Here are some ideas that can work on your campus to advertise, promote, and get the word out about a Christian ministry.
o flyers/small promotion slips in student mailboxes
o mass campus email through the student life email system if orgs list their upcoming events along with other random campus announcements
o campus online calendar
o School calendar organizer/planner sold at bookstore, see if a few key events can be put in there
o advertisement on the local campus T.V. station
o School newspaper ads
o posters and banners of various sizes. Around campus in academic buildings, on student dorm doors who are members of the collegiate ministries, in dorms (given to RA’s to hang up on their floors), large banner at booths outside café or high traffic areas in academic buildings
o table tents
o side walk chalk
o chalk board classrooms (ask for permission 1st)
o Quark Board- generate discussion on campus for various topics
I think it goes without saying that students need to make sure methods of advertising are permissible on their particular campuses.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Outreach Ideas
Here is a short brainstorm of outreach ideas that can be incorporated into many campus settings.
o Eating with new faces once a week
o Introduce yourself to everyone on the floor
o Invite new faces to social events
o Invite your floor people to dinner at the café when you go
o Make dinner for the people on your floor
o Have board game night on floor lounge on weekends and go door to door on the floor inviting people
o Door to door taking out people’s trash (introducing yourself and small chit chat with people when appropriate)
o conduct spiritual interest surveys
o Sit down by new people during classes (Maybe on the 3rd day sitting by the new person strike up a conversation about student groups or orgs. I go to the Ave which is a College Ministry, and you’re more than welcome to come along and I can introduce you to some people there.)
o Eating with new faces once a week
o Introduce yourself to everyone on the floor
o Invite new faces to social events
o Invite your floor people to dinner at the café when you go
o Make dinner for the people on your floor
o Have board game night on floor lounge on weekends and go door to door on the floor inviting people
o Door to door taking out people’s trash (introducing yourself and small chit chat with people when appropriate)
o conduct spiritual interest surveys
o Sit down by new people during classes (Maybe on the 3rd day sitting by the new person strike up a conversation about student groups or orgs. I go to the Ave which is a College Ministry, and you’re more than welcome to come along and I can introduce you to some people there.)
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Quiet Truth about College Students
Did you know?
Only 35% of Americans have a college degree.
50% of people who enter college drop out.
50% of students in college have reported being so depressed at one point that they described their depression as inhibiting their ability to function.
Those are some stats. The last stat is scary. In an age where college is something "everyone" does, and "everyone" has a college degree, the truth is something far different. College is presented in the media, (with their Spring Break parties) and advertised by students themselves as fun, beer, and partying, the truth paints a different picture where students are lost, alone, depressed, and have a difficult time adjusting to the emotional, academic, and social demands of the college environment. The truth here is scary for our society, and the situation that we ourselves as Americans have created. Outreach on campuses doesn't rest on finding creative ways in telling people about Jesus, there is something also about having a genuine concern to address the loneliness, depression, and multiple other stresses that impact college students daily lives, which the students themselves keep quiet about.
WHAT CAN CHRISTIANS DO TO COME ALONGSIDE THEIR FELLOW CLASSMATES, ENCOURAGE, AND SUPPORT THEM IN THE STRUGGLES THEY FACE?
I think you all are smart enough to figure out practically how Christians can be a light on their campuses. The question isn't about how do it, although Christians displace the real reason that prevents them from reaching out and prop up this puppet question in its place. The real issue is always about will you take time to do it, and have you cultivated a heart full of love to do it. This my friend, will forever be the issue.
Only 35% of Americans have a college degree.
50% of people who enter college drop out.
50% of students in college have reported being so depressed at one point that they described their depression as inhibiting their ability to function.
Those are some stats. The last stat is scary. In an age where college is something "everyone" does, and "everyone" has a college degree, the truth is something far different. College is presented in the media, (with their Spring Break parties) and advertised by students themselves as fun, beer, and partying, the truth paints a different picture where students are lost, alone, depressed, and have a difficult time adjusting to the emotional, academic, and social demands of the college environment. The truth here is scary for our society, and the situation that we ourselves as Americans have created. Outreach on campuses doesn't rest on finding creative ways in telling people about Jesus, there is something also about having a genuine concern to address the loneliness, depression, and multiple other stresses that impact college students daily lives, which the students themselves keep quiet about.
WHAT CAN CHRISTIANS DO TO COME ALONGSIDE THEIR FELLOW CLASSMATES, ENCOURAGE, AND SUPPORT THEM IN THE STRUGGLES THEY FACE?
I think you all are smart enough to figure out practically how Christians can be a light on their campuses. The question isn't about how do it, although Christians displace the real reason that prevents them from reaching out and prop up this puppet question in its place. The real issue is always about will you take time to do it, and have you cultivated a heart full of love to do it. This my friend, will forever be the issue.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Outreach: Surveys are Conversation Starters
Through the many years of outreach and evangelism, I have used countless methods. Here is just one more of those strategies to get to know people, their interests, their views. I've always been a big proponent of reading your audience well, and approach each encounter as unique, because hey, each person is an unique individual. Good witnessing is good listening! This method focuses on conducting spiritual interest surveys and using them as springboards to launch into potential conversations with the students that you see are willing and wanting to continue on the conversation.
Try some of the best questions yourself, pick and choose, and see where God takes your conversations with those He has prepared to put into your path!!
BEGINNING OF THE YEAR SURVEY:
Your major?
Where do you live?
What are you looking most forward to about this school year?
If you could make one thing better about your school what would it be?
Do you play any sports?
Did you go to church growing up?
Have you gone to church while in college? (If yes for going to church growing up, and no for going to church while in college, ask why have you stopped attending church)
Do you plan on going to church this year?
Are you uncomfortable if the name of Jesus is brought into a conversation? (Why?) How about others, do you think they are uncomfortable if the name of Jesus is brought in a conversation?
