Evangelism continues to be one of the most difficult things for Christians and churches to engage in and sustain. Why is that?
In my last post, how Lady Gaga helped me with evangelism, I shared some insightful research from the Barna Research Group. It states that nearly one-half (47%) of Millennials feel it is “somewhat wrong to share their personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will someday share the same faith.”
This is despite the fact that they feel knowing Jesus is the best thing that could ever happen to someone (94-97%).
What is going on?
What Is Evangelism?
Before we go too far, it’s important to define evangelism as there is much confusion over the word. In his article, What Is Evangelism, Jeremy Bouma (Th.M.) explains. The word “evangelism” actually doesn’t exist in the Bible but comes from a few different Greek words. The best one to describe it is euangelizo— “to proclaim the gospel”—to describe the activity of telling the gospel (Rom. 10:15). Evangelism is the English term for the act of communicating the gospel. It’s the message that Jesus Christ is Lord. He goes on to say, “The essence of evangelism is the gospel, which is the good news of Jesus—not methods or the kinds and sizes of audiences.”
The Harvest is Great, but are the Workers Still Few?
Jesus told His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few” (see Matt. 9:37). When He said this, He was looking at a small group of disciples but had the bigger picture in mind: scores upon scores, indeed the whole world, of people whom He wanted to welcome into the kingdom of God.
Is that statement still accurate? I’m not saying Jesus was lying. It was accurate and true in that moment. Jesus was stating a time-bound fact. The harvest is still great, but are the workers still few? At present, there are around 7.53 billion people in the world. Of that number, 2.18 billion of those are said to be Christians. That leaves 5.35 billion people who don’t know Christ, including 3.14 billion that belong to unreached people groups.1
If the 2.18 billion Christians in the world each led just one person to Christ each year, the whole world would know Him within three years.
The harvest is still great, and the workers are many! So, why aren’t we turning the world upside down?
Turning the World Upside Down
In the early days of Christianity, with only a small but growing number of disciples throughout the known world, it was said, “Those who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (see Acts 17:6).
2000 years later, can you say that in your context?
I personally don’t know anyone in my Western context who would say they are turning the world upside down.
Why We Suck at Evangelism
Let’s move backwards from the outside to the inside to find out why…
1) We must plead with God to launch us into the harvest.
So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. (Matthew 9:38 NLT, emphasis added)
From Jesus’ words, we learn we are to “pray” and ask him to “send” more workers (starting with yourself) into his fields to harvest. But it’s not what you think.
Pray is the Greek word “dĕŏmai (deh´-om-ahee) and it means to beg or plead.
Send is the Greek word “ĕkballō” (ek-bal´-lo) and it means to eject, to drive (out), expel.2
When is the last time you begged and pleaded with God to drive you into the harvest?
Let me give some context for this. In his book, Letters to the Church, Francis Chan shares a about a time when he visited an underground church gathering in China. The believers all shared stories about the persecution they had endured: being shot at or hiding in the walls to avoid capture. The thing is, everyone was laughing like it was a party! They just expected persecution.
Francis went on to tell about the prayer meeting.
“In their prayers they were screaming out to God to take them to the most dangerous places. ‘I want to suffer for You. I don’t want to go to the safe place. Please! I want to be counted worthy to die in Your name.’ That’s the way they prayed.”3
We treat Jesus’ words like they are a good suggestion when they are actually a command. We pray passively, like it applies to someone else, removing ourselves from the equation. But Matthew 9:38 is anything but passive.
When the prophet Isaiah encountered God, God asked a question. “Who will for for us? Whom shall I send?” Isaiah’s response was not, “God, I’m going to pray so you will find someone who will go. Send someone, Lord!” No, Isaiah said, “Here I am! Send me!” (see Isaiah 6:8)
We know we should go into the sea of lost humanity that needs a Savior, so why don’t we? It has to do with compassion.
2) Compassion is what drives us into the harvest.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36 NLT, empahasis added)
Jesus didn’t just see the crowd, He saw people. He discerned clearly their state of being, and when He saw their condition – confused, sick, helpless, tossed around, and scattered without protection or care – His heart broke with compassion.
