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Produced by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
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On the Attack

by James W. Moss, Sr.

I am a history buff. I was watching a program on the military channel describing pre-emptive strikes. The program analyzed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Israeli attack on Egypt in 1967. They outlined six steps that I found fascinating.

I have been advocating that churches should “go on the attack.” This is true regarding outreach. Let me define outreach as the things a church does to walk people through the door once. We are in a battle! There are many forces aligned against us. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

The church that has the potential to make a difference in the lives of people will have to enter the field of the enemy.

The six steps outlined in the program on preemptive strikes are as follows. I am attempting to adapt them to the church and outreach.

1. Achievable aims

If you do a serious outreach program, what do you wish to achieve? It has been my observation that many churches set unachievable goals for their outreach efforts. I have worked with some churches that were very disappointed when they actually overachieved on their efforts. Set reasonable goals.

2. The means

Do you have the means to achieve your goals? Do you have the people, program, facilities, and financial resources to achieve the goals you have established? We are good at pipe-dreaming in the church. Jesus said in Luke 14:28-30, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’”

3. Intelligence

Do you know what you need to know to achieve the goals? Frequently, this is the background work that is required to be successful. This is the hard work that nobody sees unless it isn’t done. This is doing the research into the impact of various approaches. This is studying the culture to understand what works and what doesn’t. This is also being current to know that what worked yesterday and may or may not work today.

4. Security

In the program, it was keeping the enemy from knowing what was happening. In the church, let’s bathe this effort in prayer. Prayer will be our security blanket. Prayer will bind the enemy to keep him from defeating us.

5. Strike

The plan of outreach is carried out with a design to walk a number of new people through the door. To see what I mean, see “A Plan of Outreach.” This will give you an idea of what I am thinking about when talking about a pre-emptive strike utilized by a church.

6. Exit strategy

What will be the follow-up to take advantage of the gains created by the pre-emptive strike? I have known churches that did the strike without appropriate follow-up. There was little gain. The strike strategy was faulted, when it actually produced visitors. It was the follow-up that failed. A good follow-up strategy will help clinch the new people into the body of faith.

We are in a battle. This battle is not new. Elisha the prophet had been revealing the battle plans of the King of Aram to the King of Israel. The King of Aram sent troops to Dothan to capture Elisha. “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my Lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:15-17).

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