This article originally appeared in Serve! Ezine.
“Just look at what Jesus has done over the past 16 months. As they say, ‘Who would have thunk it!” Those were my words in a recent message.
It all started with 1200 bottles of water and a hot Fourth of July parade. What began with twenty people on a hot Independence Day has mushroomed to countless Outflow trainings and events, and some really great problems!
When our church kicked off, we met (like the vast majority of new churches) in our living room. Roughly 20 people called our house their church before we engaged our first servant evangelism event. Little did we know, that close by there was a church that had begun 14 years prior and had been through many hard times. Their “hope tank” was running on fumes. Churches can run low on many things and survive, but in the absence of hope, their days are numbered. They were ready to close their doors. In an amazing act of largeness of heart, they decided to gift their facility to us as they observed the momentum they saw in our midst! Who would have thought that by merely giving away several tens of thousands of bottles of water the attention of this group would have been captured? Only Jesus can do such a thing.
SPEED UP: Now, some 24 months later we are meeting in a paid for facility that holds 500 per service, on 8½ acres of prime real estate, complete with a multi-purpose meeting area, in an upscale area of Columbus, Ohio.
The great gift of the building provided many more opportunities for us to train others in the Outflow life model. We believe little things done with God’s kindness will change our planet! With that firm conviction, we have taught those that call our church their church, that outflow living is the Jesus model of life. We have modeled, through events, and now simply through our daily living, that the lifestyle of kindness and generosity can be easily embraced in everyday life.
Now For the Good Problem…
Our church has seen explosive growth in some ways that have caused some great problems. In 2004 we hit one parade route, in 2006 we hit 2 routes. In 2004 we had roughly 30 people (including kids) that claimed our church as their church, in 2006 we had roughly 300 people that called our church their church. In 2004 I knew the name of every person that attended our church, in 2006 I knew about 85% of the names of those that attended (and today with about 350 people calling our church their home, I know about 75%). In 2004 we had one service on the weekend, in 2006 we had 2 services, and in two weeks, we’ll be adding a third service. In 2004 we had plenty of parking, now we’re totally out of parking!
Life is full of problems! Some reading this are perhaps somewhat envious. You may be thinking, “Oh to have such problems!” Truthfully, there are days I wish I had a simpler time, a previous time when things were slower and easier. But I know that is ultimately not the heart of the Father. He is really not that concerned about my comfort level. He is very interested in expanding the size of his family. That fact is laid out in the scriptures over and over again. Human nature, as flawed as it is, seeks the easy, comfortable way out each time. In my case, the easy way is to do something at this point to self-sabotage the momentum that is going on here, drive away newcomers, and make what is happening here “manageable” and “nice.” We will not be doing that.
There are those problems that drain you and feel like a stiff punch in the gut taking the wind out of your sails. Then there are those problems that inspire you and stimulate your creativity. It’s the second kind of problems that typically follow the life lived in the Jesus model of Outflow! That’s been the case in our family life as well as our church life!
When we started using kindness as the foundation for our efforts to serve our community, we discovered that God honored our motivation and gave us more people to coach in the Outflow lifestyle. I'm so excited about those who have accepted Jesus as a direct result of an act of kindness that went beyond our church walls into the workplace or at Starbucks! Living in the Outflow is about following in the life of Jesus, guided by the Holy Spirit. It is not a church growth gimmick!
Here are a few things that I’ve learned, about problems whether they are good ones or bad:
1. They both require creativity
2. They both require our resources
3. They both require follow-through
4. They both require energy
I talk to other pastors who get discouraged by all the bad problems that seem to permeate the church world these days, and they ask how to get others in the Outflow mindset. I always say “It’s as simple as this, you have to be living the outflow life yourself.” No matter how much I want to give someone fitness tips, if I never work out and take poor care of myself, no one is going to take me seriously! That’s totally the way it is when it comes to Outflow living. People will only take it seriously from those who engage Outflow living themselves! Here are a few tips on how to get started with a life of Outflow:
1. Ask God to soften your heart, and give courage to your spirit!
2. Look for small opportunities to show kindness that others miss: Hold open a door for a stranger, let someone check out in front of you when you are clearly in line first, etc…
3. Be willing to use your personal money to bless others in small ways: When you check out at the grocery store buy a soda for the clerk when you’re checking out (remember don’t say much other than, this is my small way to show you God’s kindness – too much talk will ruin the whole thing; don’t panic – they will ask you plenty of questions!)
4. Share your personal stories with those that you hope to inspire to be Outflow-focused!
Be prepared! When your heart is genuine and your motives are pure, once you engage the Ouflow life, God’s resources will begin to flow your direction! Prosperity theology, no I’m not preaching that, I’m just sharing with you from experience that God’s eyes look for those whose hearts are His and pours His kindness through them to others! Without God’s Inflow in my life of grace, love, patience and kindness, I’m not sure I would ever had been able to understand my need to engage in a life of Outflow! May your life be blessed with good problems!
Brad Kochis is the senior leader of LifePointe Church in Dublin, Ohio.
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