Evangelism Coach

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Servant Evangelism

Steve Sjogren, in Scattering, Watering, and then…Waiting reminds us about how the role of the evangelist:

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is like the wind – he (not IT – please, never refer to the Holy Spirit as “it” – that is incredibly offensive to him) is not one who can be controlled. We see the effect of wind on the trees when the wind blows, but where it comes from or where it goes, we do not know (John 3).

Lasting conversions are wrought by the power of the Spirit, not by a slick sounding, win-the-argument approach. How many of you have won the argument but lost the battle? Lasting, deep down conversions are very rarely quick.

Don’t fret about the waiting period between scattering your seeds of generosity and what is going to take place once the Holy Spirit begins to shape people’s hearts in a large-scale fashion.

That’s God’s business. You keep on scattering your seeds – ideally with your people living a lifestyle of generosity and kindness. Sooner or later your crops will come in…as Jude writes, “Walk by love.”

Getting into the World

In The Practical to Becoming Worldly & Missional, Heath Watson gives us 10 practical tips on evangelism.  Each item on the list below is explained further at the original article.

1. Build Genuine Relationships
2. Listen
3. It’s Ok to Say I Don’t Know
4. Pray for them
5. Invite them to Church
6. Tomorrow is not promised
7. Know your role in evangelism
8. Seek to Glorify God in your conversation and attitude
9. Meditate on the gospel
10. Review Your conversion Often and Never grow too familiar with it.

Audio Resources from Together for the Gospel:

Heath Watson also gives us links from T4G, free MP3 downloads from this  years conference are already available for all of the sessions. These include the following excellent lectures by some people you may recognize.

(Right click any of the following links and save to your hard drive. )

• Ligon Duncan - Sound Doctrine - Essential to Faithful Pastoral Ministry (MP3)
• Thabiti Anyabwile - Bearing the Image: Identity, Work of Christ, the Church (MP3)
• John MacArthur - The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: Doctrine Absolute Inability (MP3)
• Mark Dever - Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology (MP3)
• RC Sproul - The Curse Motif of the Atonement (MP3)
• Albert Mohler - Why Do They Hate It So? The Doctrine of Substitution (MP3)
• John Piper - How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice (MP3)
• CJ Mahaney - Sustaining a Pastor’s Soul (MP3)

Using Worldview to Share the Gospel

Blogger Glibert Kingsley writes  an article for college students about using worldview to share the gospel.  Ministries like Ravi Zacharias (www.rzim.org)  use this approach.  Nick Pollard’s book on Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult uses the same approach (see footnote for my reviews).  Being Fluent in worldview issues will help you compare and contrast the world views and to help you see how a Biblical world view is the best option to making sense of reality.

Evangelism Book Review: Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult

Evangelism Book review: Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult Part 2

Another Podcast Resource:

Leonard Sweet’s podcast, “Napkin Scribbles.”  Verbal images that can be drawn on a napkin.  I wish it had the video to see the drawing.

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Every now and then, I put up a series of links that simply reflect some of the reading that I do.  

• Nathan Eshleman at Presbyterian Thoughts raises a provocative question about how the Church and Illegal Immigrants.  Having personally been involved in the immigrant community, and where my church is unable to send a mission team overseas, this question is personal.  The Church needs to get involved in the just treatment and compassionate care for immigrants.

• Tony Jones reposts a Response to Critics about Emergent Village, by Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Spencer Burke, Brian McLaren, Dan Kimball, Andrew Jones, Chris Seay.  Downloadable as a PDF.

• Jason McNutt writes “Hot Dog’s for Jesus.“  This is a great practical idea to serve the neighborhood and build relationship with it.  Servant projects like this can provide a lot of moments for causal conversations about faith that can be part of a person’s journey to faith.

• Eric Jones compiles a list of questions about raising mission minded children.

• Here’s an article about “downsizing” the Sunday service for the sake of mission.  Reduce the time and effort that needs to be put into the Sunday service in order to allow more time for leaders to “rub shoulders” with non-Christians during the week.  (Thanks to Benjamin Sternke).

• Confessing Evangelical writes a great post about evangelism methods and techniques, with a great quote from a speaker he writes about:

“Is your life the sort of life that makes people ask questions about God, and is your conversation the sort of conversation that answers them?”

Have a great weekend!

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Our primary model in our seminars for doing personal evangelism is Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.

The basic premise:

When God "underlined" the eunuch for Phillip, (with "Go stand next to THAT chariot"), Phillip obeyed and found a spiritually thirsty person.  Phillip then began a conversation that lead to the eunuch coming to faith.

Our model is to encourage the same.  Notice who God underlines, position yourself in the right place, and then engage in a conversation.

