Q & A Friday :: How can pastors find opportunities for evangelism?
“I thought it would be worth hearing how other pastors find opportunities for evangelism. So what do you do?”
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This is a great question that demands not only pastoral but also universal Christian attention; for we are all commanded to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28.19). But this task oftentimes becomes particularly difficult to fulfill for those of us who are preaching these words of Jesus to our congregations.
I remember encountering this unexpected struggle when I came on staff at Omaha Bible Church a little over two years ago. I had previously worked in a corporate environment with largely biblically illiterate people. I was afforded great opportunities to get up and take a break and walk over to a co-worker’s desk (or have them come to my desk for that matter) and talk about the gospel. It was great and a facet of working that I loved. However, when my spinning head began to slow down upon entering full time ministry I was kind of depressed that I worked with a bunch of Christians.
I will share some of what I do and hopefully it will be helpful-
/1/ Resolve to Evangelize. Just do it. Make it a priority.
/2/ Pray.
Pray first for a passion for the gospel (for if you don’t have this you won’t evangelize, and if you don’t evangelize then you don’t have this).
Pray for boldness, compassion and clarity.
Pray for eyes to see the opportunities that God has given you.
Pray for creativity
It is amazing the burden you will encounter as you have prayed for the folks before you either meet or encounter them. You will want to talk to them about Christ.
/3/ Be Faithful. Take advantage of the opportunities that God gives you. This may be salesmen or workers that come to the church or it could be someone at the gas station or when you are out and about. We talk to people all the time from Starbucks workers to waiters/waitresses at restaurants to cashiers.
/4/ Be Creative. Recently my wife has been researching windows to replace some of our old and somewhat unserviceable windows. This requires the window guy to come to the house. At first I was not excited because this guy is going to take 2 things that I don’t have a lot of 1) time, 2) money. Then I thought that it would be a great opportunity to evangelize them. So last night we had the second window guy come over and hear the gospel. So go ahead and get some quotes, go to open houses, etc…be creative.
Another example from outside of the box, yesterday I needed some new virus software and my computer did not like it very much. In effort to get the issue resolved I had to do an online chat with a service tech. When they ask if you have any other questions, I asked if he had any understanding of how God deals with sin (I think I used another phrase to help with biblical illiteracy). What followed was a complete explanation of the gospel with interaction. This is all about taking opportunities.
I have also found that coaching or assisting in coaching my kids sports is a good opportunity for open doors for the gospel.
Feel free to go for walks where there are people and talk to them about Christ. People are usually pretty open to talking as long as you are not a jerk; the gospel is offensive, we do not have to be in our conduct and manners.
I have heard of guys getting involved in their communities. Perhaps this includes a board at the school or an officer at the Little League. The opportunities are there just take advantage of them. It may be helpful to frequent the same establishments around town so that you can develop relationships with folks who work there.
Get involved with doing ministry at a prison or drug treatment center; this is a personal favorite of mine.
Overall it comes down to making evangelism a priority for you.
/5/ Evaluate Yourself and Your Evangelism. I am currently in a season of personal rebuke. I hate when I get too consumed on stuff (that may be good stuff) and forget about other important stuff. So I find myself in a perpetual state of trying to kindle evangelistic revival. I need to think like a greedy salesman, “Everyone is a prospect!” but then preach like a broken Christian, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!”
/6/ Carry Tracts. This helps me a lot. I use them for bookmarks in a book I am reading. I like to take a couple with me and then give them out when I am out. This is good because I make both reading and evangelism a priority when I am out and about. (these are what I use)
/7/ Preach to Yourself. This keeps the gospel fresh in your mind, affections and so then it is lived out through proclamation. When we forget the gospel we forget to evangelize; when we love, meditate and supremely delight in the gospel, we can’t go very far without talking about it.
This is by no means exhaustive nor is it limited to pastors. Feel free to chime in with things that you do to stimulate practical evangelistic faithfulness.
–Fridays are Q&A Fridays here at IrishCalvinist.com so if you have a question fire it in to…
Possibly Related posts:
- Q&A Friday: From a Reformed perspective, why do evangelism?
- The Gospel and Personal Evangelism
- Q & A Friday :: Do you use the sinner’s prayer in evangelism?
- 10 Reminders for Faithful Evangelism
- Evangelism Linebacker
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[...] Also, some answers regarding pastors finding opportunities for evangelism. [...]
Thanks for this Erik, it’s something that has been weighing heavy on me lately. Praying for opportunities, as I’m not really social person, but I know He can overcome my ineptitudes.
It is a good struggle to recognize and work through. I have found that I become more social as I become more burdened for the glory of God and the souls of others.
Hi, Erik. I really enjoyed this post. I was trying to see everything you’ve posted on the subject of evangelism, and discovered something puzzling.
When I click on the “evangelism” tag under the title of this post, I get different results than when I click on “evangelism” in the Tag Cloud at the very bottom of the right hand column. The two lists each have some posts in common, and some that are unique to each list.
I appreciate your thoughts on the subject of evangelism, so it would be nice to have all the articles on one list, no matter which tag I clicked. Thanks!
Barry, I think it was a simple tagging plugin issue. It looks fixed…thanks Barry.
Nevermind, I didn’t fix it…will research when I have more time. thanks Barry.
Question…not completely on topic, sorry. Can you do a post, maybe? Anyways, how do you talk with professing Christians who are embracing error? Perhaps they are not saved, perhaps they are, it is hard to tell for they seem ignorant of Bible truths and willing to believe just about anything else. I am finding more and more that there are lots of people out there that want to “serve God” but not by taking the gospel to people. They think they are serving God as missionaries if they are only fulfilling people’s physical needs such as fresh water, jobs, medical help, etc. I’ve even met a young woman who wants to be an actress and is convinced that somehow that will aid her in “reaching people” for Christ. Does it seem to you that more ministries are claiming to be missions-oriented even if they aren’t really preaching the gospel they are just hanging out with people? They want to hang out so that they can “friendship evangelize.” This sounds to me like a cop-out – an easy way to avoid getting to the gospel but in the meantime drinking at the world’s polluted wells. (This website gives you a taste of what I’m referring to: rightnow.org)
Erik,
That is a great question and one that I am disappointed to see more haven’t chimed in about. I think one particular way that is helpful is to look at every opportunity in the ministry with outside people as an evangelism opportunity. Let’s say someone stops by to promote a program or leave a flyer, why not converse with them and present the gospel? Christian telemarketers – great time to present the gospel.
Now, looking for other opportunities is tough. I think back to being saved and the opportunities that I automatically had because of a lot of unsaved friends. Then, ministry in the church puts you in a place where you are around a lot of Christians. So, the dilemma is real and tough. However, I am attempting (since I am in Lincoln) to get back down on campus for the chance to interact with the lost.
Steve
Anon- good question(s)…I will deal with it on a Friday Q&A…thanks!
Steve, thanks for your comment. It would be great if you got to hook back up with some of the weight training guys.
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