pic by nolifebeforecoffee
“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
One of the most overlooked concepts in ministry is the importance of the first look. We all know our own heart. We know God looks inside of us. And we hope others will see our hearts and embrace us based on what they discover about us. But we are forced to deal with this problem of man getting stuck on the appearance. Here is the problem. If we don’t work on our outside, and craft the outside in an attractive way, man will not get to our heart because our outside will turn them away.
In this day in age, man is now looking on the outward appearance by peering into our appearance by going online.
- The web
- Blogs
All of which have an immediate appearance. And if that appearance is awful, people may never get to your heart, because they immediately make assumptions of you based on what they see.
I heard this explained once by Blaine Bartel, then at Church on the Move in Tulsa. He said that they let the kids help them update their wardrobes as youth pastors to update their appearance. He said it wasn’t to look like the kids. But it was to remove anything, including clothing, that would hinder kids from embracing the ministry. Man looks on the outside. We have to remove anything that will hinder people from embracing ministry. That includes how the web site looks all the way down to the signage in our church. Everything projects an image. And we have to make sure that image is a gateway for people to discover our hearts.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Very good. I've started writing about some of these things at my blog, Spark2flame. I think we as churches really need to get this. I just wrote a post about Twitter recently too. I like this approach to the subject. Thanks!
April 29th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Totally Agree Tony! It actually reminded me of this verse:
Hebrews 12:1 ~ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us cast off every hindrance and weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up, and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
Many times people focus more and the 2nd half of that verse (1 Samuel 16:7) than the first. It's not about fitting in, but like you said, laying aside what's going to hinder people from coming to know the one True God. If we don't bring ourselves (with excellence) into these channels that people now use as a way to gauge their surroundings then we are, in essence, adding weight to the race which we are called to run.
May 4th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
The gospel of Jesus Christ will never change, but the packaging might. I spoke about this on my Church Growth Show that you can get the movie Gone with the Wind in about 5 different formats (VHS to Blue Ray) and yet the movie is the same. Gods message may go from pulpit to webinar, but the message will never change