Invade your community with compassion

By Tommy Sparger

The local church is the hope of the world

Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago, coined the statement. Great leaders have reiterated it and I believe it with all my heart. 

Just as Jesus was the revelation and representation of His Father to the world, the local church represents Jesus. When a community sees a church, they should see Christ. The church is called to be Jesus to its community.

I think that rocks (and that’s a good thing).

The heart of Jesus’ ministry was and is compassion. Jesus reached out to everyone including the poor, the sinful, the down and out, and the marginalized. At North Point Church — where I pastor in Springfield, Mo. — we strive to emulate Jesus by cultivating a culture of compassion in our church that extends to our community through outreaches.

Doing so has transformed our church on several fronts: Dozens of people have made commitments to Christ and countless members of our church have been spiritually revolutionized.

It’s all good

Since our church started four years ago community outreaches have been a cornerstone to our growth numerically and spiritually. There is nothing more spiritual than partnering with God to see Him produce life change in the hearts of people in our church and community.

To that end, we have given away tens of thousands of dollars in school supplies, frozen turkeys at Thanksgiving, clothing, shoes, bicycles at Christmas, food and general services.

Each year we do a school makeover where up to 350 volunteers from the church paint, landscape, clean, scrub and repair a public school. We have also done home makeovers and have given away several cars and Christmas shopping sprees to families in need. In addition to this, we have provided 75 local classrooms with their annual budgets for teachers.

By helping others, we work the DNA of servanthood, giving and Christ-centered compassion into our church body. One of the unique things about our outreaches is we do them with no strings attached.

For instance, we don’t corral school officials into a room during the school makeovers and force them to listen to one of my sermons. Instead, we give, expecting nothing in return. As a church we are committed to this philosophy, believing it to be the model Jesus left for us.

Show me the money

Some people tell me, “We can’t afford to do such outreaches.”  I don’t believe this to be true for several reasons. 

First, when a church does compassion outreaches it automatically falls in step with God’s will, and He provides.

Second, people will give to a big vision — especially one that is God-breathed and heaven-sent.  

Our congregation is made up of lower- to middle-income families. The fact we are not a rich church has not stopped or even hindered the outreaches we do.

The first Christmas we had as a church, which was less than three months after we opened our doors, I wanted to give away 225 brand new bikes to kids in need with no strings attached.

The bikes cost about $35 each. With refreshments, bows and all the extras that go along with doing compassion outreaches, I was confident we didn’t have the money in our general budget for this ministry.

So, I went to our people and presented the vision. They not only gave above and beyond their tithes and offerings, but they did so with tears of happiness and grateful attitudes. They even came in on a Saturday and put the bikes together.

Third, don’t be surprised when your outreaches capture the attention of the community. I can’t tell you how many of our ventures have been covered by the local media. We don’t do our projects for this reason and neither will you, but when the media takes interest, it’s like getting free exposure.

Consequently more people come to check out the church. Many of those visitors stay, commit their lives to Christ, and become faithful members.

Wrecked in a good way

For a myriad of reasons many people are skeptical of Christians even though they may like the idea of God and Jesus. It’s against this backdrop we put our faith in action instead of just talking about it.

Jesus came for everybody. The Great Commission is real. We’re supposed to reach everyone, not just church people, and that’s why we strive to make our church relevant to the culture and the people. 

To do so, we work hard to connect with people during the outreaches by being authentic and caring. At church we constantly challenge our people to invest in relationships with family, neighbors and friends, and invite them to a church service where they will receive the timeless message of the gospel in a culturally relevant atmosphere.

When missionaries go to another country, they learn the culture, language and about the people. This helps in being relevant to those they hope to reach. Missionaries also understand their ministry is for both believers and people in the world.

We take the same approach.

Begin with compassion  

Compassion outreach is great, but people need a church — they need the Hope of the world. It doesn’t do any good to do an outreach if a church is not relevant, welcoming and friendly. Such an atmosphere creates a place where people can feel God’s presence and be challenged for a life change.

Every week we give people the opportunity to make a decision to become a follower of Christ. People respond every Sunday and lives are changed. Jesus’ heart is with people, and He wants to reach those who don’t know Him.

That’s reason enough to be relevant and do compassion outreaches regularly. Your church has the resources, ability, and calling to partner with God in being Christ to your community. You just have to get out and do it.

If you do, I guarantee the endeavor will transform lives in your church and in your community for eternity.

TOMMY SPARGER is lead pastor of North Point Church (AG) in Springfield, Mo.

E-mail your comments to tpe@ag.org.