The Great Commission cannot be limited to special holidays. The event should be only a part of an overall heart and strategy to reach people with the gospel. This issue is much like churches expecting the stand-and-greet time during the worship services to make them a friendly church. Genuine friendliness is not limited to a planned moment. And genuine outreach cannot be limited to one or a few days a year. Do not plan to use the big event in your church for reaching people unless that is your church’s consistent behavior.

Tens of thousands of churches will have events to celebrate the Christmas season. The events will range from simple Christmas Eve candlelight services to major musical productions.

And most of them will fail their intended purpose.

When I speak with church leaders and ask them to describe how they reach their communities, many of them point with pride to a major event, such as those that take place at Christmas, Easter, or the Fourth of July. But when I ask them to assess how many people are currently a part of their churches because of past events, most often I get an awkward silence.

To be sure, not all church events are intended to be outreach events. But many of them, perhaps most of them, have that intention. And most churches do not fare well in that regard.

The church leaders often point to the large attendance of the event, to the hundreds of guest cards completed, or to the decisions noted by these guests. But when the same leaders try to assess how many people have actually become integrated into the life of the church, the reality is usually disturbing.

Why are church events typically so ineffective at truly reaching people and integrating them into the life of church? I’ve seen three common reasons.

Reason #1: The church was not outwardly strategic in his preparation for the event.

Reason #2: The church was not strategic in its follow-up.

Reason #3: The church does not have an outwardly-focused DNA.

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