Sermon: Evangelism Coaching and Advice (See video HERE)
It’s been 10 years since I committed my energies and prayers as a Christian to take seriously Jesus’ command to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” with an emphasis on the “Go…” part. I had been involved in Christian ministry ever since beginning a faith relationship with Christ at age 17, but mainly through attractional ministries that emphasized getting the world to come to our Christian gatherings rather than going to where the world gathered.
For most of my Christian life, I had been opposed to what I
will call “initiative evangelism”. In
fact, I viewed such evangelism initiatives as obnoxious and detrimental to the
cause of Christ, damaging the reputations of all Christians and making it
harder for those of us trying to build trusting relationships with
non-Christians through which the Gospel could be shared.
I now believe I was very mistaken. I might have been sincere but I was sincerely
disobedient. But because I opposed this
sort of evangelism for most of my Christian life I feel I have no grounds to be
critical of well-intentioned fellow believers who still feel this way. I do believe there are a lot of ugly
evangelistic efforts out there, much of it by cults, but I want to encourage
fellow believers that we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I now believe the Gospel can and should be shared on the
streets and in the marketplace, and it is the responsibility of the spiritually
living, not the spiritually dead, to take the initiative. Jesus’ statement that “No one can come to me
unless the Father who sent me draws them” has all too often been taken out of
the context of other scriptures that ask “…how can they believe in the one of
whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to
them?”
What changed my mind?
The Bible, primarily, with guidance from Ray Comfort’s book “The Way of
the Master”. In it, Comfort shows how I
can share gospel truths tactfully and winsomely, even with strangers I have
just met, using the biblical principle of “law to the proud, and grace to the
humble”. In brief, I can use God’s moral
law such as the 10 commandments - not long-term relationships, convincing
arguments, or fancy programs – to show people their sin and need for the
forgiveness that can only be found in Christ.
After years of attractional and relational ministry, I was
led to commit myself to ministry that had several other key aspects in addition
to the emphasis on being the one to “go” and take the initiative in sharing the
gospel. 1.) It had to be rooted and
deeply connected with a local and biblically sound church. 2.) It had to be a daily discipline; a spiritual
goal, not a vow, fueled by the Holy Spirit rather than my own human
effort. 3.) It had to be a sustainable activity
that I and any believer could participate in during the course of other
activities such as while shopping, traveling home from work, or going for a
walk. 4.) It had to be just one part of
a healthy and balanced Christian lifestyle, not neglecting family, work,
church, discipleship efforts, and self-care.
10 years in, after my initial commitment to a daily evangelism
goal, I gave a sermon at my church telling of my journey, coaching our
congregation in evangelism using one of my outreach videos, and relating my
efforts to scripture. This is a video of
that sermon, given at New Life Community Church – Bridgeport (Chicago) on July
7, 2019.
(Note, begins with sermon-series explanations and scripture,
my background information begins at about 8:30; and evangelism coaching advice
begins about 27:20) Video of sermon
is HERE at https://youtu.be/AVEbXNmdwxs
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