Evangelism: a solo sport or team effort?

Here is something that Jesus prayed about us the night before He died – can you fill in the blank?

'I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be ___ ___ ___ ___ . Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.'

Whatever goes in the blank is pretty powerful stuff, isn’t it? It’s somehow going to show the world that Jesus is truly from God, and that the Father loves us like He loves Jesus! So what is it that Jesus says will be such a powerful revelation to those around us?

Our relationships with each other.

Here’s what’s in the gap:

'I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.'

The thing that Jesus expects to make such a profound impression on those around us is not something any one of us can have by ourselves: it’s our loving community. Elsewhere, He says that it’s how anyone will know we’re really His disciples – by seeing that we love one another.

Merging universes

But how many people who aren’t Christians do you know who’ve never had a chance to see that loving community? I wonder if one of the reasons so many of our friends, family, neighbours and colleagues are not that interested in Jesus is that they only know one Christian, or one Christian family. If we assume that Jesus knows what He’s talking about, what a profound difference might it make for someone to get a glimpse of a Christian community?

Sam Chan calls this ‘merging our universes’. How could you introduce your Christian friends to your non-Christian friends? Where could there be space for those two universes to overlap?

I had a go at this at my birthday party last year. I vividly remember wandering into a room to discover that an Atheist friend of mine (who had always seemed pretty closed) had initiated a deep conversation with three of my church friends about their testimonies!

Sport is an easy one: why not invite a mixture of people to watch some of the Olympics with you? Could you bring together friends in a similar life stage or with a shared interest over a drink, a walk or a meal? A small group at my church ran a bonfire night social and simply invited friends to join them – they were amazed by how many people came along and loved it.

We need each other

So here's the liberating truth: I'm not meant to be able to share Jesus with my friends on my own. I'm supposed to need help! Now of course, even when we’re not with any other Christians we’re not on our own. The Spirit is with us, and with His help we want to make the most of every opportunity that comes our way to share Jesus. But those precious solo efforts don’t need to be the whole story of our evangelism.

When someone gets to know some other Christians too, a whole bunch of lovely things happen. They start to see the love you have for each other, and the powerful things you have in common because of Christ – so it gets harder to say, 'Well that's just so-and-so'. They get the benefit of different believers' personalities, gifts and perspectives, instead of being stuck with just yours! But also, you get to share the journey with brothers and sisters. You get to pray together and help each other. You get to enjoy each other's company more often!

When Jesus invited us to be fishers of people, he wasn't picturing us sat alone with a fishing rod. In Galilee, they fished with nets, and they fished in teams. Evangelism isn't quite as hard or scary when it's not so lonely. We were never meant to do this on our own. We were made to reveal Jesus to the world together.