Podcast

090 – Elevating Evangelism

Posted on November 23, 2020December 4, 2023 by Ryan Sparks

What’s in this Episode?

Hey, we don’t do that evangelism thing around here. I mean, that’s kind of old school. Nobody says that. But the reality is the actions of a boatload of churches scream that. So, how does a pastor actually elevate evangelism in the minds of their people? Well, in today’s Church Tips Podcast, we’re going to talk about elevating evangelism.

Read the Transcript

Elevating Evangelism

Dick Hardy 0:20
You know, I think for a lot of people, when it comes to the subject of evangelism, there’s a point in time where something sparked within them, and maybe it has happened to you, maybe it hasn’t yet. But for me, I remember, I had grown up in the church. I’d worked for the church for a number of years. And it was probably in the late 90s. So, you know, I was 40. I don’t know, how old would I have been? 40 – 43 years old at that time, something like that. And I went off to the Willow Creek Leadership Conference over in the Chicago area. And if you’ve ever been to those conferences, they’re outstanding and challenging you in lots of areas of life. But frankly, one buddy of mine, Stan told me, it’s probably the best evangelism conference out there, at least at the time he was talking with me about it. So I went to this leadership conference. And of course, I’m soaking everything up. But I remember the place I was sitting, the spot where I was watching, and listening to a speaker communicate on evangelism. Then they created, they showed a picture of baptisms. And you know, people just going to get baptized. I just began to weep. I just began to, oh my goodness, have a sense of understanding. I knew what salvation was. I had experienced it. But really that birthed in me this drive to see it happen to other people. And I pray if that hasn’t happened to you yet, that it does happen, because God wants to put that in all of us. It’s clear that we’re to share our faith with other people and reach people who don’t know Jesus.

Jonathan Hardy 2:03
So, I was gonna say, I think there’s almost been a little bit of a lost sense of that personal evangelism. I think that the church, “big C”, church as a whole, at least in the American Western culture, is that we just invite people to come to the church. And that’s our sense. That’s how we evangelize.

Dick Hardy 2:24
Right.

Jonathan Hardy 2:25
But obviously, that’s not, you know, I mean, that is a way to reach people certainly, but but there’s also the personal aspect. But I think people, you know, my perception is people don’t know how to. They haven’t been taught to do it individually and reaching people that way.

Dick Hardy 2:42
Exactly.

Jonathan Hardy 2:43
And that’s why this subject is so important.

Dick Hardy 2:44
And today, that’s why we’re going to talk about four ways that a pastor and the church can build in and elevate evangelism in the minds of the people. Beyond just words and a concept, but actually see things happen. So, Jonathan, start us off with that.

Tip #1: Practice What You Preach

Jonathan Hardy 3:04
Well, the first one is just to practice what you preach.

Dick Hardy 3:06
Okay.

Jonathan Hardy 3:06
So, this kind of goes, I guess, probably to a little bit of what I was saying, but simply that, you know, if we’re going to teach on it, we can’t just speak about it. We have to move beyond the church speak. And we have to actually get to the point where we’re doing that personally. So, we’re out in the community. We’re not just inviting people to come to church. I mean, yes, we can do that. But we’re also meeting people where they are and trying to lead them to the Lord where they are in that moment, not waiting until or let’s wait till Sunday. And then teaching people that that’s how we should all live. And so, we have to practice what we preach from the standpoint of, you know, personally doing that as the pastor but then also helping other people to do it as well.

Tip #2: Talk About Friendship

Dick Hardy 3:50
Yeah, exactly. You know, the other thing that goes along the line with this is to talk about friendship. So, as the pastor, you want to be talking about friendship. There’s a term out there. It’s a little bit dated now. Friendship evangelism. But it’s the concept where you will respond to people that you trust on things. Well, when you’re talking about something like life and death and eternity, the person on the other side would respond to you, because they trust you. So, therefore build friendship. I remember Mark Mittelberg wrote the book on being the Contagious Christian. And he had this term barbecue first. Barbecue first? Yeah, you know, we want, we get a big event at church or big something. And so we want to just go witness to somebody. He says, “No, have them over for a barbecue first.” Build friendship first. Then as trust is built, then the Lord opens the door for conversation.

Jonathan Hardy 4:51
And so, people need to understand.

Dick Hardy 4:53
Understand how to be a friend with people and not just try to get a notch in your belt because you invited somebody to church or you shared the gospel with somebody. Build Friendship.

