Since this was my first discussion with them, I wanted to get a feel for their experiences and their pre-conceptions about

What is evangelism?

The outgrowth will be future discussions into particular areas.

What is evangelism?

Leading a group discussion on evangelism can be a challenge because the field of evangelism is huge.

In fact I did an evangelism mind map to start thinking about all the different aspects for this group discussion.

If you are

• gathering a new evangelism team, or
• starting up a new evangelism work in the local church, or
• leading some other group discussion on evangelism

here are some discussion questions I used that you might find useful.

Discussion Questions – What is evangelism?

• How would you describe or define evangelism?
• How do you think evangelism should be done?
• How do you do evangelism in your life now?
• In your journey to faith in Christ, how did evangelism happen in your life?
• What is the role of the congregation in evangelism?
• What is the role of the pastor in evangelism?

The Group Discussion on Evangelism

The opening question generated lots of answers that felt like cliches or rote answers — quick bursts of answers from years of hearing it from the pulpit.

• Preaching the Word.
• Sharing the Good News.
• Sharing your testimony.
• Giving the reason for your faith.

It may seem like a no-brainer question, but this questions reveals assumptions that people bring to the discussion on evangelism.

As the group facilitator, I pushed back a little to help people think through the “fixed answers.”

For example,

• What’s good news?  What makes it good?
• Can laypeople do evangelism if it’s only preaching?
• What are the key elements to the gospel that you want to share?
• Personally, how do you share?

As we got into the group evangelism discussion, it became clear that on a surface level, these 8 people had great answers, but underneath that surface, I saw

• Different approaches to evangelism.
• Different experiences.
• Different theological understandings.

Avoid conversational drift.

Most opening discussions on the nature of evangelism, if unchecked at this point, tend to drift into colorful theological debates. For example,

• Do people respond to God’s grace, or do they make a decision to respond?
• What is the value or lack of value over the “sinners prayer?”
• Do people have to fully understand their sin first, or can they start following Jesus and learn about sin later?
• Can people follow first and understand later?
• Can people follow Jesus before even having a completely biblical world view?
• What do people have to understand before following Jesus?
• Can conversions be “false?”

Other times, it may drift into areas of practice and styles:

• Rush to present the gospel to as many people as possible.
• Take the time to build relationships of influence with people.
• Invite people to church
• Go to the mission field.

The purpose of this group discussion on evangelism was not theological debate, but to expose some of the presuppositions that these group members were bringing to the table.

By exposing the presupposition through careful questions that challenge simple rote assertions, it made for a very rich discussion, and then setup the potential for further discussion into particular areas.

Get a full copy

I’ll send you the full PDF discussion guide that I used.  I want to have it field tested with other users, not just me.  To get it, leave a comment below (or at the blog if you get this via feed).

At least tell me how and with whom you’d use this discussion guide.

I’ll send it to you and then follow up to see how the discussion went.

As I do seminars across the country, heads nod in agreement as I lay this out.  You might see your own church in here.

This week, I will do a series on four substitutes for Evangelism.   To be sure to get the next parts, choose one of the subscription options via RSS Feed, Twitter, or Facebook.

Today’s substitute:

1.  Study Committee on Evangelism

In my training and coaching, the biggest evangelism substitute that I see is “Make a study group or Evangelism Committee”

With great enthusiasm, a group decides:

“Let’s form a committee, or let’s form a small group and let’s study a book together.  Since we don’t know how to share our faith, let’s study it for 10 weeks, 12 weeks, or even a year.

Let’s spend 5 weeks choosing a book, and then talk for 7 weeks about what we are not doing, and then spend a couple of months figuring out what we want to avoid doing.” {slight sarcasm here}

You may have been part of such a group.  I know that I’ve been part of a few.

But how many of you have participated in many book studies never really turn into practical action?

