Just read this quote on a friend’s blog:
The full post is here.
Well, that flies right in the face of what I’ve been saying, but at least they have some biblical justification for it. I might still argue that the point is to bring them to Jesus. Andrew and Philip brought them to Jesus because he was physically THERE, we do that when we witness to them.
Still, I must admit, if it’s a biblical, Jesus preaching church and folks actually hear the Gospel when they get there, better to invite them to church than to not evangelize at all. And, it’s a lot easier to invite someone to church (especially if it’s a good church) than to tell them about Jesus. The best is still to witness and actually tell someone about Jesus, but second best would be to invite them to a bible-preaching church.
However, this means the church will be more for the seeker than for the believer, but that’s a thought for a prior post.
And again, they should be coming to church for Jesus, not the cool stuff at the church.
So, I’ll have to think more, that’s an interesting take on it.
I love the idea of people going out to do evangelism. In fact, I just completed a workshop at my church this morning to teach people how to develop and work through relationships with non-believers. At the same time, we have to deal with a simple reality. Just this past Thursday, while attending a conference at Newspring Church in Anderson, SC (Newspring is one of the fastest growing churches in the nation), Perry Noble, Newspring’s Senior Pastor, pointed out that even at a church like Willowcreek – where Pastor Bill Hybels – is always hammering on personal evangelism, researach shows that only about 10% of those attending actually get involved in personal evangelism that goes beyond inviting people to church. IF we are going to use inviting people to church as evangelism – which I think can work and work well – then we have to do exactly what you said: preach the gospel (and I would add in creative ways) and be prepared for the results!
J4,
Absolutely! Yes, we need to make sure that when they come there is something there to lead them to Christ!
I admit, realistically speaking inviting people to chruch will be a part of evangelism since most people have less of a hard time inviting a friend to an outreach event than walking them through the plan of salvation. And, again I admit, I don’t really have a problem with inviting people to a cool outreach if they hear the Gospel while they are there. I just don’t want the outreach to be the thing that keeps them there.
Funny, I think that the church you mention is the same one mentioned in the post above… I’d have to check back with the original post, though.
Thanks for the comment.
Reggie McNeal wrote, “If they aren’t going to come to us, then we’ve got to go to them.” I love his book “The Present Future.” I think he skillfully takes issue with the “bring them to church” evangelism model. Yes it works sometimes and particularly works well with already “churched” people. “Hey your tithe will get you more bang for your buck over here!” I just don’t think Andrew introducing Peter to Jesus is equivalent to “We got a great praise you should come hear.” Bob Russell and the Southeast gang really gave a lot of credibility to the invite them to church evangelsim model. I don’t know about where you serve but we are quite Southeast here! Grace & peace.