Church-Based Evangelism: Keep Evangelism Simple

At Range Hills, I often say, “Evangelism is easy.” That’s because it is. At some point in Christian history, Christians began to believe that evangelism was difficult and complicated. “Professional-based” evangelism, in which only pastors, a certain “class” of Christians, or missionaries are capable of evangelizing, became the norm because of this misconception. Compounding this issue, well-meaning, evangelism-loving people created trainings to help people evangelize. Many of these trainings had great content, but accidentally taught churches something about evangelism: you have to be trained to do it. This does not make training bad; rather, evangelism is a task for faithful foot soldiers, not elite marksmen. A church must advance further in its Great Commission responsibilities, with every church member in tow. This article will build off the charge given to a church to evangelize by pointing church members in the right direction. The charge ought to fire up your people; now, pastor, you must give them something tangible to do with it so that evangelism is simple. Adopting a single, church-wide evangelism method and mentioning it every time you speak about evangelism will make evangelism simple.

The first difficulty in making something simple is distinguishing the simple from the complex. For anything, the question must be asked: “How much information is necessary to be retained before someone can do a task?” Or, to put it differently, what is the distinction between helpful information and necessary information? Before playing a game of chess, one does not need to know the en passant rule. Before fishing, one does not need to know every lure available. Before playing baseball, one does not need to know how to throw a curveball. As someone gets better and more advanced, these things must be learned to advance further. Yet each of these activities requires a bare minimum of knowledge, far lower than that required for these advanced concepts. Similarly, the bare minimum information required for evangelism is far lower than what an evangelism training or the fears of church members can communicate. The bare minimum someone needs to know to evangelize is: what the gospel is and how to get into a conversation where they can share it. All other information about evangelism is helpful, but these two aspects of information are essential for someone to evangelize. The goal of church-based evangelism is not to have every church member become a high-level apologist; it’s to have every church member be a faithful soul-winner. This bare minimum of information is all that's necessary for church-based evangelism.

The goal of church-based evangelism is not to have every church member become a high-level apologist—it’s to have every church member be a faithful soul-winner.

The good news for church-based evangelism is that the first prerequisite for information is already in place. If your church practices regenerate church membership, as it ought, then every single member of your church knows what the gospel is. Someone who has received Jesus as Savior and submitted to Him as Lord knows that the gospel is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. If you’re preaching as you ought, your church will be reminded of this every week. The first prerequisite of information should already be in place at your church.

The second prerequisite, how to get into a conversation about the gospel, is often what is missing from a church. A single, church-wide evangelistic method is the best way to achieve this prerequisite. To discuss this, I will first describe why a single method is best. Then I will describe what makes for a good method to choose as a church-wide evangelistic method. Then I will recommend some possible methods.

An easy blunder to make when trying to help church members learn how to start an evangelistic conversation is giving them dozens of ways to get into one. It can seem helpful to give options, but oftentimes this leads to information overload. Further, people may not become comfortable with one method, leading to a lack of confidence and the belief that evangelism is hard. A single evangelism method makes it clear what’s being asked of a person. A single evangelism method makes evangelism tangible rather than abstract. When you give a single evangelism method, someone can imagine using it with someone and then go do it. Many Christians suffer from spiritual bystander syndrome. They know what they ought to do, but when they have the opportunity, they let it pass because they do not know exactly what to do to start an evangelistic conversation. If a church adopts a single method for evangelism, every church member not only knows how to evangelize but also exactly what to do.

Selecting a specific method should balance effectiveness, purpose, memorability, and cultural acceptability. As I’ve written elsewhere, there are three parts of an evangelistic conversation, each with unique methods, that accord to the three parts of a chess game: the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame. The opening of an evangelistic conversation is the initial movement and first sharing of the gospel. The methods of the opening would begin the conversation and share the basic message of the gospel. The middlegame is the discussion of the gospel, answering objections, and calling someone to believe it. The methods of the middlegame are used to explain the gospel, the need for the gospel, and to engage in dialogue with the evangelized. The endgame is discussing how the evangelized person can put their faith and trust in Jesus right now. The methods of the endgame are meant to gauge whether someone truly desires to be saved and to lead them to place saving faith in Christ. When choosing a church-wide evangelism method, it is necessary to know which part it would be used for. Since the primary purpose of a church-wide evangelism method is to help people start gospel conversations, the best method would be an opening method. Choosing an opening method means that if someone decides to use it, it's pretty much a guarantee that the gospel will be shared. Middlegame and endgame methods have their strengths, but they do not get someone into a gospel conversation; they maintain one. Therefore, someone can decide to use those methods, but it does not guarantee that an evangelistic conversation begins or that the gospel is shared. Choosing an effective opening method ensures that a gospel conversation begins and that the gospel is shared, which is the purpose of church-based evangelism.

A church ought to also choose a method that is memorable. A method that ensures the gospel is shared but cannot be remembered by every church member is not helpful. Memorability requires simplicity and novelty. The method a church ought to choose should be simple. A basic training in this method should take 5 minutes or less. Simplicity will make it memorable. A degree of novelty will also make it memorable. Novelty does not mean pragmatic, silly, or worldly; rather, it should have a unique hook that easily captures the brain. Alliteration, acronyms, or general uniqueness would all be forms of memorable novelty. Memorability also means repeatability in communication. As stated, a church-wide evangelism method should be mentioned whenever evangelism is mentioned; therefore, it ought to have a name that every church member can remember.

