Imagine vacationing in Germany and finally accomplishing one of your bucket-list items — driving on the Autobahn. As you drive, you move at increasing speed, enjoying the freedom of the experience. Out of nowhere, your car loses speed, sputters, and dies as you coast to the side of the highway.
You’ve just run out of gas on the Autobahn.
After a few minutes, an officer pulls up and approaches your vehicle. To your surprise, instead of helping you out of your predicament, he issues you a costly ticket for running out of gas. You learn running out of gas on the Autobahn is illegal and considered a dangerous and preventable error.
In the same way, failing to reach our community with the gospel is a preventable, costly error — one we should not hastily excuse away.
For the past few months, one of Jesus’ parables has been at the front of my mind. It is found in Matthew 21:28-32. Much happens in this passage of Scripture, but I want to focus on verses 28- 31. A man had two sons and asked them to go work in his vineyard. One responded with an immediate no but then repented and did the work his father requested. The other said yes to his father but never went to work. In verse 31, Jesus asks those listening, “Who did the will of his father?”
When we reflect on this passage, we will realize we’ve all been guilty of being the second son. I know I have. However, thanks to God’s grace and our free will, we can choose to be like the first son who repents, turns from error, and fulfills his father’s request.
What does this look like in the context of obeying God’s command that we reach our communities with His truth? How do we reach them?
Know Your Community
The best way to reach our community is to first be a student of our community. Our denominational leaders have done a fantastic job of providing resources to learn about those living within a certain community radius and equipping us to meet their needs. As a church planter in Jamestown, North Dakota, I can use these tools to quickly tell you the demographics and psychographics of our community. In fact, when we first arrived in Jamestown, people were impressed with how much I already knew about their city.
However, while I knew many of Jamestown’s statistics, I didn’t know much about its real culture. When a church fails to understand the culture around it, it misses opportunities to minister. Just because certain practical decisions or ministries have worked well in one community does not mean they can or should be replicated in another. Learn about your neighbors, talk to them, attend community events, and simply watch and listen. You will be surprised by what you can learn about your community and its needs just by being a part of it.
Serve Your Community
Though it is an important first step, knowing your community isn’t enough to effectually reach it with the gospel. You must also serve your community.
Sounds straightforward, right? Know your community and serve your community. Yet many believers struggle to serve their community. They consistently attend a local church but never take meaningful action beyond its doors to engage with those around them.
Since arriving in Jamestown, we have made intentional choices to engage with the community. My wife Allison began volunteering at the local Youth for Christ (YFC), and I accepted a position as a hospice chaplain in the regional hospital. What has come from this? A mother whose son attends YFC is interested in attending our church when we launch. The hospice chaplaincy, a vital, needed ministry in many communities, has allowed me to share the gospel with people, and we have seen them saved just days or hours before their passing.
One gentleman on hospice would yell for “help” every few moments when I first visited him. After a few visits, I told him about the peace that comes from Christ and the assurance of salvation. Want to know what happened? He stopped yelling for help and found peace. I saw him a few hours before his death and told him, “If you are confident Christ has saved you, you’re ready to go, and I will see you on the other side.” He passed two hours later.
Serving in areas like these allows us to minister beyond the traditional church ministries so many of us already do.
Another way we can serve our community is by being present. Show up to events, whether council meetings, school board meetings, sporting events, groundbreaking ceremonies, or community happenings. Showing up speaks to the community, telling them you care. I have many stories about relationships developed from simply attending meetings and events.
I know what you are thinking: “I don’t have time to do all of that.” Many of us are bi-vocational ministers or lay people who have jobs that involve most of our day. We may also have children who need our time and care. Can I repeat a popular saying I’m sure you have heard hundreds of times? You make time for what you really care about. God has given us talents and abilities. Through our willingness to do more, those talents can be used to reach others for Christ.
I am not saying community involvement will always result in excellent church growth or countless salvation experiences. But failing to reach our community is a preventable error that extracts a high cost. Simply being willing to know your community and serve it faithfully will lead to gospel opportunities. Gospel opportunities lead to seeds being sown and potential opportunities to water and reap gospel fruit.
About the Writer: Justin Feight is the lead church planter at Embark FWB Church in Jamestown, North Dakota. He and his wife Allison have two children with a third on the way. To learn more about their ministry and follow their church planting journey, visit fwbnam.com/feight.
