Evangelism Coach

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Today’s guest post is from Robert Shaw, Pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Winfield Indiana.  I’ve met Robert at the Evangelism Conference for the PCUSA last year, and ran into him again at the transformation pastors conference that just ended in St. Pete’s Beach in FL.

He shares with us some of the things that he does as pastor in a local church to help folks with evangelism.

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Breathing Exercises

by the Reverend Robert Shaw¹

Sharing the gospel is as easy as breathing. But then I also find swimming just as easy.

For many mainline Christians being asked to share the good news of Jesus Christ is as scary as being thrown off the end of a pier without the benefit of swimming lessons. But like swimming, once one knows when and how to breath sharing the gospel is easy and the end of the pier becomes an a place to enjoy and dive into the water.

Blowing bubbles

I remember the lifeguard teaching my classmates and I to blow bubbles at my first swimming lesson. “Take a breath of air, put your face into the water, blow bubbles, turn your head to the side, take another breath, and repeat.” This is a lesson I mastered as a six year-old.

Similarly the first lesson when sharing the gospel is learning to blow bubbles. Take a deep breath of the Holy Spirit, then while out in the world slowly exhale. Return to the community of faith and take another deep breath of the Holy Spirit.

This lesson applies not only to sharing the gospel, but to life itself. During the week we face numerous challenges and make our share of mistakes. Some of these feel like getting punched and having your breath knocked out. Knowing where to get a refreshing and life restoring breath of the Holy Spirit helps Christians flourish from one Sunday to the next.

Practice Blowing Bubbles

To help Presbyterian congregations “provide opportunities for evangelism²,” I have, as part of morning worship, encouraged those present to talk about why they come to church in small groups. During the passing of the peace, which in my order for worship comes before the Scripture readings and the sermon, I ask those present to re-seat themselves into groups of three. I encourage people from the same household, or usual circle of friends, to sit in different groups.

After a brief introduction, as illustrated in above paragraphs, the sermon is presented as three segments. Each segment is comprised of a Scripture reading, a minute or two of exposition, then three minutes for participants to answer the related question within their triad. I have found using a verse of a hymn an effective and necessary transition between segments. Typically I have had the three questions (the section headings below) printed in the bulletin.

Time with Young Disciples

Before the introduction to the sermon, I invite all of the children to come forward for an object lesson. I hand each child a paper cup saying pretend this is your heart. Then I place a chocolate Kiss^® in each cup saying that love is like having a kiss in your heart. Then while pouring more candies from an opaque pitcher into their hands, I say, “But God’s love is heaped up, tamped down, and over flowing.” After the children finish scrambling for the chocolates that have spilled onto the floor, I tell them that with so much love they can could give one to everyone in the congregation and still have more than enough. If pressed for time, the sermon introduction could begin while the children distribute the candy.

hat is God doing in your life that excites you?

Scripture Lesson: Psalm 96.

The psalmist was excited about what God had done in creation. He wanted everyone to sing God’s praises with him. Consider the glorious creation that God has placed us in; the majestic beauty of the Grand Canyon, the scent of spring flowers, the song of a wren. Breath deeply to shout about what God is doing now!

What brings you spiritual calm when things are chaotic?

Scripture Lesson: John 20.

The disciples had retreated to the upper room following the Crucifixion. Stain glass windows help separate a congregation from the noise of life, creating a place for quiet reflection. Even the white spaces between the words of Scripture is sacred, for they help us to see the words more clearly. Teach others where to find rest from the storm, to breathe in the Spirit, and receive grace.

How do you contribute to building the Kingdom of Heaven?

Scripture lesson: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.

The Apostle Paul recorded several ways that people contribute to being church together. In addition to teaching, preaching, and healing, we contribute to bringing God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, and loose the bonds of injustice. Invite people outside the church to work alongside us so we might see God’s future together.

Concluding Remarks

While gathering joys and concerns in preparation for the Pastoral Prayer, following the Sermon, I ask people to name one thing heard in their triad, that someone outside the church should know.

Before the charge and benediction I ask if participants had enough time to discuss each question. I have always received a resounding “NO!” Then I charge everyone to continue the conversation during the coffee hour with people from other groups, over lunch with family, and during the week with co-workers and neighbors.

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1  Robert Shaw received a Masters in Divinity from the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has served as the chair of church development committees for the Synod of Trinity and for the Synod of Lincoln Trails.

Currently he is the Designated Pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church, Winfield, Indiana, which is in the midst of a Transformation project. This article is refined by experiences with six congregations including rural, suburban, and urban settings.

2 The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): Part II, The Book of Order, G-10.0102a.

Looking for practical evangelism tips?  Here are a few.  Links will take you to further explanations and articles on these items. 

