Every organization resembles its head.
Sit with that for a moment. It’s not a criticism — it’s simply true. The culture of any team, any company, any congregation tends to take its shape from the person leading it. Which means if you want to know why your church is the way it is, one honest place to start is the mirror.
Here’s a second truth that may land just as hard: every system is perfectly designed to produce the results it’s getting. If your church is inward-focused — if the energy, the conversations, the budget, and the prayers are almost entirely directed at the people already in the room — that didn’t happen by accident. It happened by design, even if no one ever chose it on purpose.
- 5 MIN READ
- Key Takeaways
- Why outward focus flows from a pastor who genuinely cares — not a strategy
- The small, visible habits that signal your church’s outward orientation before Sunday even starts
- How consistent, long-obedience leadership shapes church culture over time
Most churches don’t drift inward because of bad intentions. They drift inward because inward is easier. Serving the people in front of you is concrete. Caring about people who haven’t shown up yet is abstract. And without consistent, visible leadership pulling in the other direction, gravity wins.
Eugene Peterson borrowed a phrase from Friedrich Nietzsche that’s worth borrowing again here: a long obedience in the same direction. Outward orientation isn’t a program or campaign you launch or a series you preach. It’s a direction you keep choosing — over and over, in small ways, in ways your congregation is watching whether you realize it or not.
It starts before Sunday morning
Before any of the visible stuff, there’s a more fundamental question: Are you staying close to Jesus and clear about his mission? An outward-facing church flows from a pastor who genuinely cares about people outside the walls — not as a growth strategy, but because Jesus did.
Your congregation needs to hear why the church exists for those who aren’t here yet. This isn’t a once-a-year vision sermon moment. It’s woven into how you talk about Sunday, about guests, about growth. Expectation-setting is leadership before any action happens. Everything else on this list is downstream of that.
From there, it looks like praying — out loud, regularly, for people who aren’t in the room yet. Who you pray for signals what you value. If your congregation only ever hears prayers for the sick and the grieving and the faithful, they’ll draw their own conclusions about who the church is for.
Then it gets practical
Park farthest away and leave the close spots for guests. Greet people in the parking lot yourself — don’t just delegate it. These are small, visible, and cost you nothing. Your congregation will notice.
Begin worship every week by introducing yourself – for the benefit of anyone new and to signal your expectation that new people will be there. Then, slow down to explain what you’re doing and why, because insider language is an invisible wall and you’re the one who can take it down.
Preach to questions real people are actually asking, not just the ones the lectionary surfaces. Tell stories of people who found their way in — first-time visitors who came back, neighbors whose lives changed. You reinforce what you celebrate.
Follow up personally with every new visitor. Not a form email — a call, a delivered gift, a note in your handwriting. It takes time. It also communicates something no bulletin insert can.
Extend grace to unchurched people for acting unchurched. They don’t know the rules because they’ve never been here. Modeling patience and warmth toward them — from the front — gives your congregation permission to do the same.
And invite others to invite others. You can’t carry the outward orientation of an entire congregation alone, and you shouldn’t try. Name it, model it, provide tools and opportunities, celebrate it when you see it, and watch it multiply.
The long obedience
None of this is complicated. Most of it is small. But small and consistent, over time, by the person your congregation is watching most closely — that’s how culture moves.
Every organization resembles its head. That’s not a burden. It’s actually an opportunity. If your church is going to lean out toward people who aren’t here yet, it starts with you leaning out first — in the parking lot, in the pulpit, in the follow-up note you almost didn’t write.
A long obedience in the same direction. That’s the work. And it’s worth it.
Written By:
Jonathan Bell
ShareChurch Leadership Resources Specialist
Bio
Jonathan is passionate about helping people and churches live out their faith in the world and helps strengthen other churches by equipping their leaders with ideas, tools, resources and training. He loves being married to his wife Angie and doing just about anything with their six kids. He particularly enjoys hiking mountains, catching fish, baking, holding babies, serving others, and growing things.
