At just about every leadership meeting for V.C.C. the topic of 'reaching the lost' comes up. After planning all sorts of big festival events with the hope that folks would start coming to the Church, we have had to be honest and admit they aren't effective really at all. Unbelievers generally won't come for the event (that is unless they are invited by someone who goes to the church), so typically what you have is a gathering of the Churched (whether from our church or another).
What needs to be done then? Well, we believe that the only way the lost are reached is if there is actually someone reaching out to them (at least most of the time, Paul excluded since Jesus appeared directly to him). But there's our rub though. We live in Southern California, where you can literally live next to your neighbors for 10 years and never say more than "Hi" to them the whole time you live there. They're busy, we're busy, so we never talk. The church is not immune from this cultural isolation.
But this is where the Church needs to be different. We are a community, and even if those around us are not interested in building relationships, we need to try. It is our responsibility to be intentional about just even talking to our neighbors so that we just might get to know them. It is in the context of this kind of relationship that the gospel can and will be shared.
But you say, "I'm not the outgoing type," or "I'm not a people person." For those in this category, I recommend going to Steve McCoy's blog where he lists 5 ways that we can each be intentional about 'being neighborly."
It all starts with intention.
1 comment:
Practical advice is nice and intention might get you out of the door and maybe even serving a neighbor, but as the first comment states (to the McCoy blog), it's the gospel that gets you out there.
I usually want to vomit at the thought of approaching strangers. Thank God! ...nice reminder to pray about it.
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