Reinventing church requires looking at all that we are and all that we do and asking ourselves, “Is this biblical? Is this the best way of accomplishing what the church is supposed to be and do? Is there a better way?” One key area that such questions need to be asked is in the area of Outreach and Evangelism. (You’ll see by the way I’ve worded some of the questions below that I feel very strongly about this issue.)<\/p>\n
What if Outreach, Evangelism and Missions\u00a0were different?<\/strong><\/p>\n What if the pastor was not seen as the one who does the evangelism through his sermon?<\/p>\n What if evangelism wasn’t often defined simply as “inviting someone to church for a special event or to hear a special speaker”?<\/p>\n What if the people in church viewed themselves first and foremost as missionaries? How could pastors help them develop this paradigm shift?<\/p>\n What if we viewed supporting missionaries as more important than building a new building or upgrading our existing one?<\/p>\n What is “mission” anyway? Who are “the missionaries”?<\/p>\n What if all our people knew how to share the message of eternal life?<\/p>\n What if there was more to evangelism than simply sharing the message of eternal life (or the four spiritual laws, the Romans Road, or whatever)?<\/p>\n What if we don\u2019t have \u201cevangelism events\u201d but instead trained people to simply love others?<\/p>\n What if we didn\u2019t have \u201crevivals\u201d but instead focused on 1-to-1 discipleship?<\/p>\n What if we stopped praying for revivals and the “evangelization of the lost” and actually went across the street and served somebody?<\/p>\n What if we stopped trying to plan and program our own “serve the community” events, and just joined in the events which the community was already doing? (For ideas, go look at the bulletin board in the Town Hall or the Supermarket. Call the Courthouse, the Fire Department, or the Police. Contact your mayor for a list of events.)<\/p>\n What if evangelism took place in people\u2019s homes as we invite them over to our houses, and us to theirs?<\/p>\n What if we showed as much grace toward believers and unbelievers as God shows toward us?<\/p>\n What if evangelism was just as much about right living as it is about right believing?<\/p>\n Would more people want to become followers of Jesus if we lived life with more joy, laughter, love, patience, kindness, and gentleness?<\/p>\n What if we didn’t care about people using profanity in our presence, or if they smelled of alcohol and cigarettes?<\/p>\n What if, rather than trying to impress our views upon other people, we tried to learn about their views instead, and asked them what they believed?<\/p>\n What if, rather than trying to get people to act like us, talk like us, look like us as soon as they “get saved”\u00a0we let the Holy Spirit work in them at their (and His) own pace?<\/p>\n What if we stopped saying “Praise God” and “God Bless You” at the end of every sentence?<\/p>\n What if we stopped telling people “I’ll pray for you” and tried to help them instead?<\/p>\n What if, instead of practicing “apologetic evangelism” where we are always trying to defend the faith against the heresies of the heathen, we loved people and served people?\u00a0<\/p>\n What if we let people get involved in church who weren’t sure yet what they believed about Jesus or God?<\/p>\n What if evangelism and discipleship were the same thing?<\/p>\n What if we didn’t focus so much on evangelism, but on discipleship?<\/p>\n What if the gospel was more than just a set of doctrines, but an all-encompassing claim on life?<\/p>\n What if nearly everything in life could be redeemed for discipleship?<\/p>\n What if we stopped using Christian music, Christian movies, Christian literature and started watching and reading the same things that our neighbors and coworkers are?<\/p>\n What if, instead of starting Christian Coffee Houses, Christian Work-Out Centers,\u00a0and\u00a0Christian Bridge Clubs, we started just going to these places that were already in our community and meeting the people who go there?<\/p>\n What if we stopped “having church” in our Christian buildings, and instead went down to the local beach, or the local restaurant, or the local bar?<\/p>\n —————<\/p>\n Feel free to provide your own questions in the comment section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reinventing church requires looking at all that we are and all that we do and asking ourselves, “Is this biblical? Is this the best way of accomplishing what the church is supposed to be and do? Is there a better way?” One key area that such questions need to be asked is in the area […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[19],"class_list":{"0":"post-716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"tag-discipleship","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n