How open do you think your fellow college students are in talking about God? Why do you think that is? Do you wish it was easier to talk about God with others?
If you wanted to start a spiritual conversation with a person, how would you go about doing it?
What is your understanding of who Jesus was?
Have you ever read the Bible?
Do you know what the Bible teaches about who Jesus was? If yes, what does the Bible teach about him?
Would you be interested in checking out a Christian group on campus?
Would you be interested in checking out a Christian discussion group?
Are you interested in learning more about Jesus?
GENERIC SURVEY QUESTIONS:
How open do you think people are nowadays to talking about God? And why do you think that is?
Do you think most people feel distant or close to God? How about you, do you feel distant or close to God? (Do you desire to grow closer to God? If yes, what are the steps you are taking to do this?)
If you were to ask God one question what would it be?
If you wanted to start a spiritual conversation with someone, how would you go about doing it?
Have you ever read or heard a lecture about Jesus in any of your classes? If yes, what are your impressions of him, and what were some other classmates perception of Jesus?
What is your understanding of who Jesus was?
Do you think that there is life after death? And why do you believe your position, what reasons is it based upon, what worldview do you work off of, and why?
VALENTINE'S DAY QUESTIONNAIRE
What is the best/greatest way to show someone that you love them?
Do you feel loved?
What makes you love someone?
What the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone?
Do you feel that most married couples today genuinely love each other?
What is the kind of love that is most displayed by our culture?
Do you think our society’s concept of love has become misconstrued?
Who or what shapes your concept of love? I.e. society, parents, religious background
How have you shown someone love today?
Do you think that Jesus’ death on the cross was an expression of God’s love towards mankind?
If someone would come up to you and say that Jesus loves you, how would you respond?
Try some of the best questions yourself, pick and choose, and see where God takes your conversations with those He has prepared to put into your path!!
BEGINNING OF THE YEAR SURVEY:
Your major?
Where do you live?
What are you looking most forward to about this school year?
If you could make one thing better about your school what would it be?
Do you play any sports?
Did you go to church growing up?
Have you gone to church while in college? (If yes for going to church growing up, and no for going to church while in college, ask why have you stopped attending church)
Do you plan on going to church this year?
Are you uncomfortable if the name of Jesus is brought into a conversation? (Why?) How about others, do you think they are uncomfortable if the name of Jesus is brought in a conversation?
How open do you think your fellow college students are in talking about God? Why do you think that is? Do you wish it was easier to talk about God with others?
If you wanted to start a spiritual conversation with a person, how would you go about doing it?
What is your understanding of who Jesus was?
Have you ever read the Bible?
Do you know what the Bible teaches about who Jesus was? If yes, what does the Bible teach about him?
Would you be interested in checking out a Christian group on campus?
Would you be interested in checking out a Christian discussion group?
Are you interested in learning more about Jesus?
GENERIC SURVEY QUESTIONS:
How open do you think people are nowadays to talking about God? And why do you think that is?
Do you think most people feel distant or close to God? How about you, do you feel distant or close to God? (Do you desire to grow closer to God? If yes, what are the steps you are taking to do this?)
If you were to ask God one question what would it be?
If you wanted to start a spiritual conversation with someone, how would you go about doing it?
Have you ever read or heard a lecture about Jesus in any of your classes? If yes, what are your impressions of him, and what were some other classmates perception of Jesus?
What is your understanding of who Jesus was?
Do you think that there is life after death? And why do you believe your position, what reasons is it based upon, what worldview do you work off of, and why?
VALENTINE'S DAY QUESTIONNAIRE
What is the best/greatest way to show someone that you love them?
Do you feel loved?
What makes you love someone?
What the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone?
Do you feel that most married couples today genuinely love each other?
What is the kind of love that is most displayed by our culture?
Do you think our society’s concept of love has become misconstrued?
Who or what shapes your concept of love? I.e. society, parents, religious background
How have you shown someone love today?
Do you think that Jesus’ death on the cross was an expression of God’s love towards mankind?
If someone would come up to you and say that Jesus loves you, how would you respond?
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Lost our Minds
One of the major reasons for choosing to write a book is because I believe I have lost my mind. Writing and thinking is a way for me to find my mind, and find out what it means to be human again. Now, why should a guy who has lost a mind write a book and have the audacity to tell people that it's worth reading? My only retort is that there need be no rationale. You should read it just as the second grader would say, 'just cause.' For you only kid yourself if you think you need a reason to do something. We do hundreds of things each day, the vast majority of these things rarely tapping into reason. Rather it's zombie like habits, seldom calling upon the mind, but often calling upon emotions. We operate out of emotion, not reason. We do things based on how we feel. We eat, sleep, and decide what to do on a day to day basis based on our feelings and what tickles our fancies. We have lost our minds long ago.
As a Christian, my God reigns in heaven, but emotions rule on earth. Emotions have superseded the place of the mind, and our churches now prominently appeal to emotions, because to speak to the mind in our culture would be to speak to an old abandoned warehouse.
For me to write is to think, and to call my long lost mind back from oblivion. I have been struck by many books in my day. Or more properly, I have been struck by books I have read long ago. The books I have read more recently only anger me because of the lack of substance and the failure to get to the heart of the matter. That is why the book I'm writing won't mince words, but calls depravity depravity and hopefully we'll come to find who we truly are. We are people full of unruly passions and emotions with very weak minds.
I'll leave you think a sweet little quote from Kierkegaard's 'Purity of Heart.' It's not a quote from Kierkegaard's mouth, rather it's his translator commenting on the text.
