The You … You Are: Audience

God intentionally designed and created you to be the you … you are. Everything about you was either planned or permitted by God from before your birth. Some things God planned – when and where you were born; your parents and siblings; your appearance; your temperament and natural abilities; among others.

God permitted other things to take place due to your own free will. You choose your level of education; spouse; where you live; your career; whether you accept Christ; among others.

Finally, the free will of others affects you in such areas as hiring and firing; marital separation or divorce; legal action against you; a wayward child, and other decisions. All of these factors were permitted by God and impact the you … you are.

There is an important component to your makeup that receives hardly any notice – the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 states, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” What are these desires and where did they originate? When God created you, He embedded within you a desire to impact a particular audience – a group of people or a social institution.

If your audience is a group of people you tend to want to meet people’s needs within a church ministry. Your audience there will be in one of 5 categories.

Another type of audience involves social issues. This involves making conditions better and typically takes place outside the church in the larger community. It’s easier to identify your social issue if you consider the problems associated with various social institutions. Listed below are various social issues and one example of a social issue for each institution:

How do you identify your audience? Ask yourself the questions below to find out if your audience is a group of people.

• Do you enjoy and become energized being around a certain group of people?
• Do you want to help a group of people that face overwhelming problems?
• Do you want a group of people to have a better life – to be the best they can be?

Ask yourself the questions below to clarify if your audience is a social institution.

• Do you want to meet a need facing a social institution?
• Do you want to help resolve an issue facing a social institution?
• Is there a wrong that needs to be made right in a social institution?

The key is to start somewhere – in a ministry associated with your likely audience. Notice the stirrings of your heart. If it seems like a good fit, serve there with all your heart. If not, then try another ministry associated with a different audience.

© 2011 Designed to Serve®