Considering Intentionality in Evangelism

I was confused by the beginning of Mark Bechtle’s chapter, Intentional Sharing, in Evangelism for the Rest of Us. It is a story of unintentional sharing. It was the story of a plane ride during which the passenger next to him kept asking questions. He does make a good point, be prepared and responsive to opportunities that God provides. That isn’t intentional sharing, or at least not what I think about when I hear the term.

“Our job is to genuinely love the people in our lives and share the experiences of life with them.”

He affirms much of what he’s been saying throughout the book. He adds that “we need to be intentional about our efforts” but doesn’t really help us think that through. For him, a large part of intentionality is about the need to be prepared. This is pretty much what I covered in my previous post.

He does mention a job he had in which everyone was asked to develop an “elevator speech.” A concise, thoughtout speech you could give to let people know “What you do?”. He applies this to “What is Christianity?” We should prepare ahead of time by having just such a brief articulation about the heart of Christianity. Or come up with a tweet that captures the essence of Christianity.

Applying triperspectivalism to this we can have three types of prepared messages to draw upon.

Normative: what does the Scripture say? Develop a few as mentioned previously: the Roman Road, The Great Story (a history of God’s dealing w/humanity: creation, fall, redemption, glory), or other.

Existential: how did God work in my life? This is your testimony, however unexciting. You may have grown up in the church, but at some point you owned it even if it was not dramatic. This connects the gospel with your life.

Situational: how has God sustained me? This connects the gospel message (normative) and your life (existential) with circumstances in the life of the person you are talking with. It can be as simple as “the political chaos drags me down at times, but then I remember ….”. Or it can be a story of finding hope in the midst of loss, affliction etc. Be honest about your struggle with sin and/or misery. What you are looking for here are entry points for the gospel.

Bechtle wants us to make friends intentionally. Apart from making friends with non-Christians you’ll be limited to talking with people on the plane or clerks at stores. It bears repeating: genuine friendships, not repent or I won’t be your friend pseudo-relationships. We had friends in FL with whom we’d share the gospel when opportunities arose. The change in our friendship came because we moved, not because they didn’t repent and believe like we’d hoped.

So…

1. Choose to be around non-Christians. They aren’t lepers! And you shouldn’t be a Pharisee (see Luke 15 and the parables of the lost things).
2. Remember it is a team effort. If they are in your life they may meet others who are in your life who will also communicate the gospel to them.
3. Build trust. You aren’t a salesman, so consistently love them before offering the gospel in a way which comes off as weird and unnatural. Don’t try too hard. “This pretzel reminds me of the Trinity….”.
4. Be patient. It may take years of faithful witness. It will also take time for you to develop skills in evangelism. I tell my kids, every good thing takes practice. You don’t master anything in 3 hours. It takes thousands of hours.
5. Find your own voice. I tell  this to young preachers too. You aren’t x, y or z. You are you. God made you to speak truth, and who you are will shape it to some degree. I believe it was Stott who called preaching “truth through personality.” Your personality & experiences will also shape your evangelism. But if you’re using Chick Tracts, repent.
6. Be involved in community life, not just church community life.
7. Leave a trail of bread crumbs. Don’t hide that you are a Christian. When appropriate mention church. “My pastor loves that restaurant.” “Our community group at church was discussing that last week.”
8. Point people to Jesus. We are like floodlights, helping people see the One who matters. He is the hero of the story, not you.

One thing I’d like to add. Ask permission. Don’t just launch into your gospel presentation at any opportunity. Try something like “I’ve struggled with that too. My faith in Christ helped me through that struggle. Can I tell you about that?” You are respecting their boundaries, loving them. They will be more likely, from a human perspective, to listen than if you force the message on them.

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Considering Church Planting and World Mission

Let me tell you a story ….

Years ago in Orlando I was the member of a church that was beginning a capital fund raising program to move across the street into a huge new facility.  They thought it would take $5-6 million.  I met the pastor for lunch one day.  I asked him about the abandoned super-market next door: might make a good sanctuary and office space.  Apparently his deacons didn’t think it looked like a church.  I thought it would save lots of money.  “What about planting a church?”  I was not expecting the response I got.

He claimed you needed to have a membership of 3-400 to plant a new church and not “harm” the mother church.  “So, you’re telling me we have to spend $5-6 million to get a congregation large enough to think about planting a church?”  He said yes.

Since then I’ve seen churches committed to church planting rather than endless building programs.  I worshipped in one today that has planted 3 churches so far.

The authors of Total Church think this should be the rule rather than the exception.  I agree.

“Church planting puts mission at the heart of church and church at the heart of mission.”

It is too easy for churches to lose sight of vision and mission in order to maintain and sustain a bulding and programs.  Churches move into a maintenance mode, so they plateau and eventually decline.  But a gospel community is one for which growth is a commitment.  And a natural expression of that growth is the planting of new churches.

“But mission very easily becomes one activity among others in church life.  It sits on the agenda alongside a list of other items, vying for attention.  Or it is left to the enthusiasts to get on with it at the edge of church life.  For some churches mission seems a distant dream as they struggle to keep the institution of the church afloat.  Putting on a weekly service is challenge enough.”

Sounds strange, why go all the trouble to convert and mature those Christians if you’re going to send them off to start a new church?  Sounds just like a family.  You have and raise kids so they can go and start their own families.  It is part of the natural growth process God has established for your household … and His.  Building His kingdom (instead of ours) means having His priorities and passions of mission instead of ours.

The Book of Acts reveals to us that God’s priorities are for new Christians and new churches- worldwide.  Most of that book is taken up with Paul’s missionary journeys, which resulted in new churches.  The church is God’s mission strategy: locally and globally.  Remember, Paul and Barnabas were sent out by the church to form new churches (not merely convert individual sinners).  Gospel communities want to beget new gospel communities, just like families want to beget new families at least if they are healthy.

Not only that, but it takes it back out of the realm of “programs” and into the very rhythm of life.  It is no longer a “special event” but something you are always working towards, something that intentionally affects each decision for the community.

“Mission is a communal project in which a number of gospel communities are involved together as they seek to extend the reign of Jesus though planting more churches.”

Precisely!  Chester and Timmis are calling us back to gospel priorites in these chapters.  We would do well to listen.  Bigger is not always better.

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