EvangeCoach Ministries Ken Ramey – Coaching the Church in Evangelism – – – WA State Field Representative for "My Hope with Billy Graham"

I recently met with a pastor who listened with sincere interest to my evangelism  coaching ideas for his church.  Near the end of our hour-long conversation, he shared concern about my personal and ministry/training style of evangelizing/witnessing. He shared his concerns and asked the question, “what is YOUR evangelistic style?”  He indicated that without fully understanding my style of evangelizing and evangelism training, it might be that my method or approach to evangelizing would be different than that of their church. I appreciate this experienced pastor’s question and concern and it has challenged me to write this article.

There are many different styles, or techniques of witnessing and evangelism. Here is a list found in the evangelism training power point by the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College called, “Bringing My World To Christ.”

• Intentional – Acts 8:26 ff  to present Christ in an assertive manner to strangers or circles of nearness;
• Proclamational – Acts 2:14-20  to present Christ through the avenue of public speaking or other performing art forms;
• Testimonial – John 9:17-27  to experience the miraculous and be able to tell about it;
• Relational – Mark 5:18-20  to share what the Lord has done for you in circles of nearness;
• Invitational – John 4:28-30 & John 1:46  to bring others to places where verbal evangelism is offered;
• Incarnational – Acts 9:36-42  to love pre-Christians beyond the expected and thus bring glory to Christ in you;
• Intellectual – Acts 17:16 ff  to persuade pre-Christians employing rational and empirically verifiable data;

• Inspirational – Acts 9:10ff  to receive clear divine direction to present Christ to a person;
• Martyrdom – Acts 7:54-60  the losing of one’s life for the sake of the gospel;

• Social Justice and compassion – James 1:27  ministry to a persons or communities needs in the name of Christ;

• Signs & Wonders – Acts 8  miraculous display of God’s presence that draws people to Him.

I believe it is important to have a clear understand of what evangelizing is.  The team at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College has developed an excellent definition: “To evangelize/witness is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and others to bring one or more persons one step closer to Christ.” It truly has been my desire and joy to live out this definition during my 54 years of walking with Jesus.  Every believer at salvation is supernaturally given ‘spiritual gifts’ in order to be effective according to God’s will in our service for Christ.  As one with the spiritual gift of ‘Evangelist’ (defined as a unique blend of qualities, passions and ability given by the Holy Spirit that allows one to effectively and regularly see people who are far from God come to know Him personally. Passion, effective in evangelism and vision to reach more by any & all means are vital elements in the gift of the evangelist), I have used many different methods in sharing the gospel with teenagers and adults. And the Lord has certainly blessed any method that His Spirit has led.

Therefore my heartfelt answer to the question is that the exact method is not as important as the obedience to the call to witness.  I believe that the challenge to the church is the NEED to be obedient to the great commission and that each child of God is commanded to witness.  It is not just the ‘job’ of the church staff to present the gospel but it is the ‘job’ of all believers to evangelize to the lost world of his/her faith in Jesus Christ. (Matt 28:19) First of all, we must understand and believe that salvation is of God, not of us!  We are called to be ‘fishers of men’ not necessarily ‘catchers’ of men’.  As the definition of evangelism states, our role is to be led by the Holy Spirit, and we could be one of many that God uses in the path of a person coming to salvation.  Secondly, love has to be the foundation and motivation for all witnessing.  If “God loved the world so much . . .”, then we must love everyone around us enough to care about their lost condition.  People respond to genuine love more than any other emotion or action and love, which includes grace and humility without any judgment, has to be what is most important. And finally, I believe that one’s personal testimony is what God uses to reach through the hard shell of resistance that most unbelievers have.  When we can truthfully open ourselves up and admit our own humanity, the Holy Spirit can work in a powerful way.

It is the church’s job and ministry to train and encourage each member to be the effective witness God wants them to be: teach the Biblical plan of salvation; teach what an effective witness looks like; teach about the work of the Holy Spirit in witnessing; teach what kind of a person God uses; teach the ‘conversion journey’ in the life of a person; teach a person how to use his/her personal testimony; teach that ‘missional living’ means; teach how to overcome fear, doubt and tough questions and train each follower of Jesus Christ to always be prepared for that ‘divine appointment’ to talk to anyone, anywhere about the love of Jesus.

In my personal experience as a lifetime minister in and through the local church, it is clear that MOST believers do not witness because they are not taught/trained as they out to be.  When people are taught it brings a sense of confidence and God is able to use anyone who steps out in obedience as a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. The church must be prepared to do the encouragement and training.  This is part of the ministry God has called me to do within the church.