In God’s sovereignty, a misdialed number:

Recently, I taught a seminar in a church, where the group had this as their practical assignment.  The testimonies that were shared in small groups were amazing — people found it easy to share their faith when they put themselves "next to" someone that God underlined, and began a conversation.

For example, the phone rang at a participant’s house.  The caller said, "Congratulations, and Happy Birthday."

"Well, I am very happy, but today is not my birthday.  I supposed you’ve got the wrong number" — she replied.

"Oh I’m sorry to have misdialed"

But before he hung up, she felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to say  "Even though today is not my birthday, I’m happy all the time because I know that today is another day that God has given me."

"You are a Christian lady?"

"Yes"

"I quit going to church many years ago, but recently been thinking about the mess my life has become .. . .  ." — the stranger confesses.

At that point, the conversation continues in a natural flow, with the stranger ultimately praying with the evangelism seminar participant to rededicate his life to the Lord and return to church.

You can do this!

This participant simply felt prompted to make such a statement that opened the conversation. 

Wondering if perhaps in God’s sovereignty the caller had misdialed, she threw out an opening line to see where the conversation might go. 

Simply, she took a risk with a stranger who crossed paths with her.

This is how simple evangelism can be — noticing who crosses your path in God’s sovereignty and engaging in a conversation.

Let me ask you this: 

Can you see who will cross your path today that God might be bringing you to connect with?

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Saturday, I attended Eric Hoey’s (photo to right, link goes to Eric’s Blog) workshop on Evangelism and Church growth at the Multi-Cultural Church Conference this past weekend in San Antonio. 

Among other things, Eric reminded our group about different styles of evangelism connected with your personality.  The material came from Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels and Mark Mittleberg.

Peter’s Confrontational Approach — Acts 2:22-41

If Peter was convinced he was right, there was almost no stopping him. He was direct, he was bold, and he was to the point. 

Many of you know Peter’s in your face approach.  Instead of complying, he defied.  Instead of being quiet, he proclaimed.  He was very direct. 

Eric told of a friend who would walk up to bikers outside a bar and say:

“Hey, How is it going?  Have you read your bible today?”

Paul’s Intellectual Approach — Acts 17:15-34

Paul was a thinker.  He wrote the awesome book of Romans.  He thought through how to present the gospel to Greeks, Jews, Romans, and others in a contextually appropriate way. 

His treatment of the Altar to the Unknown God at Athens is a testimony to one who can present a rational case, and debate philiosophers in a way that they want to know more.

CS Lewis might be a modern day example of this.  I am not.  I have a hard time reading a CS Lewis book beyond the first chapter because it is at such lofty heights that he writes.  Yet I know people who came to faith because of a little book called “Mere Christianity.”

Blind Man’s Testimonial Approach — John 9:1-15,25

This man, born blind, could only speak from his experience.  He confidently declared: “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” That’s hard to argue with, isn’t it? 

Many folk can only talk about the radical change in the life that has happened since they started following Jesus.  They may not have the boldness like Peter, or the intellect to defend the rationality of faith like Paul, but what you have is a testimony of a changed life. 

You may not know all that you believe, but your life has been transformed and it’s worth talking about.

Matthew’s Relational Approach — Luke 5:27-29

Instead of inviting people to church right off the bat, Matthew invited fellow tax collectors and sinners to his home. 

Do you enjoy having people into your home, sharing a meal, and spending time in conversation? Many people will never be reached until someone takes the time to build that kind of closeness with them.

He was allowing himself to get close first and spend time outside of “the church.”

Samaritan Women’s Invitational Approach — John 4

When Jesus encountered this woman, and transformed her life, she ran back to town and started inviting people: Come and See. 

She immediately went to her town and brought her friends to the well to hear Jesus for themselves. This simple invitation resulted in His staying in their town for two days. Many of these men and women became His followers. 

Many people are excited about what God is doing in their church, and in their own life.  Instead of feeling confident about sharing their own faith story, they are eager to invite people to their church to see what God is doing and to hear others proclaiming the news.

Come and see, is a great invitation to give.

Dorcas’ Servant approach — Acts 9.

Gifts of Hospitality, the welcoming of strangers, acts of service to those in need are all viable forms of evangelism.  Its a tangible way of expressing the love of Jesus.

Closing comments

• Mark Mittleburg published a whole chapter excerpt from NavPress. 
• Order Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels and Mark Mittleberg, direct from Amazon.

Eric wrapped up his session with a reminder about how to present the gospel simply using various gospel scripts, such as the bridge illustration, the moral ladder, do vs. done.

Let me ask you this?

What style do you see yourself fitting into best?

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In my previous conversation at the corner McDonald’s where I spent two hours discussing faith, the gospel, and the need for Jesus, my conversation partner brought up

Mathew 7: 13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

She talked about trying to walk the straight and narrow, but that it was difficult and full of problems. 