Evangelistic Prayer

1.  Seek the Father’s Heart — (see Getting Emotionally Worked Up)

2.  Offering yourself for God’s use in sharing your faith.

3.  Regular Prayer for those who don’t know Christ.

See Also:

• Ten Prayer Points For your Friends
• Prayer and Evangelism
• Three Verses on Prayer (in a book review article)
• Take the Risk, Offer to Pray.
  
• Prayer and Evangelism (Acronym to lead your prayer)
• HEART.
• Evangelism PAINS

Position Yourself

4. Find a way to be a blessing to others

5.  Live Authentically in public and in private.

6.  Build genuine relationships

See:

• 10 Ideas To Reach Out To Your Neighborhood

Proclamation:

7.  Choose a gospel script.

• Gospel Scripts Series

8.  Practice the gospel script until you are comfortable with it.

• How To Practice A Gospel Presentation

9.  Discover your story

• Personal Testimony Questionnaire
• Evangelism As Storytelling
• The Power Of Testimony
• A 2 part Questionnaire

10.  Learn how to use questions in a conversation

• 20 Evangelism Questions To Start A Conversation
• Evangelistic Questions For Evangelism

See also:

• Keys For Evangelism Training
• Evangelism Training In The Local Church
• Effective Evangelism Training Lab Time,

For help with any of these through 1-1 coaching, see also Personal Evangelism Mentoring

Personal Evangelism Book

Many of us know people who seem to have a simple time sharing their faith. 

When we think of the successful evangelists we know, many seem like

• easy and out going extroverts,
• who have no problem talking to strangers,
• or causally talking about faith with everyone at the family reunion. 

No fear in them at all. 

However, many of us can be paralyzed by our Evangelism Fears.  There are different Fears of Evangelism

Introvert Evangelism

But what about those who are more introverted?  How do we share our faith?

This is the question that Evangelism for the Rest of Us: Sharing Christ within Your Personality Style, Mike Bechtle, seeks to address.

“God designed us with a specific purpose in mind.

The reason?

So we could do what He wants us to do, in the unique way that nobody else could do it.

Why should we try to do it differently? … When introverts spend time trying to function like extroverts, they’re doing more than just wasting time.

They’re actually robbing themselves of the very tools God gave them to do his work.”

However, most programs designed to teach evangelism assume that a person is outgoing and confident in situations like talking to complete strangers in a public setting.

“I’ve found that when I try to share my faith in unnatural ways, my fear gets larger and tends to stop me from sharing. That kind of fear almost always signals that I’m sharing out of guilt instead of compassion.

But when I share in ways that fit with God’s design for me, a creative tension compels me to look for new ways to move forward.

Compassion drives me to look for unique, appropriate ways to make a spiritual connection.”

Bechtle really seeks to develop a way that those of us are a little more on the introverted side can still feel pretty natural in sharing our faith. 

The book doesn’t really go into the mechanics of sharing your faith (your Personal Testimony, God’s story, any gospel scripts illustrations).

Rather, he seeks to show introverts conversational settings where they can feel comfortable in talking about their faith.

He does seek to show biblical methods of evangelism, and conversational skills that are matched to your personality.

Over all a good read and one that is worthy of your dime.

Order your copy of Evangelism for the Rest of Us: Sharing Christ within Your Personality Style, Mike Bechtle from Amazon and EvangelismBookstore.com

Do you know your Neighbor?

Something I experienced when I lived in the suburbs of Richmond VA was the lack of a sense of community in our neighborhood. 

Sure we all bought nice houses, but with the exception of one family, we didn’t know any of the neighbors. 

What a contrast to our former subdivision where we knew everyone on the cul-de-sac, and had regular time with them all.  Over the course of 5 years there, we prayed with many of them, and several eventually came to faith in Christ and got connected with a church.

Jesus says that we are the light of the world, yet how many of us commute more than 10 miles to go to church, bypassing 40 homes in our same subdivision? 

How can we live out the notion of “every house a lighthouse” or “every house a church?” 

How can we break through the bubble of not knowing our neighbors?

If God has appointed the time and season of where you live, how can you be a tool in God’s use to impact your neighborhood with the Gospel?

TEN ideas for building neighborhood relationships.

