Evangelism Strategy - Part 2

I sometimes wonder how the early church followers of Christ would have responded to such a term as "evangelism strategy". "What are you talking about? Evangelism (spreading the good news of Christ) is what we do. Do you mean you are going to make this a program of the church? You can't do that. Evangelism is as natural as breathing." It is obvious the early followers of Christ could not help but tell others about Christ.

"for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:20 (HCSB)

That is why I have no doubt, the most biblical approach to evangelism is to put Christ followers who are passionate about their faith and their Savior in contact with people who need to hear, and cut them loose. Again, we are back to each of us being the key to evangelim. Looking for red apples (see Part 1) who are ready to hear the gospel. The amazing thing is, we are surrounded by these folks: people who do not know Christ who have hit a wall in life, looking for someone to help them find hope (which we know is found only in Jesus Christ).

I hear much made of "making the gospel relevant to our culture". How much more relevant can you make it than to have people with the boldness and the passion to make it a part of their every day conversation?

NO, we do not hit people over the head with our king sized King James. We don't have to if we are simply alert to those around us whose life is in a ditch. But with a winsomeness and sensitivity step up to the plate and share what it means to have Christ in your life. As a friend of mine says, cultures don't come to Christ, people do. And there is no better way to bring people to Christ, than through people.

What's our "strategy" for seeing more people come to Christ???? It's more people prayerfully and passionately sharing their faith naturally with hurting people around them on soccer fields, in restaurants, in doctors' offices, at school, in offices, on airplanes, etc.. Oh yeah, where you and I are every day. As we see in the early church, God will bless the bold sharing of His people.

Evangelism Strategy - Part 1

I've had several conversations over the past week or two about the subject of evangelism. As I said recently, evangelism seems to be the one subject Christ followers and people that claim no relationship with Christ both get up tight about. The area I have felt ClearView must strengthen more than any other is seeing more adults (and students) come to Christ. But how?

The typical and traditional response of many Pastors to a paragraph like the one above is seek out the newest "evangelism program" and "implement" it in their church. Been there. Done that. There are benefits to such programs such as: 1) Raised awareness in the church of the need to share our faith; 2) Higher accountability related to our individual responsibility to share our faith; 3) Some experience more of a comfort level as they have a formula to fall back on; 4) etc. Please don't read into this that I think these various programs are bad. Some churches do find these to be helpful. I join many who would say, "Any evangelism program is better than no evangelism strategy." Amen!

But the question I must answer is, "What is our evangelism strategy at ClearView?" Simple. If you are reading this and you are a member of ClearView, you are the key to the strategy. I would rather have hundreds (and soon thousands) of Christians living out their faith every day alert and willing to give a verbal witness in the midst of every day situations, than I would 50 or 100 showing up one night a week to go talk to people whom we have never met to use a method to artificially turn a conversation toward Christ.

So, how do we do it? Every adult (and older student) I have ever seen come to Christ has come the same way. God used a crisis of some kind to provide a wake-up call in their life. A marriage crisis. The death of a loved one. Moving to another state. Loss of a job. The birth of a baby (a postive crisis, but a crisis). A child breaking a heart. An alcoholic parent. A bad health report. Caught doing something illegal.

It is when people hit these crisis points, we must be there. Fact is, we cross the paths of people in crisis almost every day. Our next door neighbors, work associates, fellow students, ride share partners, PTO members, booster club members, etc. will walk through difficult times. We have the hope found only in Jesus Christ they seek and will seek during these times. When that mom begins to share with you how difficult things are in her marriage lately: Open Door! When your neighbor shares with you he just received a pink slip from a company he has been with for 20 years: Open Door! When the family down the street begins to share with you the difficulties they are having raising their 12 year old daughter: Open Door! God has their attention and He has you in their life for such a time as this!!

Rather than try to pick fruit before it is ripe (green apples) and thus bruise it, if we will simply pick the ripe fruit (red apples) right in front of us, we will see God bless with the fruit of more people coming to church. When it becomes second nature, we will see growth defined more by multiplication than by addition.

