Because of some discussion about this topic, we wanted to share some follow-up that might help you draw the line between effective or offensive. We connected with our friend Greg Bearss, who pastors LakePointe Church in Hot Springs, AR. Each year, LakePointe hosts a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)-type event as an outreach ministry opportunity in their community.
LakePointe’s annual event is an excellent example of a church that, at first glance, might be using offensive tactics to get people in the doors. However, as you’ll see in this interview with Greg, LakePointe’s strategy made sense for their community, and their event has become extremely successful.
How did you first land on the idea of a UFC-type ministry outreach?
We wanted to reach out to the men in our community who otherwise might not step foot into our church. After thinking about it, we noticed how Mixed Martial Arts was becoming increasingly popular in our community, much like boxing came of age when I was a kid. So we thought, “How could we use this to reach them with God’s love?” We thought that hosting an event that unchurched men might be interested in attending could give us the opportunity to get into the ring and into the lives of people we would otherwise miss.
I probably marinated on the idea for a couple years. After sharing the idea with a friend, we talked about how we could make it happen, make it excellent, and make sure everything was above board.
How successful was your event the first year? How successful has it been since?
We ended up having 1,200 people in attendance the first year, and it was an incredible success. Because we wanted to make it excellent, we used professional athletes and referees, brought in lights and screens for the event, and used professional security in case anything got out of hand. We also tethered the event to a local nonprofit, Stomp Out Hunger. We promoted it as a free event but encouraged people to bring food for those in need throughout our community. In the end, we had dozens of people come to church the next week and even had several fighters become Christ-followers as a result.
The second year, 2,000 people showed up. We were able to give out 1,000 Bibles, set up a prayer tent as an additional outreach opportunity, and see numerous people accept Christ there at the event.
Did you receive any initial pushback? How did you handle it?
Most of the pushback we’ve received has been from other church bodies, but we don’t spend a lot of time defending it because they’re not the audience we’re going after. We’re trying to reach the people who don’t go to church. One of the things that we’ve done the past two years is send a letter to churches in our community explaining the event and our intentions behind it.
How do you toe the line between creating excitement around your ministry and being over the top?
I think the main thing you need to do is keep your ultimate mission in mind. It’s not much different from what Paul did in Acts, when he talked to the Greeks about their shrine for an unknown God, and he used it as an in to tell them about the real God. By “getting on their level,” so to speak, he was able to effectively communicate the Gospel.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to pastors who want to try outside-the-box ministries but don’t want to fall into the shock-and-awe mentality?
You’ve got to ask, “What is your motivation for doing this? What are you trying to accomplish?”
If it’s not centered in Christ, don’t do it. Anything short of sin to reach people for Christ, we want to do it. If you’re doing it for shock-and awe, I’d say that’s on the edge of being sinful and prideful. If you still want to proceed after praying through it, we’d love to talk you through the process of doing something sort of outside the box to reach people.
We really appreciate the example Greg provides as a way to creatively and effectively reach the community without resorting to offensive tactics.
What other churches do you know that are creatively reaching others without resorting to shock-and-awe tactics?
