Church, It's Time To Reach Your Community
Some Thoughts About Evangelizing And Serving Your Community
It was the apostle Paul who said, “now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it“ (1 Corinthians 12:27 ESV). Have you ever just stopped to consider the impact of that description? Have you ever taken the time to reflect upon what it actually means to be the body of Christ?
The church is the body of Christ. That description helps us to appreciate just how special the church is to Jesus, and it reveals how we are deeply connected to Christ as our Lord and Savior. But this thought also carries a huge responsibility. As the body of Christ, we are called to be his hands, feet, eyes, and ears here upon this earth. The Lord desires to work through his church, using us as his saved body to accomplish his purposes and work in this lost and dying world. The fact that we are the Lord’s body is a great comfort, but it’s also a heavenly charge. It’s a charge we can’t take lightly!
I strongly believe our mission to be the body of Christ demands that we evangelize and serve our own community. Each local church sits in its own community, and it has its own zip code. These communities are filed with lost, hurting, desperate, and struggling people who need Jesus. These communities are filled with problems and woes that only the Gospel of Christ can fix. Imagine the impact the church could have on this world if each and every local congregation was engaging its specific community with love, good works, and the saving message of the Gospel. Just imagine if every congregation was actually being the body of Christ in their community!
Unfortunately, it’s far too easy for congregations to become inward focused where little (if any) attention is directed beyond the walls of the church building. Churches can easily fall into the rut of just paying their bills, ritualistically assembling for worship and Bible Study, and doing the same routine things without making any impact whatsoever on their community. Additionally, many congregations mistakingly believe they are outward focused simply because they channel funds overseas to support various mission fields throughout the world. The mission of Jesus is certainly great, but let’s never forget that the great commission begins next door. We cannot afford to neglect the mission field in our own backyard. Sadly, many congregations could close their doors tomorrow and their community would barely take notice. What a shame! We are called to be the body of Christ!
To be the body of Christ in our community, we must fulfill the command of Jesus to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19-20). This starts with our immediate surroundings, ensuring that the people in our neighborhoods hear the life-changing message of the Gospel. We must, therefore, find fresh and effective ways to carry the Gospel into our community. What worked back in the 1950s might not be as effective today. We should be willing to try new things, learn from our mistakes, and strive to be more effective year by year to reach the souls in within our reach.
We also need to know that evangelism isn’t just about words. In Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus identified loving God and your neighbor as being the first and second greatest commandments in the Bible. As a local church, we should be busy ministering to our community with good works, actively showing love to our neighbors. Remember, our local communities are filled with struggling people—spiritually, emotionally, and physically. When the church is ministering to the lost and hurting in their community, they are demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus. Serving churches become beacons of hope for their community, and they certainly save souls for Jesus.
Additionally, the church is called to be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16). Local churches have the power to shine God’s light of truth and grace in their community, but that requires something more than merely keeping the light bill paid for the church building. You have to serve and evangelize your community to be a light in this darkened world! When a church engages their community, they build trust, forge relationships, and demonstrate the grace of God to people who feel hopeless.
Aside from those wonderful possibilities, churches that serve their community strengthen the faith and unity of their own membership. Christianity isn’t just about sitting in pews; it’s about putting our faith into action and living out the Gospel in tangible ways. When churches find creative ways to love, serve, and reach their communities, they give their members opportunities to use their talents, work together, and become an active member of the body of Christ. Serving the community makes an impact on the world, but serving the community also makes an impact on the church!
So whether you are a church leader or just a devoted church member, I want to challenge you to think more seriously about your local community. Pray about your community. Learn your community. Work at becoming intimately aware of the needs within your community. Find ways to start loving and serving that community. Spend money serving and teaching your community. Fully commit to be a church that’s known for engaging, loving, serving, and evangelizing its own zip code. Local churches that evangelize and serve their community reflect the heart of God, help transform lives of lost and hurting people, and make a lasting impact for the kingdom. Local churches that love and serve their community can accurately be described as the body of Christ because they are doing the work of Christ where they have been planted. So let’s be the body of Christ!
It’s time to reach your community!