Conversations in these group meetings get into

• what does evangelism mean,
• why we can’t do it “that way,”
• how we are not ready to do evangelism,
• and a variety of other topics.

I once chaired an evangelism committee that spent several meetings trying to agree on a definition of evangelism.  Since we only met monthly, it took us several months just to get that far.

Many times, such conversations are useful to help groups clarify their perspectives on evangelism.

But the key element to successful evangelism training is real life experience of having one on one spiritual conversation about Jesus.

Many group studies on evangelism do not effectively give people actual experience through sharing their faith.

They don’t have spiritual conversations with strangers, nor do they even have spiritual conversations with friends and acquaintances.

In my experience, even if the group study has homework assignments, people are hesitant to initiate spiritual conversation and reflect on it.

So we spin our wheels.

Let me ask you this?

If you are a group leader, what steps can you make to encourage personal experience in evangelism in a group like this?  Let’s have a conversation.

(Image Credit: Nutmeg)

See Part I of Evangelism Where You Live – A Review Part I

See Part II of Evangelism Where You Live – A Review Part II

This final section of Chapters 5 – 8 gets into the nuts and bolts of what this might look like in the local church.

CBSE involves a Christ follower who serves others out of his or her passion, using one’s spiritual gifts at connection points of need in the community to demonstrate the love of Jesus to others as a salt and light servant.  . . . .

Administratively, CBSE reduces the church’s events and ongoing programs to allow people to be deployed into their daily lives to exercise their passions and gifts. (73)

Chapter 5: Salt and Light Servants

The majority of current discipleship material seems to be focused on information, not so much on experiential transformation.  The idea was that better information and accumulated information would lead to spiritual transformation.

The authors have seen this descend into matters of personal preference, rallies around the latest Christian bestseller, and rabbit trails into the most effectively marketed latest trend .

However, they see a shift from information to experience.

A method that fosters experience to help shape a person’s spiritual formation.

Educational materials are connected with service in the community “as the context to live out the expression of a life in relationship to Christ.”

I have often noted and taught that I learn by doing.

In other businesses, I could study, study, study, but until I was actually doing, the study didn’t make sense.  Study lead to hypothesizing, thinking about 1000 what ifs.

But not until I got into people’s lives and talking with them 1-1 about their spiritual journey did any of the studies seems to start finding a purpose.

Perhaps a quote from Randy Pope captures this better in this illustration:

Much in the way that eating creates no appetite for exercise, so too, I have found that Bible study and prayer alone do not create mission oriented Christians.  But, just as exercise creates a desire for food and drink, mission related activities create an insatiable thirst and hunger to feed on God’s word (89).

The idea is deploy your church members to serve their community and that kind of relational context will spur personal growth.

Eating has never created in us a desire to exercise, but preparing to run 26.2 miles in about 4 hours definitely creates not only a desire, but a need to eat (89).

In the same way, service may very well be the missing factor in developing fully devoted followers of Christ.  Transformation happens in combination with information and experience.

Chapter 6: Connection Points

The subtitle focuses the chapter on Evangelism Training.  The authors have given lots of evangelism training over the years, from memorizing gospel scripts, to relational evangelism seminars, yet not seeing any statistical evidence of new believers.  The rare church had more than 5 new believers in a year after the seminar.

Church’s are beginning to ask “Why is training people on how to share their faith not resulting in new Christ followers?”

The authors claim that intentional community service is the missing ingredient.  The chief issue is that our church members have lost touch with genuine relationships with people far from God.

To fulfill the front half of the Great Commission the process will always begin with a Christ-follower connecting with someone far from God.  To lead someone into a personal relationship with Christ has little to do with whether someone has attended training and learned a model presentation to the Gospel (95).

Connecting Points

The chapter lays out how to find connection points with the local community, beginning with an inventory from Becoming a Contagious Christian, Hybels and Mittleberg:

• People we know
• People we used to know
• People we would like to know.

I use a similar idea with Spheres of Influence.

