I have heard the stats, and maybe you have too: A small percentage of Christians have the gift or calling of an evangelist. I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but it is fair to say that many committed followers of Jesus find sharing their faith challenging. Others find it downright scary. This is also true of many leaders in the church. It’s hard to lead an evangelistic movement in your place of ministry when reaching out to the lost is something you tend to avoid.
What do you do when you are a church leader but outreach does not come naturally for you? How do you press outward with the gospel when you don’t feel equipped to help your church members step confidently into this spiritual adventure? How do you take steps to fulfill your call (and deep inner longing) to equip God’s people to engage in a lifestyle of evangelism?
The answer to all of these questions is the same: Humbly get help. We are not all given the same gifts and calling. But every believer is called to be salt, shine the light of Jesus, scatter the seed of the gospel, and be prepared to give an account for the hope of Jesus that fills their heart (Matt. 5:13–16, Luke 8:4–15, 1 Peter 3:15). I want to share three easy and helpful ways for leaders to move forward in preparing believers to share their faith.
- Invite people to join you in prayer for revival.
All great movements of God throughout history have been birthed in prayer. Seeking the face of God in prayer and crying out for a powerful move of his Holy Spirit is the launchpad from which evangelistic movements take off. Without prayer, we are operating in our own strength, and might even dare to give ourselves credit for the movement of God that follows.
When our loving Savior looked out over the crowds of people in his day, his heart broke with deep compassion for the wandering sheep all around him (Matt. 9:36). Think about what Jesus did next—he called people to prayer (v. 37–38).
He did not begin with a focus on the lost, but on those who were already found and part of his family. “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send workers out into his harvest field.” Did you notice whose harvest fields they are? His. Did you notice the focal point of prayer? For Christians to get up and go out.
God is the first and greatest evangelist. He invites us into his work, his harvest. His fields are all over the world. Here is a word to all those leaders who say, “But I’m not an evangelist.” Begin with prayer. Pray regularly and passionately for God to send workers out to share his love and good news (and be sure the first person you pray for is yourself). Then, invite others into this prayer. Call your church to pray for your community, and for your congregation to grow in love and commitment to reach out with the amazing grace of God.
You might not be an evangelist, but you can pray and call others to do the same. Direct your prayers to the topic of evangelism and see what God begins to do in you and through you.
- Spend more time with spiritually curious people, and teach others to do the same.
Your schedule tells the story of your life. Look back over the past six to eight weeks. How much time did you spend with people who are not yet followers of Jesus? How often are you rubbing shoulders with people who are “wandering like sheep without a shepherd”? You can’t scatter salt and shine light if you are never in the world.
As you get serious about making new friends who are not yet in God’s family, your passion will grow. When you make time to reconnect with old friends who do not follow Jesus, doors will open for spiritual conversations. As you are praying and connecting, God begins doing things before we even start sharing our story of faith and God’s story of grace. Once we are engaging with nonbelievers, we can invite our church leaders and congregational members to do the same.
Remember, you can’t lead what you don’t live. Before we can call the people we lead to a lifestyle of evangelism, we need to be taking steps of prayer and meaningful connection with lost and wandering sheep. As we do this, and invite others into this journey, God will go ahead of us and begin opening doors for sharing our faith and his faithfulness.
- Change your culture. Do 30-Day Infusions.
Over the last four decades, I have learned from church leaders from a wide variety of church backgrounds and parts of the world. In this time, the team at Organic Outreach International has identified four things that need to be infused in every ministry every 30 days:
* Inspiration. Do something every 30 days that will fire up people and get them excited about the mission of Jesus. Share stories of conversions or testimonies of people who have taken meaningful steps toward Jesus. Pray for a powerful movement of God.
* Accountability. Ask other believers if their heart is passionate for the lost. Share steps you will be taking to engage more with people who are far from God. Invite Christians you trust and respect to ask you if you are making time to be with nonbelieving friends.
* Learning. Make a point of learning one new idea for outreach each month. Watch a podcast, read an article, take a class, listen to a sermon about evangelism online, or ask a fellow Christian, “What is one good lesson you have learned about sharing your faith?”
* Planning. Set a specific goal to do some kind of outreach in the next month. It could be a plan to pray more for the lost in your life, pray with other believers for revival, spend more time with nonbelieving friends or family members, volunteer in a community outreach ministry, go on a mission trip, etc.
In an effort to help believers and church leaders to do these kinds of monthly infusions easily, I created seven years of monthly outreach infusions that each include ideas for all four aspects of a full-fledged infusion experience. These come in a long version that takes about an hour and a half, called “Full Meals;” Shorter versions that take about 30 minutes, called “A Cup of Coffee;” and a quick infusion blast that takes about 15 minutes, called “A Shot of Espresso.” All of these can be found at OrganicOutreach.org.
You don’t need to be an evangelist to lead others outward with the gospel. Begin with these three steps and see where the Holy Spirit leads you.
For more on this topic, check out Kevin and Sherry Harney’s books, Organic Prayer: Discover the Presence and Power of God in the Everyday (releasing July 23) and Organic Outreach for Ordinary People: Sharing Good News Naturally (both Zondervan).