Invest, Invite, Include
A Strategy for Community Outreach
When I was a student, evangelism
was so much easier. The campus environment promoted new ideas and fast formed
relationships. And all that free time I didn’t realize I had until years later
after being married and having four kids! On campus, rarely would I have to
worry about getting kicked off for “boldly” preaching to anyone who had a
pulse. Those were the days.
The Real World
The market place is a much
different environment. Office politics, HR policies, hierarchies, protocol, and
competition make for a different kind of evangelistic fishing hole. It’s no
wonder students who were once active in campus ministry become disillusioned by
the ruthless reality of their new vocations. The temptation to be consumed by a
career like the former students who preceded them is so great; plus the student
loans to pay off – yikes! O’ to be back on campus when there was free time and
everyone was so open and available!
But the professional situation
is really not all that bad. It’s not that the fish aren’t hungry; they are.
It’s about knowing when they feed and what kind of bait to use. I liken campus
evangelism to fishing in a stocked trout farm with a high concentration of open
people. Conversely, work place evangelism requires the patience of fly-fishing
out in the wild. An altogether different skill set.
Having said all that, let’s go
over the three primary issues of evangelism you and I must think through to be
effective in the workplace and the community:
1. How do we build new friendships with unbelievers?
2. How do we build credibility and trust to gain an
audience with our unbelieving friends?
3. How do we bridge daily conversations over to
spiritual topics that lead to a presentation of the gospel?
In my experience, most of us
Christians need very little help with the Gospel presentation or in developing
our testimonies. What we are short on is unsaved friends. And if we still know
unbelievers, we tend to lack a sense of timing and context for conversation that
will lead to conveying the Gospel. What we really need is training that focuses
more on the front end of evangelism (pre-evangelism). In other words, relationship
building.
To build relationships in our
communities and workplaces requires faith and patience. It demands new
strategies from that of our campus days. We must learn to strategically invest
into, invite, and include those who we reach out to and win
to the Lord.
1. Invest
It’s only natural we invest into
what we deeply care about. Boaters sink currency into the upkeep of their
boats; gardeners sow sweat and tears into their yards; parents devote huge
portions of their paychecks to clothe and house their progeny – their legacy.
When it comes to reaching the lost, it stands to reason that we have to develop
a caring attitude about others, or else the wheels fall off of the concept of
evangelism.
Navel Gazing
But life is so hectic. It’s hard
to see the needs of the lost when we have our own problems. The question is why
did we get so inward focused? Could be fear. Maybe we are too critical of
ourselves. Sometimes we can be so busy cleaning up our acts we forget the
reason why. And there is always the ever-present selfishness of our flesh that
competes for attention! Whatever the reason and no matter how bad we think our
problems are, they are nothing compared to those of our unsaved friends. Sure,
there are people who seem to have everything together, but if they don’t know
Jesus, their “togetherness” is only a facade.
V.I.P.s
Care starts with prayer. Prayer
is getting God’s heart for the unbeliever. A helpful method to remind us to
pray is to keep a VIP (Very Important People) card of friends and family we
believe God wants us to reach. Prayer does several things for us:
1. Prayer gives us God’s heart
It is often through prayer
that God gives us insights on how to reach each individual.
2.
Prayer
simplifies our activities
Were all busy, so why do more
than we need to? Jesus was surrounded by demands, yet He said He only did what
He perceived the Father doing (John 5:19). If that is how Jesus ministered,
then we also should be looking to see what God is doing – no more, no less. God
is asking for us to join Him in advancing His kingdom in the lives of those He
has placed around us. Prayer makes us aware of when and where He is at work.
3. Prayer births faith to give
It is
hard to give of yourself when we’re cold. As we talk to God about reaching the
lost, He warms our hearts and gives us faith to step out of our comfort zone.
4. Prayer neutralizes the enemy
Evangelism is truly a battle
for souls. Take a lesson from the pages of the
Another way we can invest into
God’s kingdom work is to get pre-evangelism training such as with the Becoming
a Contagious Christian course. Also, budgeting our finances and clearing
our schedules of fruitless activities are other ways to invest in preparation
for the next step.
2. Invite
Once we start a VIP list, it’s
not uncommon to see it add up to 5-10 people. Out of this group, 1-2 are already
open to getting to know us better. It’s important to note that an invitation is
not necessarily a Gospel presentation though it is our hope that it will
eventually lead there. We should think of an invitation in a broader notion of
bringing these folks closer into our lives so they can witness first hand the
work of God (Matt.5:13-16). What are our good works? Our families, friendships,
attitudes under pressure, how we conduct ourselves, and how we treat them.
Hospitality
Why is it important for our
friends to see our lives, our good works? It builds a platform of trust for
future invitations including a Gospel presentation. However, the first
invitation should be to your home or out to dinner. Contagious Christianity
calls this ‘Barbecue First.’ As our friends see our faith in action, they will
want to know more. Other invitations can follow. Movies, parties, life groups,
Church events, and Sunday celebrations are a few activities to consider
depending on the openness of our friends.
At this point, the training we
received on bridging common conversations to spiritual ones is invaluable. The
trust we have built and the care we have displayed has opened the way for more
probing questions on their spiritual condition. By this time the barriers to
the Gospel have been melted away and we can take that opportunity to share the
Good News!
3. Include
In reality, the “include”
activity happens after evangelism. However, this last area of focus is no less
important since we are about making disciples, not just converts. Every
salesperson knows the maxim: “It takes four times as much effort to gain a new
customer as it does to keep an existing one.” Likewise, we don’t want to lose
the harvest God has given to us.
Organizations that have high
retention rates tend to have an above average participation from the members.
Though we as a church reject the commercial mentality of entertaining the
saints to keep ‘em coming to fill a seat, we do want to keep ‘em coming for the
right reasons. One of our goals is to turn consumers into contributors in the
Think small to grow large
Inevitably, as our church grows,
it will become more difficult for individuals to connect or to feel included if
the only context for “church” is a crowd. For that reason alone, our Life
Groups are so important. Paradoxically, intimate groups don’t initially appeal
to some people. So frequently, the first gateway into the church is the Sunday
Celebration meeting. Yet, the end game is still committed membership. And
ultimately committed members join life groups.
Conclusion
We would like to think there is
one path to church membership. In reality, there are many portals that God
brings people through into our church family. Some folks take the standard
route of friendship, Sunday Celebration, membership, and finally into a life
group. Others have taken more circuitous paths leading to membership. The
diagram below illustrates the many ways people commit to membership and how
they end up in life groups. There is no one set path. Whichever way God brings
people to our church, the same principles of investing, inviting, and including
apply.