The key for churches is to assist members in creating a context for connection, but it remains up to the individual member to connect.

The third group, people we would like to know, is where the role of community service comes into play.  Relationships develop best around a need the mutual relationship can meet.

Where is your church member passionate?  Where is their burden? Examples:

• Single Moms?
• Fatherless kids?
• Teachers?
• Firefighters?
• Undercover FBI agents?
• Little League?

Where are their gifts?  Administratively gifted folks can organize events or run leagues.  Mercy gifted folks can visit people.

We have come to realize that not assisting our church members to develop a connection point into an authentic relationship is simply not providing good leadership.

Chapter 7 and 8: Implementing CBSE

Chapter 7 and 8 map out how to make such philosophical changes in implementing Community Based servant evangelism.  The authors note that there are several books about systemically changing a congregation, and they note that their system works when followed.

The process is organic and leadership driven.

First four steps are for the pastor, the next two are are for the leadership, and the last 5 are how to make it public.

• Pray and read the Bible
• Church leadership must own the mission of “Love God and Love Others”
• Must be totally supported by the Senior Pastor and or Lead Pastor
• Enlist top / key church influencers
• Enlist a CBSE champion
• Enlist a CBSE leadership team
• Design a plan
• Provide training
• Cast the vision to your church
• Implement the plan
• Evaluate all aspects and correct

This list may seem generic in terms of changing systems, but the chapters tease them out more fully.

A Pastor’s Personal Prayer life

It strikes me how a pastor’s personal relationship with God is the root of this change, not only the pastors, but so also the rest of the leadership.

In a 2007 review of surveys of pastors,

two hundred seventy (270 or 26%) of pastors said they regularly had personal devotions and felt they were adequately fed spirituality.

Seven hundred fifty-six (756 or 72%) of the pastors we surveyed stated that they only studied the Bible when they were preparing for sermons or lessons.

If the root of systemic change in a church is found in a pastor’s personal relationship with God, then how can churches give their pastors time to nurture that relationship?    From another study in the same report:

We found that 90% of pastors work more than 50 hours a week. One out of three pastors state that being in the ministry is clearly hazardous for their families. One out of three pastors felt totally burned out within the first five years of ministry.

Research from Crandall (see 5 phases of renewal from Turnaround and Beyond: A Hopeful Future for the Small Membership Church) indicates that personal renewal is the number one factor in successful turnaround in churches.

Research from Martha Gay Reese (Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism (Real Life Evangelism Series) elevates the importance of prayer for a congregation to pick up and maintain an evangelistic passion.

Order your copy

Evangelism Where You Live: Engaging Your Community from Amazon

• After school tutoring
• Shut in or Prisoner Visitation
• Habitat for Humanity work projects
• Medical outreaches for the community
• Participating in Crop Walks for Hunger Relief
• Food pantries, clinics, shelters for the homeless

These are just examples, and I am sure you can add hundreds more from your local community.

The questions I ask and we kick around in friendly discussion:

• Is that outreach?
• Is that evangelism?
• Is that home missions?
• Is that simply good deeds?
• Is that missional outreach?
• Is that marketing in disguise?
• Is that a demonstration of God’s love?

A cup of cold water

What is clear is that we have blurred the line between evangelism and outreach.  Discussions I’ve had bounce all over the map.

In some corners of the church, this is evangelism because it demonstrates the gospel.  No explanation needed.

Other corners argue this not evangelism because the gospel is not verbally shared.  It’s simply social action.

Depends on how you define your terms.

Acts of Christian service and charity, social outreach to your community are good and noble efforts.  Many are propelled theologically by the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), giving a cup of cold water to the least of these.

Yet what is it that separates your Christian service from that of the local Rotary club?

What makes your acts of compassion different from my atheist friend who does community service through the Peace Corps?

How does the recipient know the difference?

How do the recipients of your outreach interpret or give meaning to your outreach?

