A Simple Strategy For Being A Blessing To The World Around You

Decision fatigue. Do you know what that is? It's when you know you need to make a decision but you have too many options to choose from so you become overwhelmed. It's basically what happens every time you go down the chip aisle at the grocery store. One of the worst things about decision fatigue is how often it keeps us from making a decision altogether. Sure, if it's a matter of "Which chips?" you just pick one, but if it's a matter of "What step do I take?" or "Where do I start?" most often we just don't move at all. Too many decisions often lead to indecision, which inevitably leads to inaction.

I've been wrestling with decision fatigue for a couple of years now, specifically in the area of evangelism and outreach. I believe one of the greatest purposes of the Church is to be outside the walls of our buildings, loving people to Christ. We've done plenty of events here and there, sent volunteers to homeless shelters, held worship events downtown and prayed throughout the streets. But I have felt this great conviction to be more consistently present in our community. So, I began brainstorming and looking at different strategies and sure enough, decision fatigue reared its ugly head. And so there I sat, for quite some time, a victim of too many decisions, resulting in indecision, resulting in inaction. Perhaps you can relate.

THE WORD

Jesus called His twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. -Matthew 10:1

Matthew 10 marks a major turning point in Jesus' ministry. His strategy for reaching the world turns from "come and see" to "go and tell." The crowds were getting bigger, and people were coming from further and further away to encounter the Teacher they heard stories about. But Jesus knew this wasn't sustainable.

So, He calls His twelve disciples together and makes them Apostles. Disciple means "learning one" but Apostle means "sent one." How did He turn them into Apostles? He didn't wave a magic wand over them, nor did He take them through His forty-day E-course online, where all His secrets are revealed!

No Jesus makes them "sent ones" by... sending them. He gathers them, then He sends them. It's that simple. Yet, much of the Church still struggles with this today. We gather in our buildings with good intentions; to be close to Him, to encounter His presence and His Word, and rightfully so! Then, if we're feeling bold, we might invite someone from work to gather with us. "Come to my Church, it's awesome!" That's great too.

But the call to GATHER doesn't replace the call to GO (and vice versa). When Jesus shifted His followers from gathering to going, the reach of the gospel grew exponentially.

COMING TO CHURCH VS. COMING TO CHRIST

I wonder how difficult it must've been for the disciples who went out in Matthew 10 to various towns with instructions to heal the sick, raise the dead, and do all the other things Jesus had been doing. I mean, the first person I encountered who needed healing, I likely would've abandoned the mission and said, "Here, let me just take you to Jesus, He can do this WAY better!"

But Jesus empowered them to carry the Kingdom with them. And that's what we're empowered to do as well.

Every believer needs to belong to a local Church, but coming to Church doesn't save anyone. Coming to Christ does.

One of the biggest hurdles to getting an outreach strategy off of the ground in our Church was the tension between the Church and the Kingdom mindset. When I would talk about the need for us to be more involved in our city, I could immediately see the confusion on people's faces, not because they didn't care about our city but because we have no more room for people in our church.

Currently our church is running three services on Sundays and most of the time they're all fairly full. Here's my point: many people confuse reaching the lost with growing our Churches. It's true, reaching the lost will certainly grow the Church, but getting people in Church is not the goal of outreach, it's getting them in Christ.

So, do you know what we did? We put an end to the fatigue, and we decided to simply ACT. We mapped out 500 homes and apartments surrounding our Church and we compiled a bag of groceries with gospel tracts to deliver to each one. We coordinated volunteers to assemble the bags, volunteers to deliver them in teams on a Saturday morning, and volunteers to gather for prayer while our teams went out. We decided to make a Matthew 10 shift as a Church to not only GATHER but GO.

A STRATEGY FOR BLESSING

I'm willing to bet you feel that same conviction. You want to share Jesus with others but you just don't know exactly how. You want to be a blessing to others but decisions lead to indecision which results in inaction. I want to share with you a simple strategy I learned from Pastor and Author Jon Ferguson. It will take the fatigue out of your decision-making and will help you answer the call to love your neighbor as yourself. It's also follows the acronym BLESS which makes it easy to remember. Here we go:

B - Begin With Prayer

In order to bless others, we must begin by meeting with God on a daily basis to obtain His heart for the lost around us. Notice the first thing Jesus does in Matthew 10 before He sends them out, He calls them in. Jesus always gives you His heart before He gives you His mission.

Almost two years ago, I began asking the Lord to give our Church a heart for the Sandhills of North Carolina. The region of the state where we live is one of the most neglected regions in North Carolina. I've shared all the statistics with our Church, we know all of the stereotypes and comments regularly made about our city, and we've determined to only let it serve as fuel for our prayer lives. We've not only made this place our home, we've made it our mission.