Lastly, a church-wide evangelism method ought to be culturally acceptable. There are two forms of cultural acceptability: church culture and community culture. Church cultural acceptability means that church members like the method and are excited to use it. People generally do not do things they do not want to do. If people want to share the gospel but do not want to use a proposed method, use a different method. The goal is for every church member to evangelize, not for every church member to use a specific method. That does not mean moving away from a single church-wide evangelism method, but rather discovering what the church's culture finds acceptable. Community culture acceptability means that the community engages with the method. This does not mean that many people are led to Christ through the method, or that they like that your church shared the gospel; rather, the method allows you to share the gospel with people in your community, and they listen. The gospel is offensive enough on its own; it does not need a needlessly offensive method. A method that makes every lost person plug his ears, literally or metaphorically, is not effective. Pastor, you can discover both kinds of cultural acceptability before presenting the method to the entire church. Run the method by a few key church members who will give you honest feedback. Go use the method to evangelize in your community. Have a representative church member do soul-winning and use the method in your community. Once you're confident about cultural acceptability, present the method.

Having these three factors in mind, effectiveness in purpose, memorability, and cultural acceptability, the rest of this article will recommend possible church-wide evangelism methods. These are nowhere near all the possible options for a method, but are simply some good ones to consider:

Birthday Verse Evangelism is the church-wide evangelism method that Range Hills Baptist Church uses, and as the pastor, I’m somewhat partial to it and love talking to other pastors about it. Birthday Verse Evangelism, created by Date the Word Ministries, is a simple, fun, and effective method for evangelism. Date the Word associated with at least one specific verse with every date on the calendar (i.e., January 1, 1/1, is John 1:1). This means that every birthdate has a verse associated with it. The evangelism method begins by asking someone’s birthday, reading them their birthday verse, and then asking whether they have a date for their second birth. This latter question is a creative way to ask someone if they have been born again. If someone says they do not have a second birth or is confused by the question, you then share the gospel with them. Birthday Verse Evangelism hits the trifecta of the three criteria: being effective in starting a gospel conversation, as after two questions, the gospel is shared, and it is an opening method; being memorable, as the questions and use of the app are simple; and being culturally acceptable, as both churches and most communities love talking about birthdays. Range Hills Baptist Church, in conjunction with Date the Word, built an app with everything necessary for the method, including a training, called “Birthday Verse Evangelism.” It is now available for Apple and Android. Learn more about Birthday Verse Evangelism here.

Can I Ask You A Question, developed by Sufficient Word Ministries, is a consent-based evangelism method involving two questions: “Can I ask you a question?” and, if the answer is yes, “What do you think about the Bible?” The book by the same name explains this method in more detail. Can I Ask You A Question is effective in its purpose and serves as an opening method; it is memorable, and, as it removes much of the fear from evangelism, it is culturally acceptable. Learn more about Can I Ask You A Question here.

The Romans Road is a method of sharing the gospel using five verses from the book of Romans: Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9, 10:13. It is effective in its purpose, as it clearly shares the gospel. Yet, the Romans Road is a middle game method because it does not start a gospel conversation but maintains it. The Romans Road is simple, but remembering the verses isn't always easy. The Romans Road, being very popular in the 20th century and Scripture-based, has high church culture acceptability, but community culture acceptability will differ from community to community.

Evangelism Explosion, developed by D. James Kennedy, presents the gospel using two diagnostic questions: “Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die today, you would go to heaven?” and “Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and he were to say to you, 'Why should I let you into My heaven?', what would you say?” These questions then lead to the ability to share the gospel. This method is effective in purpose, as these questions open the door to sharing the gospel. Further, it is an opening method. The method is rather memorable, especially when focused on those two diagnostic questions. The cultural acceptability is limited, as these questions can make both the soul-winner and the evangelized uncomfortable and unwilling to discuss the questions. Learn more about Evangelism Explosion here.

Three Circles, developed by Jimmy Scroggins, is a method that uses the metanarrative of Scripture and a person’s testimony to share the gospel. This method is successful at sharing the gospel, but it is a middlegame approach, as it does not start a gospel conversation; it maintains it. The memorability of the method is good, as it usually uses a tool such as a tract or app and is relatively simple. The church's cultural acceptability is high, as many churches that adopt this method become excited about evangelism. Community cultural acceptability will depend on the community, as some are less drawn to the visual aspect. Learn more about Three Circles here.

There are many more evangelistic methods to choose from. Ultimately, the best method is the one that leads a church to evangelize. A method that’s talked about a lot but never used is useless, no matter how good the method is. Pastors, lead your church to adopt a single evangelism method, teach it well and simply, talk about it a lot, and use it to evangelize anyone and everyone. Evangelism is easy; don’t make it complicated.

This article is written by Klayton Carson, pastor at Range Hills Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn.

The Birthday Verse Evangelism app is a Bible application built specifically to help Christians share the gospel using Bible verses that correspond to a person's birthday. It provides tools to spark meaningful spiritual conversations based on the date of a person's birth.