A Simple Secret For Better Evangelism

This will probably be the simplest post I’ve written for a long time.  Not “simplistic” I hope, but simple, and maybe even short.

I was talking to a pastor a few weeks ago about his excellent church. And it really is. It’s united, growing spiritually, growing by way of new converts to Christ and joyful. What a treat it is for me to hang out with this pastor, wise beyond his years, who is doing a great job of riding the wave of God’s blessing.  He’s not taking credit for the church’s success; he’s giving the glory to God, leading carefully and watching out for the Devil’s attacks.

The last time we were together I asked him a couple of simple (there’s that word again) questions: (1) How are your people doing with sharing their faith?  Paraphrase of his answer: “Pretty well.  Could be even better, but probably better than most churches.” (2) Why do you think this is the case? Paraphrase of his answer: “Our church is a happy place.  People are enthusiastic about bringing their friends.”

There you go.  Anyone who has been a Christian for a while has seen this.  When people are happy about their relationships with God and happy with their church, they share their faith and they share their churches; they tell their friends about Christ and they tell their friends about the Christian family that they share their lives with.

As David wrote his best-known penitential psalm (a psalm of repentance), he knew that he needed to get back to the place where he was experiencing the joy of his salvation and bringing others into that joy.  Look at his words in Psalm 51:12,13:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.”

Here’s the bad news: If your church isn’t a joyful place, no arsenal of evangelistic programs is going to be make healthy evangelism work in your congregation.  (Caveat: you might be able to make joyless, coerced, cult-like evangelistic programs work, but who wants that?)

Here’s more bad news: If you’re the pastor, and you’re not a happy camper, you need to work on yourself first.  I know that this can be hugely challenging in some situations, but it’s “job one.” A healthy, happy church requires a healthy, happy pastor.  And you can’t fake it for long.

Here’s the exceptionally good news: If you get the joy thing right – and it costs nothing to become a joyful church – the humblest congregation meeting in the humblest building can flourish and grow. If your people are growing, rejoicing, enjoying God and each other, they will feel good – and yes, feeling good matters – about how their faith is working and how their church is helping them, and they’ll spread it around.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. For the pastor or pastors: Are you a joyful person? Can people see that you’re a joyful person?
2. For the pastor or pastors: If you weren’t on staff here, would you want to belong here?
3. Do you, as church leaders, invite guests to this church? If not, talk about it now.
4. What percentage of your congregation is sharing their faith with unbelievers and inviting people to attend your church?
5. How would you rate the joy level of your congregation? Are you sure?  Are you willing to verify this with some assessment work?