Building Out Your Vision by Thinking Outward, Part 1

By Jerry Harris

To focus outward means that the church’s primary concern is the people outside its walls and influence. It means that the church’s assets—its money, its talent, its time, and its facility—are focused toward reaching into that group. Every church will tell you that they have an outward focus. They know that Jesus’ great commandment and great commission are clear about it. The painful reality is that even though churches would claim to be outward, their activity, teaching, finances, ministries, and even architecture tell a different story. There is a gravity that pulls the church inward where the concerns are for those inside its walls. Church budgets reflect most of the money spent to minister to the saved. The building is filled with classrooms used only an hour or two a week. The songs chosen for worship are the ones church people know and love. Church boards and by-laws are designed to keep it that way, being weighed down with bureaucracy and tradition. Any changes to reach out in new ways are quickly squelched by the status quo. The fact that very few unfamiliar faces appear in church is a constant reminder of missing the mark. Many of these traditional churches are so afraid of how change would affect the usual that they would rather curse the darkness than venture out into the darkness and light a candle.  

Gravitating Toward Stability 

Virtually everything else in society is in a constant state of motion, reinventing itself again and again. Of all the institutions in a community, the church represents one of the most stable. Its stability is tied to its resistance to change. Many view that stability like the feel of an old pair of jeans or a comfortable blanket to wrap up in. It’s safe and predictable, like an oasis in a crazy world surrounding you with happy memories and generations-old friendships. It’s a lot to give up for people who don’t value what you do. Even so, Jesus didn’t call his children to personal comfort, but to his commandment and commission.  

Serving While Trusting 

Some might see this approach as out of balance. Don’t we have a responsibility to take care of those who have come into a relationship with Christ? My experience has taught me that when we concern ourselves with the needs that God has called us to, he will take care of ours. When we focus on our own needs, we not only marginalize our God-given responsibility; we replace dependence on him for independence. We push him out of all the ways we experience him meeting our needs. The children of Israel were punished by being made to wander in the desert for 40 years because of the fear that replaced their faith in God. For me, Numbers 14:2-3 records what pushed God over the line. It says, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and our children will be taken as plunder” (New International Version). They lacked faith in God’s ability to take care of them, especially the weakest of them. God responded by granting their request. Every one of them, with the exception of two spies, died in that desert and the children (that God was considered incapable of providing for) were the ones who took the land 40 years later. When we cast all our cares on him, expending our energy being outwardly focused, I would have a hard time believing that God wouldn’t honor that in a mighty way.  

For an outwardly focused church, the competition is not the other churches in the area. The competition is every other available use of time. For people outside of an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Sunday is a great day to sleep in, read a good book, or just spend time with family. It’s an opportunity to get some of those chores crossed off the list or get over last night’s hangover. An outwardly focused church confronts the question, “Why would I give up these other things to come to church?” Is there something more valuable there that would justify my spending some of the most important currency I have: my time?  

The Gospel in a Changing Culture 

Most people have already answered that question. The answer is based upon a pre-conceived notion of what church is. Honestly, the church is fighting an uphill battle in American culture. The church is seen as homophobic, sheltered, too political, and judgmental. Even though we would argue with these perceptions, there is no denying that many churches are either shrinking or closing, as they fail to figure out ways to bridge the cultural gap and remain uncompromising with biblical truth. Prognosticators present a pretty dismal future for the church. Churches have a hard time engaging. with the prevailing culture. It’s not an easy road and certainly not business as usual. First, it’s hard to hit a moving target. Culture is constantly morphing, requiring never-ending adjustments and evaluation. It requires exploration of changes that reach into areas that may not be doctrinal but are certainly understood as foundational. Instead of embracing the changes necessary to engage the culture we find ourselves in, we end up competing with each other for those who already attend church. We try to build a better mousetrap, so to speak. That’s why the majority of growth in American churches is no growth at all—even in megachurches. It is simply people moving from one church to another.  

In my next column, I’ll share how we might address these issues to sharpen our outward focus.