Article by Teresa Chang
Many church leaders we coach are concerned because they see transfer growth, but not conversion growth. Ultimately, this comes down to a matter of vision. We need to have a vision for souls if we are going to reach the people around us.
General Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, once said, “If I could do one thing to complete the training for my people, it would be to dangle them over the lake of fire for 24 hours so that their passion for souls would never be exhausted.” The desire to reach the lost begins in the heart; our hearts need to break over those who don’t know Jesus. A soul that dies without God’s salvation is a soul that is eternally separated from Him—this should grip us at an intense level and compel us to go out into the world to reveal His love.
How to Build a Vision for Evangelism in Your Church
1. Make the vision practical.
Your vision for evangelism needs to be practical, practiced and celebrated. Practical simply means that you teach on it regularly and reinforce its different aspects within your church. Like any other vision, the vision for souls is first birthed in the heart of the lead pastor or couple. Even if they are not called as evangelists, the burden for souls starts in them and then spreads to the church leadership team.
It is important not only to teach about evangelism, but as a church leader you also need to model it. If you want your church to have a prophetic lifestyle, for example, emphasize the prophetic within your leadership team and celebrate how God speaks to your core team; celebrate in such a way that it affects the entire church. The same with pastoral care. If you want your church to have a lifestyle of connection and community, celebrate and promote these things as church leaders.
With anything you want to cultivate within your church,
begin in your leadership team.
2. Model the vision personally.
Incorporate evangelism deeply into your own life. Does your family practice evangelism on a regular basis? Do you as a leader actively share your faith?
Everything you want to bring to your church has to be real inside of you before you can replicate it in others.
3. Make evangelism a priority for your church.
Spend time preaching about evangelism and study it as a congregation, equipping your church to reach the lost. Help your church members learn how to share their personal testimonies, lead people to Jesus and guide others in a sinner’s prayer. Encourage your church to reexamine traditional methods of evangelism that have come to be considered “uncool,” like the four spiritual laws, tracts, altar calls, etc. Each of these has value. It is time for us to feel God’s heart for this topic and tell people about Jesus any way we can.
To break status quo, consider the following options:
- Gather for outreaches once a month and actively seek to experience the urgency and compassion God the Father feels for souls.
- Pray for boldness for one another. Paul asked people to pray that he would increase in boldness (Ephesians 6:19-20), and the early Church prayed a similar prayer in Acts 4.
- Discuss common hindrances to evangelism, such as complacency and compromise. Why do Christians often struggle with these things? What do these things mean? How can you get rid of them in your church?
- Turn the vision of your church toward the harvest, and instill a vision for evangelism within your congregation by whetting their appetites: “What would it look like if you led five people a year to Christ? How would that touch your heart? Who in your world needs Jesus?” Questions like these can be matches dropped on a dry field.
