Cultivating Tenacity for Outreach

It would be amazing if I could provide a congregation with a sure-fire way to gain traction in your outreach efforts this year. The truth is that I can’t do that.

Because evangelism is difficult. Only God can bring souls to faith through the power of his Word.

There is one overlooked skill to consider cultivating that could be impactful in your efforts to spread God’s Word.

Tenacity.

This is not a gospel-motivated response for what Christ has done for us, nor a law-driven inspiration for success. Tenacity is a skill. It is a learned quality that enables a person to grip onto something firmly.

According to experts, tenacity is an important skill that often separates start-up businesses from either failing or surviving. There are a few concepts that could be applied to gospel ministries.

Here are four ways to cultivate tenacity in our gospel activity to proclaim the Word.

Set Clear Goals

Setting goals is not about how to be successful but helping us “grip onto something firmly.” This means not being distracted by the next great outreach idea or program, nor be overwhelmed by the thousand evangelism ideas that you would like to do, but helping determine where you want to go and how to get there. It’s surprising how writing down goals can serve as a powerful way to remain tenacious when things get tough.

Prioritize Action over Results

Establish goals that are based on activity rather than results. In gospel ministries, we are in control of activity and God is in control of results. When numbers do not match expectations, the seeds of discouragement can blossom into outreach despondency. Tenacity helps create a mindset that celebrates activity and trusts that the Lord will provide for his church.

Love What You Do

Evangelism is one of those activities that is so hard to start, but extremely fulfilling after you finish. Perfect love looks for lost sheep. It can be frustrating, time-consuming, and makes you feel like a lone ranger. Cultivating tenacity means consistently fixing our eyes on Christ to receive his perfect love. This keeps us refreshed, eager, and love what God has enabled us to do.

Surround Yourself with Tenacious People

When we surround ourselves with like-minded people, we will discover ourselves holding on much longer than we ever thought possible. Gospel ministries often give up way too soon on people who have expressed interest about our church or what the Bible teaches. Cultivating tenacity is a group effort, especially when trying to connect with people whom the Lord brings to our church.

Remember, tenacity can be treated as a skill to be developed and learned. Like attempting to be wood carver, it takes time to be fine craftsman. It takes to time to learn how to be tenacious. Perfect love prompts us to learn how to be tenacious in evangelism. And it seems that living in a post-Christian world, it is a skill that is sorely needed.