I am learning new things as a pastor. One aspect about being a pastor that I have been surprised by is the high number of requests that I get for our church to get involved in some project or other non-profit group within Ocala. It has happened so many times that I felt that I needed to write an article titled, “Yes, YOU are the church!” to help explain how our church is currently handling these opportunities.
What I mean by that is this: I think that we too often forget that the church is people. Christians. So when a Christian says, “I wish our church was involved in such-and-such ministry” I am learning what I need to say to that person is, “Wait a minute! You are a Christian who is a part of our church! And you are involved in such-and-such ministry. So, that means our church IS involved in that ministry!”
So, let me take some time to explain Good News Church’s outreach strategy to you. It’s called “Invest & Invite” and it’s really quite simple. We are asking every person who is a part of Good News to invest in the life of someone (or more than one person) who is not actively walking with, or in a relationship with, God. Pray for them. Care for them. And then, eventually, invite them in on what God is doing at Good News. In addition to that, we suggest each person “serve” in some capacity. For some people they will best be able to do this by starting a small group. Others may want to volunteer to be a part of a ministry team at Good News (like joining the cleaning team or helping out in KidZone.) Still other people may choose to volunteer at a non-profit organization outside of Good News Church.
The cool part about this strategy is that every Christian can do whatever outreach they believe God has called them to do! No need to ask Mario about it. No need to get some committee’s approval. Each Christian just goes and serves in the way God has called them to do it! You can choose whatever kind of ministry you want to be involved in, and then go volunteer!
Isn’t that exciting?
Also, if you recently started attending Good News, I wanted to let you know that I preached a sermon back in February that addressed this issue. So if you would like a longer explanation, feel free to listen to it now.
The only issue that I see with this strategy, is that there are some people who don’t just want one or two people from Good News to be involved in a particular ministry. Some people want a whole bunch of people from Good News to be involved in a particular ministry. But they don’t want to actually go around and ask all those people to get involved. They would prefer that I do that part. So, when they say, “Mario, can Good News get involved in _______________?” what they actually mean is, “Mario will you promote (or recruit or announce) this particular ministry?”
That makes sense, since I am the guy who wears a microphone and makes announcements. But I feel it is important that I explain why I have to say “no” to that particular request the majority of the time:
- Because there are just too many good causes. If I promoted, announced, and recruited volunteers for every ministry that asked me to do it, I’d probably have an endless line of ministries to promote. I’d be talking about so many ministries so much of the time. And I imagine as our church grows this would only get more extreme.
- I think it’s also important for me to remember that my primary job is to preach the Bible. To pastor people, to help people understand and apply the Bible. I believe that is the #1 gift God has given me. So my job is not to serve as a volunteer recruiter for the non-profit organizations of Marion County. And I really do believe that the kingdom of God, as a whole, is better off when I stick to doing the thing that God has called me to do. I might be wrong about that. Only time will tell.
Anyway, the next time you think to yourself, “I’m gonna’ ask Mario if the church can get involved in ___________?” I figured I should tell you the answer: Go for it. “Yes! YOU are the church!”
I love being your pastor.