“Allow this center in a man to remain dulled by the crowd; allow it to continue dissipated by busyness; permit it to go on evading its function by a round of distractions, or to lull itself by a carefully chosen rotation of pleasures; abandon it to its attempt to drug, to narcotize suffering and remorse which might reveal to it its true condition; let it wither away the sense of its own validity by false theories of man’s nature, of his place in the social pattern, of his way of salvation;…” -translator’s intro
As a Christian, my God reigns in heaven, but emotions rule on earth. Emotions have superseded the place of the mind, and our churches now prominently appeal to emotions, because to speak to the mind in our culture would be to speak to an old abandoned warehouse.
For me to write is to think, and to call my long lost mind back from oblivion. I have been struck by many books in my day. Or more properly, I have been struck by books I have read long ago. The books I have read more recently only anger me because of the lack of substance and the failure to get to the heart of the matter. That is why the book I'm writing won't mince words, but calls depravity depravity and hopefully we'll come to find who we truly are. We are people full of unruly passions and emotions with very weak minds.
I'll leave you think a sweet little quote from Kierkegaard's 'Purity of Heart.' It's not a quote from Kierkegaard's mouth, rather it's his translator commenting on the text.
“Allow this center in a man to remain dulled by the crowd; allow it to continue dissipated by busyness; permit it to go on evading its function by a round of distractions, or to lull itself by a carefully chosen rotation of pleasures; abandon it to its attempt to drug, to narcotize suffering and remorse which might reveal to it its true condition; let it wither away the sense of its own validity by false theories of man’s nature, of his place in the social pattern, of his way of salvation;…” -translator’s intro
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Good ol' Tozer
It's hard coming from church circles such as mine not to be a fan of A.W. Tozer. In Morley's book, "The Man in the Mirror" he pulls out this good old quote.
“A whole new generation of Christians has come up believing that it is possible to “accept” Christ without forsaking the world.” -A.W. Tozer
“A whole new generation of Christians has come up believing that it is possible to “accept” Christ without forsaking the world.” -A.W. Tozer
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Serving leaves a lasting impression
As I reflect upon the important things in life one issue always returns to mind. It is the issue of serving. Now some like to dress up the serving idea and call it things like having a "servant's heart" or some fancy little Christian phrase like that. The truth about serving however doesn't need to have a cute phrase to describe it or anything of the sort. The truth and issue behind serving is simple, it is raw, and at it's core it is powerful.
I often believe Christians are guilty of making simple issues complicated. Long before I had my MA in Biblical Exegesis I knew that the additional Bible knowledge that I learned there could never dwarf or overthrow the content and message that could always be mined in a simple English version of the text. You see, the message that Jesus calls us to live isn't difficult to decipher or hard to understand, it is simply hard to live. It goes against a human sinful will, and there requires an endless struggle within one's own self. It's not that the message is unable to be understood, it's that it's far too understandable and costly to live out. The human hides and lies, and makes excuses for choosing not to follow the simple message.
There is one example of simple understanding of the Bible's call to serve that will always leave an impression on me. It comes from a brilliant mind that was wise enough to mediate on the simple message that every 1st grader learns. It's simply to put others before yourself. But that little message often times refuses to hit home. It's that simple message that will make seemingly wise and important people look absolutely stupid at the end of time when everyone's work is exposed. You see why I will ultimately remember this brilliant mind, who was also one of my most influential college teachers does not pertain to what he taught but how he lived.
The day I remember clearly is when this college professor took a group of students to a mentally challenged facility. It was freshmen orientation week for all the incoming students, and that particular afternoon was community service and getting to know the area around Green Bay a bit better. I get to the location and some of the students were acting really immature about the situation and poking fun at the whole ordeal. Well, my professor gets off the bus, gathers instructions from the person in charge, and says he'll do whatever service needs to be done. He goes to the flower bed to plant and pull weeds. As he rolled up his sleeves that day and got down in the dirt, I realized that he and any Christian that knows what it means to be a servant has spent many years learning the lesson of what it means to put others first. The message of servanthood doesn't baffle the mind, but it does pierce the heart.
I often believe Christians are guilty of making simple issues complicated. Long before I had my MA in Biblical Exegesis I knew that the additional Bible knowledge that I learned there could never dwarf or overthrow the content and message that could always be mined in a simple English version of the text. You see, the message that Jesus calls us to live isn't difficult to decipher or hard to understand, it is simply hard to live. It goes against a human sinful will, and there requires an endless struggle within one's own self. It's not that the message is unable to be understood, it's that it's far too understandable and costly to live out. The human hides and lies, and makes excuses for choosing not to follow the simple message.
There is one example of simple understanding of the Bible's call to serve that will always leave an impression on me. It comes from a brilliant mind that was wise enough to mediate on the simple message that every 1st grader learns. It's simply to put others before yourself. But that little message often times refuses to hit home. It's that simple message that will make seemingly wise and important people look absolutely stupid at the end of time when everyone's work is exposed. You see why I will ultimately remember this brilliant mind, who was also one of my most influential college teachers does not pertain to what he taught but how he lived.
The day I remember clearly is when this college professor took a group of students to a mentally challenged facility. It was freshmen orientation week for all the incoming students, and that particular afternoon was community service and getting to know the area around Green Bay a bit better. I get to the location and some of the students were acting really immature about the situation and poking fun at the whole ordeal. Well, my professor gets off the bus, gathers instructions from the person in charge, and says he'll do whatever service needs to be done. He goes to the flower bed to plant and pull weeds. As he rolled up his sleeves that day and got down in the dirt, I realized that he and any Christian that knows what it means to be a servant has spent many years learning the lesson of what it means to put others first. The message of servanthood doesn't baffle the mind, but it does pierce the heart.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Being used by God at the dinner table
In Luke 15 Jesus is at a table eating with the “unacceptable” people. Will you join Jesus this year and eat with the students outside the religious circles? Maybe you often eat with Christian friends. This year will you take one meal a week or every other week, and eat at a table in your school cafeteria with an unfamiliar face? Search for an unfamiliar face, and ask if you can sit with them and share a meal with them. If good conversation develops, set a time convenient for the both of you and eat together again. See where God wants to take it. By getting to know more of the student population you’re saying ‘yes’ to the possibility of being used by God in significant ways. As you go about building relationships with fresh faces God may wish to use you, bless you, give you joy, and give you an opportunity to tell another student about our great God. Is our God great enough to tell other students about Him?