The same is true of the people in your everyday life. You know Christ today likely because of the prayers someone else prayed for you. What would happen if you made a prayer list full of names of people you work with, go to school with, or those who are in your family who are far from God? What would happen if you became intentional about praying for them regularly? I'll tell you what would happen, you would be a blessing.

L - LISTEN

Author David Augsburger once wrote, “Being heard is the closest feeling to being loved. They’re almost indistinguishable.” In other words, listening is loving.

Do you realize how much of Jesus’ ministry was just listening to people’s questions?! And He didn’t answer most of them! You don’t have to have answers for the people you give a listening ear to. Most of the time people don’t need answers anyway, they just need to be heard. Listening to others presents the opportunity to encourage them deeply and to love them well.

What would happen if you just got really good at asking questions that enabled you to hear a person's heart and then got really good at listening as well? What would happen if you created margin in your life to check on the people around you? I'll tell you what would happen, you would be a blessing.

E- EAT

Someone reading this just said to themselves, "Finally, something I can do!" Jesus ate with everyone! He ate at festivals and weddings. He ate in the home of pharisees, tax collectors, strangers, and societal rejects. He ate His last supper with men who would betray Him and deny Him, then, after resurrecting, gathered those same men and cooked breakfast! Jesus married the ministry and the meal. He not only ate with people, He also fed the hungry and even gave His Church a meal to serve as communion with Him. Sharing a meal with others is a sacred practice that dates back to the dawn of time.

I remember one year when I was teaching, I had one of my high school seniors set a goal at the beginning of the year to have a meal with every single person in her senior class by the end of the year. A lofty goal, but definitely one that seemed to capture the heart of Jesus. Jon Ferguson says, "On average you’re going to eat 21 meals a week, don’t do them all alone!"

What would happen if you invited your neighbors to a meal once a month or if you brought dessert to a different house every few weeks? What would happen if you saw your meals as an opportunity to bless others? I’ll tell you what would happen, you would be a blessing.

S - SERVE

Serving and meeting the needs of others is the most effective way to demonstrate the love of Jesus. But how can we find out what needs they have? By praying for them, listening to them, and eating with them! If you listen long enough, you’ll discover how you can serve them.

To be clear, this is not about serving people so that you can get them to pray a prayer with you. Jesus served with no hidden motive or agenda. He washed the feet of the man He knew would sell Him out for 30 silver coins. He washed the feet of another man who would deny Him three times in His darkest moment. Jesus did not serve them in order to persuade them. He served them because He loved them. Serving is about blessing. Christ first served us, so we serve Him by serving others.

What would happen if you picked one neighbor a month mowed their lawn or asked them if you could help with anything? What if you asked around at work if anyone knows someone who needs help with anything? I’ll tell you what would happen, you would be a blessing.

S - SHARE

Share your story. Share the gospel. Share Jesus!

Like it or not, there is only one way to God and that is through Jesus. He's not one of many ways, nor is He an option among others. He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life. He said so in John 14:6. That’s why He commands us to go and make disciples of every nation because He is what people need.

There’s an old quote from Francis of Assisi that says “Preach the gospel and use words if necessary.” It's a beautiful quote that sums up the reality that the gospel is demonstrated through our behavior and actions. Church history tells us Francis was a powerful man of God who fearlessly declared the gospel. But sadly, many have used that one quote from Francis of ASSISI to justify being a SISSY in their faith! (Get it?)

While I'm a firm believer our lives can and should demonstrate the gospel, Romans tells us it’s by the hearing of the Word that people come to faith! Words are necessary for the gospel to go forth! No one can believe unless they hear, and no one can hear unless we share! We’re not responsible for what people do with it – and you’re not going to always say the right thing or the best thing in the best way – but we are all called to carry the good news of Jesus to those around us.

What would happen if you got really good at sharing our own story of how Jesus saved you? How He encountered you and changed your life? I’ll tell you what would happen, you would be a blessing.

CONCLUSION

In case you're wondering how our outreach event went, we had a phenomenal day. Our teams felt so empowered with the love of Jesus as they connected with our neighbors, gave away groceries, and prayed with people, many whom expressed great needs. On Easter we had one family from the neighborhood in particular who visited our Church for the first time. By the end of the day their teenage daughter went through our course online to begin the process of being water baptized. How much does it cost to bring a soul to Christ? Evidently about $8.00. That's roughly what each grocery bag cost us. Seems well worth it to me.

Don't overthink it. Being a blessing is simple, it just requires you to act. Go be a blessing to someone this week.

*If you would like to learn more about the BLESS approach, visit theblessapp.com for all kinds of resources and download an app that will strategically help you walk out each of these purposes.