Meaning is not always clear

My friends in Panama tell me this story.

Panama Olympian Irving Saladino won the first ever gold medal for this country during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Bejing.

The last medal won was 60 years ago and it was bronze.  Irving Saladino won the gold in the Long Jump competition.

During his jumps, nationally televised in Panama around 6.30 am,  the nation was at a virtual standstill.  People were watching it in groups at friend’s houses.  Taxi drivers had pulled over to side of the road to listen to the radio.  Everyone it seemed, went to work late.

On his two or three jumps, he wore one red shoe and one blue shoe, reflecting the national team colors.  However, on his next to last jump, he changed his shoes to a gold color.

The commentators and “man on the street” interviews all got excited:

• “He’s going for the gold”
• “He’s put on his lucky shoes”
• “He’s telling us this will be the gold medal jump.”

They were applying meaning to the color change of shoes.

That jump turned out to be the gold medal winning jump.

The country erupted in celebration.  Facebook photos from my friends show lots of celebrations, cheering, and national happiness.  People on the street celebrated by blowing their car horns in celebration.  Crowds formed spontaneously on the street.  National productivity of the workforce shut down for the day as Panama won its first ever gold medal.

The meaning of the shoes?

When asked by a reporter about what he was trying to communicate with his shoes, Saladino mentioned

that the laces in his red and blue pair got tangled up and he didn’t have the time to fix it.

He put on his gold colored backup shoes so he wouldn’t be disqualified for being late to the starting line.

Very different meaning than what the nation watching on live television thought.

People gave it meaning based on their hopes, dreams, and worldview.

Meaning is given if not provided

Bring that back to your church’s outreach.

What might your recipients think about your outreach?

How can they tell that it is a “Cup of Cold Water given in My Name?”

In a post Wrestling with the Definition of Evangelism I mention:

Just this week, the dental assistant told me that it feels good to help people.

I asked her “Why?”  No immediate answer, but enough to have her reflect.

She’s unchurched. She didn’t know why people had black spots on their heads last Wednesday [for Ash Wednesday].

She could serve the poor, work for the Peace Corp, or any of the national volunteer mobilization organizations.  She simply feels good.  that altruistic motive propels many people.

But to the recipient, what separates her good service from that of the church?  How does the recipient know it is “In My Name?”

In my experience, meaning is naturally given if not supplied by the giver.

Outreach in partnership with Evangelism

John Stott asks the question in Christian Mission in the Modern World.

Is social action (thanks to Timmy Brister for summary)

• A Means to evangelism
• A Manifestation of evangelism
• A Partner of Evangelism

Mark Dever has an interesting piece in Christianity Today, also points out what  “What Evangelism Isn’t.”  (adapted from his book The Gospel and Personal Evangelism).  Evangelism is not social action or public involvement (”They commend the gospel, but they share it with no one.”)

In What is Evangelism? – Part 3, which focuses on the “sharing” part of our Evangelism Definition, I mention:

During a health outreach our church did for its neighborhood, one unchurched person commented, “I don’t like to listen to sermons, today I saw one.”

Our service to the community was interpreted as we wanted – a tangible demonstration of the love of Christ that we have for our neighborhood.

It’s a witness to the world thru actions.

Yet that interpretation came about because we gathered all the volunteers at the beginning and I explained to them why we as a church are doing this outreach.

We are serving because God first loved us and we want to demonstrate that to the community.

Good works demonstrate our faith.

Yet without any overt or clear explanation that our actions are propelled by God’s grace, what makes our good deed any different than what the local Lions club does or what good corporate citizens provide through their charitable foundations?

It’s not an either/or proposition for me.  Both social action and explanation via words are necessary forms of sharing.

Deeds are love demonstrated, but a further explanation of the gospel is necessary to give meaning to our actions.  Otherwise, our actions are ripe for misinterpretation.

Practically what does this mean?

