What Is Outreach?

Just about every Christian is probably familiar with a term that's emphasized to varying degrees, depending on the specific practices in an individual church congregation, known as outreach. What that term means to a specific person can be just as diverse a topic as what the programs used by different groups look like. In my case, it's a definition that has evolved considerably, over the years.

While I was growing up, organizational outreach was almost a completely foreign concept. The church I attended in my childhood never really did much of it and didn't even really seem all that interested in spreading the gospel message throughout the community, or even welcoming visitors. As I got older, that attitude began to change somewhat, but the actual practice of outreach never really got better.

Over the years since leaving that church, I've seen all kinds of different examples of outreach programs elsewhere that have had both good and bad effects. Once I finally found my way to what I now call my church home, I was exposed to an entirely unique and sometimes, even more varied solution to what is often referred to as the problem of outreach.

The 'problem of outreach," as I've often heard it called, refers to the question of what is the best way to spread the message of Jesus Christ to the community at large, outside of the four walls of a church building. In many ways, it can be said that there's no real right answer to that question, but at the same time, there are undeniably some ways that will and other ways that won't be effective in a particular environment.

Some believe the only true means of outreach is street preaching and the passing out of gospel tracts either among the general public or at community events. While that can be effective and is the most straightforward method out there. it's not the only option. In fact, under some circumstances, such a straightforward effort can be counterproductive. In reality, just about anything can be a means of outreach, whether overt or more subtle in its methodology.

Not only is it important to emphasize teaching in an outreach program, which is where such straightforward practices thrive, but an outreach system that simply provides a demonstration of what the church should be can provide an equally and sometimes, even more substantial impact. Simply providing a service for the community that can open people up to learning about the gospel message is just as vital as the message itself. After all, just about any Christian who has attempted to do any sort of outreach or evangelism is likely to have a least a few stories of encounters with either a lack of openness or outright hostility to what might be seen as "preaching."

For example, just this week, I participated in our annual trunk or treat event in the parking lot of the building in which I attend church services. Observing that event at face value, one wouldn't be incorrect to see it as nothing more than me sitting in a parking lot with a bunch of other people, giving candy to kids for a couple of hours. The mechanics of the event were exactly that. The thing is, however, even though that was exactly what I was doing, there was far more to the event than that.

Not only does such an event provide a potential opening to start conversations about Jesus and the gospel, but I lost count of how many parents thanked us for giving their kids a safe and convenient place to go out and have some fun for the evening. Most of those kids were going to be out trick or treating somewhere on Halloween, so why not help them do it in the safest way possible, giving comfort to their parents while also showing them what Christianity is all about?

This is far from the only such event we do. At various points throughout the year, you'll find us hosting or working with a number of different events as a form of outreach and community aid. After all, there's a lot more than just in your face street preaching in the all too familiar statement made in Mark 16:15, which reads in the New American Standard Bible, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."

Yes, it is always important not to overlook the telling of the gospel story, but at the same time, that story will be much better received if it comes out of the mouth of a believer who has already shown themselves as a positive example. You may read that and think it doesn't make any sense and that if someone lets their opinion of the teller guide their view of the story, that's on them, but I've got news for you. That's human nature.

We're all a lot more likely to believe what we're told and follow the message we're given if it comes from a person who exemplifies the core of that message. On top of that, if Christians aren't exemplifying the core of what it means to be like Christ, what's the point of any of it?

So, no matter what it looks like or what others might think of it, if done right, there's really no wrong answer to the question of how outreach should be accomplished. No matter your circumstances, never be afraid to do a little bit of out of the box thinking in your outreach efforts. You never know who you might reach through even seemingly simple acts.