31 Days: Day 5 – 5 Do’s and Don’ts of Church Outreach

Church outreach is so important because people need to know about our Jesus and how he can change lives. If all we do is stay huddled in our awesome Bible teaching churches and keep to our cozy small groups then we’ll have a hard time accomplishing the great commission. We must get out into our communities and reach people where they are. This means we set aside some things we’re used to or accustomed to for the purpose of welcoming all kinds of people.

Remembering where we came from will help us tremendously in reaching out to unchurched or unbelieving friends. We are all born into this world with the same exact need for Jesus. As believers we came to Christ in just as much desperate need as our coworker, friend, neighbor, or family member who needs Jesus. As we approach and engage our communities with this thought it will help us reserve judgement and allow us to see people with eyes of grace instead of condemnation and arrogance.

5 Do’s and Don’ts of Church Outreach:

1. Do hold back the church lingo and Christianese. They don’t know it and they don’t care about the 6 points of Calvinism or the hypostatic union. Save that convo for your apologetics class.
2. Do discipline yourself to not sit with all your besties at the next church cookout. Sit with someone you’ve never met before and get to know them.
3.  Don’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians.
4. Don’t freak out when someone drops the f-bomb or other inappropriate words in your conversation. Do know outreach will be messy and uncomfortable at times.
5. Don’t expect your community to come to your church for everything. Take your church to your community for some things. Of course it’s easier to have everyone come to us but if we can reach more people by going to them let’s do it on some occasions. It’s worth the extra work.