Many churches are actively engaged in good works in their community.

Yet can their members explain their personal faith along the way?

Can churches train their members to grow comfortable talking about their faith with the people they are serving?

What if, as part of the planning for outreach events, the church provided a training opportunity about talking about your faith?

What if, as part of praying for the outreaches, the church also prayed that conversations about Jesus would happen?

What if, as part of serving the community, the people were able to provide meaning of their service by talking about their personal relationship with Christ?

Let me ask you this?

Think about your church’s outreach.

In what ways can your church provide meaning to the recipients through the verbal sharing of your faith?

I invite your comments and reflections below.

Here is a link summary for you:

• Definition of Evangelism – A Summary
• What is Evangelism — Part 1
• What is Evangelism — Part 2
• What is Evangelism? – Part 3
• What is Evangelism? — Part 4
• What is Evangelism? — Part 5
• What is the Gospel?
• Definition of Evangelism: What Evangelism Isn’t
• Hospitality is a piece of Evangelism
• More Evangelism Definitions
• More definitions of Evangelism

I’ve edited it slightly for time references and removed some personal matters, but thought I’d share this here.  I invite your comments.

Letter to a friend:

This morning, I’m in Cincinnati to attend the funeral of a friend who died of cancer.  18 months ago, a cancerous tumor was found during pregnancy, and my friend had the choice – whose life to save.  She chose her daughter’s.  Her daughter was born 18 months ago, and Tuesday, the mom died.  35 years old.  No insurance, no money for treatment, they simply let the cancer run its course.  The funeral is in about 3 hours from now . . . .  

Last night, I also caught up with a friend from Middle School whom I’ve stayed in touch with.  She lives in Cincinnati with her husband and 6 year old daughter.  It’s because of her that I became a Christian.  Twenty years ago, she got sick with mono and I found faith in Christ because she wasn’t around to distract me.

She and her husband have recently returned to the kingdom of God about 1 year ago thru the Alpha course at the Cincinnati vineyard, where they have joined and are actively involved in servant evangelism.  We had dinner together with her family and had a few moments to thank God for bringing each of us faith in his son Jesus.  My friend has a storied history of [only] God knows what else, but she has found healing in Christ.  She has been made whole, and new.  Has a loving husband and a miracle baby who died during delivery but was resuscitated after the emergency C-Section.

Moving Towards Redemption

God has woven these individual stories together (my middle school friend, my dead friend).  Our stories have intersected over the years, but have all been moving in the direction of redemption. 

My friend’s husband will grow in his “fatherness” for his 3 daughters under the age of 5.  He’ll have to rely on the Lord and will become a great reflection of the Father’s love.  The community that surrounds him will demonstrate the power of Christian community – the way it’s supposed to be. – loving one another as a demonstration of God’s love.

My middle school friend is continuing to find joy in serving the kingdom.  Her marriage was threatened last year, but now with a bedrock of faith, they came thru it.  She told me last night, that had it not been for God and the community of faith, she would have been divorced by now, likely drunk, and drugged, and unemployed.  They have come thru it – husband stuck by her side — and will become a source of faith for their 6 year old daughter.  Husband and wife come from broken households, yet they will not pass that along for their daughter.  God is redeeming them and breaking the cycle for a new generation.

“Life is pain, your highness.  Anyone who tells you differently is selling something” – Princess Bride.

Hope in Suffering

I’m more convinced than ever that life apart from faith in God’s grace would be an unbearable way to endure suffering. 

Yet I am also convinced that God is not a spiritual placebo.  He’s not the tooth fairy or Peter Pan, or just an imaginary friend we create to endure.  I am convinced of this because I can point to my relationship with Him.  It’s 20 years of mystery (march of ‘85), but rock solid certainty.  My experiences develop my trust so that in the midst of suffering, I can still trust him.

This mysterious trust is as strong as the covenant of my marriage. 