If it is daunting to approach an individual or group of people by yourself, bring another Christian friend along. This way you can embark on this journey of sitting at a table of fresh faces together. Who knows, maybe God wants to give you both an opportunity to partake in His kingdom work. How wonderful would that be!?!
Pray for opportunities, and be bold and step out when they present themselves.
If it is daunting to approach an individual or group of people by yourself, bring another Christian friend along. This way you can embark on this journey of sitting at a table of fresh faces together. Who knows, maybe God wants to give you both an opportunity to partake in His kingdom work. How wonderful would that be!?!
Pray for opportunities, and be bold and step out when they present themselves.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Outreach: Jesus destroys all kinds of barriers
Any person can brainstorm a grocery list’s worth of reasons why he or she should not do outreach. Among those reasons a few seem to be on the top of everybody’s list. They are as follows:
1. I wouldn’t know what to say. Meaning, I don’t know how to start the conversation. Any conversation I had with a person would be awkward and uncomfortable for the both of us. If someone is truly interested in hearing more about Christianity I really don’t know how to communicate the gospel message in a simple and clear way.
2. I don’t like going up to strangers and hounding them about their religious beliefs. I won’t want anyone coming up to me and telling me what to believe, and therefore I think it is either a bad witness or not effective for me to be going up to people and telling them what to believe.
3. Seriously dude, I don’t have the time! I’m serious, look at my schedule and tell me where I’m supposed to find the time to do outreach. I’m involved in these other teams of the ministry already, attend the large group meeting every week, and also lead a Bible study every week. I’ve been really wanting to start up accountability and one-on-one discipleship as well and my schedule is bursting at the seams without outreach responsibilities being thrown on my plate as well. And oh, did you forget that I’m a full time student with 18 credits?!?
Now no one, absolutely no one can say these reasons are not barriers to outreach. Despite this, what I do want to make clear is that no barrier through Christ’s power and love can stand. Barriers 1. and 2. can in fact be broken quite easily I think. It just takes our eyes to be focused on the intense love of God for humanity, our human sinful predicament, and our deep need to hear a saving message. The reason why these barriers often times seem to be set in concrete is because we take our eyes off of Christ, off of our love and need of our neighbor, and instead have eyes focused upon our self, our own comfortability, and caring too much about what others might think of us. I must say here that it is a horrible and shameful thing to be prevented to from sharing the gospel with another individual because we ourselves are too focused upon what others may think and say about us behind our backs. Let us not be ashamed of the glorious gospel message, spoken from humble lips which comes from a heart fixed upon the Lord’s love for humanity.
Barrier 1. can often times be swept away by education of the gospel, and an individual’s own rehearsal and practice of the gospel message. This will help make talking about it feel more comfortable, and words will start to come more easily, as you yourself pin down in your mind what is appropriate and essential to share about the Father’s love coming down to man in the form of flesh and blood.
The largest barriers left are starting conversations with people, coming across as hounding others about their worldview, and barrier 3., the dreaded, “I don’t have enough time barrier.” So what can bring these walls tumbling to the ground?
Let’s look at Luke 15:1-2, and the accusation that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law held against Jesus. The murmuring happening here wasn’t an isolated event. Jesus wasn’t eating with these “unacceptable” people on “outreach event day” and then eating the religious crowd the rest of his days. No, this was ordinary for Jesus, this was part of his everyday life. Any sliver or slice we take from Jesus’ ministry years never shows a dichotomy “Outreach Jesus” and “Ordinary Jesus.” Thinking of Jesus in terms like this is quite silly. In fact, I laugh as I type these words. But truly, somewhere our thoughts have derailed if we think there is an “on/off” switch for when we want to enter outreach ministry mode. This kind of thinking was surely foreign to Jesus.
You see there is something very telling about the snapshot of Jesus given in Luke 15:1-2. Imagine the “sinners” eating with Jesus. They surely didn’t have the impression of Jesus as an enemy whom they hated, with him hounding them all the time about their life and worldview. We can intuit this because all evidence points that “sinners” welcomed Jesus to their dinner table and invited him to eat with them. Clearly, somehow then Jesus could destroy barrier 2. Jesus didn’t water down his difficult heart piercing message, but somehow the “sinners” were still listening and obviously didn’t feel hounded and irritated to want to toss Jesus from their dinner table. Jesus spoke truth and still he was able to cultivate an in-road to build relationships with sinners, and legitimately gain their ear to have them listen to him. Amazing, this Jesus character was, amazing!
Back to the idea of “Outreach Jesus” versus “Ordinary Jesus.” Since Jesus was Jesus and not split, he didn’t have to spend time appealing to different personalities. You see taking time to appeal to different personalities would double the time Jesus would have to spend in his ministry. Jesus would have to be “Outreach Jesus” half of the time and “Ordinary Jesus” the other half of the time if he operated in two different mindsets. What I am supposed to do is to weave “Outreach Nick” into the fabric of “Nick.” At the end of the day there is just Nick, as “Outreach Nick” becomes habitual and intertwined into my innermost part of my being. The reason why barrier 3. exists is because I do a poor job of understanding the core of outreach and view outreach of needing to tap into an additional time in my already crazy busy schedule for me to become “Outreach Nick.” No one has that much free time in his or her schedule to be splitting time between two different personas within him or herself. If splitting time between personalities was something that Christ calls us to, than no one would ever have time to do any outreach, including Jesus himself!
