The Zone Gathering

This is Part 8 of 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 the role of small groups in the evangelistic process.

In John 13:34-35, Jesus said, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

There is something about community that points people to Christ. Apologist and author Francis Schaeffer called it “the final apologetic.” When people encounter two or three assembled in Jesus, they encounter the Body of Christ. Because of that, small groups can be tremendous tools for evangelism. Here are a few ideas to consider:

Pray as a Group

Get your group involved in evangelistic prayer. Two types that I’ve used in groups before include prayerwalking for neighborhoods and blessing prayers over friends who are far from God. Prayerwalking can be a great way to mobilize your group to creative service to your community, as you immerse yourself in the very places you are praying for. In blessing prayer, you make a list of friends who are far from God, and as a group, pray God’s blessing into and over their lives. When we pray for friends who are far from God, it turns their hearts towards God. But perhaps more importantly, it turns our hearts towards the people that God desperately loves and desires a relationship with.

Create a Place for People to Meet Christ

Luke 5:27-29 tells us the story of Matthew’s calling as a disciple. After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.

After Matthew met Christ, he created an environment where his friends could meet Jesus, as well. In our small groups, we can create spaces that make it possible for our friends to encounter the Body of Christ, and thus encounter the life-changing power of the Gospel. Sometimes, we need to put aside our studies and throw a dinner party. Or perhaps you should shift the focus of your group for a semester to be more “interest” driven so you can invite people who need to meet Jesus. Cornhole tournament groups, ethnic restaurant visit groups, basketball groups, and other activity-based small group experiences make the greatest impact when the participants are intentional about inviting their friends who are far from God.

Create a Questioning Environment

After Philip signed up on the disciple of Jesus roster, he ran to Nathaniel to recruit him, as well. Nathanael questioned whether anything good could come out of the backwoods town of Nazareth, but Philip merely responded “Just come and see for yourself.” (John 1:46) You don’t have to know all the answers. Rather, you encourage the questions and lead them to the place where they can discover answers for themselves.

As relationships form, you can turn your small group into a place welcoming to the questions of people who are seeking answers to faith questions. The most obvious space for this is the Alpha course. You may want to invest an entire semester in Alpha with the intention of inviting your friends to explore the Christian faith. There are other ways to create a similar environment with curricula like Groups Investing God from Intervarsity Press or the Tough Questions series from Gary Poole and Willow Creek.

Becoming Tour Guides

Finally, invite people to join you on the spiritual journey. We need fewer travel agents and more tour guides. Travel agents tell you where to travel, how much you should spend, what do see once you get there, etc….all from the safety and security of their desk. Tour guides, on the other hand, enter into the journey with you. They actually leave their own comfort and travel step by step with you. Typically, tour guides have made the journey before and go back to help other people experience what they experienced. They provide interpretation and translation and strive to make the experience more meaningful.

If you are leading a group, consider becoming a tour guide for your group this semester. Consider creating a prayerful environment that leads to people inviting their friends to meet the Body of Christ, asking tough questions, and ultimately being introduced to the transformational power of the Gospel.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 9:39 am and is filed under Imaginative Evangelism, Leadership Lessons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.