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Introduction: When you think of personal
evangelism what is the first image that comes to your mind? For
most, it is the image of an individual Christian sitting down with
at least one non-Christian in a formal Bible study setting. With
this in mind, when sermons or exhortations are given regarding
personal evangelism, many begin to quake in their boots. May I
suggest some new terms? Instead of personal evangelism, how about
team evangelism? Or how about congregational evangelism? Do not
misunderstand, I am not taking your personal responsibility out of
evangelism. Rather, I want to use some terms more becoming to what
we really need to be an evangelistic congregation. Instead of
relying on our “star quarterback” to throw all the touchdown
passes, we need to realize that evangelism is a team effort. Every
member of the team needs to be involved. With that in mind,
consider the following works or roles that must be filled on our
team in order for this congregation to be evangelistic. Discussion: I.
Prayers—Every
team member must pray every day (cf. Ephesians
6:19). We need you to pray for opportunities. We need you
to pray for the lost. We need you to pray for our guests. We need
you to pray for the teachers, etc. But we need prayers on our
team. II.
Inviters and Recommenders—That
is, we need people who are looking out for contacts. We need
people who are inviting people to worship. We need people who are
recommending the church to people. One of the greatest
evangelistic feats in scripture occurred because one woman invited
others to come see Jesus (John
4:28-30, 39-42). III.
People Persons—That is, we need folks who
enfold people. If we have inviters and recommenders, we will have
guests. We need people who will meet and greet guests. We need our
guests to feel welcome. We need people who now how to deal with
others impartially (James
2:1-4). Additionally, we need people who pay enough
attention to guests that they know when one is here for a second
or third time. IV.
Hospitable Persons—That is, we need people
who will open their homes to non-Christians, offering to spend
time with them and getting to know them. This is not just out of a
motivation to finally “make the sale.” But rather out of a
genuine interest and concern for other people. Consider the
example of Matthew (Levi) who immediately after deciding to follow
Jesus opened his home to the lost to meet Jesus (Luke
5:27-29). V.
House-to-house study hosts—In
Acts
20:20, Paul said he taught from house to house. I have no
doubt this can be a tremendous way to evangelize. There are
numerous people who are interested in studying the Bible but are
not necessarily interested in committing to a congregation. Or
they see this group of people as too big. A small group home study
can be the perfect place to introduce people to the gospel and to
their need to be in Christ’s church. For this to work, someone
has to open their home. We need hosts for these studies. This is
not necessarily the person who will lead the study, this is the
person who holds it in their home. VI.
House-to-house study teachers and assistants—Again
from Acts
20:20, to be able to have these kinds of small group studies, someone has
to teach them. There needs to be a leader setting the tone and
vision for the study and keeping the discussion and learning on
track. As Paul taught from house to house, we need people who will
teach from house to house. VII.
House-to-house study members—In
Acts
20:20, house-to-house teaching only worked because people
were willing to gather from house to house to learn. It takes more
than a hosts and leaders. It takes members who add to the group
and work on bringing visitors. VIII.
Follow-up people—That is, we need people
who will write cards and letters, send e-mails and make phone
calls to guests at our services, meetings, Bible classes or group
studies. Like Apollos who watered after Paul planted (I
Corinthians 3:6), we need waterers who will follow up with
those who have already been planted by our assemblies and classes. IX.
Prospectors—We need people who are on the
look out for people with whom to study. We need people who are
looking to our guests and setting up studies with them. This may
not be the one who actually conducts a study. Perhaps you can talk
to someone about having a study and then get someone you trust to
teach it to lead it for you. But somebody has to be on the look
out for the opportunities that are there and use them (I
Corinthians 3:5). X.
One-on-one teachers—We need people who are
willing to conduct one-on-one studies. No matter the means we have
to make the contacts, to prime the contacts or to qualify the
contacts, we will eventually get down to someone needing to teach
the contacts. As Romans
10:14 points out, people only become Christians when
people teach them. Conclusion: I imagine if we worked harder, we could uncover even more roles. However, I hope I have impressed you with the fact that there is something you can do to help make this congregation evangelistic. What will you commit to doing starting now and continuing throughout 2006?
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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