Developing the discipline of a daily evangelistic mindset.
Daily Outreach: Having a Daily Evangelistic Mindset
In our last article in the Daily Disciplines series, we discussed communication and the daily need to encourage others. The context was Hebrews 13:3, where the author exhorts us to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to persevere in the faith. In this article, we’ll explore communication with those not in the faith. To encourage them, we need to develop a daily discipline of outreach, also known as “evangelism”.
What is “evangelism”?
Our English word “evangelism” is from a transliteration of the Greek word euangelizo (Strong’s number G2294). The Greek word means “proclaim the good news”, or “preach the gospel”. It can also mean bringing good news, or a “good announcement”, from the Greek root words eu (“good”) + angellien (“announcement”). The latter word in the pair is the same root word as “angel”, or “messenger”.
When the angel Gabriel speaks to Zechariah to announce he will have a son, John the Baptist, Gabriel says he was “sent to speak to you and tell you this good news”, or euangelizo (Luke 1:19 NIV). The same word is used when the birth of Jesus is announced by the angel to the shepherds (Luke 2:10). Jesus uses the same word when he reads the scroll of Isaiah (Luke 4:16) and when he sends the message back to John the Baptist that the good news is being proclaimed (Luke 7:22).
We use the term “evangelist”, from the Latin transliteration of evangelistes, to describe a preacher of the gospel”. However, it literally means “bringer of good news”. Whenever we share the good news about Jesus, we are acting as an evangelist. Evangelism is simply bringing the good news of Jesus and being a messenger for God to announce His Son.
Why is this a daily discipline?
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:47b NIV
In the examples above, the word evangelism was applied to specific messages about Jesus’ birth and his ministry. How does evangelism apply to our lives? What makes it a “daily discipline”?
Jesus began his public ministry after John the Baptist was imprisoned, going through Galilee “proclaiming the good news” (Mark 1:14-15 NIV). After choosing his 12 disciples, he sends them out to go from village to village “proclaiming the good news” (Luke 9:6). What was his purpose in preaching the good news and sending his disciples out to proclaim it?
After meeting Zacchaeus and seeing his repentance and faith, Jesus summarizes his mission.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 19:10 NIV
Jesus’ mission was to seek and save the lost. His ministry was focused on bringing the good news to the lost sheep of Israel through preaching, healing, and performing miracles to build their faith. He taught his disciples to do the same, teaching them and empowering them to heal and perform miraculous signs. What about us, then?
Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
1 John 2:6 NIV
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to the same mission as Jesus: to seek and save the lost! Evangelism, or bringing the good news, is what Jesus did, what he taught, and what he called his disciples to do. Evangelism is how we seek the lost so that they can be saved.
Seeking: how to reach out to the lost
To reach out to the lost, you need to spend time around the lost. It doesn’t take much time to see that the lost are all around us. We live in times where people are influenced more by politics, social media, and various forms of news and entertainment than by the Bible. Few are seeking to know and obey Jesus Christ as Lord. In fact, many are “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud…” (2 Timothy 2:26 NIV) as they’ve been since the days of the early church.
Making Disciples of All Nations
The ICOC movement churches are known for discipleship and evangelism. Evangelism has sometimes involved cold contact invitations during evangelistic “campaigns” with the goal of bringing visitors to a worship service or Bible study. We have taught this out of an urgency to win the world and make disciples of all nations. Bringing people to hear the gospel message is important, but making disciples is more than an invitation and attendance at a church event.
In Jesus’ final words to his disciples in the book of Matthew, he gives them his Great Commission:
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 NIV
This is Jesus’ plan for evangelizing the world: he commanded them to make disciples then teach these new disciples what he had just commanded them, to make disciples. However, this was the final command of Jesus and not the first or only command Jesus had given them.
A New Command
At the last supper meal, Jesus gives them a new command: to love one another.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35 NIV
In order to teach the new disciples Jesus’ commands, we should start with the new command Jesus gave his disciples: to love one another. The most effective way to share the gospel and make disciples is to share our lives and love with them. We need to consider in each situation how to most effectively share not only the gospel message but our lives as well.
Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.
1 Thessalonians 2:8b NIV
While bringing people to a worship service or Bible study group can help people to hear the gospel message, we should also show them God’s love through sharing our lives with them.
It takes time to build relationships, and we don’t always know if we’ll see someone again when we first meet them, whether through a cold contact invitation or through work or our community. We should consider how to make the most of every opportunity as we share the gospel message.
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
Colossians 4:5 NIV
Make the Most of Every Opportunity
In your evangelism, consider three types of relationships when deciding how to make the most of the opportunity.
- People you are around on a regular basis: show them your faith and your life:
- Jesus spent much of his time among the people and chose 12 to be his disciples. He also developed a closer relationship with three of those He chose. The twelve were around him every day for about three years, and he spent time revealing who He was and His relationship with the Father. He was able to teach them the good news and to make them disciples, fishers of men. This is our ideal goal in evangelism: taking time to share our lives and our faith so that others see our love for one another and for God. Getting to know them will give you an opportunity to better understand their spiritual needs before deciding how to best share the gospel message with them.
- People you meet and expect to see again: serve them, find a time to tell them about your faith and ask them about theirs:
- When Jesus met others who he would see later, he tended to serve them without sharing about himself or his message. He would then challenge them; often it was to repent. Examples are the man healed at the pool in John 5 and the man born blind in John 9. In both cases, Jesus served the men by healing them, then later was able to follow up to challenge them to repent.
- We should consider this as an example when we meet people we are likely to see again. For example, your new friend could be a coworker or a neighbor. Since you’ll see them again, you can take time to show them God’s love by serving them and showing them your life and faith. You can then use a follow-up time with them to challenge their faith or find ways to share the gospel message.
