Effective Outreaches

By General Secretary Loyd L. Naten
The term “Outreach” means, “The extending of services or assistance beyond current or unusual limits.” The American College Dictionary defines it as “reaching out.” The Great Commission defines it as “going and making.” In the commission given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28, God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.” Each definition of outreach indicates there must be an effort on our part to go forth, to reach out to people who are in need of something they don’t have but need.

Effective outreach happens as we:

FIRST: Recognize that every person is a diamond in the rough.

Every person, according to Psalm 139, was “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and “chosen in Him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4), and “called with a holy calling . . . according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Timothy 1:9). You and I and the worst of the worst of sinners all have the potential of being something special—a diamond—but the rough has to be removed by the blood of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.

I’ve heard it said, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.” We, however, seldom apply it equally to everyone. The fact is: Christ died for the sinner, even the sinner of whom you and I don’t approve. Perhaps, instead of making statements, passing laws, and boycotting stores, the most effective way to combat “their” sin is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor—yes, the drug addict, liar, child molester, porn addict—as ourselves. Let’s not forget, Christ loved sinners so much that he was willing to be beaten, ridiculed, and nailed to the cross where He died. We’re all diamonds in the rough, but most people just aren’t aware of the power of God’s Word or the Holy Spirit to make them into a new creation, so we must tell them.

SECOND: Pursue the more excellent way.

Jesus said, “Nevertheless I tell you truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter (Holy Spirit) will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you” (John 16:7). I find this striking: “Now, I tell you the truth.” It’s like Christ is saying, “Pay attention, guys; you need to hear this. You will need the Holy Spirit.” In John 14, 15 and 16 He gets to the core of what He wants these men to understand about the purpose and need of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17; 14:25-26; 15:26; 16:7-14).

Paul continues the topic of the Holy Spirit by emphasizing the need of the gifts of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, and being led by the Spirit. Then he says, let me tell you what is really important, and what will change the world and insure the effectiveness of any outreach. He says in 1 Cor. 12:31, “But from your heart you should want the best gifts. Now I will show you even a better way” (NLV). He writes his famous “love chapter,” and in it he reminds us that without LOVE, nothing else matters.

Christ was effective in all He did because He loved people. Without this love, Christ would have been ineffective. “God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5, GWT). Let’s ask our Helper, the Holy Spirit, to do to us whatever is necessary for us to manifest this love. God’s love is a motivator that will enable us to love the sinner and reach out to those in need.

Outreach 2013: Purposing Ourselves to Reach Others for Christ

By Eddie Jones

Outreach.
What does is it mean?
How does it apply to the Church?
Where does the word come from?

The Church, more than any other institution in the world, does not exist solely for the sake of its membership. The Church exists to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the redeeming factor in a dying society. Everything we do must be for the purpose of “reaching out” to others for Jesus Christ.

George Barna wrote about the growing church:

“These were people who were passionate about outreach. . . . They saw every event in their lives as having a hand in better enabling them to reach out to others for Christ. They looked upon life as an opportunity to serve God.”

Most church people see Outreach as a “program” that can be operated to reach out to the community two-three times per year. Many times teaching on why our church needs to do Outreach is necessary. In some instances, church attendees’ mindsets have to be retrained to even think about Outreach. Why is this? Jesus spoke clearly to His disciples about their role as followers of Jesus. Since He spoke so clearly, why do we sometimes have to be encouraged, retrained, convinced, or even challenged to reach out?

The following words of Jesus give a complete direction about who we are to be:

“One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.’

“‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.’ And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

“When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, ‘Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.’ For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people.’ And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus” (Luke 5:1-11, NLT).

As His disciples, we are called to be “fishers of men.” More often than not, the followers of Jesus miss out on this discipleship principle. We have become so accustomed to “doing church” and having our needs met by God that we forget our calling.

Human nature has caused us to be concerned about one thing—ME. We attend church seeking for ME. We give input about what the church is doing or not doing for ME. We want the church to meet MY needs and have things I enjoy. When a congregation is in love with itself, consumed with self-preservation, it’s unlikely to count the cost and take steps to reach out to the lost. But when God’s people truly love others, so much that they hurt over their lost condition, they will do whatever it takes for those they love to experience the love of God. As we listen to the voice of Jesus telling us to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” it compels us to look beyond the walls of the church. Love, inspired by the Spirit of God, propels us out of our comfort zones and into the world.

We modern day believers easily become disillusioned and forget what being a follower of Jesus is all about. We become disillusioned to the reason why the Church exists . . . about what we as disciples are supposed to be. This very indifference has caused reaching out to the lost to become a “program” of outreach, rather than a lifestyle of fishing for lost men and women to which Jesus Himself called us.