The reason barrier 3. can be broken is because “Outreach Jesus” is really “Jesus,” not someone different. Luke 15 Jesus is John 1 Jesus. It can be argued that Jesus was a busy busy man. In fact, doesn’t Jesus have a better argument than any of us that he had absolutely no time left in his daily schedule to do outreach! And yet, he was outreach machine. How is this possible again? Jesus didn’t have to create more time in his schedule for “Outreach Jesus” to perform and shine; it was already imbedded in “Normal Jesus.” Outreach wasn’t something additional, something above and beyond, something difficult to seek out, or something necessary to be penciled into an already crammed schedule. Outreach was incorporated seamlessly into the ebb and flow of everyday life. Outreach was part of that one life. Jesus slept. He didn’t have to lead a double life and not sleep in order to fulfill the itchings and cravings of “Outreach Jesus.” Outreach wasn’t something detached, or some free floating piece orbiting somewhere in outer space.
In summary, barrier 3. was no barrier at all for Jesus as it took no additional time at all for Jesus to fit outreach into his schedule! There was only Jesus, “Outreach Jesus” never had to lobby for time, it was already built into the singular mind of Christ. So for us to say, “I don’t have time to outreach” signifies we have not fully grasped the concept of weaving the outreach mentality into our already existing persona. We must allow our mindsets to be transformed to have a new orientation and outlook upon how we daily relate with others.
Practically what does this mean?
1. I eat. I eat food, usually breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and so do most other humans. So if I’m going to spend time eating anyways, it takes absolutely zero additional time for me to spend that meal time eating with non-Christians. This is the best of both worlds! I get to eat, (which I love), I get to meet, form relationships, and do outreach (and be like Jesus who also met, formed relationships and did outreach in Lk 15). I get to be more like Jesus! Yippee!
2. I hang out, socialize, and play games like apples to apples, guesstures, etc, on Friday and Saturday nights. Once again, if I’m going to spend time, hang out and socialize, it takes zero additional time for me to hang out and invite others to join in my reindeer games (apples to apples, or whatever college kids play nowadays) with my existing group of friends. Why hang in your apartment with your same group of Christian friends another night when you can go into the dorms inviting various new faces, and get some rowdy games a brewing in the dorm lounge. This is the best of both worlds, because once again, you meet new people, form new relationships, and somewhere down the road you have the potential once again to tell other people about Jesus’ life. And again the additional time this outreach lifestyle takes on your schedule is zero hours a week.
3. I go to class. Hey, I don’t think I ever died talking to those classmates that always sit next to me. You know the ones I’m talking about, the ones that I’m embarrassed to admit, but still don’t know their names. Not all people bite. Be polite, start some chit chat, and who knows maybe you have common interests and will catch a bite to eat sometime. Again zero additional time, because hey, you’re stuck in class for that class period anyways.
My apologies for my being wordy, it takes too long to write some of these blog entries, so I’m leaving it as is, and hope everyone who reads it catches the heart of what I write. Be blessed and serve one another!
1. I wouldn’t know what to say. Meaning, I don’t know how to start the conversation. Any conversation I had with a person would be awkward and uncomfortable for the both of us. If someone is truly interested in hearing more about Christianity I really don’t know how to communicate the gospel message in a simple and clear way.
2. I don’t like going up to strangers and hounding them about their religious beliefs. I won’t want anyone coming up to me and telling me what to believe, and therefore I think it is either a bad witness or not effective for me to be going up to people and telling them what to believe.
3. Seriously dude, I don’t have the time! I’m serious, look at my schedule and tell me where I’m supposed to find the time to do outreach. I’m involved in these other teams of the ministry already, attend the large group meeting every week, and also lead a Bible study every week. I’ve been really wanting to start up accountability and one-on-one discipleship as well and my schedule is bursting at the seams without outreach responsibilities being thrown on my plate as well. And oh, did you forget that I’m a full time student with 18 credits?!?
Now no one, absolutely no one can say these reasons are not barriers to outreach. Despite this, what I do want to make clear is that no barrier through Christ’s power and love can stand. Barriers 1. and 2. can in fact be broken quite easily I think. It just takes our eyes to be focused on the intense love of God for humanity, our human sinful predicament, and our deep need to hear a saving message. The reason why these barriers often times seem to be set in concrete is because we take our eyes off of Christ, off of our love and need of our neighbor, and instead have eyes focused upon our self, our own comfortability, and caring too much about what others might think of us. I must say here that it is a horrible and shameful thing to be prevented to from sharing the gospel with another individual because we ourselves are too focused upon what others may think and say about us behind our backs. Let us not be ashamed of the glorious gospel message, spoken from humble lips which comes from a heart fixed upon the Lord’s love for humanity.
Barrier 1. can often times be swept away by education of the gospel, and an individual’s own rehearsal and practice of the gospel message. This will help make talking about it feel more comfortable, and words will start to come more easily, as you yourself pin down in your mind what is appropriate and essential to share about the Father’s love coming down to man in the form of flesh and blood.
The largest barriers left are starting conversations with people, coming across as hounding others about their worldview, and barrier 3., the dreaded, “I don’t have enough time barrier.” So what can bring these walls tumbling to the ground?
Let’s look at Luke 15:1-2, and the accusation that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law held against Jesus. The murmuring happening here wasn’t an isolated event. Jesus wasn’t eating with these “unacceptable” people on “outreach event day” and then eating the religious crowd the rest of his days. No, this was ordinary for Jesus, this was part of his everyday life. Any sliver or slice we take from Jesus’ ministry years never shows a dichotomy “Outreach Jesus” and “Ordinary Jesus.” Thinking of Jesus in terms like this is quite silly. In fact, I laugh as I type these words. But truly, somewhere our thoughts have derailed if we think there is an “on/off” switch for when we want to enter outreach ministry mode. This kind of thinking was surely foreign to Jesus.
