At some point the idea of evangelism got intermixed with the idea of outreach. Outreach, sadly, is often reduced to not much more than Christian euphemism for the “Field of Dreams” concept: that if you build it, they will come.
Just break down the word itself “reach” and “out.” The word implies that one object is stationary, yet extends a small part of itself to gather another. For instance, when I’m thirsty, I reach out and grab a glass of water.
I’m not sure Jesus ever did outreach. Think of the stories of Jesus. He went to Matthew and Zacheus. He went Lazarus. He went to the Samaritan woman. He did not try to build something that brought them to him.
Now, that’s not to say that Jesus did not have an attractional element to his ministry. The feedings of the masses and many healing stories show people coming to Jesus. So being attractional isn’t all bad.
But I believe that the reason they came to him is that he came to them first. After all that’s what John 1 teaches us, right? The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. Our call then is not to develop the perfect outreach tool, but to go to the hurting people of the world.
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