Who is your Audience?

 

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We want our reach to be extensive, saturating and our voices heard nationally and internationally. We classify this deep desire under the category, Mission. After Covid-19, Most of the pastors, preachers and self-appointed Christian leaders have started a YouTube channel. Great progress! All the Church services and events are uploaded in the digital platforms. Allow me to pose this question, Who is your audience? It is worth pondering on few more questions listed below:

· How do we understand Missions, in such context?

·      Who do we want as our audience?

·       What are we actually expecting?

·      What are we tracking day in and day out?

·   Would you take a moment to seriously ponder on the above questions and clarify your views and motives?

The fact of the matter is that the digital media has grown significantly after Covid-19, but the Church attendance has dropped drastically and the reach to non-Christians has become stagnant. Most of the Christian leaders are settling down and focusing on Christians who are less than 4% in India and less than 20% globally, excluding Catholics. With this approach, we are expecting a mighty revival. If you carefully analyze from all the digital platforms, what people in most cases want is to see the flow of funds grow cumulatively through all the digital platforms. Reaching soul is made a platform and a bridge to find personal security and gratification. I risk myself to be looked upon as a stupid critic and dismiss this blog as irrelevant. But truth and facts can always be too demanding. In fact, in the Bible we find many unfollowed Jesus as they found His teachings hard (John 6:66).

How would non-Christians understand the Church service and follow Christ? Why would a non-Christian even open the Church service from your channel and watch? Do you have anything designed that can be a take - away for people of any faith and find the truth about Jesus? When Jesus was physical, He spent most of the time with sinners and was tagged as "friend of sinners" (Luke 7:34) and today in the absence of physical Jesus we want to be tagged as "friend of Christians" and want huge Christian followers who would sustain us and through whom we can accumulate riches.

Let me quote a fascinating passage in Luke 17 where Jesus heals the 10 Lepers. And out of 10 only one returns. Immediately, Jesus poses a strong question to the one who returned by asking "where are the nine?" Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Luke 17:17 CSB.  Jesus was not just excited about the one who returned and ensured to follow Him and be part of the team, but challenged him by asking why the nine have not returned with Him. In Christ’s Mission, it is not always about the one who is with us but the nine who are outside the fold. The rate of non-Christians is so high in number, yet it isn’t unsettling for us. We are willing to spend all our time within the four walls, equipping and reequipping without getting them out to the task and Mission, God has designed for us all. Why do we fail to see something is drastically wrong on the way we focus on the priorities?

Focusing on the crowd outside is not just doing a prayer walk, intercessory prayers and having seminars on Missions but to plan every single initiative and intervention to reach people for Christ. Some of the suggestion can be, to plan a channel addressing common life changing topics that can attract people to follow Christ. Write periodic articles exclusively designed for general public. In case you want to know how it is written, you may check my blogs for non-Christians. Equip every believer to share their faith and lead at least one person to Christ every month. Stop getting excited with Church activities and musical programs. I am sure if you think in this direction, you would be in a position to design many such practical ideas to reaching out to the larger crowd. Set your audience right for a greater harvest.

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Beware of yourself!

 

My previous blog emphasized the difference between Real Mission and Shadow Mission (You can click HERE to read it). Today, it is indeed difficult to differentiate between real servants of God /Pastors/ Leaders, from the ones who follow the shadow mission. They attract and lead many to destruction with no realization of the same. The biggest false indicator of our times are the self-gratifying ones; having big money, big influence and mega crowd. Everything is big time compared to the ones who are serving God with little or no resources most of the time. With a miniscule size crowd, it is interpreted as having no impact.

Let me give below the categories of a man of God according to world:

1. The faithful workers who follow the vision and their mission will know what the priorities are. The success of the ministry may not be in big numbers but they are constantly influencing the people with the Gospel and attracting people to Christ. These people maybe poor according to “worldly standards” and are in need always. Their poverty dictates their level of common sense as they relentlessly work for God. But these people do not lose track due to the vision they are convinced about.

2. The second category of people are the ones who have big ministry, big Church and a big crowd. Everywhere they turn money, luxury, comforts and a crowd to follow them. Most of the time what they speak becomes theology and the interpretation of scriptures is seen as authentic. They are seen as the city movers with a great influence. Sometimes, under this banner most of the follies and heresies are covered, any contradictions are overlooked because they are spiritually exalted. We believe the rich and the powerful with loads of money are immensely blessed and used by God.  Ray Ortlund cautions the pastors with these words, "When our churches succeed because they are really well-run businesses, and the pastor is, in reality, a prop on the stage, then it isn’t ministry anymore; it’s brilliantly packaged crowd control. And judgment is not far off.".

3. The third category of people are the ones who are supported through international funds and have their ministry internationally affiliated and has an international brand. These are super giants who change the words of a famous Sunday school song "He's got the whole world in His hands" to "I've got the whole world in my hands". Many surround them always, to receive money thrown at them occasionally. Most of the work may not be structured, with outcome and impact far from their dictionary. All they have are big events and great activities to show as accomplishments.

Jesus cautioned again and again about people who can be seen as walking in the front and doing great works and still not qualify. Would you take time to honestly ponder on these verses cautioned by Jesus?

1. Jesus cautioning the super “so-called” spiritual giants / hero.

Jesus denying to accept the super spiritual giants with all the deeds and work, yet with a missing key element. In Matthew 7:23 Jesus uses the stronger words; “I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’ Matthew 7:21-23 CSB. You can have the manifestation of the spirit in words, deeds and sign, yet be rejected at all cost. Again, in the book of Luke, it is recorded like this, "‘I don’t know you or where you’re from.’ Luke 13:25 CSB. This passage does not indicate the non-Christians, mind it!

2. Going through the broader gate.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 CSB

There are many who would want to provide a blanket approval to all that is done by them because there are no barriers in their road and they assume, they are led by God. They fail to notice where Jesus emphasizes, that few will find the narrow gate and be willing to walk through it without making any compromises. Note the word "few".

3. Finally the ones who are at the forefront gets the warning too.

“So the last will be first, and the first last.” Matthew 20:16 CSB. What should describe our journey is not our swiftness or being there in the frontline, but our faithfulness and lack of love of money. Remember this, the ones who left everything are the ones who turned the world upside down and they were rewarded by being martyrs for Christ. "Then Peter responded to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you. So what will there be for us?” Matthew 19:27 CSB.

Let me end this blog by the warning given by Paul to all of us, "So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.". 1 Corinthians 10:12 CSB.  Beware of yourself!

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