Evangelism Coach

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I had the privilege this week of preaching at a church in Marietta Georgia.  It was a church in the Pentecostal stream of the Body of Christ.  It was ok with them my ordination is with the Presbyterian Church. 

I’m a Presbyterian that’s been "tampered with,"  meaning I don’t fit a stereo-typical Presbyterian pastor.

I enjoy being with the people of God during my evangelism coaching travels. I enjoy the diversity of the body of Christ and it’s multi-cultural aspect — truly the body of Christ is made up of people from all nations.  The Atlanta Metro area is truly rich in ethnic and cultural diversity.  I see more and more multi-ethnic churches and that’s a beautiful thing.

It’s a reminder to me that one day, all the nations, tribes, and tongues will gather to worship Jesus (Rev. 7.9) 

The fruit of our evangelism should be a multi-cultural body of Christ, not just one flavor of humanity.

As we sang songs during our worship time, I felt the Lord give me a question to ask at the beginning of sermon.

1. How many of you have been a follower of Jesus for less than a year?
2. How many of you have been a follower of Jesus for less than 5 years?  1 hand.
3. Less than 10 years?
4. Less than 20 years?
5. Over 20 years?  All the rest of the hands were raised.

The next question set the rest of the sermon:

Where are the new believers? 

Where are the people not yet followers of Jesus but in the process of discovering their faith?

Now the question gets personal. 

1. Do you have friends who are not yet following Jesus?
2. Do you have liberty to discuss faith and perhaps be used of God to influence them for God’s kingdom? 

Let me ask you this?

If you have such friends, what are you doing to help them move closer to discovering Jesus? 
If you don’t have such friends, what can you do today that will change that?

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.

From the traffic reports on this site, the Series on Hospitality has been the most searched after material. I’ve complied the entire series here.

Back to Basics in Church Evangelism
Hospitality is a piece of evangelism
What’s your sign? (Do your signs help or hinder?)
Poor Word Choice (One sign that just doesn’t read right).
Hospitality and Evangelism (The story of our welcome to our church).
Welcome a Spanish speaking Visitor
How not to welcome a visitor
No One Said Hello
I can’t silence the pain.
I want to feel Jesus
Six Hints for welcoming Visitors

I’ve been doing some writing and thinking about helping the church become visitor friendly. A list of related articles is below.

Hospitality is only a part of church based evangelism.

I just read a timely article about this in Net Results Magazine’s September/October 2007 Issue. Bill Easum writes “Back to Basics,” calling on church leaders to get back to the great commission and the great commandment.

In returning to the Great Commandment, he exhorts congregations about the need to return to the basic ministry of loving one another, to become an “incubator of faith where non Christians and new Christians experience a warm, loving, and accepting group of people.”

• Is your church friendly toward the visitor?
• Is your church friendly towards the pastor?
• Or is your church full of strife, division, and run by a control freak?

If your church is not an incubator of faith, perhaps its time to show the controllers and bullies to the door, says Easum.

In returning to the Great Commission, Easum reminds the church to return to the basic ministry of reaching out to the stranger. He offers practical steps for pastors to help keep this in front of the congregation.

His steps:
1. Read the series “My First Six Months as a Pastor”

1. Part one.
2. Part two.
3. Part three.
4. Part four.
5. Part five.
6. Part six.
7. Part seven.

2. Read “Why People Don’t Invite People to Church.” [A recent EvangelismCoach.org post on this is here].
3. Host some “Taste and See Events”
4. Figure out how to spend at least 10% of annual income on ministries focused on unchurched people. Here is a list of ways to connect.

Other Hospitality Posts
Hospitality is a piece of evangelism
What’s your sign? (Do your signs help or hinder?)
Poor Word Choice (One sign that just doesn’t read right).
Hospitality and Evangelism (The story of our welcome to our church).
Welcome a Spanish speaking Visitor
How not to welcome a visitor
No One Said Hello
I can’t silence the pain.
I want to feel Jesus
Six Hints for welcoming Visitors

I’ve soaked up reading Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism (Real Life Evangelism Series) by Martha Reese. I met her in Nashville and spent some time interacting with her on the research. The full research can be seen here at GraceNet.info

She did a survey study of over 1000 mainline churches to observe what churches were doing in evangelism.

It covered the full range of theological perspectives from conservative to progressive to outright liberal (self definitions, I guess).

She used evangelism quite broadly defined: “Anything you do to help another person move close to a relationship with God, or into a Christian community.”

That can be interpreted in several different ways from just adding members, or generating conversions. I’m sure that there are some churches that simply help people join — irrespective of a relationship with Christ. I’ve not had the opportunity to drive down into the definition.

However, what I found most compelling in her story is this: “Our most important discovery is that a vivid relationships with God lies at the heart of real evangelism.”

To me, that’s a no brainer, and perhaps to Ms. Reese it was to0. The research she did supported that.

“People in evangelistic churches can tell you what difference being a Christan makes in their own lives” (p.5)

“People who share their faith love God and believe that other people’s lives would be better if they were in a relationship with God too.” (p.4)

Let me ask you this:
Using a question direct from the book (p. 15): “If your faith is already vibrant and alive, can you talk about it?”

(According to Reese, many mainliners do not know how to talk about their faith, and the research shows it. They love God and love the church, but are fearful when it comes to talking about faith).