Outreach Mistake #2: Not catching an adequate variety of fish

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Mistake #2. Not trying to catch an adequate variety of fish.

Typical human nature encourages us to reach out only to those who are like us…to those who look like us, who live in houses similar to ours, who work at places similar to where we work. God, on the other hand, is a fan of variety. On the first day of the Church’s history, the Day of Pentecost, God saw to it that the single people group of the Semitic Jews were joined by thirteen people groups from all over the world. In other words, God likes diversity a LOT! If we hope to connect with God is doing in outreach, we need to reach out to lots of different kinds of people.

We need to try numbers of different approaches to outreach if we hope to make an adequate impact on our community.

When I go fishing I’m not so much in love with fishing itself even though we call it that. What I’m really after is CATCHING! My guess is you are like that as well. If you aren’t catching anything you are just a knucklehead standing next to the water holding a pole! It is catching that causes it all to make sense.

When it comes to catching I’m not all that picky about what I hook and land. After all, I am a fisherman. I’m not a Troutman nor am I a bassman or a catfisherman. God is in love with all sorts of people. He wants to use you to reach out to a variety of people, not just one kind. The of the primary marks of God’s favor upon your church is that it will attract a variety of different kinds of people. Different kinds of people falling in love with Jesus. To only focus on those like us, in a word, is boring. Let’s spice it up. Let’s embrace the entire city.

Mistake #3

Steve has spoken, mentored and modeled to churches and leaders around the world with the simple message that anyone – regardless of their gifting or experience – can be involved in bringing God’s loving kindness to others. His first book, Conspiracy of Kindness has been translated into several languages with more in the works. His first book has sold over 300,000 copies. Altogether his books have sold over 500,000 copies.