast

#166 How Can the Church Reach the CHRINOs (Christians in Name Only)?

Thom takes six episodes to take a deep-dive look at the demographic groups that claim they are Christians but are probably not true believers. In this episode, he looks at the three major groups of CHRINOs: churched CHRINOs, cultural CHRINOs, and unchurched CHRINOs.

Duration:: 11m
Broadcast on:: 29 Mar 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Welcome to the Church Answers podcast presented by Chaney & Associates. Chaney & Associates are the accounting firm for the church. Now get ready for fast-paced insights on key issues affecting the local church today. We release three episodes each week, so make sure you've seen or heard them all. And now, here is the CEO of Church Answers, Tom Rayner. Last week, took three episodes. I have three really short, 10- or so-minute episodes. And we talked about the crannos. I talked about the crannos. Cryonos, C-H-R-I-N-O, or make it plural, put a S on the end. The crannos, the acronym for Christian in name only. People who claim to be a Christian but are not really a Christian. I'm tempted to go back and give a review of my three previous podcast from last week, but I'm not because it'll take up too much time for this podcast. But if you want to find out how we define them more clearly, if you want to see who the subgroups are, if you want to hear the answer to the question, why don't we even have people claiming to be Christian and they're not Christian? Why do they exist anyway? Go back to those three previous episodes of last week and you are able to find out there. That's episode 163, 164, and 165. We're going to take three episodes this week, numbers 166, 167, and 168. And I know you remember all that because I don't have to look at my notes. And we're going to dig more deeply into reaching the crannos. It's one thing to know that they're crannos, but it is another thing to reach them with the gospel. And I'm asked from time to time and I'll go in and put this out there before we get into the deeper content of this. I'm asked from time to time. Time is it harder to reach people who think they're Christians and those who know they're not? I used to answer that with a quick yes. I'm not so sure anymore. I have a lot of anecdotal information that would indicate that people who claim the name of Christian really don't think that they are. They claim it for the reasons that we talked about in the first three episodes, but many of them realize that they're not believers. And so I'm not ready to just say that knowing that knowing that you're not a believer is the easier one to reach than these people who say that they are Christians. I'm just going to talk about how we can reach them. Before we do that, you heard in the nice introduction by the nice lady about Chania and Associates. Just a reminder, church answers invites our ministry partners to be with. We don't seek out advertisers. We have ministry partners and I got to know Steve Chaney over the years and we did a few things together. And when we had one of these openings which was the church answers podcast, I went to him and I said, Steve, I'd love to have you as a partner on the church answers podcast. He jumped at it and it has been a great relationship. We're referring all of our churches to Chania and Associates because we have confidence that they're the best in the business. Bookkeeping for churches, tax prep for churches, payroll for churches and they will be expanding services more and more. Chania and Associates, look at them in the show notes or go to chaniaassociates.com and find out about them. Okay, again, I'm not going to review the three previous episodes. If you want to go here, each of those three 10-minute bursts, you can from last week. Now we're going to answer the question, how can the church reach the crinos? How can the church reach the crinos, those who are Christian in name only? And I'm going to give just maybe about four things that you need to know about reaching the crinos. So let's get ready for this. Number one, be aware that they exist. That's self-evident in it. Well, there are a lot of people that may think that they exist, but never really thought about it. But to be aware of the existence of crinos, people who claim to be Christian, but who are not, is a first step. If you're not thinking about them, if you are not aware of them, then you're not going to have the type of conversation you need to have with them. So for those of you who are watching this on YouTube, are those of you who are listening on your favorite podcasting out? First of all, one thing is there are crinos. There are people who are Christian in name only. I mean, Christ was pretty straightforward about that. He said, "There are many people who will know me." And he went on to give all of the ways that they demonstrated that they knew him through the fruit of their salvation. But he said, "I knew you not." I mean, Christ was giving us this warning. Okay, what can we do? First thing is that we can be aware. Just the fact that you're aware of them is going to change how you talk to them and about them. Number two, any gospel presentation or any conversation should not end with a simple "yes." Let me explain that. First of all, I'm just going to say it again, any conversation should not end with a simple "yes." And here's what I