Stand up if you're with me!

In planning my sermon for tomorrow - a hard hitting address on the things we need to do as a church if we are to tackle our declining numbers - I concluded with the final sentence, "Jesus told us to go and make disciples. It's time for the church to stand up and accept the challenge!" As I said this (in my practice run-through) I realised that I could actually ask people to stand up if they agreed with me. What an affirmation if the whole church rose as one! What an embarrassment if they sat there in stony silence!

My thinking is that I could put it like this: "If, as a church, you are willing to accept this challenge I'm going to invite you in a moment to stand as I lead us in prayer. I'm not giving the usual request, 'would you all please stand', I'm asking if you are willing to accept the challenge that you stand. If you are unsure about what I've said or have reservations, then it's OK to stay seated and join in the prayer whilst sitting - and so that I don't even know who stands and who sits I'm going to close my eyes [do so]. This is not for my benefit but for yours. If you think that what I've said this morning makes a lot of sense - even if you don't agree with every detail - if you think that the church needs to take seriously the challenge of making disciples and if you want to be part of a forward moving church that draws people in and equips them for living the Christian life, then I invite you to stand with me now..."

I don't know if this is the right approach to take. I don't know whether I dare say this. Or whether I should say it. But the thought seemed to come from God and I don't want to pass up a chance for the Spirit to do something powerful. Lord, I need you to inspire me as I deliver what I believe to be the right message for my church at this moment in time - and I need you to guide me as I end the sermon. Help me to know if it is right to issue that challenge.

• Outcome: It was touch and go. The congregation were listening to me but weren't on the edge of their seats with eager faces. It was only in the last few seconds that I decided to go for it. My daughter told me afterwards that the bit about shutting my eyes seemed silly, but I'm glad I did it - in my dealings with people I will not be thinking, even subconsiously, "you're one of those who didn't stand to support me". I had to be satisfied with the noise of movement. My daughter estimated that it was 60-70% of the congregation that stood. I hope and pray that this simple act was meaningful to those who did respond.