Jesus told us to go and make disciples; not see how many numbers we can send to our financial supporters or claim in our blog. The process the churches I was working with there used was to get to know people, invite them to meet with them once a week for a month to learn about the gospel – the discipleship began way before the were saved and continued after.

Anyone can invite people who show an interest (drawn by the Holy Spirit) to come to their home. They can have someone from the church come and teach. Its warm evangelism that works – and by the way, that’s the easy kind compared to the cold, which is just that.

We go downtown on Saturday night (a few do) and pass out tracts or talk with a few folks and come to church and talk about how exciting it was; however, how many are added to our number? It’s easier to do that than take a chance on offending a neighbor or having an evangelistic Bible study in our home (the home God gave us to be stewards of to His glory).

With you all on the journey homeward,
Bill

Greetings to all.
Over and over we hear how we are to follow Paul as he follows Christ. Paul was on fire for the Lord Jesus. So much so, he endured many persecutions physically, along
with all the other afflictions that he received resulting from sharing his faith and being a follower of our Lord. Jesus suffered for the joy that was set before Him enduring the cross for righteousness. Even with being peaceful it is going to bring opposition. The word is going to divide. It’s been said if one is truly saved how can one not share his or her testimony about what the Lord has done in their life? In my readings it seems as though that most converts are always giving praise or glory to God and telling of Him
We are called to be witnesses for our Lord no practice needed. Go and He will be with you even until the end.
Matthew 10:27-33 should be most encouraging to any believer. Take special notice to verses 29-31,Our Lord specifically says we are more valuable then the sparrows. One shall not fall to the ground apart from the Father’s knowing. Over and over we here how God is sovereign. This passage in it’s context says that not one hair on our head will fall apart from the Father, meaning if we are any where anytime talking with any body truly concerned for their salvation, our Lord and Father is not going to let anything happen to us apart from His timing. That’s not to say that persecution, afflictions difficulties will not come they will, but if we truly believe He is our Father and is concerned for the salvation of all, then be reassured that He is in control. Yes we have to pray for doors to be open that we may be able to utter the word with boldness.
Everyone is to share their testimony and that’s not just with friends and neighbors or co workers. One only has so many family members and neighbors and coworkers. What happens after one has talked to their immediate relations? Go to the highway and byways and compel all to come to the marriage feast!!
In closing it’s not about being effective it’s about being obedient to our Lord. If it’s about being effective then Noah was not very good at soul winning, and what about Isaiah and others. We water and plant. God will do the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6,7
Paul’s example in Philippians 1:12-14 should be encouraging to know that through his sufferings we should be all the more ready to proclaim the Lord to others and with boldness. And what about Philippians 1:29 we are going to suffer if we are standing for righteousness. Lastly this is a good exhortation, Philippians 2:17,18 here is Paul suffering for our faith, he is rejoicing and declaring to us that it is joy that he wants us to know, so much so in the next verse 18 he is urging us to rejoice in the same way and to share our joy with him. How is one to experience that joy maybe by partaking in sufferings as our dear brother did! Sufferings and disappointments are going to come with sharing our Lords greatness with others, but Paul says it is joy that he wants us to experience. Speaking from experience it is truly JOY when you speak to someone about our Lord.

For His Name Sake,
Brandon

I will hear of someone in our church struggling with a physical or emotional problem and want to tell them what verses to read, what to meditate on and the enormous impact prayer can have on their lives. But is this the best thing I should be telling them? Will this advise help the person who is probably not a Christian, but thinks they are because they prayed a prayer? Thanks for the suggestions.

I appreciate your article and heart on this subject. I love to do one-to-one evangelism myself, but definitely feel burdened to equip my church body to reach their sphere of influence around them, ie friends, family, coworkers, strangers where they regularly have coffee, go shopping etc.

Our awesome God provides divine appointments every day for us to initiate in conversation. Imagine if we all actively shared the gospel within our reach, how much that would impact our cities and culture.

Let the revolution continue…

Another benefit of this has been the growth of personal evangelism in our existing members in their own sphere of influence. Personally whenever I go out for a “structured” time of evangelism it seems to enbolden my witness more when I am at work, or with neighbors. I’ve always been convicted by Paul’s admonition to Timothy in 2 Tim 2:1 to be strong in God’s grace when he refers back to the message of grace in chapter 1. It’s something I’ve determined I can be weak in too, so this has helped me exercise those spiritual muscles.

The Lord Himself chose to use the analogy of fishing for evangelism (Matthew 4). We should encourage people to fish in the way that most enjoy and feel led to fish. We can put as many lines in the water in as many place and in as many ways as possible. Rather than fixating on the type of lures or poles or lines we’re using, we should rejoice that others are being encouraged to fish.