mean. If you're talking to someone and God's Spirit just gives you the words and the courage to say something and you may say, "Are you a Christian?" And if they say, "Yes, don't stop the conversation." That is just the beginning of the conversation. Take it in another direction like, "Oh, that's great. Tell me when you became a Christian. Tell me a little bit about your story. Get them talking about what it means to be a follower of Christ." And it may not take you long with many of them to discover right away that they are not believers. So one of the things that we're trying to communicate about the chronos is that they are gospel opportunities. They are the people that claim to be Christian, but they are not. And each of them is a gospel opportunity. So when someone says that they are Christian, let God lead you to dig just a little bit deeper and ask a little bit more to find out how they really know that they are a Christian. Okay, so the gospel must not stop with, "Yes, you need to be aware of it." Third, you need to be clear in your doctrine, in your church, and personally. Let me say that again. You need to be clear in your doctrine, in your church, and personally. Many churches have a doctrinal statement, a statement of faith, usually on their website. Maybe a handful of people will click on it over the course of a year, and it's good to have that. And I hope it has clear doctrine, especially, doctrine of exclusivity, John 14-6. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." But I hope it does not end there. I hope that if you have a new members class, that you will make the gospel, the clarity of the gospel, available to everybody who wants to be a new member, that you will explain what it means to be a Christian. Essentially, you'll present the gospel to these people, whether they're Christians or not. I can't ever remember a Christian being offended in a new members class because I presented the gospel and gave anybody an opportunity to respond. So, when people come into the church, that is a clear opportunity to share with them the truth about Christ. And frankly, we hear so many stories from so many church leaders about people who become Christians because they were asked the correct questions in a new members class. So, how can the church reach the crinos, Christian and name only, be aware of them, be aware that they exist. The gospel must not stop with yes, if someone says, "I'm a Christian, don't stop there." Your doctrine must be clear, particularly on the front end, like a new members class, should be presented and then forth and finally, the gospel needs to be presented through the preaching on a regular basis. Again, does that mean that every sermon is evangelistic sermon? Well, depends on how you define it. We think every sermon should direct people to Christ. But every time you are in the pulpit, if you are a pastor or preacher, that's an opportunity to tell people about Jesus, that's an opportunity to present the gospel. And even though you may be in the Old Testament Levitical system, just so happens, I'm preaching at my son's church, this Sunday. And I'm in the end of Hebrews where I'm talking about the Hebraic Levitical system and how it relates to Christ. For me, there's no part of any part of the Bible that doesn't point to Christ, starting with the creation story all the way to the return of Christ. So my point is this, you will have opportunities if you're a pastor to preach it. You'll have opportunities if you're a group teacher, Sunday school, community group, life group, whatever it may be, you'll be able to have the opportunity to preach it, teach it. Just keep it ever in front of people. So the church can reach the crinos. And I will say there's one thing that you should remember, and it's the word intentionality. They are out there. Many of them are ready to hear the gospel, even if they've claimed the name of Christ. You have the opportunity in your church. Let God through His Spirit lead you in that opportunity. And maybe you will see a great harvest take place. Hey, before I go, I want to mention to you, the new everything church resources directory. Incredible tool that we have tried to put together every kind of resource that we know. From educational institutions to curriculum to evangelism programs, I mean hundreds upon hundreds of resources for the church. We compiled it into this directory. It is totally free. You can either download it and print it out if you so choose to do so. Or you can just look at it online as we have a page-turnable version as well. Totally free. Everything church resources directory, as I used to say with the All American Express commercials and call them at them. Don't leave home without it. You'll be glad you have it. Thank you again for being a part of the church answers podcast. Continue to come back for episode number 167 as we talk about getting the gospel to the crinos before they join the church. We'll talk about that even more. See you then. You have been listening to the church answers podcast presented by Chaney and Associates. Chaney and Associates are the accounting firm for the church. You need to focus on ministry. Chaney will focus on finances. Also, please subscribe and give a review to the church answers podcast on YouTube and on your favorite podcasting app. (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]