1. Host a neighborhood block party on your street.
2. Host marriage enrichment seminars in your home for neighbors.
3. Start a playgroup with other stay at home parents.   Don’t forget the stay at home dads.   I was a stay at home dad so I know how important this is.
4. Distribute homemade gifts to your neighbors at Christmastime.  Include a tactful card that points to Christ.
5. Invite those without nearby family over for a holiday meal (for example: singles, internationals, divorced or widowed).
6. Conduct a Backyard Bible Club during the summer for neighborhood kids.
7. Host a baby shower for a neighbor who is expecting. Make sure you include their friends not just yours(!)
8. Offer to host a weekly discussion group or Bible Study. Invite Christian and non-Christian friends to participate.
9. Coordinate a Bring your Own Main Course night. You supply the grill, and everyone brings their own meat or veggie dish.   Have some families bring side dishes while others bring drinks or dessert.
10. Invite the neighbors over to watch a ball game or the mother of all sporting events-the Super Bowl. 

For that last one, no matter where in the world we personally live, we are American that Super Bowl Sunday and will invite the neighbors over.  Other times, we’ll join them for the World Cup soccer games, even  though I still don’t know the rules.  

Build genuine relationship that allows room for spiritual conversation.  Once a good relationship is built, look for opportunity to share your faith in Christ in a manner that is appropriate and real.

Let me ask you this:

What do you do to build relationship with your neighbors?  When was the last time you actually spent time with your neighbor?

Below is an article I wrote for a men’s publication, coming out later in May. 

Mac and Susan (*) were new neighbors that moved into our cul-de-sac. A few days after the trucks left and friends stopped dropping by, my wife and I prepared some welcome cookies (fresh baked oatmeal raisin, still warm from the oven) then went over and introduced ourselves, to give a warm welcome to our community.

We made lots of small talk about the community, about life, and shared a little of our personal backgrounds. Eventually, Mac asked me: “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a pastor.”

Often, that kills the conversation.

But this time, Mac wanted to know more.

He asked me all sorts of questions, and began to reveal much about his spiritual journey. In college, he had been involved with a campus ministry, was busying talking to others about his faith in Christ.

Yet he was always troubled by the problem of evil.

If God is love, then why did Hitler even exist?

Since he couldn’t come to a satisfactory answer, he set his faith aside and decided it was better not to be certain of anything. He stopped going to church, changed his social networks over time, and became a pleasant agnostic. He was quite happy with his choice, and his life was fine without an active faith.

My current neighbor, an Australian wine maker, is simply “on his journey.”

Many of us likely know men who are in the same place: a place where faith is not important, and men whose life is fine without an active faith. Men, like my former neighbor, who might label themselves ex-Christian; men who might take on the label agnostic, or atheist.

Many of us know first hand that it is not easy to reach men with the gospel. Giving up is not an option, and just one man turning to Christ can revolutionize an entire church or community.

The power of a shared life
Effective evangelism to men begins with genuine male friendships, sharing common experiences, and doing life together. In that relational context, men develop the security to share what’s really on their minds.

It is this type of relationship that leads to success with men in evangelism. In all the reading I have done, all the ministry I’ve been a part of, many men’s leaders unanimously agree that building long-term relationships is the best way to lead a man to Christ.

Swinging a hammer together on Habitat for Humanity, crewing on a sailboat, disaster relief, feeding programs, and even golf tournaments some of the ways that I’ve been involved in doing shared life ministry. In the context of doing life together, many men find the liberty to talk deeply.

Talking about grace in a quiet space

Jorge (*) was an architect. He stopped going to church nearly 30 years prior simply because it didn’t make sense. One afternoon, I served as the crew on his racing sailboat, joining him for the best of three in the afternoon. It wasn’t a very windy day, so the skill was catching the mild breeze correctly to move forward. With lulls in the breeze, we had nothing to do except talk.

Jorge shared his life with me, shared with me his struggles of faith, and I shared some of the answers that I have found in Christ. We talked about the definition of grace, and how I discovered an amazing grace. The conversation was genuine, not preachy. The tone was polite and respectful. The breeze picked up and we raced on.

Months later, during another race, we experienced another lull in the wind, Jorge picked up the conversation from before. My comments had intrigued him and we continued to talk deep.

Reaching Men
If you want to reach men, consider how you can help the men of your congregation do life together. Help your men see the value of inviting others to something besides a church service.

• Service projects for housing or disaster relief efforts
• Golf tournaments, Fishing events, or other sports events
• Cookouts, BBQs, Block parties and other such social events
• Retreats around practical life, such as how to love your family, or not to marry a jerk.

As church leaders, our goal is to help provide the space for men to connect and do life together. We can encourage them to notice the moments when talking about faith is appropriate. We can model how to do that with our own lives.

Let me ask you this?

What does your church do for men’s outreach?

