CHAPTER 2: ALIGNING OUR DEFINING
"Outreach" that Actually Reaches Out
By Jonathan McKee
(This article is an excerpt from Jonathan's new book
GETTING STUDENTS TO SHOW UP.)
The word outreach is slapped onto the titles of a variety of programs. It's a
buzzword that's probably thrown around a lot more than it's actually thought about.
I've been to hundreds of "outreach" programs where no reaching out took
place. Instead, the purpose of these programs always seemed to be worship or helping
Christians grow in their faith. Noble purposes, indeed-but not "outreach" by any means.
I've spoken at "outreach" rallies where the first thing out of the
emcee's mouth is "How many of you are here to celebrate Jesus?"
Think about that for a second.
How many students who aren't believers do you think came to that event to
"celebrate Jesus"? Granted, many of these "rallies" are full of Christians who scream in
excitement and yell in celebration, so the statement isn't usually received poorly. But
what's wrong with this picture?
I see two oversights:
- Why is our audience 90 percent Christians? We're talking about an
outreach program, right? At an outreach program we might want to draw
teenagers who don't believe in Jesus yet. Do you remember Jeff Goldblum's character in
Jurassic Park? During that first uneventful tour of the park, he says, "Now
eventually you might have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour, right?" He taps on the
camera. "Hello? Yes?"
So why aren't the "outreach kids" attending? Didn't our church kids believe us when we
said, "Bring your friends who need to hear about Jesus"? The sad truth: Our audience
is often made up of the wrong students. No wonder they didn't object when we yelled,
"How many of you are here to celebrate Jesus?"
Which leads us to our second blunder.
- If we're trying to draw out unbelievers, then why are we talking to them
as though they're already Christians?
Imagine you're asked to emcee the MTV Music Awards. The arena is decorated. All
of the hottest artists have walked the red carpet and taken their seats. The crowd is
full of screaming music fans. Now the program begins, and you walk onstage and yell,
"How many of you are here to celebrate Jesus?"
Awkward.
None of us would yell such a phrase to that crowd. So why do we do it at our
"outreach" events?
The truth of the matter is this: Many of us label our programs "outreach," but we don't
always draw the students we're supposed to reach. Even if we do, we often talk to them as
if they're Christians. Why?
What if some of the difficulty lies in the fact that we don't really
know much about this "animal" we're attempting to tame? We've never taken the time to
really look at our goals for this kind of programming and put it into words. We never
took the time to define it.
Maybe we should try to identify exactly whom we're targeting and what we're trying to
achieve.
Defining an Outreach Program
The following is a sample definition we can use as a tool to keep us accountable to our
goal of reaching out. This isn't THE definition; it's simply one way to define whom we're
targeting and what we're trying to achieve.
OUTREACH PROGRAM: An event,
activity, or program used as a means to
attract those who don't know Jesus and
point them to Jesus.
Breaking It Down
I'd like to make three key observations about the above definition.
1. You'll need to decide how you're going to "point them to Jesus."
That's the goal of everything we're doing here. If "pointing them to Jesus" is our
purpose, how are we going to do it?
I know it seems basic, but you'd be surprised by the number of youth
events I attend every year where no one knows the purpose of the event. The whole reason
most of us do outreach events is so we can point people toward Jesus. I don't know about
you, but I'm really not in the business of feeding teenagers pizza or selling tickets to a
basketball tournament. I want to impact students' lives with the life-changing message of
Jesus Christ. So first things first: Figure out how we're going to point them to
Jesus.
The most common way is to share the gospel message. If this is your
specific purpose, then everything you do during the program should point toward sharing the
gospel. Don't let anything interfere with it. Don't let your "cool game" run so long that
the speaker has less time to share God's truth or the counselors don't have time to meet
with students one-on-one.
Sharing the gospel isn't the only way to point them to Jesus.
Chapter 3 will show us several different examples of how to do it, and it will also guide
us through the process of selecting our purpose and keeping our eyes fixed on that
goal.
But purpose isn't the only important part of this definition.
