From Us to Them
Walter Bennett
In my role with Organic Outreach International, I have the privilege of working with leaders who are committed to changing the DNA of their congregations. The desired outcome is a culture where every Christian wakes up every morning praying that God will fill them with an awareness of those He has lined up to cross their path that day with a divine appointment. They would recognize opportunities and invest the time in these encounters to move relationships along a trajectory that begins with sharing how God has worked (and continues to work) in their life, in good times and bad, and eventually leads to a full sharing of the Gospel and invitation to enter a living relationship with Jesus. The vision of Organic Outreach is that ordinary Christians would lift up prayers to encounter people they have never met as well as specific people or family members who have been in their lives for years or even their entire life.
One challenge of affecting this kind of culture shift in many churches today is that the starting point is so far in the opposite direction. Many church members look at their church like a country club—its purpose for existence is to serve the members—“They call it a sanctuary for a reason, right?”
As daunting as it may seem to even consider overcoming this mindset, with prayer, faith, and perseverance it can be done. In a recent cohort session of pastors working toward this kind of culture change, one of the pastors shared the following story.
When Jim first arrived at New Hope, he had a member say to him “Jim, the previous pastor, was so involved in wanting to reach out to others that he didn’t take care of us. This church would be so much bigger if the pastor had just taken care of us more.” Jim’s response to this gentleman was that the problem was exactly the opposite. The problem was that the outreach of New Hope had been left up to one person—the pastor! The pastor felt that he had to do outreach because no one else was doing it. Jim then proposed a deal to this member—if he would help Jim convince everyone in the church that they should be responsible for, and participate in, reaching out and sharing the gospel with others, Jim would promise to take care of everyone doing outreach. An agreement was struck and the process began. What Jim discovered in the following months was that the more people engaged in outreach, the less demanding they were that the pastor cared for them. Jim began to see a shift—instead of people coming running to him with all of their own needs, they were coming to him with the needs of the people they were reaching out to. They began sharing the needs of their neighbors and co-workers. The people of New Hope were becoming less needy because they were focusing on the needs of others.
In this regard, focusing on needs is much like the focus of our eyes. We cannot focus on an object on the horizon and another right in front of us at the same time. It’s just not possible! At New Hope, they are learning to train their focus on the lost and, in that pursuit, finding that their needs become less pressing. I believe that part of this is because, in the process of shifting focus, they realized that the ultimate need in their lives has already been met – and is completely unmet in the lives of so many others around them—the need for the saving grace that only a relationship with Jesus Christ can provide. In stepping back and gaining perspective, personal needs became inconsequential in comparison to the needs of others in their lives.
Changing the culture of any organization requires more than pointing out the need for change. It requires leadership that draws people into experiences that create an internal desire to change. This kind of systemic change does not happen overnight and it does not happen without sustained intentionality, but it can happen. What is certain is that this kind of culture shift will never happen if it has never begun—and it begins with bold leaders who demonstrate their commitment through their own lives and actions.
