{"id":21514,"date":"1998-07-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1998-07-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/1998\/07\/01\/evangelism-that-flows\/"},"modified":"1998-07-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1998-07-01T00:00:00","slug":"evangelism-that-flows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/evangelism-that-flows\/","title":{"rendered":"Evangelism that Flows"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n I<\/strong>n the early days of the city of Chicago, some\n bold engineers succeeded in an amazing feat. They actually reversed the flow\n of the Chicago River. Instead of dirty water flowing into Lake Michigan,\n the river was dredged and channeled to flow out of Lake Michigan to a canal\n that eventually connected to the river system that would flow into the\n Mississippi River.\n \n A similar challenge awaits every pastor who takes the Great Commission seriously.\n The natural flow of most churches is not toward evangelism. The reasons are\n many: a culture increasingly hostile to the message of Christ, fear of rejection,\n an inward focus on our own needs.\n \n Even so, some pastoral “engineers” have succeeded at reversing attitudes\n in their congregations and are seeing notable results.\n Leadership<\/em><\/strong> invited three such leaders to discuss the task.\n \n Jerry Cline has served nine years as pastor of Upland Evangelical Mennonite\n Church in Upland, Indiana. Before that he served for eight years with Overseas\n Crusades, six in Indonesia.\n \n Mark Mittelberg is executive vice president of the Willow Creek Association\n and co-author of Becoming a Contagious Christian<\/em>, book and training\n course (Zondervan, 1994 & 1995). Prior to joining the staff of the\n Association, Mark served for seven years as the director of evangelism at\n Willow Creek Community Church, where he continues to be evangelism trainer\n and a frequent speaker at seeker-oriented events.\n \n Mike Slaughter has, for nearly two decades, pastored Ginghamsburg United\n Methodist Church in Tipp City, Ohio. He is author of Out on the Edge<\/em>\n (Abingdon, 1998) and Spiritual Entrepreneurs <\/em>(Abingdon, 1995).\n<\/p>\n

How do you shift people’s attitude from “I should evangelize” to “I want\nto evangelize”?<\/p>

\nMike Slaughter: <\/strong>Renewal is God-breathed, not programed or planned.\nPastors come to conferences wanting methodology and technology. We do media\nand all that, but when we started using media I began an hour to two hours\nof prayer every morning.\n\nGod chooses to act in certain times and places. People in that place have\na passion for God and a passion for people. From the pulpit you see those\npeople who are taking notes and nodding their heads. They exemplify fruits\nof openness and love. My strategy has been to get that group together. I\nsay to these people, “Carolyn and I are starting a group in our home on Wednesday\nevenings. The only requirement of those who come is that in six months to\na year they begin to invest in the lives of others.” I call it the “sanctified\nAmway plan.”\n\nMark Mittelberg: <\/strong>You begin with your own heart. If it’s not what it\nought to be, admit that to God and then to the people around you. Tell others,\n“I want to be a person who values lost people and reaches them for Christ\nmore than I do now. I also want our church to do that, and I’m going to pray\nto that end. Hebrews 10 says we are to spur each other on to love and good\ndeeds. Let’s commit together to fulfilling the purpose Christ gave for this\nchurch.”\n\nYou can then gather a team that agrees this is what their lives and ministry\nwill be about. You instill evangelistic values into more and more people\naround you. What happens then is you will attract other like-minded leaders\ninto your church and repel those who are not. Many people are looking for\na church that’s alive evangelistically.\n\nContagious churches put the work of evangelism into the hands of all their\npeople. But pollster George Barna has shown that only one in three churches\nintentionally train their people in evangelism. We not only have to raise\nthe value, model it, and teach on it, we have to get all our people through\na training course where they don’t just hear about evangelism but they practice\nit.\n\nFriends listen to friends. If we train individuals to naturally communicate\ntheir faith, we will see people come to Christ.\n\nJerry Cline:<\/strong> If I as pastor don’t say to others in the church, “Hey,\nthere’s something missing here,” evangelism is probably not going to happen.\nI may need to say to the elder board, “I’m not seeing many conversions of\nlate. Let’s list the names of people we’re rubbing shoulders with, and each\ntime we meet, we’ll pray for them.”\n\nWhen the church is preparing the budget, I have had to say on occasion, “There’s\nnot much money in this budget for evangelism.” My leaders have always responded\nto that. People are looking for us to take the lead.\n\nLast year, for example, we allocated several thousand dollars to bus unchurched\nkids to Chicago for ballgames as a way to build relationships with them.\nWe’re trying to break out of our standard approaches.\n<\/p>

