I got to go back to college today, and I learned a lot. Although, maybe not as much as I should have; some things never change.

 

But, before I get to that story, let me share another story.

 

We come to a place in the sixth chapter of Mark where Jesus has been with the disciples for some time and the moment has come for them to take on a new challenge. One of the main concerns throughout Christ’s ministry is reaching people; so much so that He is the one usually travelling to share the Good News. So, naturally, he sends the 12 out on the same mission. The disciples are to go and meet the people where they are at. Where it makes sense to them (the target audience that is). Notice also his command to, “take nothing for their journey except a staff.” No baggage, no history, no assumptions. Just the message. Not only were they to meet the people where they were at, but also in a way that makes sense to those the disciples were trying to meet. 

 

So, back to college. We had the opportunity to attend several senior presentations for a local business school. The gist of the challenge to the seniors was to provide sound advice and recommendations to local businesses to help them solve some issue that was currently facing the business. As we listened to the presentations I picked up on one theme that ran throughout: marketing (especially by utilizing social media). However, it’s not the idea of marketing that has me writing, but rather the philosophy behind the recommendation: Each of these businesses has something that the public needs desperately, but how can they ever know the business has what they need if they aren’t being reached where they are and in a way that makes sense to them? The onus is on the business to reach the customer, not the other way around

 

Yes it’s a business principle, but by all means this should be a principle that every christian and church, for that matter, should live by. After all, it’s biblical. Now churches should never be primarily concerned with marketing. However, I do believe that everything a church and christian does should have in mind reaching people where they are and in ways that make sense to them. We, not the world, have the burden of constantly assessing our means and methods in order to share with them the most important thing that we have and they need: the message.

 

Now you’re probably sitting there saying, “Duh!” I mean it’s kinds commonsense, isn’t it? And yet, at the same time that we attest to the necessity of employing this principle in our lives and churches, we are fighting to not change a thing about how we live or do church. We want to be able to take it all with us, but the sad part is that it keeps us from ever going anywhere because it all ends up weighing us down. What are we willing to leave behind in order that we may reach more? What are we willing to change? What new methods are we willing to consider and even embrace in order to better connect? If a staff is all you get, is that ok with you? 

 

Listen, I know that our first reaction to new things and idea is usually cautious (at best), and that can be a good thing. But, rather than simply saying “No” to something because we’ve never done it or had a need for it before, we need to be willing to think on it and allow the Lord speak to us about the need for it. It may seem unnecessary or even unholy to you and me at first, but it may just communicate in just the right way to someone else. Christ challenges us to meet people where they are (and not just where they are physically at). Are you up to the challenge?