Is the church like a dog pound?

[Some churches are] like a parish pound:  it is a good place to put sheep in when they have strayed, but there is no food inside.  They had better be let out as soon as possible to find some grass. ~ Charles Spurgeon[1]

I wonder how many churches might have this statement said about them.  They are good at evangelism, but not as good at discipleship.  They excel at throwing out the lifeline, but have no idea what to do after that.  I think that this leads the people to be very wide, but not very deep and in danger of easily abandoning their profession of faith. 

It reminds me of the parable of the sower that Jesus taught in Matthew 13:1-23.  There are groups of people that never grow into fruit producing Christians.  The sower indiscriminately scatters his seed and some of it starts to grow.  These seeds (people) “convert”, but only for a short time as the birds devour them, rocks prevent their growth, the sun scorches them, and the thorns choke them.

Let us strive to provide churches where there is good soil.  Places where people can grow, flourish, and produce fruit.  Let us not be a hostile pound where the lost can come for shelter, but find a place that is unable to help them become what they were intended to be.

BK

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[1] Daniel Partner, The Essential Works of Charles Spurgeon. (Uhrichsville:  Barbour Publishing, 2009), 41.