You see there is something very telling about the snapshot of Jesus given in Luke 15:1-2. Imagine the “sinners” eating with Jesus. They surely didn’t have the impression of Jesus as an enemy whom they hated, with him hounding them all the time about their life and worldview. We can intuit this because all evidence points that “sinners” welcomed Jesus to their dinner table and invited him to eat with them. Clearly, somehow then Jesus could destroy barrier 2. Jesus didn’t water down his difficult heart piercing message, but somehow the “sinners” were still listening and obviously didn’t feel hounded and irritated to want to toss Jesus from their dinner table. Jesus spoke truth and still he was able to cultivate an in-road to build relationships with sinners, and legitimately gain their ear to have them listen to him. Amazing, this Jesus character was, amazing!
Back to the idea of “Outreach Jesus” versus “Ordinary Jesus.” Since Jesus was Jesus and not split, he didn’t have to spend time appealing to different personalities. You see taking time to appeal to different personalities would double the time Jesus would have to spend in his ministry. Jesus would have to be “Outreach Jesus” half of the time and “Ordinary Jesus” the other half of the time if he operated in two different mindsets. What I am supposed to do is to weave “Outreach Nick” into the fabric of “Nick.” At the end of the day there is just Nick, as “Outreach Nick” becomes habitual and intertwined into my innermost part of my being. The reason why barrier 3. exists is because I do a poor job of understanding the core of outreach and view outreach of needing to tap into an additional time in my already crazy busy schedule for me to become “Outreach Nick.” No one has that much free time in his or her schedule to be splitting time between two different personas within him or herself. If splitting time between personalities was something that Christ calls us to, than no one would ever have time to do any outreach, including Jesus himself!
The reason barrier 3. can be broken is because “Outreach Jesus” is really “Jesus,” not someone different. Luke 15 Jesus is John 1 Jesus. It can be argued that Jesus was a busy busy man. In fact, doesn’t Jesus have a better argument than any of us that he had absolutely no time left in his daily schedule to do outreach! And yet, he was outreach machine. How is this possible again? Jesus didn’t have to create more time in his schedule for “Outreach Jesus” to perform and shine; it was already imbedded in “Normal Jesus.” Outreach wasn’t something additional, something above and beyond, something difficult to seek out, or something necessary to be penciled into an already crammed schedule. Outreach was incorporated seamlessly into the ebb and flow of everyday life. Outreach was part of that one life. Jesus slept. He didn’t have to lead a double life and not sleep in order to fulfill the itchings and cravings of “Outreach Jesus.” Outreach wasn’t something detached, or some free floating piece orbiting somewhere in outer space.
In summary, barrier 3. was no barrier at all for Jesus as it took no additional time at all for Jesus to fit outreach into his schedule! There was only Jesus, “Outreach Jesus” never had to lobby for time, it was already built into the singular mind of Christ. So for us to say, “I don’t have time to outreach” signifies we have not fully grasped the concept of weaving the outreach mentality into our already existing persona. We must allow our mindsets to be transformed to have a new orientation and outlook upon how we daily relate with others.
Practically what does this mean?
1. I eat. I eat food, usually breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and so do most other humans. So if I’m going to spend time eating anyways, it takes absolutely zero additional time for me to spend that meal time eating with non-Christians. This is the best of both worlds! I get to eat, (which I love), I get to meet, form relationships, and do outreach (and be like Jesus who also met, formed relationships and did outreach in Lk 15). I get to be more like Jesus! Yippee!
2. I hang out, socialize, and play games like apples to apples, guesstures, etc, on Friday and Saturday nights. Once again, if I’m going to spend time, hang out and socialize, it takes zero additional time for me to hang out and invite others to join in my reindeer games (apples to apples, or whatever college kids play nowadays) with my existing group of friends. Why hang in your apartment with your same group of Christian friends another night when you can go into the dorms inviting various new faces, and get some rowdy games a brewing in the dorm lounge. This is the best of both worlds, because once again, you meet new people, form new relationships, and somewhere down the road you have the potential once again to tell other people about Jesus’ life. And again the additional time this outreach lifestyle takes on your schedule is zero hours a week.
3. I go to class. Hey, I don’t think I ever died talking to those classmates that always sit next to me. You know the ones I’m talking about, the ones that I’m embarrassed to admit, but still don’t know their names. Not all people bite. Be polite, start some chit chat, and who knows maybe you have common interests and will catch a bite to eat sometime. Again zero additional time, because hey, you’re stuck in class for that class period anyways.
My apologies for my being wordy, it takes too long to write some of these blog entries, so I’m leaving it as is, and hope everyone who reads it catches the heart of what I write. Be blessed and serve one another!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Outreach: Large Event vs Consistency and Small
This is my final post of the three part series. The focus here is on the method of doing outreach. How does one reach out on a college campus that is supersaturated with student orgs all lobbying for students' attention? How does one ensure that a Christian ministry isn't perceived and lumped into all the other orgs on campus? How can our methods of advertising for our events look different than the already thousands of posters that litter our campuses? In sum, how are we going to keep our Christian ministries from being drowned out and fade into the black hole of background noise?
The first thing we can do to ensure our student orgs look different from others is by the way we view the college students. While other student orgs may be prone to look at college students in mass numbers, Christians are to see students as people, not as numbers. Pushing for large turn outs, and seeing a high volume of students at meetings becomes a nauseating measure stick after a while, and falls far short in determining a healthy group. Rather, an important measuring stick to a healthy Christian student org is that no matter what the size of the group, they should leave an impression upon the people they interact with because they are known by their love.
