Systemic Evangelism

It is my belief that the church of North America is very poorly at doing this thing we call evangelism. We are bad at it for many different reasons. But at the heart of the problem is our approach. We don't do evangelism well because instead of it being a part of who we are as Christians, being a part of our Christian DNA, instead of being "Systemic," it is something we try to do. And we do it very badly.

Some foundational observations about the church in North America:

1. A majority of mainline protestant churches in North America have been suffering a decline in membership and ministry for several decades.
   
2. Many programs, processes, plans and ministries having to do with evangelism and/or church growth have been introduced over the past several decades and, generally speaking, have not been particularly productive. We have tried revivals, rallies, Bring-A-Friend Day, door-to-door canvassing, mass phone campaigns, newspaper ads, mass mailings, training classes in personal evangelism and much more. I have had limited success with several of these programs, but the emphasis is on the word "limited."
   
3. Continuing to do church 1950's style does not work in our present culture even though we insist on attempting to do so. Many churches have leaders who are primed and ready to lead their church back to 1959. Unfortunately, 1959 is gone and is never going to return.
   
4. Research has helped us understand that about 70% of the people in our culture are unchurched.
   
5. Over my years of ministry it has become clear that not everyone has a passion for evangelism and church growth. When I say, not everyone, I mean, just about nobody. Every three years or so I have a church leader suggest that, since people are so uncomfortable with the concept and the word, we should find a word to replace evangelism. We have tried several times but the reality is, as they say, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig."
   
6. The generally accepted view of the church has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Back in the middle of the past century, people generally saw church attendance as a good thing. If they didn't go, they felt they should and encouraged church attendance for others. Church was a good, positive and safe place. That perception has changed. The church has a remarkable PR problem and is now seen by many of the unchurched as a negative and bad place or group that wants to do them harm.

What is good about all of this change?

As the church attempts to live and grow and impact a culture that is very different than the culture of the 1950's and 60's we, of the church, are forced to reassess how we do church and how we do evangelism. As we come to terms with the reality that our culture is no longer church centered and the church has become marginalized and that our culture has, in fact, become generally hostile toward the church; when we realize that it is not unusual in some sectors of our society for a believer to keep his or her church attendance a secret, it becomes clearer that what we are doing in the area of evangelism is not working. In such an atmosphere, it seems obvious to me that the church must become much more aggressive in being the church.

Most likely the word "aggressive" sounds a bit strong to most of my readers. But I mean it in the best sense. I am not suggesting that we preach on street corners or corner coworkers at the lunch counter and beat them with a 20 pound Bible or pass out "Are You Going to Hell?" tracts to every waitress or waiter who serves us. By aggressive I am simply suggesting that we realize that evangelism is not someone else's job and we, Joe and Jane Churchgoer, must get out of the pew and out into the world to share the Good News about Jesus.

In our new and different culture we are literally forced to rethink what evangelism is and how we must do it. Evangelism is less about learning and delivering a particular canned message or about convincing others to agree with your religious tenets and much more about being Christian in a not particularly Christian culture. We must be more aggressive in connecting with people who seem to not yet know God, serving them, loving then and sharing the good news of God's love with them through our lives and life stories.

Preparing your church members for the task of evangelism

It used to be preparing to do evangelism was accomplished by attending classes that taught one to memorize a prepackaged "get saved" message and prepared the witness to answer probable problematic questions seekers might have about God and life and the church. It was about gathering information and memorizing answers. Now we realize that evangelism is about living a life under the Lordship of Christ, living a Christian lifestyle, humbly and lovingly, in the midst of those who are not and then waiting to see what happens.

Evangelism is not something we do; it is a part of who we are. Doing evangelism is no longer based on the idea of having evangelistic events or witnessing conversations. Evangelism must be based on developing intentional relationships with people who do not yet know God. Someone will certainly voice the concern, "Are you developing relationships with the ulterior motive of attempting to lead someone to Christ?" My response is "Absolutely!" It is not a bad thing. It is the best, the kindest and most meaningful thing I could ever do for a friend.

Henrietta Mears said in some of her classic Christian writing, "A Christian should be like the lifeguard at the beach. Everyone on the beach knows who the lifeguard is, but by and large, they go about their activities paying little attention to the lifeguard -- until someone gets in trouble. Then everyone knows where to go for help." People don't care until there is an emergency and suddenly they turn to the lifeguard for help. The lifeguard becomes very important to them. Connecting with the lifeguard becomes a matter of life or death. The lifeguard's task is to be ready and watchful.

We must learn to be at the right place at the right time to do evangelism. We must cultivate relationships and friendships with pre Christians. And we must wait for them to express their need for their lives to be more than a life without Christ can be; for them to express a desire for life to have meaning and purpose; for them to share the need to be loved unconditionally; to share the need to feed their spiritual nature; to share the need to know God. Our agenda must be their agenda. It takes some careful and intense listening to hear someone express that need for God. But when that need is expressed, faith sharing begins.

To impact our culture, we, the church, are going to have to do some things differently. It could be argued that we need to do everything differently. For evangelism to become something that your church does, it must move from being a ministry or a program or an activity and become a part of the Christian lifestyle that the members live. It must become systemic.

The Heart of Systemic Evangelism

At the heart of systemic evangelism is the spiritual life of the believer – the church member. It is a truth that we tend to talk about and share with others the things that we care about and are excited about. We do that sharing in very natural and non threatening ways. We are pleased with something in or about our lives and can hardly contain ourselves. We tell the people we care about the things we care about.

So, at the heart of effective, systemic evangelism is not classes that disseminate information and prepare people to "close the deal". People are not motivated to do evangelism by guilt inducing sermons. The result of such sermons it that they still do not do evangelism, only now to also feel bad about not doing it. Effective systemic evangelism happens when believers have a healthy, viable and growing relationship with the Living God. Evangelism happens when we experience the reality of God's leading and presence in our everyday lives. It happens when God is alive and real to us and we just naturally tell others what God is doing in our lives. It happens when we pray for God to lead us and give us "divine appointments" and we watchfully expect those prayers to be answered.

A key in making this process work is helping church members develop a growing relationship with God. I often tell my congregation that nobody is interested in their religion. Even I am not interested in their religion. But I am dying to hear from someone who has a living relationship with living God and that relationship is making a difference in his or her life. Such a growing relationship is encouraged and sustained by maintaining a consistent time of prayer and study, consistent whole hearted participation in worship, active participation (not just attendance) in a small group and actively pursuing a ministry. If the average person will do those four things and I can just about guarantee that God will be a meaningful and exciting life partnership with God.

We must move beyond our discomfort of talking openly and candidly with our church members about spiritual things. What better place to have spiritually challenging and enriching conversations than in the context of the family of God? As church leaders we must model spiritual growth through active participation in spiritual disciplines. And we must challenge our church members to join us in the joy of using spiritual disciplines to allow us to be in the presence of God and grow in that relationship.

It is my firm belief and experience that if an individual will pursue a vital and growing relationship with God, one will have some God stories to share with the people around them. Those God stories – you telling them – that is what we call systemic evangelism.

Copyright © 2010, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved