Events vs relationships

In his book, Organic Churches, Neil Cole mentions that one of the questions he often asks groups when he is speaking is how many of them were brought to a relationship with Christ because of some event in a church. Usually, very few hands go up. His follow-up question is how many became a Christian because of a friend, family member, or someone else they knew led them to Christ. He reports that most hands in the audience goes up. He then asks why do we spend so much time planning events when most people are saved through relationships?

Studies consistently show that most people are brought to a personal relationship with Christ because of one or more of their friends ministering to them. It is through relationships that the most effective evangelism occurs. This is great news for all churches but especially for bivocational churches. Too often our bivocational churches feel they can do little to fulfill the Great Commission because they don't have the resources to develop and maintain exciting programs that will reach out to people. The fact is that we don't. But, we can effectively reach people with the Gospel simply by developing relationships with people we want to reach, allowing them to see our faith in action, and sharing the Gospel with them at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

This is an evangelism strategy that a church of any size can use, and it is a biblical model. Every person in our churches have unsaved family members and friends. They work around people who have not yet turned their lives over to Christ. They attend schools and shop in markets with unsaved people. In the rare event that a person doesn't know someone who doesn't know Christ, that person needs to begin developing relationships with some new people.

I encourage you to write out a list of persons you would like to see become a Christian. Commit yourself to pray for those persons each day. Be aware that they are watching you and act accordingly. Allow your life to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to others so they will be drawn to Him. The time will come when you will feel an inner prompting to share with them the reason for "the hope that is within you." As you share Christ with them ask if they would like to receive Him into their lives. We can do no more than faithfully share our testimony and invite them to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. The choice is theirs to make. We cannot make it for them, and God will not force Himself upon them. The Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin and their need for Christ, but the final decision is theirs to make.

Once you begin doing this, encourage your congregation to begin doing the same thing. Reaching out to persons with whom we already have a relationsip doesn't cost the church anything. If we have faithfully lived our faith so others could see it, we will have great credibility with family members and friends and should gain a quicker audience. We might be surprised to see our churches begin to grow through this approach to outreach.