This disillusionment can easily happen in the church without us even realizing it. This is not a new problem. Although the disciples followed Jesus day by day, they still became disillusioned by what He was doing, who He was talking to, and how He spent His time with people that were not believers. They murmured and questioned Jesus. For example, the children were held at bay by the disciples. Jesus said, “Suffer the children to come to me.” When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, His disciples were thinking, “What in the world is He doing? He knows we don’t speak to Samaritans.”

Becoming disillusioned about what it means to be a follower of Jesus causes the church to become self-centered. We try to correct it by beginning an outreach program. Outreach is not a program. Reaching out to others should be the lifestyle of Jesus followers. Jesus continually displayed and lived out this example to us. He was always touching the lives of people outside the walls of the church. I absolutely love the following story of Jesus “reaching out” to people:

“Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with such scum?’ When Jesus heard this, he said, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.’ Then he added, ‘Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices. For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners’” (Matthew 9: 10-13, NLT).

This is a classic example of Jesus’ lifestyle of reaching out. The Pharisees separated themselves from such people and questioned why Jesus was even associating with such “scum.” They were indifferent to who Jesus was and what His purpose on earth was. Jesus continually modeled a lifestyle of reaching out to people.

Luke 19 tells us, “One day as Jesus was passing through Jericho, He came in contact with Zacchaeus, a crooked tax collector and notorious sinner. The crowd was very displeased because Jesus decided to go to His house.” Reaching out was simply how He lived His life.

When you think of outreach, what comes to mind?

An event, a location, a program, or do you actually think about reaching out. Outreach is such a huge part of being a follower of Jesus. Choose reaching out as your lifestyle, rather than waiting for an event, a location, or a program scheduled by the local church. I continually pray that God will show me people who need to be reached out to. This lifestyle should be in our DNA as followers of Jesus. If you have drifted from that DNA, becoming disillusioned about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, begin today to live your life on purpose by always being ready to reach out. Make it your lifestyle, not just a program.

I have met with leadership teams of several churches and find that many churches can confidently say, “We believe and hold to the Word of God. We believe the gospel, love people, and want to reach out, but when it comes to the idea of change, people seem to hit a brick wall. They want to reach out, but fear the cost of even suggesting change to the congregation. They love people outside of the church, but not enough to risk incurring the wrath of members who like things just the way they are. They believe the Bible is true, but they are not willing to take up their crosses, deny themselves, and follow Jesus into a lost and broken world.

Cultivating a culture of organic outreach in your congregation requires making strategic changes to orient your vision and mission around the Great Commission. Outreach can’t be only the work of a committee or just a yearly weekend emphasis. It’s not enough to give money to missionaries and pray for others to reach the world. Outreach must be woven into the culture of a church, into every aspect of its life and ministry. Outreach must be in the DNA. Only when a church grafts evangelistic passion into every ministry will outreach become more than just another program. This is the only way it will become the DNA of the local church. But this won’t happen if you want things to stay the same.

Outreach demands change.
Change requires sacrifice.
Sacrifice means we must be more like Jesus!

As we consider outreach, we must consider why? What is our motivation? Why do we want to do outreach? For some, outreach has become the new buzzword of the church. It seems to be the latest and greatest thing that is cool for churches to do. It is a must to clarify why we do what we do. The motivation must be LOVE. Jesus continually reached out to people because He loved them. The ultimate question for us should be, why are we doing what we do? Is the real motivation love, or is it something else? Do we expect something in return? If yes, then it is useless. Should we be concerned with the latest buzzword or program that is spotlighting the church? Absolutely not.

The total motivation of why we do what we do is simple: LOVE. Although love is great, it is still not enough. We have a mission. As Christians we call it the “Great ComMission” in Matthew 28:19. Love is not enough; we should also do it out of obedience—obedience to the mission that Jesus gave to us: “Go and make disciples.”

It is sometimes easy to want to help others in need, such as giving to dig a well in a country where there is no clean water, or buy food to help hungry children. All those are great needs that tug on our hearts to reach out to others. We must never forget that we have much more to offer while meeting others’ physical needs. We have experienced a life-change that has forever changed our destiny. The life-changing message of Jesus is the motivation of reaching out to others. In the midst of being caught up in a whirlwind of emotions while meeting the needs of people, we must keep in mind why we do what we do.

The establishment of the New Testament church is very clear in its purpose; therefore, it easily identifies what we should do as followers of Jesus:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8; NLT).

Witness: to share what we have experienced

Have we spent so much time trying to relive the upper room experience that we have denied why the Holy Spirit was given? The Holy Spirit was given not to feel something, but to accomplish the Mission. We know that mission as the Great ComMission. The Book of Acts demonstrates it plainly: it is the power to witness, telling people about Jesus wherever you go—it is reaching out!

The Messenger theme this month is designed to help us take a look at our heart for Outreach. What is the condition of our hearts for reaching those far from God? Do we witness? Do we tell people about Jesus everywhere we go? Can others see Jesus in our lifestyle? Do we ask our churches to have a program of outreach, or do we teach them it should be a lifestyle such as Jesus lived out everyday. If we are followers of Jesus, then we must do the same. Is there a relentless love for the lost of our cities and communities?