An easy example to put meat on the bones of a large number versus love concept follows. Suppose there are 200 people in the group. However, you notice that 12 new people are scattered throughout the audience, look uneasy, sit alone, or are sitting by another student who feels easy uncomfortable, while everybody else is talking to their longtime friends. Now suppose that another group of Christians have 100 students coming to their meetings. They however, have a mindset right from the start of every night to spot and identify any new people that might come. Right away several of the students spot 8 new people scattered across the crowd. They make it a point to sit by the new people, and start conversations with them to make them feel welcomed. Their business for the night isn't to hang out with their longtime friends who frequent the meetings. No, their business is to help welcome new students to a Christian community where Christ's love isn't questioned, but rather is evident. Which Christian org is more glorifying to God? Which Christian org better carries out the Lord's work?
Now, with emphasis on love over numbers and a "welcoming spirit," what can be done in our practical outreach methods? What are some pros and cons of large versus small outreach events, and how is each perceived on a bustling campus community?
LARGE OUTREACH
CONS
-The campus community may see the outreach as just another student org trying to recruit new members. Campus population becomes bombarded with yet another Christian giving them a pamphlet or telling them to come to some "fun, cool" event. (But they think to themselves, "it's just another Christian meeting/social, and I'm not like them.")
-The campus community misunderstands the message of the gospel because the outreach has a broad scope and so many students are trying to be reached, that no one individual is effectively reached.
-Every Christian in the org marks the date on their calendar of the outreach "event." These few days of the year is when they focus on others. Other than that, it can breed a mentality of inward focus on their on groups and other like themselves.
PROS
-A large number of students are addressed.
-A place for many personality types to get involved with various promotional opportunities to advertise for Christian event, and hand slips out to students asking them to come to the event. Allows many to serve, talk, and meet new faces who might have a difficult time reaching out otherwise.
SMALL OUTREACH
CONS
-A limited number of the student population is addressed.
-Christians not as comfortable starting up conversations with strangers may struggle in building new relationships. This could be a discouragement to them ever trying to reach out.
PROS
-The individual student is the focus, and the individual student is more likely to understand the message of Jesus, feel cared for, and feel loved.
-It's not an "event" it's a lifestyle. Consistency is key as it becomes a habit and a way of life for you.
-More relationship can be built over time than 10 seconds explaining a flyer to a student as he/she passes by on his/her way to class.
-Questions can be raised and "real" issues can be discussed when a relationship has been established. You're not perceived then as just "another Christian" in a non-believer's mind. They will be more prone to listen to you in this venue. Trust can be established in this setting.
All things considered, I must admit I tip scales quite favorably to a small outreach lifestyle philosophy rather than large outreach events. What has been said here only skims the surface on what can be said both positive and negative on both sides.
Most importantly, I pray that my heart would be carved deeper by the sacrifices that Jesus made on my behalf, and in turn live to serve others. When words are difficult to find, express the gospel through sacrificial action and being other-centered. Outreach at its core is not comprised of multiple events, interest cards, and follow up. Outreach is one life sharing a life giving and life altering message with another life. Outreach is draining, outreach is time consuming, but outreach is worth it!
Be blessed my friends and serve one another! We are messengers of the good news!
The first thing we can do to ensure our student orgs look different from others is by the way we view the college students. While other student orgs may be prone to look at college students in mass numbers, Christians are to see students as people, not as numbers. Pushing for large turn outs, and seeing a high volume of students at meetings becomes a nauseating measure stick after a while, and falls far short in determining a healthy group. Rather, an important measuring stick to a healthy Christian student org is that no matter what the size of the group, they should leave an impression upon the people they interact with because they are known by their love.
An easy example to put meat on the bones of a large number versus love concept follows. Suppose there are 200 people in the group. However, you notice that 12 new people are scattered throughout the audience, look uneasy, sit alone, or are sitting by another student who feels easy uncomfortable, while everybody else is talking to their longtime friends. Now suppose that another group of Christians have 100 students coming to their meetings. They however, have a mindset right from the start of every night to spot and identify any new people that might come. Right away several of the students spot 8 new people scattered across the crowd. They make it a point to sit by the new people, and start conversations with them to make them feel welcomed. Their business for the night isn't to hang out with their longtime friends who frequent the meetings. No, their business is to help welcome new students to a Christian community where Christ's love isn't questioned, but rather is evident. Which Christian org is more glorifying to God? Which Christian org better carries out the Lord's work?
Now, with emphasis on love over numbers and a "welcoming spirit," what can be done in our practical outreach methods? What are some pros and cons of large versus small outreach events, and how is each perceived on a bustling campus community?
LARGE OUTREACH
CONS
-The campus community may see the outreach as just another student org trying to recruit new members. Campus population becomes bombarded with yet another Christian giving them a pamphlet or telling them to come to some "fun, cool" event. (But they think to themselves, "it's just another Christian meeting/social, and I'm not like them.")
-The campus community misunderstands the message of the gospel because the outreach has a broad scope and so many students are trying to be reached, that no one individual is effectively reached.
-Every Christian in the org marks the date on their calendar of the outreach "event." These few days of the year is when they focus on others. Other than that, it can breed a mentality of inward focus on their on groups and other like themselves.
PROS
-A large number of students are addressed.
-A place for many personality types to get involved with various promotional opportunities to advertise for Christian event, and hand slips out to students asking them to come to the event. Allows many to serve, talk, and meet new faces who might have a difficult time reaching out otherwise.
SMALL OUTREACH
CONS
-A limited number of the student population is addressed.
-Christians not as comfortable starting up conversations with strangers may struggle in building new relationships. This could be a discouragement to them ever trying to reach out.
PROS
-The individual student is the focus, and the individual student is more likely to understand the message of Jesus, feel cared for, and feel loved.