How does today’s seeker differ from the seeker of 1975?<\/p>

\nMittelberg: <\/strong>Seekers are more skeptical now. They have less knowledge\nof the Bible and of what it means to be a Christian. So you have to do more\nground work, showing them this is not a blind leap of faith, that the Bible\nis a book with credentials and that it works in our lives.\n\nWhen it comes to God, people don’t know who he is. If they were to believe\nin the possibility of a revelation from God, they wouldn’t know whether it’s\nthe book of Mormon, the Koran, some New Age writing, or the Bible.\n\nThere’s a lot more confusion, a lot less urgency about needing to know, yet\na great emptiness. A generation ago, seekers knew what they could cling to\nif they were willing; now even if they’re willing, they don’t know which\nway to turn. Yet the spiritual interest is sky high.\n<\/p>

On one hand, our culture is in a moral freefall. On the other, we’re in\na period of interest in “spirituality.” Is evangelism getting harder or\neasier?<\/p>

\nMittelberg:<\/strong> It certainly takes a commitment to a long-haul approach.\nIt is a longer process to earn the trust of secular unbelievers and teach\nthem the content they need to believe. So evangelism is harder today.\n\nOn the other hand, with people so hungry, in many cases it’s easier to get\ninto the topic because they’re looking for a credible source of information\non spiritual topics.\n\nSlaughter<\/strong>: One of the exciting opportunities in postmodernism is people\ndon’t want evidence; they want experience. Last Easter, instead of the Josh\nMcDowell thing (rational evidences for Christianity), we did an X-Files\nthing—open to the unexplainable. We had a drama with Scully and Mulder where\none was open to the unexplainable and the other wanted everything explained\nscientifically. Afterward I said, “You may have 99 percent doubt, but the\nfact that you’re here says you’re open to the possibility that Jesus came\nfrom the tomb. Act on the 1 percent.”\n\nMittelberg:<\/strong> Many people don’t lead with the same questions they used\nto—”Give me evidence”—yet in the process of their spiritual journey, the\nsame questions tend to come up. People want to know, Is this a faith built\non facts, or are you taking me toward a blind leap of faith? I see the need\nfor apologetics going up, not down.\n<\/p>\n

\n

In many churches we can’t do things that will make a difference in unchurched people’s lives because that is against our traditions. —Mike Slaughter<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n

When are we guilty of trying to do the Holy Spirit’s job in evangelism,\nand when are we expecting the Holy Spirit to do our job?<\/p>

\nCline:<\/strong> In part we have failed to pray, “Lord, I know if the Spirit\ndoesn’t do it, it’s not going to happen.”\n\nSlaughter<\/strong>: We have to step out of the boat. Faith is risking before\nyou see results. It wasn’t Peter who failed when he stepped out of the boat\nand began to sink. It was the eleven who waited to see what would happen\nto Peter.\n\nMittelberg:<\/strong> Sometimes we try to assume the Holy Spirit’s role, but\nthe much greater problem is our hoping the Holy Spirit will do our job for\nus. One popular version of evangelism says, “If I just live as a consistent\nChristian, people will see it, figure it out, and come to Christ.” But that\napproach isn’t biblical, and it doesn’t work.\n\nIn Romans 10:14 Paul said we have to go and give people the message. We have\nto initiate conversations and trust the Holy Spirit will work as we bring\nthe message to them.\n\nAnother temptation is to ride on the positive experience people have when\nthey come to a church program and think they will be interested enough in\nwhat they’ve seen to figure it all out on their own.\n\nYears ago a girl I knew from high school started coming to a Bible study\nI was leading. She learned the songs and started talking like us and hanging\nout with us. One day I said to her, “I’m glad you’re part of our group.”\n\n“I love it,” she said.\n\n“I’m just wondering, have you ever come to the point of committing your life\nto Christ so you know you’re forgiven of your sins?”\n\n“No, I’ve never done that,” she said, “and no one ever told me I needed to.”\n\nI learned we have to keep spelling out the basics. Draw the bridge illustration\nor follow whatever approach you use. When I did that, she made a commitment\nright away.\n<\/p>

