How Can I Do a Better Job of Engaging People Where They Are At?

(Part 1 of 3 to the questions presented in my recent blog post "The Monkey and the Fish")

One of the challenges I discovered of serving in full-time ministry was the limited amount of time I spent with people that weren't connected to the church.  This was in no way the fault of the churches I was a apart of as it was my schedule and my choice how I invested my time.  The one thing I built my ministry on was life change and living life together. Suprisingly...this was also one of the main things I didn't contribute to on a weekly basis.  I know that spending your time developing Christ followers is a wise investment and teaching them "how to fish" widens your influence, but I was encouraging them to do something that I was not consistently doing.  Lately, I have been thinking more about this and what I need to do differently starting now to make sure I don't fall back into this circumstance again.  Here are some of my thoughts..

1. Have an Off-site Office Location - If I want to engage people where they are at, I should be more intentional of allowing myself to be....where THEY are at.  Making time every week to do some work at a coffee shop, bookstore or on the college campus can open up doors to friendships I wouldn't normally have if I were to spend all of my time at a church.  Maybe if I would have done this more when I was younger I wouldn't have fooled myself into thinking Carman was ever cool.  Yeah...I just went there. 

2. Get Involved With Non-Profits That are not Affiliated With a Church - There are a lot of great people and non-profits who are doing very positive things in the community that are not connected to a church body.  It shouldn't matter if someone is Christian, Muslim or Agnostic, I should work to find common ground with these groups because we all want to leave our communities better off through helping however we can.  Sometimes I can get so caught up in where they stand spiritually that I end up looking past all of the similarities we have that could make for a lasting friendship.  I have always found it easier to talk to friends about Christ than it is to talk to complete strangers.  Working with these people and groups can also show them that the church doesn't have to do everything with an agenda or to get accolades, they just want to truly serve people that are in need.  

3. Be Quicker to Listen - What if I actually took the time to listen to what people are telling me?  You see by nature I am a bit of a fixer.  When people have problems I want to provide them with the road map that will lead them to their solution.  It has taken me being married to the most incredible woman in the world to realize that sometimes people don't need me to fix their problems.  Sometimes people just want to know that you care enough to listen.  I need to continue to improve in this area of my life.  When you let people speak and they know that you care about what they are sharing with you, you build trust.  Through that trust you are given access to some of the deepest and darkest areas in their lives.  You can get an opinion about almost anything from anyone.  But finding someone who will truly take the time to let you share and is wiling to just be an ear to you, share your burdens with you, and love you through your situations (both good and bad), those people are very rare to find.  I want to be that kind of person for as many people as I can possibly be.  

Jesus commands all of us in Matthew chapter 28 to "go and make disciples".  Not everyone is going to call your receptionist and schedule an appointment to meet with you....most people are waiting for you to come to them.  

Comments

[Tyler Staton]

Great thoughts! After working in a local non-profit (not a church) I have realized how desperate we are for volunteers. It seems like sometimes the church is SO focused on doing there own thing that they forget to check out and help those who are already doing it well. I guess some churches have a secret desire to be inbred.

[Sam]

Inbred churches? You need to coin that term. Truth is, I don't think that it's intentional. I believe most churches and individual Christians have the desire to doing something in the community and the default is always to start it themselves. I just believe, like you do, that it could be more of a benefit to the community and to a churches identity to link arms with others doing positive things in the community too. Thanks for the comment.