Please Tell Me Personal Evangelism is Not Dead

Please tell me, “Personal evangelism is not dead!” Better yet, please show me personal evangelism is not dead.

I need some encouragement in this matter. After starting this blog I have requested numerous readers to send their stories of how they have witnessed or won someone to Christ. One minister, Fred Herzog of Northfield, Minnesota has sent a report of how he won his barber to Christ. He’s the only one so far.

Of course, others may be sharing the Gospel regularly and I am simply not aware of their witness. This matter of personal evangelism neither starts nor ends with me. However, my son and I are publishers and reporters of personal evangelism stories. We find people are being saved through sermons and meetings, but how about personal evangelism? Jesus said, “I have called you to reap.” (John 4:38) That the Gospel is proclaimed from the pulpits of the land is wonderful, yet I repeat my plea: Would you please show me personal evangelism is not dead.

Yes, to live the Gospel and be an example is necessary, but who is able to make the Gospel clear with no words and only an exemplary  life?

As I put my ear to the ground, I hear discussion about the topic; I find most Christians believe in soul-winning. But can you show me it’s happening in your neighborhood, your factory, your school, or your office?

We all need encouragement in the PE (Personal Evangelism) department. On a recent plane ride I conversed with a seatmate named Todd. After some chit-chat I asked him, “Have your received Christ Jesus into your life?” Todd smiled and effervesced, “Yes, I sure have!” He went on to tell his life story, how “When I was young and foolish I dove into the wrong end of a swimming pool and broke my neck.”

His story didn’t end in despair. Todd related how his faith became certain and real as he lay paralyzed for months in a rehab ward. He began to focus his faith on his immovable arm. After about three months one finger twitched. He kept focusing his faith and today he can jog, run, swim, and leads a normal life.

This particularly encouraged me because my feet are impaired as a result of cancer and I’m believing every day for full recovery.

I witnessed to Todd and he in turn inspired me. So often this is the case.

Please join me in leading the way to restore personal witnessing in the church. Together let’s show the church and the world “personal evangelism is not dead!” We can do it! Click here to discover how to overcome fear.

Who among us has shared their faith recently? Tell the world your story in the comment box. It will encourage us all.

Publisher’s note: I have known Bill and Darlene for about 20 years. God has gotten hold of their hearts and lives in such a way that they are the “real deal.” Darlene sent the following praise report this past week.

Bill spoke at the Grand Forks County Correctional (jail) last night. He got back to the home we are staying in so late, I thought they might have decided to keep him. :-))

Forty eight inmates attended the two sessions and 40 of those men stood to give to give their lives to Christ.  Bill did something unusual last night.  When each group came in and were seated, Bill stood up, walked over to them and said “I don’t care what you have done, where you have been or why you are in here, I just want you to know I respect you as a man and I will treat you with that respect.  Thank you for coming out to listen to my story.  One man looked at Bill and said, “no one has shown respect to me in my lifetime.” Bill replied back “well, then this can be a new beginning for you.”

We are grateful for your prayers,

Bill and Darlene

Bill, son of a Florida police detective, had a rebellious attitude which led to his premature discharge from the Air Force. His continued antisocial behavior led to a life of crime, drugs, and repeated imprisonment. With his body suffering from the ill effects of alcohol, drugs, and a rebellious lifestyle, he was dramatically changed by Jesus Christ in 1972.

After his dramatic transformation, Bill engaged in street ministry where he saw many lives radically changed. He began working with young people, and shared his story in high schools and universities throughout the world.

His message of hope and the ability to make a fresh start through God’s grace has affected many.

Darlene has been walking with the Lord since she was eight years old. She has been active in the leadership of a Bible Study for the past 15 years. She is also a favorite speaker at women’s conferences and retreats, where she delights both young and old alike.

Bill and Darlene reside in Tampa, Florida. They have 5 children and eight grandchildren, and minister internationally.

Respect Brings New Beginning

Justice Evangelism

As a national evangelist with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, R. York Moore speaks to young adults at conferences and hundreds of college campuses nationwide. He trains Christians for personal evangelism through the seminar, Tell the Story! and he is the author of Growing Your Faith By Giving It Away (InterVarsity Press).

Can we simply live out our faith and hope that people find Christ through our demonstration of His love? Or does evangelism in today’s world still require us to speak? A justice evangelist offers his take on the controversial questions.

“Love is what justice looks like in public,” Princeton scholar and activist Cornel West says in Call + Response, the film about the human trafficking industry. The demonstration of love in action against injustice is not only the central thrust of the star-laden film’s message, but also could easily be the bumper sticker philosophy of this emerging American generation. With a hope and passion to change the world, today’s young adults demonstrate God’s heart for issues like Darfur, child sex slaves, AIDS orphans, urban poverty, Myanmar, climate change and bonded labor.