Why do some churches with godly leaders who teach the truth see few people,\nif any, come to the Lord?<\/p>

\nMittelberg<\/strong>: Christians can be hindered by traditional ideas of what\nevangelism looks like. A pastor thinks, It means having revival meetings.\nBut I tried that, and it didn’t work. The average Christian thinks, It means\ngoing out and knocking on doors. I don’t know if I can do that.<\/em>\n\nWe would like to reach lost people, but doing so doesn’t feel like us.\n\nIn our training we’re helping people realize evangelism takes many forms.\nIn the New Testament, Peter was confrontational, while Paul took an intellectual\napproach. The blind man in John 9 took a testimonial approach, and the woman\nat the well, an invitational approach. So let’s free ourselves up. Let’s\nnot lay guilt trips on people by acting as though if they really loved Jesus\nthey would do it just like us.\n\nLet’s find approaches that fit the personalities God gave each of us. Then\nwhen we say, “Let’s raise the priority of reaching lost people,” our people\nrealize it doesn’t necessarily mean they go door to door. It may mean they\nneed to play tennis with people they’re trying to reach.\n\nSometimes the problem is churches aren’t willing to try new things. If we’ve\nbeen doing evangelism the same way for 20 years and people aren’t coming\nto Christ, why do we keep beating our heads against the wall?\n\nOther times, churches teach the Word but they do not put a priority on reaching\nlost people. Evangelism naturally tends to slip more than any other biblical\nvalue. It is what I call the law of evangelistic entropy. Believers get caught\nup with what they need. If you’re the pastor of 500 people, all of whom want\nto know what you’re going to do for them, there’s a natural pull to focus\ninward. Leaders have to make an against-gravity decision to say we’re not\ngoing to spend all our energy on ourselves.\n\nSlaughter<\/strong>: If we really believe the unchurched are important, do we\nfocus on them? Doing that will cost us at times. When I first came to the\nchurch, we had 90 people; we switched our worship service to what I call\na soft contemporary style, and we lost 30. Three years ago when we had 1,200\npeople, we shifted to a heavier use of media and a style more on the edge,\nand we lost 200 people. Now we have over 3,000 people.\n\nTwo years ago 48 percent of those coming through our membership classes had\nbeen unchurched; last year it was 50 percent.\n\nIn many churches we can’t do things that will make a difference in unchurched\npeople’s lives because that is against our traditions. Jesus had a marketplace\ntheology. He didn’t play well in the temple because there were too many\nrestrictions. Paul had to find Jesus on the Damascus Road, Bartimaeus on\nthe Jericho Road, the Ethiopian eunuch on the Gaza Road.\n<\/p>\n

\n

In Central Indiana the unsaved person has community but is looking for deeper community. He or she is looking for more substance. —Jerry Cline<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nI try to demonstrate being with unchurched people, even if it means missing\nchurch meetings. I coached my son’s baseball team for nine years. On Sunday\nnights our church had a praise style meeting for the people who wanted a\nworship experience that did not relate to unchurched people. I didn’t attend\nthat meeting because that was the night the baseball coaches hung out and\nshot pool.\n<\/p>

Does God grant different gifts to churches just as he does to individuals?\nDo some churches evangelize and others teach?<\/p>

\nMittelberg<\/strong>: God gifts leaders and churches to specialize in various\nministries, but Jesus spelled out the purpose for the church in the Great\nCommission. That obviously includes teaching and edification and worship,\nbut if a church says we’re just going to be a teaching church and not evangelize,\nthey’re running counter to the purpose statement Jesus gave to the church.\n\nCline<\/strong>: The important thing is balance. Our church is in a small town,\nand our population is stable. One of our strengths is we’re a sanctuary.\nHurting pastors and missionaries come and kind of hide here for a while to\nget restored. We need to be doing more evangelism, but I would not say that\nhas to be our number one priority.\n<\/p>

