Leaf through the pages of the New Testament and you must conclude that we, as a Church, are to be involved in outreach ministry. How are we doing?
I have seen extremes when it come to outreach ministry in the church.
At one end are churches who put little or no emphasis on reaching the lost. These churches tend to be ingrown and usually stagnant or dying.
At the other end are churches whose sole focus is geared around reaching the lost. These churches are outward focused and often seem to be growing … at least numerically.
If we obey the Greatest Commandment to love the Lord and people (Matt. 22:37-40), how can we not reach out? On the other hand, isn’t there more to being the Church than outreach. Look at the early New Testament church in Acts 2:42-47 — “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” As you continue to read, you will not find that they devoted themselves to an outreach ministry. Perhaps that is because it was a given, as they were who they were supposed to be and did what they were supposed to do, they were that salt and light. After identifying their devotion to teaching, fellowship, prayer, benevolence, and worship, the passage concludes “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Both extremes can tend to put the spotlight on themselves, though often not intentionally or knowingly. Churches can slide into a spiritual pride.
“Look at us,” says the first church. “We know the Word and hold firm to it, not compromising or becoming like the world.”
“Look at us,” says the second church. “We are relevant and attractive to the world. We have a following.”
Perhaps if we focused more on simply putting the spotlight on HIM and not on what we do, we could avoid the dangers of such extremes. When we find ourselves talking too much about how we are this way or that way, perhaps we need to stop and gain some perspective. Is it about us, or is it about Him? Are we are trying to generate our own light rather than reflect His light? How do we engage in outreach ministry without compromising and without putting too much of the spotlight on ourselves?
In trying to come up with the cover and emphasis for the Outreach Ministry Manual, it hit me — Outreach Ministry is about turning the Spotlight on Jesus.
As His ambassadors we work in cooperation with God by showcasing Him through our lives and through our words. We can use a variety of means but the objective should always remain the same … to help others see Him better, not us. –”He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30, KJV).
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Excellent post. Hope to see many more similar articles in the future.
I too like the article (I was doing a search on benevolence). But now days … especially in today’s economy …. there are great needs within the church. but I’m thinking these people are prideful and you just don’t know who they are. So how do you extend the benevolent attitude within your own church?
Thanks for sharing your observations, Debbie. Yes indeed, we can become too proud to ask for help. Sometimes an atmosphere develops within a church where you need to look like you have it all together to appear spiritual. People can sometimes feel like others will judge them as having sin in their lives if they don’t appear “blessed.” The truth is, however, that loss, disaster, and hardship can hit anyone … those walking close to the Lord and those out of fellowship with Him.
We need to build environments within our churches where people feel safe to be honest. Part of that is understanding God’s design for the church as one of interdependence as seen in all those one another passages of Scripture. And, as suggested in this post, we need to make our life together more about the Lord than ourselves. When the focus is on Him, we become humbled rather than proud. Remember Isaiah’s experience of going into the throne room of God. His response was woe is me. In a place of humility before God we realize that we are no better than the next person. We all stand in need of grace.
Perhaps you are not in a place to do something about the overall state of your church but it has to begin somewhere. Are you a safe person for people to be around? In other words, can people honestly share with you without feeling judged or demeaned? As much as lies within you, are you extending yourself to others in love and compassion? Are you exemplifying a life of both grace and truth? Are you being authentic/honest about your own needs? Are you taking time to get to know people in your sphere of influence? Are you observant of those around you? Are you taking initiative to ask people what is happening in their lives?
Sometimes we don’t know because we don’t ask. Some people who appear too proud to say something are just waiting, hoping somebody will notice, hoping somebody will ask, hoping somebody out there cares. If we wait for people in need to come to us, it just may not happen. We need to take initiative and step into their lives as they will allow us to do so. Of course, if people remain closed, we can’t force our help on them. But, we certainly can pray for them.