- People you meet once and won’t likely see again: tell them about Jesus invite them to learn more:
- When Jesus addressed the crowds or others who he was not likely to see again, he told them who he was and challenged them directly. An example is the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus engaged her in a conversation, challenged her on her situation while they were talking, then gave her a related practical challenge (“go, call your husband and come back”) and a spiritual challenge (“worship in the Spirit and in truth”). He revealed himself to her since it was the only time he would speak with her. Her encounter with Jesus prompted her to act: she told the whole town and they went to Jesus. With those we won’t see again, we need to prompt them to act so they’ll hear the gospel. This is the time to provide a specific challenge or to turn them into someone you may see again by offering an invitation.
In our evangelism, the first step is to seek the lost and make the best of opportunities to help them hear the good news of the gospel. Where possible, share your life along with your faith, or serve them when you can follow up later. If you’ll only get one opportunity with someone, use it wisely to gently challenge them or invite them to see you or the church again.
Saving: how to help them accept God’s gift of salvation
In Luke 19 we read that Jesus said he came to “seek and save” the lost. While we are encouraged by Paul in Colossians 4:5 to make the most of every opportunity when we seek the lost, we have a limited role in saving them. Only God can change hearts and only Jesus can save the lost, not us. Salvation is a gift from God, and our role is to help them to understand and see the gift so that they can accept it.
Messengers of the Gospel
As evangelistic “messengers of the gospel”, our role is to help others develop faith and gain the convictions needed to accept God’s gift of salvation. We do this by sharing the Word with them.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Romans 10:17 NIV
The lost find faith by hearing the message of the gospel, which is found in the Word of God. To help our friends develop their faith and convictions, we need to share the Bible with them.
Hearing the Message
In the Hampton Roads Church, as in many others in the ICOC family churches, we use a study series to engage the lost in the Word. Through these studies, we help them to gain conviction that the Bible is the Word of God and to live by it. We discuss sin and the need to repent, along with a biblical understanding of baptism and the plan of salvation. The goal is to help them see their lostness before God and to answer the important question “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37 NIV).
In seeking the lost, we should focus on helping them find the message of salvation in the Scriptures. We can help them by using Bible studies to share our convictions through the Word so that they can make decisions needed to obey the gospel and become disciples.
Adding daily: how to have an evangelistic mindset
Adding to their number
Jesus called his disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey (Matthew 28:18-20). Starting with Peter’s speech to the crowd at Pentecost, they devoted themselves to Jesus’ great commandment:
- The Lord added to their number daily (Acts 2:47),
- The number of men who believed grew to about five thousand (Acts 4:4), and
- The churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily (Acts 16:5)
“If there was a plan…”
This blog series on Daily Disciplines is based on a midweek lesson series I taught in the summer of 2012. We needed to take a short break in the middle since I, along with my wife and about 17,000 other disciples, attended the World Discipleship Summit in San Antonio, TX. At the Summit, Mike Taliaferro, evangelist in the Mission Point Church in San Antonio, delivered a keynote session on evangelism that addressed our need to have an evangelistic mindset. The class on evangelism was a few weeks after we returned from the Summit, so I showed a clip from Mike’s lesson, and his key points are below (with links to short youtube clips of his message):
- “Many of us have lost our passion for evangelism“
- “We love to see the lost get saved, it’s the seeking part we are not so into, and that simply must change – we need to recapture the purpose of Christ… do you have the purpose that Christ had in his heart?”
- “How are we going to reach the world?… What can 100,000 disciples do with mustard seed faith?…If there was a reasonable, feasible plan, would you follow it?”
- If all 100,000 of us make a disciple in the next three years, who turns and makes a disciple in the next three years, we will have 1 million disciples (in the next ten years). (the full video of his message is here, set up to start with this section).
“…would you follow it?”
At the time of the Summit, the estimated membership of the International Churches of Christ was about 130,000 worldwide, with estimates for today (2022) around 150,000. in addition, the estimated membership of the Churches of Christ (from which the ICOC movement began) worldwide is approximately 2 million. The world population is estimated to be around 8 billion.
In the Churches of Christ, we believe we are disciples of Christ committed to following the Bible and Christ’s mission. If we believe that most of the 8 billion in the world are either not Christians, or claim to be Christians but are not fully following the Bible and Christ’s mission, then as Mike Taliaferro asked, “how are we going to reach the world?” The only way is if we have an evangelistic mindset and carry out Christ’s mission to seek and save the lost.
Making a Plan: Evangelism Practicals
In summary, here are some practical ways to be effective in our evangelism as “messengers of the gospel”:
- Reach out like Jesus did:
- for those you are around all the time: show them your faith and your life.
- for those you meet and will see again: serve them, find a time to tell them about your faith and ask them about theirs.
- for those you meet who you will not see again: tell them about Jesus and invite them to learn more (come to church, study the Bible, etc.).
- Be strong in your convictions and learn how to share the Scriptures about Jesus and salvation with others – review, learn, and share a Bible study series based on the plan of salvation.
- Have a plan: win your part of the world by reaching out to a few people every day, inviting new friends into your life and to see the church, and asking them to study the Bible with you. Have a plan for your family, neighborhood, community… and the world!
Suggested Memory Scriptures
Discussion Questions
- How is your passion for evangelism? Is it as strong as the day you were baptized? If not, what has lowered your passion? How can you get your passion for evangelism back?
- What are some ways you can be more effective in reaching out to the lost? Share some things you have done to reach out to your neighbors, co-workers, new friends, and strangers.
- Discuss a plan for how you and your family / small group can reach out to your neighborhood and community.