Understanding Evangelism

In church circles we are very comfortable with the term evangelism. It is the act of carrying the good news of Christ to the world around. It is the marketing department of the church. Getting the message out, pushing our product.

Do you remember those fundraiser sales that your school used to make you do? Selling candy or wrapping paper door to door, calling grandma and grandpa, and hating every minute of it? Well, not everyone did; some people were really motivated by that incentive flyer that came with the sale. The people who really liked it now work in sales, the rest of us have plainer jobs.

The fact is Evangelism is not my first language. It's not what fires me up, and my efforts to share my faith with others doesn't often lead to the types of dramatic changes in people's lives that set the church on fire. But all of us are called to share the gospel of Christ with others. So how do we approach Evangelism if we're not salesmen by nature.

It is helping me to think in terms of three phases of evangelism: Presence, Proclamation, and Persuasion Evangelism.

Presence: There is a part of evangelism that is just about being among people and meeting their needs. It's the principle of giving a cup of cold water in Jesus' name. It is not about verbalizing our faith, it is about demonstrating our faith.

Proclamation: This is the phase where a relationship has developed with those we've been serving when they begin to ask questions about faith, and we verbalize the answers. We begin to proclaim the gospel to those we've had a presence with.

Persuasion: This is a setting when those questions have been drawing those we've been with and shared our faith with confronts them with a choice for them to embrace Christ for themselves.

You may be like me and feel that you're weak with the Persuasion phase, but that is probably because we only try to work in that phase. Perhaps we'd be better served to make sure we start with presence evangelism. Each time you're around a Friend, Business Associate, Family Member, or Neighbor pray that Christ will be with you, serve them, and meet their needs. Doing that while praying over time will prepare you and them for the proclamation phase. When they get there they'll be on their way to a time of being persuaded to follow Christ.

This is helping me, I hope it helps you as well.

--Ben