Outreach: How Do We Measure Success? Can We Fail?

I have been doing outreach for the past three years, with a team of amazing leaders. They have passion, heart, courage and tenacity. They love lost people and are committed to loving them over the long haul. They stepped out in faith with me in a big way to blaze new trails. They could have played it safe, following the well worn path of others, but they wanted to live life on the edge with God. You know, going to that place God is calling you,  knowing that the whole thing is doomed to fail, unless He steps in. Ever been there? "Evangelists drive the church in a good way" my wise pastor told me," because they are never satisfied, they are always looking for ways to reach just one more" Do you live in that tension?

We have seen and are seeing God at work in amazing ways on our journey together. He is transforming our seeking friends lives as well as our own. We have prayed, worked hard, given and loved. We have poured lots of sweat and yes tears into our mission. But what happens when you pray, build relationships, work hard, promote, train, plan and invite and ... seekers don't come? Has this ever happened to any of you? Time for true confessions. When I work on outreach events/projects this is a huge fear I have to do battle with. Doubts creep in and try to drown out my faith. In our humanness, it is so easy to let the fears take over, to rationalize and justify that it's not worth taking the risk. Oh but it is, it really is!

A defining moment happened for me this fall. While sitting in a meeting, one of our pastors asked, "if we run this outreach successfully, what will that look like"? How do we measure success? Does outreach fail? When I Googled "failed outreach" ... (to learn more about failure)... I came up with nothing, as hard as I searched. Good news right! Because as a wise mentor once told me " An outreach is successful if we GO, the rest is all in God's hands" How do we measure success in outreach... by reporting numbers, setting goals, and making our quotas? Or ... Do we understand that we are successful when we are being obedient and faithful to the mission God has intrusted to us? Do we need to be good stewards, to prepare, and organize? You bet. Do we need to try to discern where and how God is at work? Absolutely! But at some point we have to "GO", and when we go, we are successful in God's economy.

I can remember my heart being broken into pieces many times. I have spent hours weeping in prayer over seeking friends who walked away, still not knowing Jesus.(my own children included) Ever been there? I LOVE that Willow Creek has a crying bench up front near the cross so believers can sit and weep over lost family and friends. They don't sugar coat it or deny it, they expect that there will be pain. Outreach will cost us something, just like it cost Jesus. Our job is to be faithful in loving, praying, inviting, asking, and going. Please feel free to share your outreach experiences as well, I would love to hear from you.
Be blessed as you go, knowing you are already successful.


Philemon 1:6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Hebrews 12: 2-3 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.