By Larry Rosenbaum
One of the main purposes of SOS Ministries is to recruit and train Christians to witness for Jesus Christ. We believe that every Christian should be involved in some way in witnessing for Jesus. But is this a realistic goal? What do other Christian leaders say?
At the International Congress on World Evangelization, Dr. George Peters stated that “as a church was mobilized to do evangelism, we can expect only 10 to 15 percent to be involved in what he called `active, confrontational’ evangelism. He went on to conclude that 20 to 30 percent of a congregation could be expected to be trained in a friendship or relational approach to evangelism. The rest would be encouraged to pray for the work of evangelism.” Dr. Joe Aldrich stated, “I doubt that 10 percent of Christians will ever be effective in (confrontational) evangelism….As a general rule, the confrontational approach should be a methodology reserved for the abnormal rather than the normal witness experience” (Lifestyle Evangelism, pp. 79, 81).
In contrast to this, Mark McCloskey, in his book Tell it Often, Tell it Well, asserts that it is both possible and realistic to expect every Christian to be involved in evangelism. These “experts,” he notes, are simply describing the church as it is, not as it ought to be. Jesus expects all of us to witness for Him. “You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto me…unto the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). If the power of the Holy Ghost is available to all Christians, then the responsibility to witness is also for all Christians. As John Stott said, “Evangelism is a responsibility laid by Christ upon His whole church and every member of it. So the people of God must be both mobilized and trained.”
I have no problem with those who prefer “friendship” evangelism to “confrontational” evangelism. But many choose it because they want to avoid persecution. You can only escape persecution by compromising the message. Many Christians expect the “silent witness” of their lives to result in salvations. Your friend may not see the difference Christ has made in your life. Or he may attribute that change to your self-will or innate goodness or the psychological value of believing in something. You need to tell your friend that it is Jesus who has changed you. Eventually you must also confront your friend with his sinful condition and need of a savior. This will offend some people and lead to rejection. And being rejected by friends is more painful than being rejected by strangers. “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).
Getting Started
This past month, I have spoken with several pastors and church leaders. One pastor has been bringing his worship group to San Francisco with us. He wants to involve his church in a variety of outreaches including prison ministry. Another pastor is taking some church members door-to-door in his community. Other church members are involved in mailing evangelistic literature to neighbors of the church. Anyone can stuff envelopes. A third church is setting aside a month for evangelism. They are canceling their regular meetings so they can do various kinds of outreach. They have also started a regular weekly street outreach. A fourth church is seeking to recruit hundreds of members for church-on-the-street rallies, as well as begin a coffeehouse ministry. A fifth church is training members to witness to friends and people at work. They meet twice a month to share their experiences with one another and pray for those they are witnessing to. They also have a weekly outreach at the University of California, Berkeley, using a sketchboard and evangelism surveys.
While I am encouraged by what is happening in these and other churches, much more needs to be done. Even in these churches, only a minority of the members are involved in evangelism. Here are three things you can do to help change this situation: 1. Commit yourself to get involved in some kind of outreach on a weekly or monthly basis. 2. Encourage others in your church to join you. 3. Challenge your pastor and church leaders to give evangelism a greater priority in your church.
The change must begin in our own lives. We need to stop being spectators and start doing the work God has called us to. We need to make evangelism a priority in our own lives and stop making excuses for ourselves. It is not so important where or how you witness, but that you be involved in telling unsaved people about Jesus in a consistent way. Once you get started, you can encourage others to join you.
