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During his Keynote address for the release of the new iPhone 4, Steve Jobs did something that has me thinking about outreach.  During the middle of his address he stopped the presentation to ask everyone to shut down their connection to WiFi.  There were so many people connected to WiFi at the conference that Jobs was not able demo the online features of iPhone 4.

Think about it.  Those in attendance were not taking notes on a legal pad.  They were not even taking notes on a notebook computer.  Okay, they may have been doing that, but the reason the WiFi was crashing is because people were blogging, tweeting, and   posting status updates on their social networking sites.

The moment he asked people to shut down their WiFi, he gave us a glimpse into the culture we are called to reach.  Three outreach challenges come to mind.

1) Today, more than ever, Life happens in real time.  The moment Jobs reveled a new feature of the iPhone 4 it went viral. There was no waiting for tomorrow’s news paper, or the evening news.  News of iPhone 4 was instant.

Life happens in real time, and our God is a real time God.  Our challenge: Most unchurched people think God is outdated, obsolete, and no longer relevant.  One main reason is how we communicate.  More often than not we use outdated methods.  Are we willing to implement the technology of the day for real time, daily communication?

2) iPhone 4: Why bother?  Iphone has already reinvented the wireless phone industry.  Why do it again?  Because the communications culture is always changing.  In short: Living in the world of what once was will put you out of business.

While human culture is not changing at the speed of technology, it is changing and always has.  Our challenge: Church is not changing.  Our testimony and outreach methods need to change.  Forget about what God did for you some time in the past.  Tell me what God is doing in your life today.  Rather than quoting Scripture and telling about denominational distinctives the front end of outreach needs to allow people to experience God in “real-time” ways.

3)iPhone 4: The experience.  More people experienced the release of the new iphone, not because they went to the event, but because the event was brought to them.  People in attendance sent real-time updates to their social networks. In turn, people in those social networks forwarded the information to their networks, and so on.  Personal note: I learned about the new iPhone because I watched the video of the Keynote address on Apple’s website - not because I attended the event.

Our Challenge: Outreach is still predominantly centered on getting people to come to church - to come to the event.  If we are to engage this changed culture, we will need to change.  Outreach needs to change from bringing people to church to bringing the church to the people.

To Wrap: It’s time for church to develop a new operating system for outreach.  I know, easier said than done.  However, those willing to embrace the challenge will be used by God in powerful ways for the Kingdom.  Jesus said it best, “New wine requires new wine skins.”


Alan Chandler is a Consultant Partner with Church Doctor Ministries www.churchdoctor.org, a full-service church consultation ministry dedicated to helping Christians and churches become more effective for the Great Commission, to make disciples of all people.  Alan can be reached at alanchandler@churchdoctor.org