I’ve recently been working on a new talk on Personal Evangelism for Pastors, developing practical action steps so that pastors can increase their personal involvement in evangelism.
Mark Dever spoke last year at the Desiring God conference and here is a little clip on this particular issue.
Some quotes:
- Pastors are called to equip people to evangelism.
- If you want a desk job and a church, they shouldn’t be a pastor.
- If you want to run from non-Christians, you shouldn’t be a pastor.
Three Ways pastors can do evangelism:
- Through your preaching, addressing non-Christians in your midst.
- Greeting non-Christians after the service is over.
- Through your existing relationships
- Friends and Family
- Neighbors
- People you see regularly in your routines (like at the coffee shop or gym)
However, Dever comes back to the pastor’s primary role of teaching the word and leading the congregation, equipping others to do the work of evangelism as well.
He knows that will cut into the time you have to build those relationships outside the church, particularly if you are the senior pastor.
Let me ask you this:
Pastors, do you agree with Dever? Is there something you would add or change? I invite you to answer below.
Do you need help in Personal Evangelism?
Start here with this MP3 Download on Evangelism Training from the store to help you see where you need to grow.
In this 70 minute MP3 AUDIO recording on personal evangelism you will learn:
- How church invitations are part of evangelism
- How to discover and share your own journey to faith
- What you can say about the gospel message.
- How to personally lead someone to faith in Christ.
It’s a 70 minute audio file that takes just a few minutes to download, but it may help you answer the question:
What can you do in the next 90 days to grow in your evangelism skills?
Very useful asset.