Evangelism Coach

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Yesterday, I met with fellow blogger Jimmy Kinnaird here in Atlanta to discuss personal evangelism.  We had a great meeting at Starbucks, and it was awesome putting a real face on a real person that I first met because of our blogging interest on personal evangelism.

An idea we kicked around is about an evangelism coaching group. 

It is a a group that meets somewhat regularly, for people who are passionate and excited about evangelism.  The group meeting has a simple structure to discuss questions of evangelism practice.  It’s meant to keep the personal evangelistic temperature high, and an accountability group to make sure we are doing personal evangelism.

Questions:

1. What has Jesus done with you or for you since we last met? (Noticing the current activity of God).
2. Who did you have a spiritual conversation with this week?

The follow-up questions are all to debrief a conversation

1. How did you notice that it was time to have a spiritual conversation?
2. How did it start?
3. Where is that person’s spiritual thirst?
4. What questions were raised?W
5. What questions did you ask?
6. In hindsight, what would you have done differently?
7. What do you think is the persons next step spiritually?
8. How can we pray for you in that endeavor?

By having a coaching group, we can continue to sharpen our skills in personal evangelism.

I’ve started an online version of this as an experiment.  Click to go to the post about the Evangelism Encounter Discussion Group.  It might work, might not, don’t know but thought we’d try.

As an ongoing contribution to our hospitality series, here are some more tips for welcoming visitors.

Here is how First Presbyterian Church in Branson MO greets their visitors:

Because its a tourist town, they have plenty of visitors who drop in simply for the one Sunday while they are on vacation in Branson.

The pastor, during the time before the service, is able to observe who is visiting. He talks with many, if not all, prior to the service.

During the welcome time, he calls out a list of places where the visitors are from. Kansas, South Dakota, Indiana, for example. They are asked to raise their hands, and the church welcomes them.

For the church, its a continual reminder to greet the visitor, even if they are there just one Sunday.

It’s a pleasant atmosphere and because of the prior conversations with the pastor, there doesn’t appear to be any embarrassment in being asked to raise a hand.

The pastor does an excellent job of meeting and greeting prior to the service which makes this part of the service enjoyable.

It’s always a privilege to do Evangelism Training Seminars in local churches over the course of a couple of days and to watch churches get excited about doing evangelism.  It’s our mission to help you find your evangelism passion and provide training to help you express your faith.

It’s Sunday and I sit in the Branson airport, with some downtime to reflect on this week’s Dunamis Project on Listening Evangelism.  

This airport is so small, there is no person yet at the Delta counter to check-in and the flight is supposed to leave in about 90 minutes.

I’ve been with some fine folk at 1st Presbyterian Branson doing the Evangelism Training Workshop on Listening Evangelism.  It covers so many of the topics we cover at EvangeilsmCoach.  I picked up some great ideas that will find their way into the next evangelism training seminar in Enfield CT this coming weekend.

Is he a PC USA Pastor?

I did the children’s sermon this morning, using illusions with cards to offer a gospel explanation.  After the worship service, the pastor was asked by some visitors if I was a PC USA pastor, with the emphasis placed on the right brand. 

I don’t know why that was important to them, but pastor tells me they breathed a sigh of relief when he affirmed my credentialing in the PCUSA. 

A divine appointment?

After church, we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch, and we asked the waitress, “We’re about to give thanks for our food in a few moments, is there anything we can pray for you about?” 

Thinking of Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, this was a moment where we felt God drew our attention to this waitress — “Offer to Pray with her.”  We took the step to obey the prompting of the Spirit and took the risk.   The reward was a deep conversation and a chance to minister to a woman in great need.  I can’t go into her whole story but suffice it to say that it was a divine appointment.

Let me ask you this:

Who can you pray for this week?

In a sense, we can’t cause results in evangelism.

The fruit of our work is truly God’s doing.

We can weep for the lost, or labor in prayer, but salvation is truly a gift from God.

We can share our faith, engage in conversation, listen to questions, be excited about Jesus, but the other person remains spiritually dead until the Lord causes an awakening in their soul.

No wonder evangelism can be like talking to a brick wall.

Dead is dead.

Incapable of response.

The First Seeker

When Adam and Eve were naked and ashamed, they hid from God.

Yet, God pursued them. God sought after them.

Adam, where are you?

The first question of Scripture.

If you look at Ezekiel 34:11ff, you’ll notice all the “I’ll” phrases.

