The title of this piece might have upset you when you read it. Before you tune out, hold on for a bit and answer the following question. What is the norm for outreach in the Christian community?
For many it’s a cookie-cutter program that has a start and end date. Is there a biblical basis for that? I venture to say that there isn’t.
Outreach sessions usually are created with good intentions, nevertheless, believers aren’t called just to generate another program. We are expected to live a LIFESTYLE of loving our neighbors, caring, and sharing (Mark 12:28-34). However, oftentimes outreach becomes a cheap substitute for ordinary Christian mission.
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:45
Jesus gave his LIFE as a ransom for many. He sacrificed everything to restore us. Jesus didn’t simply do a few outreach events and knock out a task on his check list. Our Lord and Savior was about the mission! Missio Dei aka Mission of God! He was about that mission at the well in Samaria. He was about that mission with five small barley loaves and two small fish at the far shore of the Sea of Galilee. He was about that mission when he conveyed hope to the outcasts (sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, drunkards, liars etc.) of society. The mission was an everyday thing for Christ.
Are we about that LIFE 24/7 or comfortable with just an outreach excursion?
So at work, or the spots we eat, kid.
OR, our blocks, or the streets our feet hit.
OR, our schools, or the Church we link with.
We show off the glory and worth of Jesus!
– God’s Servant (“Missio Dei” from DJ Official’s ‘Entermission’)
God has most definitely used outreach programs and they have been effective in the past. Are the children of Christ going beyond them though? Do the people at your job, school, and neighborhood know that God lives in you? Are you imitating Christ? (Ephesians 5:1) Are we being living epistles? (2 Corinthians 3:2)
“When the church is in mission, it is the true church. The church itself is not only a product of that mission but is obligated and destined to extend it by whatever means possible. The mission of God flows directly through every believer and every community of faith that adheres to Jesus. To obstruct this is to block God’s purposes in and through his people.” – Alan Hirsch
Guest blogger: Pastor @David Rosa Jr. (Lead Church Planter of Cruciform Church)
Cruciform Church in Hollywood, Florida is on their MISSIO DEI spreading HIS fame and restoring the streets. With an urban flavor, Cruciform is building diverse communities of believers in every neighborhood of Hollywood. Urban Church Planter, David Rosa Jr., invites you to find out what Cruciform and the mission is all about by attending one of our upcoming events. Visit https://cruciformchurch.org/ for more information.
The views expressed in this post do not necessarily represent the views of Jam The Hype and its employees.
I’ve been thinking about this recently and I agree 100% that we as Christians should be living an entire lifestyle 24/7 of outreach.
Outreach should be a 24/7 event in our lives not just for one day a week or month.