Evangelism Need Not Be a Scary Word

I came of age in the 70s, when evangelism was often defined as “winning people to Christ.”  It was about apologetics, about making a case for Christ, and closing the deal by getting people to pray a specifically worded prayer of repentance.   A lot of folks in our churches have similar evangelical childhoods where they felt great pressure to “witness” to friends and family and to get them to “accept Christ.”  It was sort of like making a case for a timeshare purchase.

Because of this quirky history with the e-word, plus the addition of the term “TV evangelist” to the English language in the last century, most people are understandably turned off by the e-word.  Bad associations.

Yet, over the last four decades of ministry, I have served churches that began engaging significant numbers of nonreligious people and watched them begin the journey of following Jesus.  Even though I found late twentieth-century models of evangelism a bit silly, my annual conference awarded me a Harry Denman Evangelism Award because of the soaring numbers of people making “professions of faith” in my congregation.

I have never found memorized religious sales pitches especially helpful.  Evangelism is certainly about authentic reflection on our spiritual adventure in relationships with friends, neighbors, and family.  But no sales pitches are required.  No arguments to prove anything.  And certainly, no pressure to close a deal.

The two most helpful issues in leading nonreligious people to begin practicing the ways of Jesus are as follows:

1. Is there a vibrant faith community that I can invite my friends to experience in various ways?  A great church sells itself.   All I have to do is invite. People in every kind of community want to be part of a lively, relevant, grace-filled church.

For all those people who used to flood the prayer areas in stadiums where Billy Graham preached, only a subset connected with an actual church and began a defined faith journey in community connection.

2. Churches that serve their neighbors garner credibility within communities.  For a big chunk of the public, the term “church” is associated with scamming people for money.  But when the public sees real service, when they see people truly acting like Jesus-followers, they are much more likely to begin hanging out in faith circles and seriously engaging the gospel of Jesus.

In summary: A vibrant, upbeat community committed to loving their neighbors as Jesus would—no leaflets, no tracts, and no guilt required!