1. When was the last time you had a conversation about faith with someone who wasn’t a Christian?
2. What was the last book on evangelism that you read?
3. When was the last time you preached (or heard) a series on evangelism?
4. When was the last time you took the initiative to greet a first time visitor, and took the time to converse with them, beyond the handshake?
5. How would you answer the question from a non-Christian: “Why do you believe in Jesus?”
6. When was the last time you prayed for your neighbor to know Christ like you know him?
7. How many friends do you “do life with” that do not know Jesus?
8. How many Bible studies or church events do you go to that keep you too busy to be with non-churched people?
9. What gospel scripts have you learned and are ready to use at a moment’s notice?
10. Who are the new believers in your church that you can help coach in evangelism?

While I’m away in Nicaragua, I’ve asked my good friend and sister in Christ, Susan Finck-Lockhart to write up an article for EvangelismCoach.  Susan and I have the privilege of teaching on Evangelism regularly at various workshops for www.prmi.org around the States.  I’ve known Susan for over 10 years and am grateful that she has given us this article.

A Paradigm Shift

After I came to faith in Jesus during my high school years, I absorbed the message that it was my responsibility to ‘witness’ to everyone who happened to be next to me — on a subway, in a checkout line, or in English class.

It was my responsibility to figure out how to witness to as many people as possible.

If I didn’t, “they might get-in-a-car-wreck-and-die-and-go-to-hell-and-it-would-be-my-fault-because-I-had-been-too-chicken.”

I lived with a residual guilt after every conversation; every encounter with quasi-strangers at the grocery store or or hair salon, where I just couldn’t figure out how to bring Jesus into the conversation.

I remember feeling like a failure; like I just couldn’t “do” evangelism.

Something changed . . . . .

Something changed when I did my student teaching in the early 80s at the University of Texas at Austin.

My supervising teacher, Helen (not her real name), and I really connected.

She was a counter-culture, earth-loving, free-thinking, warm and winsome woman about 10 years my senior. She owned a home with a guy she wasn’t married to. We both loved the kids we taught, and found ourselves intensely immersed in their lives.

I found myself not wanting to try to “save” her or “witness to” her. I found myself intrigued with her and wanting to be her friend.

I didn’t hide my church or para-church involvement, but she didn’t ask any questions and I didn’t push it. We ate lunch together in her classroom. She taught me about teaching writing; about how to call forth words from the heads of high schoolers, how to urge them toward journalistic and linguistic excellence.

She invited me to her home for dinner. We talked about music, movies and men. She showed me her freezer full of marijuana, neatly packaged in baggies. I was fascinated. She couldn’t believe I’d never seen packaged, frozen marijuana.

Present in the midst of pain.

The phone rang late one night, and it was Helen, sobbing. The man she lived with, her boyfriend of nine years, had moved out. Came with a U-Haul. Took furniture. All his clothes. She could barely talk. She hadn’t seen it coming.

“Helen — Just hang on. I’m on my way, “ I said.

As I sped towards South Austin, I was overcome with Helen’s situation. It hit me that she had no anchor, no foundation. Her boyfriend had been her world.

I realized how much I loved Jesus. He was my anchor, my foundation, my Lord, my Best Friend. However, I believe God let me feel what Helen must have been feeling. During that dark drive, I realized how badly I wanted Helen to meet Christ.

She was in the yard waiting for me. We embraced, and she shook, taken over by the grief.

Intuitively I knew that all this had to do with God’s drawing Helen unto Jesus.

I don’t remember much of the conversation. I remember hurting for her. I remember being shaken by the depth of her despair. I also remember saying, “Helen, I need to tell you something. I need to tell you that people are always going to let us down. They will bring their Uhauls and move out; they will get cancer and die: they will get tired of us and move on.

But Helen, there is One Person who will never leave us….”

And then I told her about Christ.

Right there in the yard in front of the house they owned together with the marijuana in the freezer.

She listened.

I got my first taste of what it’s like to be obedient to God’s loving initiative in the life of a not-yet-believer. To love someone like Jesus might love them.

Helen didn’t “pray the prayer” that night, or during the course of our friendship.

But I trust that God in his sovereignty will bring her to Himself (He may have already.)

It’s been 27 years since that night.

But I’m grateful to Helen– and eternally grateful to Jesus —for showing me what it’s like to participate with Him in loving lost people and to let Him be in charge of creating the moment for speaking of faith.

About Susan:

Susan currently serves as full-time mom to four amazing teens, and part time pastor at El Calvario Presbtyerian Church in Waco, Texas.  In addition she leads retreats & conferences for Presbyterian-Reformed Ministries, International (www.prmi.org), usually on Evangelism and Cooperating with the Holy Spirit.  In her free time, she likes to run, read & get together with friends.  Susan, her husband Bill and the kids are active at Central Presbyterian Church, Waco.