The 'Secret' of Evangelistic Churches

Thom Rainer writing recently on the secret of evangelistic churches commented that ‘the secret is really no secret at all,” growing churches see more persons become Christians through the passionate efforts of highly committed evangelistic Christians. Evangelistic success is not based on programming or highly planned or implemented church events, but through the sincere efforts of committed instruments through whom God can work.

Too often we ask the question "What can I do to make my church become more evangelistic?" But the better question is "What am I doing to become more evangelistic?"

Charles H. Spurgeon was right when he said, “We need more soul winners.” Growing or evangelistic churches have always had at their heart one or more highly evangelistic Christians. Without those two or three people with a true passion for soul winning there will be no true growth in a church.

7 Characteristics of Evangelistic Christians

It is inevitable that, in every evangelistically active church there are one or more persons who embody the traits of the True "Soul Winner." Very often one of those persons is the pastor or the Personal Ministries leader or just a plain lay person sitting on the back benches. These persons often have common characteristics which I would like to highlight. These common characteristics can be summarised under the heading of "the seven characteristics of highly evangelistic Christians."

1. They are people of prayer. They realize that only God can convict and convert, and they are totally dependent upon Him in prayer. Most of the highly evangelistic Christians spend at least an hour in prayer each day.

2. They have a theology that compels them to evangelize. They believe in the urgency of the gospel message. They believe that Christ is the only way of salvation and that he is returning as judge and king very soon. They believe that anyone without Christ is doomed for a literal hell.

3. They are people who spend time in the Word. The more time they spend in the Bible, the more likely they are to see the lost-ness of humanity and the love of God in Christ to save those who are lost.

4. They are compassionate people. Their hearts break for those who don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They have learned to love the world by becoming more like Christ who has the greatest love for the world.

5. They love the communities where God has placed them. They are immersed in the culture because they desire for the light of Christ to shine through them in their communities.

6. They are intentional about evangelism. They pray for opportunities to share the gospel. They look for those opportunities. And they see many so-called casual encounters as appointments set by God.

7. They are accountable to someone for their evangelistic activities. They know that many good activities can replace Great Commission activities if they are not careful. Good can replace the best. So they make certain that someone holds them accountable each week, either formally or informally, for their evangelistic efforts. (see http://www.thomrainer.com/2010/03/seven-characteristics-of-highly-evangelistic-christians.php)

In many denominations and congregations, evangelism has a low priority. It is even considered rude to talk to strangers in public about matters of faith. “How did evangelism ever become a sin?” Whether as Pastor or church leader, it is not enough to talk the talk. Talk is cheap. We must model to our children, youth and new converts alike, true love for the lost. We must as a matter utmost urgency invite the wider membership of the church who are unskilled in personal witnessing in on our outreach activities that they might catch a glimpse of our love for the lost and be discipled in how to witness and lead others to spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ.

In the church of my youth the old men who were leaders had very little book learning but inspired by the belief in the soon return of Jesus and their concern for the lost, took us out and modelled to us how to meet people and share God’s final warning message with those in our surrounding communities. Today our salvation is now nearer than when we first believed; who are you mentoring and training so that they too might take hold of the torch of truth becoming effective instruments to pass on God’s message of truth for these times? Ezekiel 33:1-11 tells us that to fail in the discharge of our duties of discipleship and proclamation is not only to be guilty of the blood of the lost but to forfeit our eternal reward. Let us rise up with a greater urgency and fulfil the purpose for which we were born.