2. You need a draw to "attract those who don't know Jesus."
We can't achieve our purpose if no one is there. What will get them there? Our definition
says we need to "attract those who don't know Jesus." How are we going to do that? What
will attract them?
One of the most neglected elements I see in programs across the country is
draw. Most people just book a band and a speaker. Sound familiar?
Forget about our church kids for a second. Have we ever stopped to ask a
teenager who's never been to church if he's even remotely interested in coming out to listen
to some Christian band and Jonathan McKee? His answer would probably be, "Who and who?"
So what works? Don't worry. In chapter 4 we'll not only reinforce the
necessity of draw, but we'll also give several examples that work.
But the definition doesn't end with purpose and draw. It
also talks about our target audience. Hence, my third observation about our definition of
outreach program follows.
3. Remember: Your audience is "those who don't know Jesus." So don't treat them like
they do!
One of the worst things we can do to non-Christians is make them feel like they don't
belong. Yet we do it all the time.
I won't spend a lot of time on this point. I devoted an entire book to the
subject of understanding and reaching unchurched teenagers called
Do They Run When They See You
Coming? Reaching Out to Unchurched Teenagers (Youth Specialties/Zondervan, 2005).
But if our audience is filled with "those who don't know Jesus," we shouldn't talk to them as
if they've grown up in the church. They didn't come to worship God. Why do we assume they did?
They're probably there because some cute sophomore invited them, or they heard free pizza was
being served.
So don't talk to them in a language they don't understand. They don't know
what "salvation" is. They don't know what a "testimony" is or even what the word Christian
means. After all, 81 percent of Americans claim to be "Christian." But where are they every
Sunday? Do you think they know what that word really means?
Don't talk about "non-believers" or "the lost." Prep the speakers, the emcee,
and the band not to talk about how we "need to be a light to non-Christians." "Psssst! Stop
talking about them! They're sitting right there!"
And as we mentioned earlier in the chapter, don't turn it into a pep rally
for believers. Don't start the event with an emcee onstage hyping up the audience with, "HOW
MANY BELIEVERS WE GOT IN DA HEY-OUSE?!" If there is a non-Christian there (and hopefully
there's at least one present, since this is an outreach event), how is she supposed to
respond? Why not just yell, "Hello, Cincinnati!" Or, if you want to pump it up like a pep
rally, break it down by grade. "How many freshmen we got in the house?"
The key to reaching our audience is knowing our audience. And the
411 on any outreach audience is this: They don't know Jesus. So don't treat them as though
they do.
Define It
Now we have a working definition for an outreach program that identifies precisely whom
we're targeting and exactly what we're trying to achieve.
OUTREACH PROGRAM: An event,
activity, or program used as a means to
attract those who don't know Jesus and
point them to Jesus.
With this groundwork in place, let's look at "how" we're going to get students to
show up.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Where It All Begins
Chapter 1: The Field of Dreams Myth
If You Build It, They Will Come...Right?
Chapter 2: Aligning Our Defining
"Outreach" That Actually Reaches Out
Chapter 3: Doing It "On Purpose"
Pointing Where We Want to Point
Chapter 4: Jell-O Wrestling, Root Beer Kegs, and Slam Dunks
The Importance of "Draw"
Chapter 5: Staring at a Blank Piece of Paper
The Planning Process-Starting from Scratch
Chapter 6: "What" Happens "When"
Planning Our Program Agenda
Chapter 7: Programming On-Campus Outreach Clubs
Student- and Adult-Led Campus Ministry Programming
Chapter 8: Planning Weekly Outreach Programs
Planning Effective Outreach Programs Week after Week
Chapter 9: Programming Large Events
Reaching Out with a Larger Scope-Citywide Events
Chapter 10: Sidestepping Speakers Who Just Don't "Get It"..
.
...and Booking Speakers Who Do
Chapter 11: Bypassing Bands That Just Don't "Get It"...
...and Booking Bands That Do
Chapter 12: Slam Dunks
Ten Outreach Programs and Events That Work
Epilogue: Making It Happen
Where Do We Go from Here?
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