Compassion is not just feelings of sympathy and pity. Compassion is a deep sympathy that drives us to action!
Jesus couldn’t possibly see the state people were in and leave them there. That’s why He healed them, cast out demons, and delivered them.
Compassion or a lack thereof is either a fruit or a symptom. When we have it, something is right on the inside, when we don’t have it, something is off.
If that’s the case, how do we get it and why don’t we have it – the way Jesus did?
3) We don’t have a compassion problem, we have a connection problem.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5 ESV)
Compassion comes from being connected to the Vine, Jesus.
Let me prove it to you.
Jesus said, “You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.” (John 4:35 NLT)
In other words, you keep putting off the harvest saying, it won’t be ready for four more months, but I say it’s ready now! That statement came directly following the greatest revelation of worship in the New Testament. After running into a Samaritan woman at a well, Jesus taught her about living water (the Holy Spirit) and true worship. He told her true worshipers worship in Spirit and truth, and the Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way (see John 4:23). Living Water (the person and power of the Holy Spirit) flows when we worship in Spirit and truth.
As pastor Bill Johnson says, “The purest evangelism flows from worship.”
When the connection part is right, it births true compassion and enables you to see people the way the Father sees them – like sheep without a shepherd. It’s the Father’s compassion that drives us into the harvest, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The secret to evangelism is the secret place.
Let’s Recap
Connection with Christ >>> births compassion >>> that drives us into the harvest.
What Now?
We can either ask God for compassion (which is the equivalent of a booster shot that only lasts for so long), or we can ask Him for the grace to abide with Him in connection both personally and as the body of Christ.
Where does training come in? Once we begin abiding in Christ and compassion is birthed, we are not only driven into the harvest but we are driven to seek out the equipping we need in order to learn how to evangelize. Here are a few resources that come highly recommended by many (I have read a few of them):
- Evangelism in a Skeptical World by Sam Chan
- The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George G. Hunter III
- The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman
- One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven by Mark Cahill
- Evangelism in the Early Church by Michael Green
- Power Evangelism by John Wimber
You are the Plan!
I have a sticky note hanging up in my study/prayer room that says, “I am revival.” Revival starts with me, in the secret place. I can have a continuous revival in me. And if I get that right it will spread to others because what’s gained in the secret place will never be kept secret!
Two thousand years after His death and resurrection, Jesus’ compassion hasn’t lessened but His method has changed. Jesus left and gave us the authority to do the same things He did. He has entrusted us with His mission, “Go into every nation and make disciples” (see Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus also said,
Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. (John 20:21).
You are the plan. There is no plan “B”. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. (see Matthew 5:14)
Your joy depends on it!
Did you know part of your joy as a follower of Jesus depends upon you sharing your faith?
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” (Luke 10:1, 17 ESV)
Maybe the reason so many Christians are miserable is because they aren’t giving out in this way. Instead of a flowing river, you’ve become a stagnant pond.
Go!
Start in the secret place. Prioritize your daily time with God. Let Him birth compassion in your heart as you worship and adore Him.
Churches must do the same. Notice the pattern in the book of Acts: over and over, they were found in prayer and in one accord (or of one mind). God would pour out His love and compassion upon them and they would go out into the harvest with boldness.
Don’t wait another moment. Get in the secret place and let compassion drive you into the harvest. The world is waiting!
Rest Assured: Seven Days to Stillness, Sanity and the Sabbath You Need
True rest is something that we all desperately need but can’t seem to find. It’s not just sleep and down time we need, although that is important, but rest for our souls. In the words of the early church father, Augustine of Hippo, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
True rest can only be found in a relationship with God.
*This e-book and downloadable PDF is available for pre-order now! Launching 5-15-19.
Footnotes
1 – https://joshuaproject.net/
2 – Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 1, p. 26). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
3 – Chan, Francis (2018). Letters to the Church. David C. Cook. 4050 Lee Vance Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80918.
