Developing Relationships Within Your Community

“If your church died today, would anyone that doesn’t attend be affected by it?”-Josh

Hershberger

It was at an Idea Day that Josh Hershberger from the Good Citizen

Project (https://www.goodcitizen.us/) taught a session on being a part of your

community. He made the above statement to us in the room, and it floored me.

It was a perspective I had never heard before. At the other conferences and meetings with

pastors, you would often hear about great things like soul-winning, closing the back

door (how to keep guests), or different methods of preaching. This statement was not

directed at any of that. It put an emphasis on the church’s getting into the community

and having an impact that would make the community desire to have the church in it.

How do we do that? Are we not supposed to do all we can to bring them in to hear the

gospel preached, to baptize them, and to disciple them? How can the church whose

main focus is to preach the gospel get the community to be affected by them so much

that they would be upset if the church died?

Do we win them all to Christ? That would be great but improbable (because nothing is impossible with God). So how? Here are the three steps we are taking to do just that:

1. Develop relationships with individuals of influence

Have you meet the mayor of your town? Do you know who sits on the

board that governs your county? Have you ever had coffee with a school board

member? Chief of police? Fire chief? School principals? Why not?

Impacting your community on a large scale starts with small relationships.

Remember, Jesus did not just preach to the masses. He spent time with the individuals who believed in Him and those who did not. He met their needs.

Call your mayor’s office and ask for a meeting with the mayor. At that meeting, do not say a word about any concerns you have or the need for the Gospel in the community. Ask him or her questions about themselves and the community. Why did they get into politics? What is the one thing they would like to see happen in the community during their time in office? Ask how your ministry can be a part of that. Maybe it is something you cannot be a part of. Ask if there is anything you can be a part of or do to help.

Meet the chief of police and ask how you can be a blessing to the men and women on the force. Go to the local homeless shelters and ask what they need. Find a way to connect with business owners in the community. Highlight their business on Facebook as a “Small Business Saturday” type of post. Small business owners got hit hard in 2020. They need to be ministered to. Go minister to them.

2. Seek creative partnerships

As you are developing those relationships, find ways to serve them that can be mutually beneficial. We took over a local coffee shop in our town. We spent 4 hours on a Saturday from 8-12 and we bought everyone a coffee (latte, cappuccino, and so forth, 1 per customer). We promoted it. We set up a table and held a drawing for two bags of stuff from the coffee shop (you might also offer merch and so forth in the drawing). We spent only around $600. We interacted personally with over 100 people, got the contact info for everyone who signed up for the drawing (who now get our weekly newsletter and any other communication we send out), and the coffee shop owner highlighted us on his social media as well.

Is there somewhere in your community you could do that? What is another option you may have to be a small blessing to the community? Is buying coffee making people affected by the church? Nope. But when I tell that coffee shop owner I want to donate to the teachers down the road and would like to use his coffee, I am more likely to get a great price on it.

Also, through this event, we have interacted with people that may have a misconception about church because of their past. Now they can see who we are and may have that misconception corrected. Is there a business owner that loves giving to charities? Is there a charity in your area that needs volunteers or marketing help?

Whether you know it or not, as a ministry leader, you most likely know a thing or two about marketing that others do not. Use that to your advantage.

Are you having an Easter egg hunt? Do you know of any child- friendly businesses in your area that would like the opportunity to set their stuff up or pass out their info to the kids who attend your egg hunt? Ask them to help sponsor it financially in exchange for advertising. Now your Easter egg hunt is paid for, it did not cost the church as much, and you have a relationship in the community you otherwise might not have had.

3. Cast vision for impact Preaching

Preaching Matthew 28:19-20 to the church is one of my favorite things to do. The Gospel, the Great Commission, and the story of a sinner being redeemed get me going. Preaching our vision of reaching 10% of the community by Loving God, Serving Others, and Making an Impact will get me to sound like an evangelist under a tent on the first night of revival.

How are you going to accomplish your vision, though? How are you going to get the Gospel to all the people within 20 miles of your church?

With creative partnerships and community involvement, you can have a Gospel impact on more people than if you just do it alone.

However, you will have to cast that vision with those with whom you are

partnering.

4. Keep developing the relationship

Reiterate to them that their involvement is vital to bringing a positive impact to the community. Build them up to others on social media and in conversations. While your vision may be to see as many saved as you can in your community (and that is a vision/goal we should all have as Gospel-centered ministry leaders), that may not be the desire of the business owners.

You could deal with people who are not Christians. Ask yourself, “What would my

community look like if more people accepted Jesus as their Savior?” What answers

did you come up with? Let me name several: *Lower crime rate. *Lower divorce rate.

*Increased work ethic among employees. *More hands helping the homeless. *More

people to serve the widows and fatherless. Find a result your new friend would desire. Let them know how you want to help them see that happen.

They do not have to be sold out for Christ to aid the Kingdom.

Of course, we want them to know Jesus. However, if they have a desire to help the homeless and I have a desire to serve the community so that I can preach the gospel to more people, then I am sure we can find some common ground.

Cast the vision your impact will have on the community with their involvement. I became the Lead Pastor of Liberty Baptist in June of 2019. In October of 2019, I invited Josh out to preach and host a townhall style meeting with our church about getting in the community. He said then that what we will do going forward will move at the speed of relationships. Do not expect it to move fast. Just keep seeking to move. Stay faithful to the Lord and the vision He has given for your church.

One Big Idea: Developing relationships within your community with people of influence will give you opportunities to grow the influence of your ministry in order to better serve the community you desire to reach with the Gospel.