For this group—often referred to as the “Justice Generation”—acts of service and justice put flesh on the far too elusive concept of love for all to see, opening the door to millions of young adults who would never entertain Christianity or give Jesus Christ a fresh and, perhaps, first-time look.

And as social action and responsibility have come squarely into mainstream America, the age-old debate in the Church has re-emerged with great vigor—to verbally proclaim the Gospel or to merely demonstrate our faith through action?

On blogs and websites or at church conferences—you name it—somewhere someone is championing a side, offering his or her take and responding to the controversial questions: Do people still need to hear the Gospel, or is it just as well, perhaps better, for them to merely see the Gospel and its power played out by the church? Are we still sharing Christ by simply “being the church?” Can we simply “live out our faith” and hope that people “get it”?

A Question I Couldn’t Answer As one who came to Christ at age 20 as an angry atheistic philosophy student at the University of Michigan, I didn’t really give credence to these questions. Back then I had a hard time understanding why actions were important at all. “The only thing people need to believe is the truth of the Word of God,” I would say. I thought that if I could just help people understand the Gospel, they would get it. But all that changed at Urbana 2000, where I was reconverted to Christ. Though I was one of thousands of delegates there, I sat alone in the dark, high up in the rafters, weeping as International Justice Mission Founder Gary Haugen told us that each week 20,000 children are sold into forced prostitution. He continued, “Can the Christian faith be relevant in a world of suffering, injustice and pain?”

My polished, high-modern apologetic arsenal had met a question it could not answer. I returned from Urbana determined to change my life—my giving, pastimes, even my job description—and began to pursue a career in what I now refer to as “justice evangelism.”

Making the Justice-Jesus Connection I’ve come to realize that justice is indeed what love looks like in public. This was God’s idea portrayed on the cross—that in Jesus, we have the ultimate and perfect expression of skin-on-love justice. However, as I talk with young people who are so passionate about global equality, it’s clear to me that making the connection between justice and the cross requires verbal explanation. I can’t expect them to “get it” through my or anyone else’s actions alone. And in today’s culture of compassion and social justice, when it seems everyone has taken up a cause, I don’t believe we can expect anyone—regardless of age—to make the justice-Jesus connection unless we share the Gospel via the spoken word.

Words may not always be sufficient, but they are always necessary. Proclaiming the Gospel in the face of the fact that 6,000 children are orphaned each day by AIDS is not sufficient, but it is necessary. Talking about the cross in the face of 27 million modern-day slaves is not sufficient, but it is necessary.

Moreover, a Gospel without words ignores the truth that our ultimate need is a spiritual one. Above all else, people need salvation, as Jesus said: “It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell” (Mark 9:45).

As an evangelist who has had the privilege of leading thousands of people to Christ, I’ve seen how speaking the Gospel unleashes a spiritual power, a magic, if you will, that alone can redeem not only a person’s humanity, but also his or her soul. We can clothe the naked, feed the hungry, house the homeless, free the prisoners and heal the sick, but if we deny them the eternal glory of knowing Christ, we make no lasting impact on their lives. Without words, we cannot impart the only power that can transform the soul and society.

Justice Evangelism: Not Simply With Words

While words are necessary, to think we can love the world around us the way it needs to be loved by words alone is delusional—and unbiblical.

The proclamation of the Gospel has always been through both word and deed. Jesus preached and healed (Matt. 4:23), and in his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul says that the Gospel came to them “not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” Serving others and being a voice for those who have no voice have always been foundational to spreading the Gospel.

But particularly in today’s milieu, demonstrating the power of the Gospel—as well as speaking it—is absolutely necessary. Without the presence and power of a Christian witness, we have no flesh-on-love demonstration of our words. Often, the Gospel can only break forth when it is demonstrated through our care for others. When we care for the poor, the sick and the oppressed, we demonstrate the life-changing power of the Gospel.

Justice Evangelism: Simultaneous Impact

By bringing together these two forces—words and actions—we offer the hope of Christ in an exponentially more powerful way. When the Gospel is simultaneously seen and heard, this union produces a transformative dynamism—a power that is able to transform the soul, as well as society. Talking to young adults throughout the country, I’ve experienced that power firsthand.

I had the privilege of leading Maria, a Los Angeles Latino lesbian, to Christ. As I spoke to the packed auditorium at UCLA, Maria’s heart burned. I shared about Jyoti, a 7-year-old prostitute: “She lies on her dirty bed, a child sex slave since age 5. She has learned to watch the crack below her bolted door for the shoes of the next man who will rape her for pay.”

