Personal Evangelism

One of the most significant issues facing the church at large today is the virtual loss of personal evangelism. How often do you see someone bring a friend down the aisle during the invitation? In most churches this is a rare event. Even in large or dynamic churches where it occurs, it is a small percentage of the church’s attendance. In fact, statisticians who study churches use an established “industry standard” for evangelism: a church is considered evangelistic if they have 1 baptism per 20 folks in attendance.

What has happened to our definition of Christianity when we have decided it is a positive fact that 20 followers of Jesus Christ are necessary to see 1 person baptized? It is even more astounding that the large majority of churches do not reach this standard. A major reason – the decline of personal evangelism.

In my experience in church life, I have observed common excuses used in an effort to justify the failure to share the gospel. “I will get questions I do not know how to answer.” “I have never been taught how.” My personal favorite: “I will mess it up.”

The Bible is filled with examples of people who passionately shared Jesus without fear, answers, teaching, or failure. Consider the woman Jesus met at a well in Samaria. She was so amazed at who He was that she immediately went and told others about Jesus. Certainly meeting Jesus – the King of King and Lord of Lords – should be enough to motivate us to share. Just consider for a moment what happened when you met Him.

No excuses ever entered her mind. She was not embarrassed to invite folks to meet Him despite her background of a very sinful life. She was not intimidated about her lack of spiritual training. She never worried about their questions. She just shared what she what Jesus told her. Why would we ever think to share anything BUT what Jesus said?

You cannot mess up sharing Jesus. No one can ever take away or question the validity of your testimony. You point them to Jesus and He takes over and does the work. Jesus saves, not us. In fact, after hearing Jesus Himself, they explained to her they believed in Him because of what He said. He makes it work.

And amazingly enough she led people to Christ in her wonderfully redeemed, broken, baby Christian condition. The Bible states clearly, “Many in that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman…” John 4:39. The passion from a real experience with Jesus is still the best form of evangelism training. Make it a point to do 2 things this week. First, spend some time in the presence of Jesus. Second, tell someone what Jesus has done in your life. Then see what Jesus does to your church.