The Evangasmack

Proverbs 12
1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates correction is stupid.

When was the last time you “got smacked?”

Last week at our Staff Lunch we all got a good lashing on the topic of evangelism. The smack didn’t come in a verbal assault delivered by our Senior Pastor but in one simple question presented by him. How many people in the last year have you brought to Christ from outside of the church? This question was difficult for me because I had to report a goose egg, A BIG FAT 0!

The way the question was asked took away the conversations I was able to be a part of as a result of students bringing friends to the ministry. I couldn’t count the conversations I had with adult visitors of the church. I simply couldn’t count the conversions that resulted in other people doing the hard part of getting people to church in the first place.

Understand that this question wasn’t asked in a competitive nature. We don’t have a big score card posted in our staff office with check marks next to our names for all the conversions we’ve been a part of (But man that could be a sweet deal! Instead of check marks we could do crosses! AWESOME!). Instead, it was a way to communicate “speed of the leader, speed of the team.” If we expect our volunteers and other attendees of our church to bring others to Jesus, then we need to be sure that we are able to communicate our own stories of doing so. We need to be able to share rejection stories of the times people weren’t interested in hearing the message and to be able to share all the joys and pains associated with being an evangelist.

So what are your conversion stats looking like? Any crosses next to your name? Do you remember what it feels like to meet a neighbor, build a relationship, and share the message of Christ? Do you remember the passion that occurred when a friend met God for the first time? I look forward to hearing your future stories and being motivated to do the same!