From the mid-70s to the mid-80s I was a member of a church with a membership of around 1200. There were fifteen of us on the Evangelism Team. We were trained in Evangelism Explosion and on Monday nights we would meet at the church for prayer and assignments and then would head out into the neighborhood to follow up on visitors or go door to door in an effort to engage people in evangelistic conversation.
I’ve often wondered, “Why would a church of 1200 have only fifteen on the Evangelism Team? Why weren’t there 1200 on the Evangelism Team?” What do you think would happen if every member of a given evangelical church became passionate about reaching the lost and became skilled at both living and sharing the Gospel? I would think that a church such as this would bring many to Christ and would grow significantly. It’s difficult to say because I don’t think I know of a single church that fits this description.
The issue is discipleship, or more specifically, what discipleship has become in the American evangelical church. In working with hundreds of pastors and church leaders I have yet to come across one that didn’t think that discipleship was important. The typical list of high priorities for such leaders includes, worship, prayer, preaching, teaching, fellowship, missions and discipleship. No surprise there, but do you notice what’s not on the list? Evangelism!
Of course, many will argue that missions is evangelism, but I’m not talking about writing checks for missionaries serving an ocean away; I’m talking about church folks sharing their faith with family, friends, neighbors, work associates, people they see routinely in their day to day lives.
Somehow a brand of discipleship has developed that is characterized most often as Bible study. Studying the Bible is a good thing and is something we are called to do by the Bible itself. But is that all there is to discipleship? An assumption is being made that when Christian people study the Bible, the natural consequence is that they will both live and share what they have learned. Wrong! Based on observation, sincere Bible study tends to increase Bible knowledge, but does not necessarily show increase in Christian living, i.e. obedience, or increase in the sharing of the Gospel.
In our program-driven approach to ministry, we have placed an emphasis on Christian Education rather than on Christian Living, and discipleship has been centered on the acquisition of biblical knowledge rather than on the acquisition of biblical skills, among them the skill of sharing the Gospel with the lost in our lives.
So what are we to do? We need to get back to basics, the basics, for example, that we see in the Book of Acts. Read through all twenty-eight chapters of Acts in the next few days and see what you learn about God’s concern for growing His church by conversion. Evaluate your ability to share your testimony about what you believe and why, about what your life has become because of Jesus Christ. If you find you’re not prepared, take action and do something about it.
Finally, ask yourself this question, “Am I living what I believe? Would Jesus be able to say to me, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant?'” What would happen if every member of your church became passionate about reaching the lost and became skilled at sharing the Gospel? What if you were one of them?