Attempting to connect the spiritual solutions offered through Jesus to the horror of child prostitution, I told the crowd, “Jesus has everything to do with modern-day slavery. Jesus died for that 7-year-old child, and He died for us who need Him too. Jesus is both personally and globally relevant, able to transform our lives and the world we live in.”

Afterward, Maria approached me, her lips quivering as she shared: “Tonight, you made God accessible to me for the first time. I always knew He was out there somewhere. I know that the God you spoke about tonight is the God I hear in my heart, and that I am His daughter.”

That night, Maria and many others made first-time decisions for Christ. They saw and heard the Gospel in their native tongue—this new language of justice. Without the bloody message of the cross, there is no ultimate skin-on-love justice; without the power of the resurrection, there is no power to transform souls or society.

Our world needs a Gospel that is seen and heard.

Chicken Evangelism–Bring Up Christ before You Chicken Out

There’s Something Strange Going on with Personal Evangelism These Days

While speaking at a minister’s conference I asked for a show of hands. “How many of us have led someone to Christ Jesus through personal evangelism (not in a church altar call) in the past two or three months? Only five percent or less of the hands went up.

I recently googled “personal evangelism” and perused the top ten sites. Each had excellent training and content. What struck me as strange, however, was this: Not a single one of the top ten sites had a story of personal evangelism.

I repeat. The sites were fabulous. Great training, great instruction, great organization, and some great sermons. But no stories. No examples, just telling other people how to do it. Now perhaps the owners of the sites actually are leading people to Christ through their own personal evangelism. I hope so, but it doesn’t show up on their sites.

(I do know that Chris Walker of Evangelismcoach.com — his site is number two on Google for personal evangelism — does practice what he preaches. Chris Walker is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and is the principal writer for Evangelism Coach. In online conversation with Chris, he related personal experiences where he won souls to the Savior.)

Do I Have It Wrong About Personal Evangelism?

Maybe I have it all wrong. It seems to me that leaders of evangelistic sites ought to be showing the way by stories of how God has used them in personal evangelism. Please don’t just tell the rest of us how to do it; show us the way. Here’s my invitation. “Tell us about the people you have led to salvation in out-of-the-pulpit-experiences. (That sounds like out-of-the-body experiences. Maybe all of us need to get “carried away,” or at least experience some kind of a down-to-earth “trance” where we share our faith with an unbeliever at work or on the street!)

We preachers somehow want to win souls from the pulpit, yet put short priority on winning people one by one. Most of the people in our churches will never preach from the pulpit nor lead a vast crusade. We leaders need to model personal evangelism in such a way that our people will see how it’s done.

What we prioritize, our people will too.

Personally, God’s making some progress with me in this matter. I’ve been able to lead some people to Christ, even the first time we’ve met. I call it “Chicken Evangelism” and it’s a lot of fun. You can do it too. If you wish, invite my wife and me to your church or group and we’ll show you how.

Do You Have a Personal Evangelism Story to Tell?

Since you’re at this site, chances are you’re a leader. Do you have a personal evangelism story to tell? If you do, it will encourage other believers. Please pass on your story by writing it in the comment box or contacting us on this site. Take your time and make it as short or long as you wish.

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Jesus Strategy

Interview by Lindy Lowry

In this conversation with Robert Coleman (author of 24 books, including the seminal titles The Master Plan of Evangelism and The Master Plan of Discipleship), he candidly shares about his awakening to the symbiotic relationship between evangelism and discipleship—and why he just wants to be known as “a disciple of Jesus.” Coleman is the distinguished senior professor of discipleship and evangelism at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

What’s your definition of evangelism and discipleship?

Well, they flow together. An evangelist will make known the Good News, which is Christ. Discipleship is to follow Christ and continue to learn from him. The Greek for “disciple,” mathetes, translates “learner,” as in the sense of an apprentice. So the followers of Christ inevitably become disciple-makers or evangelists. Both flow together in a personal commitment. The objective of evangelism is to make disciples, which is how we should be planting churches.

When did you awaken to the symbiotic relationship of evangelism and discipleship—that evangelism was part of discipleship and not separate?

When I started teaching evangelism at Asbury College. I could see how Jesus personally leads people to know him and the kingdom. But I began to ask the question: What is his strategy for reaching the world? That’s what he came to do. And then it dawned on me. His strategy is in making disciples who will replicate what he’s doing with them. It was a revelation.

How did it dawn on you?

Well, the Scriptures convinced me this was what Jesus did, but then I had to ask myself, Is that what you’ve been doing? And I had to honestly say “no.” I had been preaching like an evangelist. I would preach hard, give an altar call and then expect people to come down and pray to receive Christ.

We would send them through some kind of training class, but we had no real follow-up plan. Certainly no discipling. I was getting people to church, and the churches grew. And because of that, Asbury thought I knew something about evangelism when really I was ignorant. That’s how I got invited to start this new evangelism department at Asbury. The leaders didn’t know how little I knew.