There is no doubt that I will cling to him, and He to me.  God is real – there is no doubt in my mind.  I can’t explain it.  I feel it.  I can’t defend God’s existence other than “I just know.”  There is a witness in me that declares “Abba Father.”  This is the mystery of Christianity – the security of knowing that I belong to Him, even in my struggles, and today, my grief. 

My dead friend, lying in the casket this day, knew Him, and is indeed rejoicing in the presence of angels.

God is relevant

Defending or explaining Christianity in this culture is not a matter of bullet point proposition. 

It’s a matter of mystery, relevance, and personal story. 

While it’s true that we need propositions to explain our belief, the propositions describe reality that we discover and find the bible describes reality. 

Witness is more than just proclaiming four points out of a tract.  Our storytelling has to demonstrate our own personal discovery.

Evangelism today has to tell the current story – what is God doing today that makes the gospel good news. 

What is God doing in my life right now that helps me through my friend’s death, my friends new life in Christ, and when I walk thru the weight loosing anxiety of a bad real estate decision?  These are current stories – new stories of God at work in my life.  This makes the gospel good news.

Current stories hit at the issue of relevant.  Is God relevant today?  A band called Live once sang “I heard about this man Jesus, but what a man who lived 2000 years ago means to me today, I don’t know”  Not an exact quote, but close enough.

Is God Relevant?

What I see as I engage people in spiritual conversation is the buried question – Is God relevant.  The church has been so marginalized by our culture, that we truly live with an unchurched generation. 

“The church is not relevant, so God must not be.” 

Yet, upon further examination, people play with crystals and stare at the stars and listen to rivers and read tea leaves because they are so alone – alone in the cosmic sense – a speck of microscopic dust in the universe, as insignificant as a water molecule rushing through the Grand Canyon. 

There is still a longing for God deep in the heart.  The heart knows that God is relevant, the heart yearns to be in touch with God, the heart knows there is a brokenness between itself and God that needs to be reconciled. 

Yet God doesn’t have call-in radio show nor is he Dr. Phil.  But the message from the church has not been clear.  

The proclaimers of the message that have made it cloudy with confusion, cliché driven trendy spirituality, and the absurdity of the prosperity gospel on TV – get rich with God.  Most recently, pronouncements by people like Dobson, Falwell, and Robertson about evangelical power and influence have only smothered people’s spiritual quest as a reaction to not be like them. 

They don’t want to be Republican, just be in touch with God, yet God’s messengers create frothy cloudiness.

Is a four point Gospel script enough?

I wonder if we need to wrestle with the question: “What is evangelism?” 

The “modern” way is to lay out four points – to make a logical bullet point presentation and ask for a rational decision. 

The “post modern way” is to help people along in the next step of their spiritual journey, recognizing that belief is discovered. 

There are other twists to the question, but I think it’s one that is worth asking. 

There are times for four points and a prayer.  There are many times when its not. 

Is the goal of evangelism

• conversion (a rational agreement to a set of statements), or
• discipleship (following the way of Jesus – whether beginning, discovering, or continuing).

I probably even make these contrasts too cut and dry. 

The Way of the Master

Evangelism as has been taught over the years has been four points and a decision. 

Yet Jesus never seemed to lay out four points.  He didn’t give four points to the fisherman and his partners – just a radical command to come and follow.

As I look in the gospels, I seem Jesus telling stories that leave people thinking.  “What happened to the older son who was jealous about the younger son’s return” (Luke 15)?  The story begs self-examination, leaves the hearer with a tension – “Who am I like?”  The self-examination leads a person to spiritual discovery.

I see him asking questions of the heart as in the story of the Good Samaritan, or talking with the woman at the well.

I see him forgiving people. 

A prostitute who hears “come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” finds forgiveness and anoints the feet of Jesus with perfume and her tears.  She was forgiven much, she loves much.  So much that she breaks all sorts of social protocol and wrecks someone’s dinner. 

