Healthy things tend to grow, so it’s hard to regard a church that is not growing evangelistically as healthy, regardless of whatever else that church boasts. However—and this is the tricky part—evangelistic growth does not always translate into a dramatic surge in numbers. Number surges often owe more to transfer growth than evangelistic growth. Making genuine disciples can be a longer, more gradual process that builds only over time.
Furthermore, a church’s evangelistic temperature is not measured by the fruitfulness of the one in the pulpit (though it often starts there). Meaningful, actual-life-change evangelism can only be carried out by “ordinary” members as they engage people in normal walks of life—the sorts of people that won’t casually saunter into church on the weekend.
I say all that because it can be easy to look around at what God is doing at our church and pat ourselves on the back. 13,000 people at Easter services! 131 decisions for Christ! Record numbers of baptisms and new small groups! And we should celebrate those things. But if our church is going to be evangelistically effective in the long run, it will be because our members lead the way. And, by God’s grace, you are doing that.
There is a big difference, you see, between being close by as a movement of God is going on around you and actually being involved in one.
I want to see us continue to grow in our evangelism ethos, so that stories like Garrett’s (above) are multiplied a hundredfold. And every time I reflect on changing “evangelistic DNA,” I go back to Bill Hybels’ book, Just Walk Across the Room. It’s not the only book I’d recommend on evangelism (I’d probably pair it with Mark Dever’s The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Will Metzger’s Tell the Truth, or Alvin Reid’s Evangelism Handbook), but Hybels has a knack for cutting through our excuses and making evangelism seem not just possible, but exciting.
As I recently read through Hybels’ book, I identified 5 helpful features that I think are necessary to create a truly evangelistic ethos, either in an individual Christian or in an entire church.
1. Intentionality & Sensitivity to the Spirit
Hybels writes, “I’m more convinced than ever the absolute highest value in personal evangelism is staying in tune and cooperating with the Holy Spirit” (35). We don’t hear this nearly as much as we should. We don’t build the kingdom for God; we let God build it through us. That’s why the first command given to the apostles in Acts is to wait. Until the Spirit arrived, they could do nothing.
This is the only way to keep from being overwhelmed by the massive task of evangelism. God does not expect us to convert people; he invites us to walk with him and be his instrument as he builds the church. That is something we should do every day.
Sometimes there is a wide open door, other times not. But that should not stop us from instigating the conversation. Honestly, only about 1 in every 5 of my attempts to have a spiritual conversation turns out well. But just because it turns out poorly does not mean that God is not in it. Stephen witnessed to Paul and was stoned, but that was definitely Spirit-filled evangelism!
I have heard that the average person has to hear the gospel 12 times before they believe. We may get the joy of being that 12th person, or we may be one link in the chain. But the Spirit has a role for us.
You perceive when a door is being opened through prayer. Therefore, pray continually and listen as you pray.
2. Practical Ways to Get into the Conversation
Throughout the book Hybels gives you numerous “conversation openers,” and I found particularly helpful his question suggestions on pp. 158-160. These were conversation starters you could actually use, as opposed to cheesy, awkward, forced questions I’ve often been taught. You know, like, “If you died tonight, do you know where you would spend eternity?” (Side note: Why is everyone always dying at night?), or “What opinions about God do you have that I could correct?” Not that those are wrong (or at least the first one is not), but Hybels gives a few more questions for your arsenal.
3. Models
The best way to learn to share Christ is by watching someone else. That’s how I learned! I watched my dad and other believers share the gospel. A book cannot in itself be a “model,” but Hybels both offers stories to encourage us and pushes us to learn from other Christians.
4. An Ability to Share Your Story Concisely
Entrepreneurs have what they call an “elevator speech” for their product: even though they could talk for hours and hours about it, they force themselves to condense things down to a 45-second summary (roughly the length of a long elevator ride). We should have an “elevator speech” for our story too: 100 words or less that explain how Christ met our “felt” needs, which sets us up for a sharing of the gospel. It’s important, of course, that we remember that our story isn’t the same as the gospel. It’s just a response to the gospel and, in evangelism, provides an introduction for us to share the gospel.
5. An Ability to Share the “Actual” Gospel Concisely
Just as we need to have a polished “elevator speech” of our story, we should be able to express the gospel in 100 words or less, too. Far from making our presentation insincere, this helps us to appreciate the gospel in fresh ways. Hybels mentions some classic presentations that I’ve seen and used: the bridge illustration (Jesus bridges the gap between us and God) and the do/done dichotomy (Religions are all about doing; the gospel is all about what Christ has done).
Hybels doesn’t always do the best job of explaining gospel doctrine throughout the book. Dever is more helpful there, as he draws out the more “prophetic” side of evangelism—warning about judgment and preaching salvation. But Hybels is superb at equipping you for evangelism that engages hearers on the plain of their felt-needs. And for many of us, that’s the bigger hurdle. We need a gentle nudge—or, possibly a firm kick in the hinder parts—to get us to just walk across the room.