Moving Toward Easter

Brittany (my youngest daughter) and I were grabbing a quick sandwich this past Saturday at Jersey Mike's in Cool Springs. As we were walking down the line telling the guy behind the counter what we wanted on our sandwiches he complimented the jewelry hanging around Britt's neck. Britt said she gets compliments on it all the time.

It is a special piece of jewelry for Britt for several reasons. 1) It was a high school graduation gift, 2) It was a gift from her grandparents (Nana and Papa), 3) It was handmade combining stones from her greatgrandmother, her grandmother, and her mom 4) it is a cross.

I began to think of the irony of the young man complimenting her cross. How far we have come in history. At one time the cross was seen as the most cruel instrument of death known to mankind. Today, it is a piece of jewelry to be admired. Don't get me wrong. I am certainly not saying we are not to wear them. On the contrary. They make great conversation starters with people who have no idea of its significance.

I can remember as a young teen walking with my Dad in Daytona Beach along the boardwalk in the mid 70's. Seemed everyone was wearing them. My Dad was / is bold about his faith and always looking for a way to share Christ. I can't tell you how many conversations he started with people that did not understand the significance of the cross, yet wore them around the necks or had them tatooed into their skin.

The cross is the single most recognizable and significant symbol of our Christian faith. We are swiftly moving toward that time of year we think more about the cross of our Lord and the events surrounding it than any other time of year.

Each time you see a cross between now and March 23, let it stir your heart to remember the sacrifice paid on our behalf 2000+ years ago. Let it remind you of the depth of God's love for us that would drive Him to send His only Son that whoever would trust in Him for salvation would know eternal life. And if the cross you see is being worn by someone ask them what it means to them. Then invite them to the celebration of a risen Savior for Easter Services.

ClearView's Iditarod connection

One of ClearView's very own began a race yesterday that has been a lifelong dream. Our own Rodney Whaley is a first time entrant in this one-of-a-kind race. He is a musher in the Iditarod. You can read more about Rodney here.

You can track Rodney's progress in the race here.

I know Rodney would appreciate our prayers for him over the course of this race.

Go Rodney! Or as Rodney says, "Mush on and mush strong!"

So What's Your Saturday Night Like?

I have had very few "normal" Saturday nights in my adulthood. Actually, I'm not sure what normal is. You see, Sundays are the day. Sundays are the day it is my time to deliver. And it comes every 7 days as they say.

In 1997 I came to LifeWay after pastoring for 12 years. I did not preach for on any regular basis for about 18 months as I settled into my new role and as my family settled in Nashville. But Saturdays just didn't seem "normal" . I had become so accustomed to preaching every Sunday, I got anxious because I wasn't preaching. Weird, I know. But it's just the way it was.

Leigh Ann and I talked about it. She said I wasn't really a good listener on Sundays anyway, so I might as well preach :-). We were certain God wanted me to serve full time at LifeWay at the time, so I began to investigate interim preaching. From late 1998 through late 2005 I missed preaching only a few Sundays while on vacation. It was back to "normal"

I would imagine those of you that are small group leaders or Sunday School teachers you experience something similar. Until about noon on Saturdays my day is probably much like anyone else's (I guess). I usually try to get a workout in these days. But about noon, something strange happens. Leigh Ann says I almost become someone else. I don't really know what it looks like on the outside, but I do get to this place internally where I can't think of anything else other than the message for the next morning. It gets more intense with each passing hour. Until by early evening, I am pretty much zoned out to the rest of the world.

This is "normal" for me. I can't remember a time when I was not in final stages of preparation, or wishing I was in the final stages of preparation on Saturdays. Even when I am away on vacation, Saturdays are still a hard time to relax. I guess my body clock is set for life.

I wonder what normal people do on Saturday nights? Do normal people relax on Saturday nights?

I know I wouldn't have mine any other way. I've tried and it just didn't work well for me.

Oh yeah, if I attend a party or some other function on a Saturday night and you are there, please forgive me if I seem distant. It's because I am experiencing the only "normal" I know.