To a woman caught in adultery – Who condemns you, neither do I.  To a teenager broken over sex outside of marriage – there is hope in that story that she can be restored to God.

I see him seeking after people, Zacchaeus in a tree.  With a little sanctified imagination, I can imagine that Matthew was at that dinner as well, a life transformed as a witness to Zacchaeus.

The four points we typically outline are not recorded in any whole outline in the teachings of Jesus.  He invites people to come and see, come and follow. 

Peter struggled with his faith all thru the gospel of Mark and didn’t seem to fully comprehend it till Paul rebuked him (Galatians).  In Acts, he comprehends some of it, but even with his visit to Cornelius, he still had discovered all the implications of following Jesus.  

This seems to me to be the language of storytelling, discovery, self-examination, and following without fully understanding. 

I wonder how we as Christians can recapture that sense of invitation: “come and see this man” (Samaritan), “Come and see” (Nathaniel), “Come unto Me” (Jesus).  How as a church can we create that place where people can investigate, explore, and discover?

What is evangelism?

I come back to the central question – do we need to wrestle with “what is evangelism?” 

Some methodologies try to convince someone they are a sinner, convince someone they need forgiveness, and convince them thru proof-texts that Jesus can forgive them if they pray to him.  Sometimes it seems like we are a talking infomercial for God.  “All this, not for 19.95, but for free, but wait, there’s more . .. “

Is evangelism conversations or conversion? 

Do we count conversions, or count conversations – for those who need to count something?

What is evangelism, more particularly, in the power of the Holy Spirit – to re-anchor the question. 

What form does listening evangelism take in my life, in yours, in the people we will have the privilege of being with next month?

For me, it is clearly listening to the Holy Spirit, for the right question or the right story that will lead to self-examination.  As you heard me say before, it’s the question that creates spiritual dry mouth – and a self-propelled quest to answer that thirst.  It’s engaging people in spiritual conversation and listening to the Holy Spirit for the right question.  Some may consider this similar to counseling – asking questions. 

One man told me that I was acting like a pastor to prodigals by doing evangelism this way.  Perhaps.

Maybe this is why God has enabled me to engage in the culture so much.  I see the eternal questions being asked in music, in film.  Using such visual parables enables me to ask questions of the heart. 

Two different stories

Just this week, the dental assistant told me that it feels good to help people.  I asked her “Why?”  No immediate answer, but enough to have her reflect.  She’s unchurched, and so unchurched, she didn’t know why people had black spots on their heads last Wednesday [for Ash Wednesday]. 

The woman who cut my hair yesterday told me that she follows a principle that she discovered in a book, a true-crime novel about a deranged preacher who murdered his family (or something like that).  She think that “something good always comes back to you from the bizarrest of circumstances.  You’ll find the right way if you are true.”  I asked here where she got that belief and she told me it came from such a book.  She’s looking for guidance in her life and she’s seeking after a true-crime novel for guidance.

Evangelism is . . .

I bet that if we had 100 people, we’d have one hundred definitions of evangelism.  I recently heard one say to me

“Evangelism is finding the Presbyterians in my neighborhood.” 

Well meaning perhaps, but that’s only an egg hunt for the right colored egg. 

Evangelism is more than telling your testimony of faith. 

It’s more than proclaiming a set of propositions. 

But how do we say it’s more than proclaiming and persuading?

End of story

Let me ask you this

How do you describe evangelism? 

Is it more than proposition, is it more than persuading and or proclaiming?

To recall, I use the PC (USA)’s definition of evangelism

Joyfully sharing

the good news of the sovereign love of God,

and calling people

to repentance,

to personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord,

to active membership in the church, and

to obedient service in the world.

(Definition adopted by the 202nd General Assembly of the PCUSA, 1990).

Mark Dever has an interesting piece in Christianity Today called “What Evangelism Isn’t.”  It is adapted from his book The Gospel and Personal Evangelism.