How often should you give some form of a specific “altar call”?<\/p>

\nMittelberg<\/strong>: We weave the gospel into everything we do but not in an\nexplicit form where we ask people to commit to Christ every week. Paul said\nin 1 Corinthians 9:22-23, “I have become all things to all men … for\nthe sake of the gospel.” We need to know the people we’re trying to reach,\nand we need to ask what is the most effective way to winsomely help them\nsee Christ is real and the Bible, true; how can we keep them in the process\nso they’ll soon make a commitment to Christ?\n\nIf we thought hitting them hard every week was the best way, we would do\nit. But people today are farther away from believing what we believe. If\nwe called for a commitment every week, people would say, “Look, I wasn’t\nready last week or the week before. I’m not ready this week—and I’m not\ncoming back next week!”\n\nWe have to build a relationship with people and earn their trust and respect.\nWe do that by teaching the whole counsel of God without compromise and by\ninterspersing at regular intervals a call for people to come to Christ. Besides,\nwe train our people to press appropriately for a commitment from the people\nthey bring to services. Many conversions happen in one-on-one conversations\noutside of our services.\n<\/p>\n

When should we tell people the price of Christian commitment? Bonhoeffer says when Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die. That’s a tough sale.<\/p>\n

\nMittelberg:<\/strong> There’s a rumor that if you want to attract unchurched\npeople, you’ve got to tell them what they want to hear. We’ve found just\nthe opposite. People are looking for leaders who have the guts to tell them\nthe truth. Being seeker sensitive means learning to speak the language of\nthe people you want to reach so you can give them the message full strength.\n<\/p>\n

When a church’s valiant evangelism attempts haven’t met with much success, how do you keep up morale?<\/p>\n

\nCline<\/strong>: Our responsibility is to sow the seed. We want to see results,\nbut we must remember the parable of the sower. There is something to be said\nfor those times when not much is happening. We are to do what we can to move\npeople along the scale, point by point, from minus ten to plus ten.\n\nFor a number of months, I carried in my Bible an undated resignation letter\nready to turn in because I felt unable to inspire people. I never turned\nit in. I continue to try to be faithful, do the best I can, be creative,\nand leave the results to God.\n\nMittelberg<\/strong>: Avoid comparisons with Ginghamsburg or Saddleback or Willow\nCreek. Decide you’re going to be who God called you to be, and keep doing\nyour best to raise the value of evangelism.\n<\/p>

In your efforts to lead others in evangelism, what has surprised\nyou?<\/p>

\nSlaughter<\/strong>: When we started to see unchurched people come, the selfish,\nterritorial attitudes of church people surprised me. But you have to decide\nwhat God has called you to do, not what the people want you to do.\n<\/p>\n

\n

Sometimes we try to assume the Holy Spirit’s role, but the much greater problem is our hoping the Holy Spirit will do our job for us. —Mark Mittelberg<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nWhen I went to Ginghamsburg, I said, “I’m not a pastoral caregiver. I’m a\nteacher, leader, catalyst. You don’t want me doing what God hasn’t gifted\nme to do.”\n\nOne time early on, I went to a nursing home. I laid my hands on one of the\ngodmothers of our church to pray for her. She died right there. When the\npeople heard about it, they said, “He’s right. He doesn’t have the gift.\nHe’d better not do this.”\n\nMittelberg<\/strong>: I’ve been negatively surprised by how rapidly this value\nslips, even in people who are fired up to share their faith. A year passes,\nand they’ve slipped into comfortable Christianity. Denominations that started\nwith evangelism as a priority can quickly become institutionalized. Evangelism\nis too often relegated to a statement on the front of a bulletin instead\nof a value by which we live.\n\nThe positive surprise: when you help people discover an approach to evangelism\nthat fits the personality God has given them, many step up to the plate.\n\nOne man named Fred was invited by a leader in our church to come to our\nContagious Christian course, and Fred laughed at him. Fred was kind of a\nwild guy, a recovering alcoholic who had come to Christ through our church.\nHe came to the training initially because he felt like the church leader\nmade him come, but he soon discovered he could communicate his faith while\nbeing himself.\n\nHe got the practical tools he needed to build relationships, raise spiritual\nconversations, share his story in plain English, illustrate the gospel, deal\nwith friends’ questions, and actually lead them to Christ. He soon began\nto look for opportunities, especially in Alcoholics Anonymous. Since then\nhe has led many to Christ.\n\nAt the other end of the personality spectrum is Julie, a shy person who in\none year led 14 people to Christ in her quiet, introverted way.\n<\/p>

