I used to think that the best way to evangelize was to preach in churches. I figured that most “Christians” were not actually “saved” and so needed to hear the “true gospel” (as preached by me), and once they believed it, they would then become “true believers.”
In other words, I thought that the most fertile soil for evangelism in the United States was among those who were already in churches. I saw the US as a mission field, and churches as the primary location to sew the seeds of the gospel.
As I have developed a missionary mindset, this thinking has changed. While I certainly believe that the US is a mission field, and while I do believe that there are many, many people who go to Christian churches who have not believed in Jesus for eternal life, I have found that the most common result of telling church goers that they might not be saved is a lot of angry church goers.
I think that the average person in the average church, even if they don’t believe in Jesus for eternal life, are not very receptive or open to anything I might be able to tell them. If they don’t believe in Jesus, but they do attend church, they are likely to have a “Pharisaical” mindset, and therefore, it is almost a complete waste of time, money, and energy to pursue them.
The much more fertile soil in the US are those who would never darken the door of any church in the US. They are the ones I am hoping to reach, and who are receptive to talking about Jesus, and His promise of eternal life to those who believe in Him for it. Trying to tell this message to people in churches seems to do very little except split churches.
So who are you talking to about the free offer of eternal life through faith in Jesus? Are they primarily “churched” people? If so, how’s that working out for you? Have you seen any “conversions” recently? How about church splits and angry board meetings? I’d say that if as a result of what you’ve said, you’ve made more people angry than you have seen people come to faith in Jesus, you’re probably sewing seeds on the wrong soil.
Hi Jeremy,
That is so neat to hear that you have a heart to reach the unreached…, the unchurched. Thank God for missionaries. Thank God for you!!!
🙂
We still like “fishing” in the church setting. You just have to be more subtle and more of an engaging spiritual “angler” as opposed to a gospel “harpooner!” (c:
bruce http://www.abercrombie.cc
ps: Jeremy, let us know if you have the occasion to be speaking or visiting in the Carolinas? We’d love to have your family visit us at http://www.LivingVineChurch.org
Bruce,
Yes, that’s true. Fishing in church requires a light touch, but it can be done.
I’ll e-mail you about Living Vine Church.
Jeremy,
As you say, it’s just a matter of having a different approach.
I think the best one I ever saw went like this:
Evangelist: Are you a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?
Fish: Uh…Yes.
Evangelist: That’s fantastic, brother! Has anyone ever showed you how to share your faith from the Gospel of John?
In the ensuing conversation, the evangelist “assumes” that the fish agrees with the biblical message, and focuses on showing the fish how to present the biblical message to someone else from John’s gospel. If, along the way, it should develop that the fish doesn’t really believe this message himself, then *he* is the one who brings it up, which makes the whole interaction a lot easier. Now I think about it, I saw Dr. Seymour lead a lot of people to Christ in Personal Evangelism classes at Florida Bible College in a similar fashion.
From what I’ve seen, evangelism in churches most often fails because the evangelist feels the need to “smoke ’em out.” By the time he’s done exposing the unbelievers in our midst, they’re furious with him, and in no frame of mind to listen to anything he has to say.
That was good Tim! Linda & I observed brother Seymour doing that in some of our classes as well. Come to think of it maybe God used him to instill the idea in us?
We also like what our brother Paul recommended to Tim as well:
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life. 🙂
It’s very hard to sell something you don’t understand, it also is difficult to give someone direction to a place you have never been.
No map is better than a bad map