Using another of the Lord’s analogies, we should spread as much seed as we can (Matthew 13). God must bring forth the fruit. We succeed and honor God when we faithfully spread the seed.

The only ways to err is to tamper with the message or to bring fleshly pressure to convert to Christ. Sadly, some proponents of some church-growth strategies in the last decades have done exactly that.

Thank you for your relevant, Bible-based insights!

I appreciate the thoughts. I have been thinking through the discipline of evangelism lately (since I have been reading Don Whitney’s book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian life). I agree that evangelism is a practice/discipline. All Christians everywhere are called to not only live in a way that is conforming more and more into the image of Christ, but also we are to evangelize those who are dead in their trespasses and sins.

Since “cold evangelism” (may be better termed confrontational evangelism) is can cause a great deal of anxiety for many Christians. I would personally recommend “Christianity Explained” to help overcome this anxiety. This material is one of the best tools to help Christians who have evangelistic zeal, but often do not know where to begin with their friends or family. This is a series of six talks based on the gospel of Mark,that are presented in a way that is not “confrontational”, but is meant to provide an unbeliever with an understanding of the truths of Christianity. This tool is not available in the U.S., unless you are a member of Capital Hill Baptist in D.C., but anyone can order the leader guide online from http://www.christianityexplained.com/.

P.S. We have not spoken in a while so call or email me.

Your article is right on the mark. Coming from an Ex-Mormon I can hoestly say that the TRUE CHURCH for many years than one can count has been laging in regards to obedience in the area of evangelism.

Growing up in the Mormon church we did not have the option to evangelize or not – it is required of everyone. In fact, everyone must take on-going classes to learn evangelism and to be accountable. Also, everyone who is baptized in the Mormon church must serve as a missionary for at least 2 years and be self supported while on the mission field.

It has always amazed me that in the Christian Church where we have the true gospel we have to try to encourage people to do what we should come natural out of a real love for Jesus Christ and the gospel of grace.

I do know that in other parts of the world where there is a high cost to be payed for your faith in Jesus Christ evangelism comes much easier. People in those parts of the world know that if you have come to saving faith in Christ than it had better be real because soon your faith will be put to the test and only those who have genuinely been saved will shine brightly.

Here in the USA Christianity has become so watered down and so much like the surrounding world we live in that there remains no real cost for ones faith and thus no real impact. Maybe the best thing that could happen to the church today that would spur people on to action would be some good old persecution.

Thanks again Jesse for your uncompromising love for Jesus Christ and for the lost.

God Bless

Patrick

thanks for your thoughtful comment. as a leaky dipensationalist, I obviously agree with the both-and concept. & healthy church has prevalent evangelism. thanks,
Jesse

“… evangelism is a practice, not a program. It happens in your life, not on Friday nights at 7 pm. …. real evangelism is a lifestyle, not a one-time activity.”

I think that I have soap-boxed on the perils of “event-oriented evangelism” for at least as many years as I have been in full-time ministry; which is to say that I am very sympathetic with the spirit of the post. But, having served as an elder for a whopping nine years now, I will confess that my sympathies for evangelistic programs, evangelistic activities, and Friday night open-air services have grown. If not for their “effectiveness” in terms of conversions (a standard with which I think we might BOTH take issue), then for the opportunity with which these “events” provide us for modeling to the less mature what “good” evangelism looks like (in terms of things you DON’T see) AND sounds like (in terms of things you DO and DON’T hear).

While I do believe that the most God-honoring evangelism is that which results from biblical worship (and thus is probably best considered a by-product of genuine spiritual life), as a pastor my appreciation for the “evangelistic program” (or “event”) has grown. I see these things as tools. Something like a Sunday School curriculum — a means to an end.

I think our goal, as pastors, is to make sure that in our zeal to reach the “ends” (by implementing “means” and “events”), God’s people do not mistake the 30-year AWANA program with God-honoring evangelism. Not that the two are inherently mutually exclusive, but they CAN be! As anyone who has been an AWANA Commander of a “successful” AWANA Ministry will tell you, sometimes its like pullin’ teeth to get someone to take Cubbies! Yet, we don’t dare pull the plug on AWANA!!

I think that the more our members are attached to a particular program, the greater the likelihood that the lines are beginning to blur between “means” and “end”. The up-shot of this is that “involvement” in evangelism begins to take place by proxy. “We evangelize at our church” doesn’t mean “I evangelize” but that “people at our church evangelize.”

We want to avoid this. And avoiding this MAY just take pullin’ the plug on a beloved program!

So then, while I am sympathetic to the gist of your post, I still wonder whether it could not be a matter of “Both/And”, rather than “Either/Or”?

Walter Heaton