Tip #3: Build Ongoing Evangelism Systems and Processes

Jonathan Hardy 5:02
Yeah. Number three is build ongoing evangelism systems and processes. And so, you want to have multiple ways for people to learn how to do this. You can’t just assume, because a person has become a follower of Jesus, that they just automatically know how to evangelize, that they automatically know. I mean, from one sense, you could say, “Yeah, I just go and tell other people Jesus.”

Dick Hardy 5:22
What happened to you. Yeah.

Jonathan Hardy 5:22
Yeah, a that’s obviously important to do. But doing these practical things that Dick is talking about is very helpful. And we need to teach people how to do that. So, we need to, whether it’s offering a class that you have at the church once in a while, whether it’s you know, some sort of training that you do, some sort of connecting type event that you put on, whatever it looks like to help people learn how to personally share their faith. How to share their testimony. Some people have never shared their testimony. They’ve never talked about their faith with the people that work with, their neighbors and so forth. Because they’re afraid to, and they’re afraid to because they haven’t been taught to. They don’t know how to actually do it. And so, they’re afraid of what they’re going to look like, or if they mess up, or if they’re going to screw up the relationship or whatever. And so, we need to help in that aspect of teaching them and so you got to build out the systems and processes. How is your church going to do that? What does it look like at your ministry?

Tip #4: Talk it, Pray it, Preach it

Dick Hardy 6:18
Well, and I think along with that, you create multiple ways for people to share their faith. Because not everybody’s the same. And so, you say, well, here’s a way to do it. Here’s what we’re doing a lot. But you’re teaching all along the way for people to be able to step into a system or process that works for them. You know, the last thing that I want to mention is that you need to talk it, pray it, and preach it. You’ve heard the term, you get what you preach. So, I can tell you, if you never talk about evangelism from the pulpit, you never have it as part of your process. And you’re working on every other thing, and you have a very good church. But if you don’t talk it, if you don’t pray it by pray it, I mean, it’s got to be part of something burning in you to pray for lost people who don’t know Jesus. And then you preach it. Talk it, pray it, preach it, and then you’ll get the results the Lord wants.

Jonathan Hardy 7:18
Absolutely.

Recap for Elevating Evangelism:

Dick Hardy 7:18
Here, let me give you a snapshot of, or a summary of that which we just spoke of here. You want to practice what you preach. You want to talk of a friendship. You want to build ongoing evangelism systems and processes. You want to talk it, pray it and preach it. You do those four things, you’re going to be well on your way to see evangelism elevated in the minds of people.

Jonathan Hardy 7:42
Yeah. And one of the most important things for you to do as the pastor or the leader of the ministry, is to continually work to to get better at what you’re doing. So, whether that’s evangelism and getting better at evangelism or getting better at any aspect of ministry. And that really all starts when you, as the leader are leading better, because then you’re able to help people see the need. You’re able to help motivate people to take these steps of action. That happens when you’re leading better as a pastor or ministry leader. And so, that’s why I want to invite you to hop on to the Four Secrets Masterclass, which is a one hour masterclass that I put together that’s available for you for free, that you can hop into to begin leading at the next level. It’s four secrets the pastors use to lead at the next level. This is what’s going to help you be able to continue to move people into greater steps of faith and take the action that you want to help them to take. So, I want to invite you to do that. Simply go to leaders.church/secrets. That’s leaders.church/secrets. you can sign up right away. Get access right away and you’ll be glad you did. Finally, I want to invite you to subscribe, whether you’re watching on YouTube, subscribe to the YouTube channel. Or you’re watching listening on one of the podcast platforms, hit that subscribe button. We’d also love to have you give us a five-star review, if you think this has been a helpful podcast for you. And we just appreciate you so much, being a part of the Church Tips Podcast. And with that being said, we will look forward to seeing you next time. Take care and be blessed.

Jonathan Hardy 9:07
Hey, Jonathan here. Real quick before you go. Everything in your ministry rises and falls on your leadership. So investing in your leadership is essential to staying healthy and growing the ministry. And that’s why I want to invite you to join us inside the leaders.church membership. This online streaming service for pastors gives you access to more than 300 videos, plus training material to level up your leadership and improve your ministry skills. If you’d like to do that, I want to invite you to go to leaders.church/boost. Again, that’s leaders.church/boost. Well, thanks again for joining us on the Church Tips Podcast. We’ll look forward to seeing you next time.

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Podcast

090 – Elevating Evangelism

What’s in this Episode?