But when I began to see that discipling was the fabric out of which Jesus’ evangelism evolved, it revolutionized my understanding of ministry. And I began to try to find ways to do it. I remember the next morning in class, I told my students, “I will be here early in the morning at 6. If anyone wants to come and pray with me and study the Bible together, you are welcome.” That started more than 50 years ago, and I have been doing that in one way or another through the years.

As I have been doing this, I’ve learned more and more about how evangelism is perpetuated through discipling. Where there is true discipling, evangelism is assured. If you are truly doing evangelism, you will take care of the people you bring to Christ. You will not turn them out into the world without someone to lead them. We’ve got to unite these two, and that’s what I have been trying to do.

What are the detriments or consequences of compartmentalizing evangelism and discipleship into two different areas?

When you start to separate the two, you become departmentalized so that you miss the reason behind it. If evangelism is only making known the gospel and you don’t see the ultimate objective, then you really do not assure any reproduction of what has been taught.

The very fact that you come to Christ implies that you will follow him. So you become a follower, a disciple, and you can’t follow Christ very long without learning where he’s going. You become a fisher of men, and you begin to do what you see Jesus doing.

We join Jesus in his mission.

Exactly. I think that every class in theology ought to be like a class in evangelism as far as the spirit and the objective. I think when you leave a theology classroom, you should feel like climbing up a palm tree with a wild cat under each arm. You should be on fire because the reason we have theology is that we might know God, and to know God is to know everything there is that would fill our hearts with joy. That’s the whole purpose of theology.

You don’t have to be a theologian to read the gospels and realize why he preached, why he talked and healed. He focused his ministry on making disciples, men who would catch his heartbeat and his vision and then go forth and reproduce what they learned.

So the Great Commission is Jesus at the end of his way [day?] telling those who have followed him, “Now you go and replicate what you’ve seen in me.” It’s following the example that Christ has given us in his own lifestyle. And that’s why I look upon both evangelism and discipleship as a lifestyle. It’s the way Jesus himself directed his life while he walked among us.

You’ve been talking about evangelism and discipleship for decades. Are you seeing increased focus on evangelism and discipleship?

I think I see it, but I think we have to be careful in thinking that will solve all of the issues before us, because we live in a fallen world. And to speak about it as a great return to the pattern of the early church or a pattern of Christ is oversimplifying or exaggerating, really, what is happening. But I do believe that there is a turning back to the pattern of more costly evangelism. Some of it has been precipitated, I think, because of our culture, which is becoming increasingly anti-Christ. You see it everywhere. And the church is going to be increasingly harassed because the satanic struggle of darkness is going to increase, which will put more pressure on the church. But it doesn’t need to in any way hinder the opportunity for evangelism. It’s the darkness that makes us see the stars when they appear.

And I think there is a turning to more of a long-term lifestyle result. We don’t just want decisions. We want people’s lives to be transformed. But it’s very costly. It’s one thing to say, “Yes, this is the need, and this is where we’re going.” It’s another thing to ask, “Are we willing to pay the price for it?”

My class at Gordon-Conwell went to Singapore to finish their D.Min. We went to a church where Edmund Chan is the pastor. He started it about 30 years ago with 17 people, and it has grown now to 3,000 or 4,000. One student in my class said, “Now Dr. Chan, what is the one thing you have to do to make disciples, just one word?” Typical student question.

He just paused for a moment and spoke one word: “Die.”

And I’ve thought about that. Here’s a man who has demonstrated in his own ministry that you can grow a church on discipling—he calls it intentional discipling. And God has given him the fruit, but he’s saying that it’s the way of the cross. It’s what Bonhoeffer said: “When you come to the cross, you die.” But returning to the roots of the church will be more costly than we realize. I’m not sure we really get that yet.

It will be an individual matter for us, and we’ll all have to work through it on our knees. I’m not exempt from this. It will be hard for me, as well. This is why I say the Lord is still working on me.

What are you learning now at this point in your life?

I’ve learned that the closest I ever am to heaven is when I’m on my knees. I’m also coming to realize my helplessness and that I’m totally dependent upon the grace of God. Until we recognize our complete dependence upon our loving Father in heaven, we’re not in a position to really receive what he wants to give us. God is teaching me what I may not have learned if I’d just been a young upstart like I was when I was in high school.

You know, you never get through learning. I’ve lived long enough to see the fruit. I can look back and see God in amazing demonstrations of grace.

It just makes me almost shed tears with the wonder of it all. It’s the overwhelming realization of how great is God, and how it’s all by grace, undeserved, unmerited.

And he’s always looking out for us. He’s always our best friend and counselor. And I can trust him. I just want to be with him on his mission to save.