There is love for God, but our love for the lost is weak. If this is a picture of your church, be honest and admit it. You might have a map on a wall somewhere with several pins showing where you send money to support missionaries. You might do an event or two each year that “spiritual seekers” are welcome to attend. You might even try to be friendly if a visitor happens to wander into your church on a Sunday morning. But honestly, your passion for outreach is gone. Your church lacks a desperate love for God that will drive you into the world with His good news. You are nice to people who visit your church, but you don’t go out of your way to reach those who are far from God. You send money overseas, but you don’t engage the mission field right next door. If this describes your congregation, you need to fall in love with God all over again.

Change the DNA of the house today. Immediately, begin to make outreach more than a program; make it a lifestyle as followers of Jesus.

Many churches love God and want to be faithful to His love for lost people. They launch outreach program after outreach program and initiative after initiative. Church members grow tired and exhausted as the congregation jumps into the latest evangelistic fads.

Outreach is not “organic” in a church like this. Instead, it feels fabricated and inauthentic. While the motives are right, the practice of outreach is so forced that it fails to bear much fruit. Churches like this often experience frustration when they try lots of programs but never find something that works. They invest lots of money and time, and they genuinely love God, but lost people rarely come to know and embrace Jesus.

These churches need to love God enough to slow down. If they want to establish an organic culture of outreach that permeates the church’s DNA, they need to do less to accomplish more. Better yet, they need to channel their energy, time, and resources into a sustainable approach to church-wide evangelism.

The first and most critical step a church needs to take to move toward a healthy outreach is to develop a growing love for God. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus says to the church of Ephesus, “You have forsaken your first love.” Whenever our love for God ceases to be first place in our hearts, our vision for reaching out grows dim.

Jesus made this clear when he taught his disciples that the first and most important of all the commandments is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” This is not just our calling as individual followers of Christ; it is our calling as a church. If we forget our first love, our collective heart will grow cold, and nothing that we do will have the impact we desire.

Loving God does not begin with our own efforts. Loving God is based on the awareness that God was passionately seeking us long before we ever sought him. In the letter of 1 John, we find a powerful lesson on the love of God. We learn, first and foremost, that God is love. His love for us allows us to become children of God. The depth of the Father’s love was revealed when he sent His only Son to this earth to die in our place, on the Cross, for our sins. As we are grounded in God’s love for us, and as we learn to walk in His love, we will continue to grow in our love for people that are far from God.

Outreach isn’t a program, or method, or something you memorize. Outreach is a natural way of connecting with others spiritually and helping others connect with God through the lifestyle you live every day. Here are three ways that display that our lifestyle is centered on outreach:

1. Reckless Generosity

   We get so excited about the new band or the new restaurant that we find, we tell everyone we know about it. Why is it that we are so quiet talking about things that really matter?
   
   We need to be reckless with our generosity, grace, care, and love for others!
   
   In Luke 8:5, the farmer generously threw seeds all around him. Rather than being stingy or even “strategic” with where he planted the seeds, he threw the seeds in all types of different soils. This was not the norm! We aren’t smart enough or discerning enough to know if someone is spiritually open or closed, we should share the love of God with everyone. People are eager for a spiritual connection. Too often we are too self-absorbed to see them and help them.
   
   

2. Passionate Love Reflecting the Very Heart of God

   When we aren’t sure of what to do, we should pray to God asking Him to help us love Him, love the church, and love people. Connecting deeply with God propels us outwards to love and serve others.
   
   In 1 John 4:11 we read, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” When we are overwhelmed with the love of God and a love for people, we cannot help but SERVE others.

3. A Humble Awareness of Our Partnership with God

   God cares more for the people around us than we do. He is pursuing the people around us with His love and He is allowing us the opportunity to partner with Him in love. “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow” 1 Cor. 3:6, NLT).
   
   We should never try to make people change. Instead, we should love and serve people, knowing that when they want to change, God can and will transform them.”
   
   If your church is struggling to invest in reaching your community and the world, ask yourself this question: are we a church that is on fire with a passion for God? If reaching out to others has been pushed to the back burner (or off the stove entirely), it probably won’t help to throw in an outreach or two. You need to start by turning up the heat, a passionate desire for loving God.
   
   Maybe your church has lost its first love. Remember, God so loved the world that he gave His only Son.
   
   Love gives. And when a congregation’s heart pounds hard for God, we give ourselves—our time, resources, and lives—to love others.

Outreach is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.

Outreach is not a fad; it’s the fabric of a healthy church.

Outreach is not a program; it’s the natural fruit of a church that loves God.

Outreach is a lifestyle displayed by our Savior, Jesus.

Be a follower of Jesus!