Servant Evangelism

I love it!!! We have had great results.

Check out the series.. ."outflow"...

Our whole state convention used this last yr, and saw some great results.

 

Dinner time evangelism is now inappropriate, eg knocking on doors. But why don't we provide that washer that single mother needs so desperately so she does not have to spend so much time at the laundry mat and can give mroe of her time to her kids.

Why don't we show up to that elderly couples home, who can no longer maintain the home on their because of age and health, and fix the roof, mow the grass, replace the water heater.

Service evangelism is a great way to reach out.

 

I too love it.

The only failure in evangelism is failing to evangelize. I believe the NT tenches that evangelism is both word and deed. When we gain credibility with the lost they tend to become more receptive to hearing the Holy Spirit.

In the community where I serve we cannot get into many communities and must find other ways to connect with people. By serving them we create common ground that canlead to conversations about Jesus. Our church is all About the Gospel. We have had tremendous responses to these methods.

 

I used to be attend a church in which I was a leader in this type of servant evangelism...we used Sjogren's book as our inspiration. Having been deeply involved in this in the past, I now see one major shortcoming....it's high on "servant" and low on "evangelism". Mowing someone's lawn or passing out cokes is not evangelism. No matter how nice of a thing of it is to do, it is not sharing the gospel. Our church would have a big event once a month where we went out and did all of these things for people, and then we would come back together and talk about how we had shared the gospel. I'm not saying that these things shouldn't be done, but we need to be careful in calling it evangelism if in some way a clear gospel presentation hasn't taken place. Unless people hear about their wretchedness and what a holy God has done to save sinners, then we are just sending people to hell with a nicely mowed lawn.

 

A little more than a year ago my son brought a friend home from school and he began going to church with us. During the last year I have been able to meet his parents (divorced) and provide counseling. Two Sundays ago the father claimed Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

To many times it takes time and relationships to be able to effectively witness. Anyone who is simply looking to make another life better is in error. But when we are seeking the glory of God (and the two are different) rather than a goal of evangelism or a goal of make another life better then we are accomplishing the goals of the Kingdom of God.

Evangelism and making another life better should always and ever be the means to the end. It should never be the end or in another way the goal.

 

Is that Jersey speak?

 

Too many Christians expect instant results. Many non-Christians will not receive Christ until several years have elapsed and they have seen genuine Christians.