God is the first seeker.

The lost parables of Jesus (lost sheep, lost coin, lost son) all speak of the Father’s heart to look for those who are lost.

Ahead of Us

God is already witnessing to people.

Creation and beauty testify to his character (Romans 1, Psalm 19:1-4).

When many people see the vistas of a beautiful scenery, many feel spiritual — they realize God’s goodness and power.

God is already at work in the people that He is drawing unto Himself.

He includes us in the process

Isn’t this grace? We get to be included in this work of helping people find faith in Christ.

We get to pray — Evangelism is a mystery that happens in the Spirit. Pray for spiritual blinders to be removed.

God includes us in Divine Appointments, Kairos Moments. “as the Lord assigned to each” (1 Cor 3.5).

He is responsible for the results

God does the drawing (John 6.44)

God does the regenerating (Ephesians 2).

We simply remain faithful to sharing our faith and trusting God for the results.

Our God is the supreme Evangelist.

Evangelism, at least in my circles of influence, seems to be a dreaded word. At its mention, some people feel queasy, the hairs stand on the back of their neck, people want to secretly leave the room.

On the opening night of our Listening Evangelism Conferences, one participant in Michigan simply said “Evangelism scares us.”

Why I hate Evangelism

From an expired link in this EvangelismCoach.org article, I found “Five Reasons Why I Hate Evangelism.”

1. It violates the golden rule - most Christians would not want to be approached by a member of another religion the way Christians approach others in evangelistic attempts
2. It calls the authenticity of relationships into question - are you my friend because you’re really my friend, or so you can convert me?
3. The moment of truth - we think we must identify a “no turning back” point where you pressure someone to make a decision, and if they don’t respond well, that jeopardizes the relationship.
4. Asking someone about the Gospel feels like making a pass at them.
5. If I like my friends, and want them to continue to be my friends, I have a major incentive NOT to try to evangelize them.

Emotions!

Our emotional baggage associated with “Evangelism” is probably the biggest baggage.

Try answering this question: “What do you think about when you hear the word Evangelism?” (Reese, 11)

• Door to Door
• Pushy televangelists with funky hairdos asking for money and pushing people down.
• What does “one beggar telling another where to find bread” mean?
• My friend was obnoxious year after year always telling me I needed Jesus.
• It implies other religions are wrong, that Christians are better

Other lists that I have gathered over the years include:

• Fear of Rejection
• To mess up and somebody’s eternity destiny is your fault
• Interrupting somebody’s life
• Losing a friendship
• Fear of offending
• Fear of what others will think about you.
• Stuck with unanswerable questions
• Feeling inadequate
• Being seen as arrogant
• Fear of being kicked out of your family or breaking a family relationship
• Fear of your own weakness, hypocrisies, and inadequacies
• Doubt and not being certain about your own beliefs.
• Guilt
• Fear of being a hypocrite.
• Drive-by Evangelism

Let me ask you this?

What do you think about when you hear the word Evangelism?

I’d like to compile a larger list, so feel free to comment or contact me via the form on the right.

At a recent teaching session at YWAM Panama, the students gave the following list of answers:

1. Obedience to the Great Commission
2. If you have something so awesome, why not share it?
3. God gave us a compassion on the lost.
4. Hell.
5. Pastor says so
6. Fill the pews.
7. Obedience
8. Selfish not to share.

Some others that I’ve heard over the years:

1. We are losing members and need new ones.
2. I might be the only person in their life to explain the gospel to them.
3. Your friend might die on their way home tonight so share!
4. We need more money from new donors.

The list isn’t exhaustive, but I’d love your recommendations to add to the list.

Let me ask you this?

Why do you do evangelism?  Consider posting your answers in the comments portion.

Timmy Brister has written a series on evangelism that is a good read.

A new book called Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends (Cultural Exegesis) has come out, exploring how the gospel and culture relate. Read the book review online by CT.

In my collection of gospel scripts (presentations) I found this helpful script: One Verse Evangelism - The Navigators. I’d love to hear from you about what your favorite script is and why it’s your favorite.

Ten ways to avoid being missional, that is, salt and light in the world around you. I particularly like #1:

“Learn every evangelistic technique, theory, and strategy out there, and work hard to perfect your practice of them, even to the neglect of every other area of your spiritual life. What does the Holy Spirit have to do with drawing people to God, anyway?”

Have a great weekend.