Pastors' Pulse - Christianity Today

It may be different from how your people do.

Evangelism looks different from the pulpit than from the pew. Several differences emerged in a major nationwide survey conducted by LEADERSHIP and Church Growth Institute of Lynchburg, Virginia. A questionnaire was sent to 5,000 pastors (10 percent responded), who distributed additional questionnaires to lay people.

For one thing, pastors and lay people can’t agree on what to call evangelism. The survey asked, Which of the following terms do you use most often to describe the act of sharing Christ with others? and listed terms: Sharing your faith, witnessing, evangelism, outreach, presenting the gospel, soulwinning, discipling. Pastors were more likely to use terms such as “outreach” and “evangelism.” But lay people preferred “soulwinning” and “crusade.” (See chart) In short, pastors and ministry staff tend toward newer, more unoffensive terms for evangelism; lay people may feel more comfortable using traditional terms.

What’s more, clergy and laity had different reactions to evangelistic approaches. Lay people were far less positive about “relational evangelism” (49 percent vs. 76 percent). Nor were they as enthused about “lifestyle evangelism” (75 percent vs. 85 percent).

This seems odd: Wouldn’t more lay people than pastors respond favorably to relational and lifestyle evangelism? Friendship evangelism lowers guilt and makes evangelism more natural. Perhaps lay people view this as soft-sell.

HOW SEEKER SENSITIVE?

How do pastors and lay people view the popular seeker-sensitive approach?

Again, lay people were less favorable to the term “seeker-sensitive” (36 percent vs. 50 percent) and to “unchurched,” a word from the seeker movement (59 percent vs. 76 percent). To the survey statement, I believe a seeker service is an excellent evangelism method for the church today, lay people were less than half as likely to agree or strongly agree (17 percent vs. 37 percent).

Perhaps lay people don’t want to make the numerous changes a seeker service would require. But it may be they just haven’t been exposed to the approach. Only 10 percent of lay people said they were even familiar with seeker services; three times as many pastors said they were.

Despite the relative lack of familiarity with seeker services, both lay people and pastors are not negative about them. When asked to respond to the statement, Seeker-sensitive services have become an excuse to avoid the gospel’s demands, only 12 percent of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed. (However, a large percentage of folk feel unqualified to judge seeker-sensitive methods: to the previous statement, 76 percent of lay people and 49 percent of clergy marked “don’t know/does not apply.”)

WHAT’S WORKING

One pastor recently told me, “Most people in my denomination are so insecure about their faith they wouldn’t walk across the street to share the gospel–even if they were guaranteed that the person would accept Christ.” Despite that widespread feeling, 97 percent of the lay people surveyed indicated that Every Christian has the responsibility to share his/her faith with the lost. And they felt even more bullish than pastors about the “overall effectiveness” of their church’s most recent evangelistic efforts: While 36 percent of pastors indicated “good” or “excellent,” 45 percent of lay people did.

What were the most effective evangelism efforts or events used in their churches? The top three answers for both pastors and lay people (though not in the same order) were “Revival meetings,” “Friend Day,” and “Own church evangelism program”

Friend Day is the franchised church evangelism program written by Elmer Towns and published by the Church Growth Institute in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Friend Day kit, which includes audio cassettes, helps churches gear up for a Sunday when people can invite their friends to church. Thom Wallace, who pastors Franklin Road Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, recently held a Friend Day and saw attendance increase by more than 50 percent; nineteen people made professions of faith.

Apparently, Friend Day works in part because it relies on evangelistic preaching. To the statement Preaching is the primary method for leading the lost to Christ, 23 percent of pastors and 26 percent of lay people agreed or strongly agreed.

GETTING PERSONAL

How much should pastors carry the weight for evangelism?

To the statement, Every pastor/minister should have the gift of evangelism, 55 percent of lay people agreed or strongly agreed, while only 38 percent of pastors did. Yet lay people don’t seem put the onus for evangelism on the pastor: To the statement I believe the pastor is primarily responsible for evangelism, only 17 percent of lay people agreed or strongly agreed (and just as many pastors did).

Few claim the gift: Only 20 percent of pastors and 10 percent of lay people strongly agreed that I believe I have the gift of evangelism.

You would think that pastors and lay people could agree on one thing: a balanced approached to evangelism. But no: To the statement The real need is for a balanced program between lifestyle and presentational evangelism, 86 percent of pastors agreed or strongly agreed, while only 65 percent of lay people did.

What is obvious is that pastors and lay people view evangelism differently. Why is not so clear.

Pastors would be wise to carefully select evangelistic terms, define them clearly, and take plenty of time when introducing new approaches to evangelism.

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David Goetz is associate editor of LEADERSHIP

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