Recently I have been doing some thinking about outreach events. At Grace, we have at least four large outreaches each year—Easter, Vacation Bible School, The Big To Do and Christmas. Beyond those we schedule eleven Great Commission Saturdays, Wednesday Blitz’s and weekly soulwinning. Right now we are preparing for our Vacation Bible School. We have just finished our team training and are anticipating a wonderful event. Every year, God works in the lives of children, teens and adults through VBS. It is a tried and proven evangelistic tool. I am excited about it and our team is as well. However, a thought I have been considering lately has the potential to increase our effectiveness during outreach events.
Here’s my thought. It is easy as believers to look at outreach as an event rather than a lifestyle. Our church has an outreach event and so we flip the switch to get involved in Gospel outreach. Sometimes we flip the switch in order not to feel guilty. We go out on door to door soulwinning because everyone else is. When the event ends, we flip the switch and go back to our former secret Christian lifestyle. I have been preaching through the Gospel of Mark and the example of Christ is one characterized by consistently preaching the Gospel. It was not a weekly, monthly or quarterly event, but a daily lifestyle. He trained His disciples this way.
If we only reach out to people with the Gospel during outreach events, we will be ineffective witnesses. We must, on a daily basis, be praying for and seeking opportunities to preach Christ.
Let’s not be “switch-flippers” when it comes to outreach. Let’s make it our lifestyle at work, as we are about our communities, at the park and wherever we go. When outreach is our lifestyle, outreach events will be welcomed opportunities that increase our impact.
What person has God prepared for you to preach Christ to today?
Josiah Kagin 