How is evangelism different in the small town?<\/p>

\nSlaughter<\/strong>: It’s not that different in a small town. It’s the global\nvillage now. We watch the same television shows they watch in Chicago or\nLA. We listen to the same music, surf the same ‘Net. There are different\npolitical mindsets, but basic socialization is much the same.\nCline<\/strong>: In central Indiana the unsaved person has community but is\nlooking for deeper community. He or she is looking for more substance.\n<\/p>

Do you ever feel you overemphasize evangelism?<\/p>

\nMittelberg:<\/strong> We want to avoid being a unidimensional church, emphasizing\nonly evangelism. But many churches abdicate this area of outreach and are\ncontent to say, “We have 300 people; if we keep them growing, that’s okay.”\n\nI want to push back and say, “For the sake of lost people, for the sake of\nobeying Christ, we’ve got to get the evangelism element back into the mix.”\n\nThat’s not to the exclusion of worship or discipleship, but it takes more\neffort to get a church moving toward outreach. It takes radical commitment.\nIt has budget and calendar implications. Leaders must “declare war” against\nbusiness-as-usual and take churches from nice, friendly places to churches\nthat are reaching lost people.\n\nEvangelistic entropy begins in my own heart. My natural inclination is to\ncare only about what my family and I need. I have to remind myself I’m here\nfor a purpose beyond my own little circle.\n\nI’m part of a church known for evangelism, but we have to fight the battle\nmonth after month to keep up the evangelistic temperature. This is not about\ngetting our church to a certain size; our job is not done until all the people\nin our community have come to Christ.\n<\/p>\n\n

The Subtle Snare of Soul-Saving<\/h2>\n

Do we define “success” as who we win—or whose we are?<\/h2>\n

O<\/strong>ne of the greatest snares of modern evangelism is the apotheosis of commercialism manifested in the soul-saving craze. I do not mean God does not save souls, but I do believe the watchword “a passion for souls” is a snare. The watchword of the saint is “a passion for Christ.”<\/p>\n\n

The estimate of success has come imperceptibly into Christian enterprise, and we say we must go in for winning souls, but we cannot win souls if we cut ourselves off from the source, and the source is belief in Jesus Christ (John 7:37).<\/p>\n\n

If we immediately look to the outflow—the results—we are in danger of becoming specialists on certain aspects of truth, of banking on certain things, either terror or emotionalism or sensationalism presentations—anything rather than remaining confident that “He must reign.”<\/p>\n\n

If we stand true to Jesus Christ in the midst of the fearful hour, we shall come to see that there is a lie at the heart of the fear which shook us. We are not called to be successful in accordance with ordinary standards, but in accordance with a corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying, becoming in that way what it never could be it it were to abide alone.<\/p>\n\n

After the corn is garnered into the granary, it has to go through processes before it is ready for eating. It is the “broken-bread” aspect which produces the faithfulness that God looks upon as success, not the fact of the harvest, but that the harvest is being turned into nutritious bread.<\/p>\n\n

—O<\/strong>swald C<\/strong>hambers in<\/em> He Shall Glorify Me<\/p>\n\n

1998 by the author or Christianity Today\/Leadership<\/em> Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or contact us<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the early days of the city of Chicago, some bold engineers succeeded in an amazing feat. They actually reversed the flow of the Chicago River. 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