What Evangelism Is Not:

• Imposition
• Personal Testimony
• Social Action and Public Involvement (“They commend the gospel, but they share it with no one.”)
• Apologetics
• The Results of Evangelism

To his list I would add

• Church Marketing (advertisements, web page, direct mail, etc).
• Church Visitor Hospitality.

All of these items (maybe with the exception of Imposition) all support the work of evangelism, but individually, they fall short of the destination:

calling people to repentance, to personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, to active membership in the church and obedient service in the world.

This is the point Dever makes repeatedly in the article: “We need to stop mistaking other Christian activities for the spreading of the gospel.”

I would take issue perhaps with one of Dever’s assertions: Imposition.

It’s important to understand that the message you are sharing is not merely an opinion but a fact. That’s why sharing the gospel can’t be called an imposition, any more than a pilot can impose his belief on all his passengers that the runway is here and not there.

This would be true if a conversation only involved one side: the speaker.  But a conversation involves both a speaker and a hearer.  The hearer sets the boundary.  Either they want to hear what you have to share, or they don’t.  If they don’t, and you continue to speak, it’s an imposition.

Sure, I may be presenting a Christian gospel, but if its unwanted by my hearer, I am imposing.

Let me ask you this?

• If you have read the article, do you agree or disagree with Dever?
• What would you add to his list?

I invite you to comment.

I was caught off guard.

I was in class, describing my ideal job.

I would be a full time evangelist, working with churches to implement evangelism programs, conduct live  Evangelism Training Seminars and Workshops  in a local church to keep evangelism fires hot, and conduct outreaches with the local church into a neighborhood.

A student asked me: “What is an evangelist?”

I sensed this was one of those moments that God had set up.  A person who was spiritually thirsty had a natural curiosity to know what an evangelist was.  How would I explain this to her without confusing her.  I had to come up with a definition for evangelist right on the spot.

“God, I need your help, now.”  I felt the promptings of the Holy Spirit to share a specific answer.

My answer: “An evangelist is someone who can explain the good news about Jesus Christ, and what He has accomplished for you to help you move into a relationship with God.”

Let me ask you this?
How would you have answered that question to someone who doesn’t know what an evangelist is?

Pray for this fellow student, as last week I was also asked “What is a pastor?” This person is not only unchurched, but familar terms like pastor and evangelist are foreign.

Telling personal and current stories is but one piece of evangelism.

As discussed in our definition series, The PCUSA General Assembly adopted a definition of evangelism in 1990 that defines evangelism as:

Joyfully sharing the good news of the sovereign love of God, and calling people to repentance, to personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, to active membership in the church, and to obedient service in the world.

(Definition adopted by the 202nd General Assembly of the PCUSA, 1990).

The definition begins with “Joyfully sharing the good news of the sovereign love of God.”

Two questions come to mind:

1. Do you have a faith worth sharing?
2. Do you have someone to share it with?

To help answer the first question, ponder it in this way: What is God’s activity in your life now that makes the gospel of Jesus Christ “good news?”

Think about it for a few minutes. Where do you see God’s activity in your life and how would you describe it?

After thinking about it for a while, turn to someone next to you and share your story of God’s current activity in your life.

Feel free to use this with your church leadership or small groups.

If you rework this into your own handout, simply cite “Found at www.evangelismcoach.org” Thanks.

There are many definitions of evangelism. Searching the web and my library for definitions, I find some are so wide to cover anything related to growing a church, some are so narrow as to the only three correct points in a scripted outline to a stranger, and some are in between. It’s not my point here to list them all.

Here is the one I use:

Joyfully sharing the good news of the sovereign love of God, and calling people to repentance, to personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, to active membership in the church, and to obedient service in the world. (Definition adopted by the 202nd General Assembly of the PCUSA, 1990).

To read the rest, see:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

More definitions 1
More definitions 2