Getting evangelism going

Imagine that you arrive at a new church and you want to see more evangelism being done. It’s a warm-hearted fellowship with pleasant people, and reasonably attractive premises, but they haven’t seen anyone converted to Christ in the last few years.

If you are the pastor you have a huge plus. For in the initial months (called the honeymoon) the church is looking to you for a lead.

If you are not the pastor but a serious punter, you have obviously chosen this fellowship for two main reasons: first, you feel confident enough that you can bring your friends and neighbours along and, second, that the Bible will be taught well in a contemporary manner. Indeed, the whole service is modern, the people are welcoming and the coffee is good. That’s why you chose it, isn’t it?

Well, how will you set about cranking up the evangelism, for that is your love and that is what you want to see happening? You take Acts 8.4 seriously, that the early church ‘gossiped the gospel’ wherever they went.

As you chat to people over coffee, you start to see where they are up to, what their passions are, what they would like to see happening. And you especially talk about evangelism and see if it fires them up; you encourage them with all their contacts and conversations. You talk to the other leaders and realise that they too would love to see the church more outgoing and more willing to welcome outsiders. You go along to the prayer meeting and hear what they pray for. You hear one person really praying for a neighbour, and you hear the others echoing their ‘yes’s’ and ‘Amens’.

Already happening?

You hear what is already going on. Then you notice a few people who always seem to have friends with them. The lady who prayed for her neighbour is there at coffee with a friend. As you chat you discover that this is the neighbour who’s been prayed for. You say that you are new and so don’t know her. Would she like to come round for coffee as you too are just starting to make friends, and the church seems very friendly. Of course, you invite her Christian friend along as well. This friendship leads into a number of others, and before you know what’s happened you find you have three or four unbelieving friends and the original Christian contact.

So you ask them if they’d like to investigate the Christian faith with you in your home. You have already asked the leaders if they would give you their ‘blessing’ for doing this and, although you hear, ‘We’ve never done this before’, they are in fact delighted that someone is doing some evangelism.

The principles used?

First, when you chose this church you prayed really hard that the Lord would use you here. Every time you went around the town, you prayed that God would lead you into a positive conversation for him. At the church you asked the Lord to help you seek out those who were not yet believers. You had already planned that you would invite them back to your home.

Second, you knew you couldn’t do this alone, so you prayed that the Lord would lead you to others who had a heart to see their friends and neighbours converted, and they too were praying and bringing friends. Once you found out who the ‘recruiters’ were, you made sure that none of you would get sucked into committees. These were people-people, and they must not get tied up in Christian-only committee work, but must be free to develop friendships, be hospitable and engage with unbelievers. They also need a positive attitude towards the church fellowship.

Third, you started to identify the various ways God had gifted your recruiters. Some were really well organised and structured. Others were completely scatty but quite brilliant with people. Some had very welcoming homes that were ideal to run evangelistic courses. You had already researched the sort of material that would be suitable to use with the unbelievers. The Y Course was quite a favourite since it was a topical approach and covered many of the key questions people asked. However it was a bit dated. Introducing God from down under was superb, sticking closely to the Two Ways to Live gospel outline, which you really liked. Then there was Christianity Explored where Rico Tice took you mainly through Mark’s Gospel. You knew that your aim was to introduce you friends and your recruiters’ friends to Jesus himself. You needed helpful books to lend, good video/DVD material and people who could chat easily.

Fourth, you knew that it was important to meet with your recruiters regularly, to pray, plan and train together. They didn’t need any special techniques, just a heart willing to talk about Jesus. You helped them with common questions that might get asked; you thought out your ‘apologetic’ approach and shared it with them. This to you was the greatest joy on earth, sharing your faith in the most natural setting possible.

Based on our personal experiences.

John and Daphne Ross, two amateurs with a heart for evangelism

Already happening?

The principles used?

Based on our personal experiences.

Main Articles

Other articles