-It's not an "event" it's a lifestyle. Consistency is key as it becomes a habit and a way of life for you.
-More relationship can be built over time than 10 seconds explaining a flyer to a student as he/she passes by on his/her way to class.
-Questions can be raised and "real" issues can be discussed when a relationship has been established. You're not perceived then as just "another Christian" in a non-believer's mind. They will be more prone to listen to you in this venue. Trust can be established in this setting.
All things considered, I must admit I tip scales quite favorably to a small outreach lifestyle philosophy rather than large outreach events. What has been said here only skims the surface on what can be said both positive and negative on both sides.
Most importantly, I pray that my heart would be carved deeper by the sacrifices that Jesus made on my behalf, and in turn live to serve others. When words are difficult to find, express the gospel through sacrificial action and being other-centered. Outreach at its core is not comprised of multiple events, interest cards, and follow up. Outreach is one life sharing a life giving and life altering message with another life. Outreach is draining, outreach is time consuming, but outreach is worth it!
Be blessed my friends and serve one another! We are messengers of the good news!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Outlasting your Outreach
This is the 2nd piece of the 3 part series. The focus here is to address outreach vision. The title is fitting because it connotes that the individual who did the outreach continues thinking in the same vein afterwards. In sum, the heart still is burdened for the lost long after the specific outreach event is long gone.
The reason why outreach fails I am thoroughly convinced has little to do with how the specific outreach was organized. Now, don't get me wrong. If you go whipping pamphlets in rage at people's heads, and don't bother listening first and only desire for you yourself to be heard, then your results will most likely be failure. But for most other situations, 9 times out of 10 the reason for failure isn't the particular method employed. It's rather what Jesus always said, the issue is the heart.
Now when I say that the issue is the heart, I'm not talking about the heart of the person who is being witnessed to, I'm rather talking about the heart of the one who is witnessing. The Christians' job isn't to change the other's heart, rather their job is to make sure their own heart is faithful to God and a true witness carrying the pure light of God. God's job is to change other people's heart. We simply are to do godly witnessing and leave the results up to God. Our concern is our own heart.
So how is your own heart? Where is the drive to witness? Why do Christians witness, and why should Christians witness? Why did Jesus witness? Jesus came to earth, because the Father wanted to enter into relationship with humanity, and wished to redeem man and bring him out of darkness. God loved man, and so the Father sent His sent. Jesus loved us, and commanded us to tell others about His love. Jesus spoke about how the Holy Spirit would empower us so that we could be godly witnesses.
The reason why God came down to man, is wrapped up in how God viewed man. We were sheep without a shepherd. It is a tender love to love clueless sheep. Lost sheep that didn't know which end was up. And still despite our backwardness and our sin, the Father came to us. Lost sheep don't know their way home. Therefore God came to us.
He came because of our need. We couldn't do it without Him. The worst thing about us sheep, is that we were so lost we didn't even recognize our sickness. We wallowed in sin for so long, we didn't remember that there was a God searching and seeking us.
Jesus' passionate pursuit of us doesn't diminish in strength. He pursued us because He loved us. So will we love others with the same intense love? Will we see lost sheep as Jesus saw them, and seek to be a part in bringing them home, or just judge them with venom? Our duty is simply to love fellow man, and tell them about our Father's great love story.
How much love does your heart have for lost sheep? Do you even seek to associate with them? Do you want to reach out when your organization has an outreach event, and forget about God's command at all other times? If we want to be about Jesus' heart, we must be about the lost. After all, the lost were the reason Jesus came!
Mark 2:16-17 16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" 17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
The reason why outreach fails I am thoroughly convinced has little to do with how the specific outreach was organized. Now, don't get me wrong. If you go whipping pamphlets in rage at people's heads, and don't bother listening first and only desire for you yourself to be heard, then your results will most likely be failure. But for most other situations, 9 times out of 10 the reason for failure isn't the particular method employed. It's rather what Jesus always said, the issue is the heart.
Now when I say that the issue is the heart, I'm not talking about the heart of the person who is being witnessed to, I'm rather talking about the heart of the one who is witnessing. The Christians' job isn't to change the other's heart, rather their job is to make sure their own heart is faithful to God and a true witness carrying the pure light of God. God's job is to change other people's heart. We simply are to do godly witnessing and leave the results up to God. Our concern is our own heart.
So how is your own heart? Where is the drive to witness? Why do Christians witness, and why should Christians witness? Why did Jesus witness? Jesus came to earth, because the Father wanted to enter into relationship with humanity, and wished to redeem man and bring him out of darkness. God loved man, and so the Father sent His sent. Jesus loved us, and commanded us to tell others about His love. Jesus spoke about how the Holy Spirit would empower us so that we could be godly witnesses.
The reason why God came down to man, is wrapped up in how God viewed man. We were sheep without a shepherd. It is a tender love to love clueless sheep. Lost sheep that didn't know which end was up. And still despite our backwardness and our sin, the Father came to us. Lost sheep don't know their way home. Therefore God came to us.
He came because of our need. We couldn't do it without Him. The worst thing about us sheep, is that we were so lost we didn't even recognize our sickness. We wallowed in sin for so long, we didn't remember that there was a God searching and seeking us.
Jesus' passionate pursuit of us doesn't diminish in strength. He pursued us because He loved us. So will we love others with the same intense love? Will we see lost sheep as Jesus saw them, and seek to be a part in bringing them home, or just judge them with venom? Our duty is simply to love fellow man, and tell them about our Father's great love story.
How much love does your heart have for lost sheep? Do you even seek to associate with them? Do you want to reach out when your organization has an outreach event, and forget about God's command at all other times? If we want to be about Jesus' heart, we must be about the lost. After all, the lost were the reason Jesus came!
Mark 2:16-17 16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" 17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
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