God has prepared the way

In God’s sovereignty, we talked at a moment where the circumstances of life were overpowering and she’s looking for God’s comfort.  It’s hard to communicate in words the emotional context of her struggle. 

A tired, single mother, working 2 if not 3 jobs, having the cost of living go up substantially, and struggling to keep her little family afloat and raise her infant child in these circumstances.

All of us have moments when we think the world is crashing.  Sometimes those are passing moments, and we get back up on our feet and plow ahead.  Sometimes, we take these anxieties before the Lord and ask him for His peace and move forward.

Other times, those moments are not passing and we remain in a state of anxiety, a restless mind that keeps us awake at night and peace is hard to find.  Though we might even have faith in Christ, the body remains restless.

We talked in a divinely appointed moment where the circumstances of life were crowding in.

Asking Questions

Many of the questions I asked felt inspired in the moment. 

They weren’t scripted, they weren’t part of my morning devotions.  Rather, they were prompted as a result of the kairos moment we were having on the 2nd floor in the corner McDonalds. 

This is God’s working, and being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

“Why is the narrow road better?” I asked.

“It just is what I’ve been taught, I don’t know why.  Because it leads to eternal life?”

“Eternal life is for mañana.  What difference do you think that makes right now?”

“I don’t know.”

God’s presence

She’s right, it does lead to eternal life.

But something I believe God showed me at the moment was that walking along the narrow way with Jesus is just that — he is with us. 

The narrow way is better NOW because God is with us.  

We can face the challenges of today with God’s presence.  No matter what the world throws at us, nor our circumstances, the narrow way is better because we can know and experience God’s presence.

One of the most amazing promises of the bible is this: “Lo, I will be with you until the end of the age.”

My testimony = My experience with God.

We discussed this promise at length.  She invited me to tell stories of how I know this to be true. 

My testimony wasn’t about how I came to know the Lord, but rather I came to know this verse to be true.  How I came to know that the narrow way is better because I can experience God’s presence.

I was the credible witness, a living example of someone who can experience God’s comfort in the midst of struggle.

The more I shared about knowing God’s presence, the deeper the conversation went.  The more evident the spiritual thirst became.  I could see God drawing this person to Himself.

The final question for this conversation

After spending the two hours talking about all sorts of things, this question rose to the surface.  In the relational context we had established, this question was normal, and non-threatening.

“What keeps you from following Jesus today?” I asked.

“Fear.”

“Fear of what? Can you tell me?”

I won’t go into some of the answers as that’s part of the private conversation.  Clearly, my conversation partner wants some more time to think, consider, wrestle, examine, pick your own verb.  She’s counting the cost.

Let me ask you this?

Would you join me in prayer for this person?

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The next few posts on personal evangelism will deal with the role of the Holy Spirit in Evangelism.   

We know that God’s Spirit is at work in us as believers, training us, teaching us, and transforming us.

But, I also want to point out how the Holy Spirit prepares the way for evangelism to occur naturally.

Phillip and the Ethiopian

Consider Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.  Clearly the Spirit of God was at work in the life of the Eunuch. 

• He had gone to Jerusalem to worship.
• He was reading Scripture.
• He wanted someone to explain Scripture to him.

The eunuch had a spiritual thirst, created by the Holy Spirit, and he was busy searching to slake that thirst.  He was like the merchant looking for the fine pearl.

Easy Conversation

This was an easy conversation to for Phillip to participate in. 

He didn’t have to

• argue with a loud voice
• apologetically stand up for his faith
• use the 10 commandments as a hammer.
• verbally convince the eunuch of his sinfulness.
• spend 10,000 words arguing God’s existence.
• rationally defend against opposite worldviews.

The Holy Spirit had prepared the way.  The Holy Spirit had gone ahead of Phillip.

Both Sides of the Equation

There are two individuals involved in this story.  One seeking faith, and the other obediently positioning himself to share his faith.  Two sides of an equation.

The conversation would not have happened that day if both parties were not in the same GPS location at the same time, an encounter brought about in the sovereignty of God.

The Holy Spirit was working in Phillip and the Eunuch.  To borrow a phrase from my old algebra teacher, God was working “Both sides of the equation.”

As you do personal evangelism, notice how God is already at work in preparing the harvest field for you.  He has gone ahead of you!

Let me ask you this?

In your personal evangelism efforts, are you aware of God going ahead of you?  Are you noticing that when you are attentive to the Holy Spirit that you find those people where He is already at work?

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The office of evangelism and church growth for the PCUSA has launched a new web page.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Evangelism and Church Growth

Check out the video of Hot Metal Bridge at the church growth link above. 

Here is the link to the church’s website Hot Metal Bridge.  I’ve heard their pastors dramatize a sermon and know the kind of work they are doing.  It’s an exciting highlight in our denomination.

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