Reaching Out

By Mike Wuehler

 

An evangelistic heart: Loves people and passionately desires to see lives transformed through a relationship with Jesus Christ by committing themselves to leading congregations to reach the least, lost and left out, and inviting people on a journey towards radical discipleship resulting in people growing spiritually and the church growing numerically.

 

We have difficulty with numbers. Most churches don’t like to be assessed based on their performance in numerical growth. We feel that the church grows in more ways than just numerically. There is spiritual growth, which is very difficult to put in a spreadsheet or bar graph.  We grow relationally, which is almost impossible to count with numerical accuracy. We grow vibrantly, which is our enthusiasm and excitement about our Christian lives. Vibrancy is another area that is impossible to define with hard numbers.

 

Behind every number there is a person.  When we count members, we are not just adding numbers, we are counting souls.  An Evangelistic Heart is concerned with reaching out to lost and lonely souls who have not received the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

As pastors, we have to see ourselves as evangelistic leaders.  This means we help guide our church members to reach out to the areas and people of our communities where we can find the unchurched and they can find God’s love among us.

 

As evangelists, all pastors are called to model what outreach looks like.  I often hear pastors say that church growth is not their responsibility, they can’t do outreach alone.  Let me say that you are incorrect in that statement.  As the spiritual leader of the church, you are personally responsible for inviting people to church and inspiring your congregation to do the same.

 

An evangelistic heart means we think so much of our church and our faith that we cannot contain the “Good News” of Jesus Christ.  When was the last time you personally invited someone to church?

 

Blessings,

Mike Wuehler

Make Disciples of Jesus Christ

Published monthly for the leadership of the United Methodist Churches in the SE District MN Conference