Believe it or not this is a hard core value for a lot of people. Why? Because whenever you talk about having an outward focus people quickly jump to, "We have to take care of ourselves first."
David Sharp, a 34 year old man who managed to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. The problem is he never made it back. The death caused controversy in the climbing world. There were approximately 40 people who passed Sharp on their way to the summit while he was still alive. They put their climb ahead of his life. While many tried to do something on their way back down 9 hours later it was to late. Part of the controversy is that Sharp tried to do it alone and that it was his own fault. While that may be true should that be a reason to do nothing? Sir Edmund Hillary one of the first people to ever reach the summit of Mount Everest was very vocal and said this, "On my expedition there was no way you'd have left a man under a rock to die" (The Crowd on Mount Everest," The Week (6-30-06, p. 13).
The church can't do this--if it does, it ceases to be the church. Jesus' mission was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). God from the beginning has been about reaching lost people, people who are far from Him. Having a passion for lost people is to have the same passion as God the Father. A Father who rejoices when just one person far from Him comes to Him (Luke 15:20-32). A God "who wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). A God who "does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
We as the church have a responsibility to live our life in such a way so that those who are far from God can know God. We need to stop focusing only on our own journey and become intentional about connecting lost people to God. It was Jesus' mission and as His bride, the church, it should be our mission.