This is Part 7of our Summer Leadership Lesson Series: Imaginative Evangelism. As we lead our groups and ministries, we must strive to forcefully advance the Kingdom of God through strategic evangelism, exponential discipleship, and sacrificial service. And that begins by understanding and being able to clearly communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Today, we will talk about how to lean into our own unique evangelism style.
When you mention the word “evangelism,” most people cringe. Images of people yelling in bullhorns or people at a ballpark with signs or little tracts left with tips immediately jump to the minds of many.
Jesus commanded all of us to make disciples. We don’t have a choice, and it’s not left only to those with a certain gift. What we need to do is discover and lean into our own unique evangelism styles. I’ve got to give full credit to Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg for sharing this in Becoming a Contagious Christian.
Intellectual
Intellectual evangelists love to share their faith through reason. You probably love to study the Scriptures and theology, juxtapose them against other branches of -ologies, and are lay apologists. You would be inclined to give a skeptic a book like Mere Christianity or The Case for Christ. You feel deep in your gut that if people could discover and understand the proofs of Christianity, they would give their lives to Christ. For you, there is no different between head knowledge and heart knowledge. The more you know about God, the more you love him; and the more you love him, the more you desire to know about him.
Paul used this style in Acts 17 when he confronted the philosophers in Athens, and Phillip used it in Acts 8 as he explained the Scriptures to the Ethiopian eunuch.
Confrontational
The confrontational type is the one that makes us cringe. You are not afraid to stand up for what is right and be very vocal about their beliefs. You feel very comfortable speaking truth in hostile environments and don’t hesitate to ask a person to make a decision. You often find yourself being a prophet of sorts, as well, standing up for justice issues. You often can’t separate your spiritual views from your social and political views and have a very black and white sense of wrong and right. You like preachers who don’t hold back, and you may even have a little of “hellfire and brimstone” in you because you know that truly loving people means warning them about their sin and the consequences.
Peter exercised a confrontation approach to evangelism in Acts 2 when he reminded the Jewish people of their story and challenged them to follow Christ.
Interpersonal
The interpersonal approach to evangelism has also been called “friendship evangelism.” You follow St. Francis of Assissi’s advice to “Preach the Gospel always; if necessary, use words.” You want to build organic friendships and develop genuine relationships with people far from Christ. You want to enter the life journey with them and hope that your life will shine the light of Christ in the way that you talk, the decisions you make, the way you interact with others, etc. You might be inclined to offer a seeker a conversational book, like In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day or Organic God.
Matthew used the interpersonal approach (and the invitational approach, which we will explore in a moment) in Matthew 9, when he invited all his friends to his house for a party to meet Jesus.
Invitational
The invitational evangelists looks for strategic events to invite their friends to. It’s a version of the interpersonal approach, but you like to rely more on others to actually share the Gospel message. You might find that a concert or a festival or an outreach or a certain small group would be a great environment for your friend to hear about Christ. You are probably a connector of people and desire to get people into the right environment for God to encounter them. Invitational types love Alpha because it’s a great welcoming place to invite friends to hear about Jesus.
The Samaritan woman was invitational in John 4, and she encouraged her village to come back to the well to meet Jesus. Matthew also employed the invitational approach with his party.
Testimonial
The testimonial evangelist loves to share stories about what God has done in their lives. You believe in the power of story, and You know that the right story, told in the right way, can make a huge difference in the life of another person. You don’t really care about having all your theological i’s dotted and t’s crossed. You don’t feel like you have to “close a deal” with people. Rather, you just want to reveal God’s fingerprints in your life and let him speak for himself.
The blind man in John 9 had a testimonial approach. When the religious leaders tried to engage him in a theological discussion, basically said, “Look, I don’t know. All I know is that I was blind, but now I see.” That’s the Zempel translation, but it’s pretty close.
Serving
Finally, the serving type. We might call this “servant evangelism.” You are similar to the interpersonal in that you want to let your actions speak louder than your words. And you are similar to the testimonial in that you want to allow God to speak for himself. You are drawn to serving your community. You would much rather pick up a paintbrush, teach a child, run errands for the elderly, or clean up your neighborhood than to have a lengthy discussion about the ontological argument for God.
Dorcas is a great example of the serving type, as she practiced hospitality in Acts 9.
Application
So, which style are you? You probably lean towards one or two different ones. When you know your style, then you can more genuinely and naturally share your faith with others. You can bring intentionality to your service, to your stories, and to your causes. Don’t assume you are not an evangelist because you are not confrontational. Bring prayer to your actions and let the Spirit of God draw people to Christ.
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