Simple ways to be missional!!

We all find evangelism difficult!! Even the great Rico Tice who wrote Christianity Explored talks about his struggles to cross the pain line and share the gospel* So how do you and I, who are not necessarily “gifted” evangelists, reach out to the people we care about with the life changing message of salvation?

Here are few wee things I’ve found helpful as I think about reaching my friends and family for Christ:

• The person who led me to Christ was no powerfully articulate super Christian: if God is in the business of using ordinary Christians then he can use me!! Paul says in 2 Cor 4:7 about sharing the gospel that “we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
• Getting other Christians involved helps!! I used to think in terms of having “Christian friends” and “non-Christian friends”… the two groups never met, never interacted. But John 13:35 says “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Bringing the groups together gives our unbelieving friends the opportunity to see Christian community at work, they see our values lived out and hear our conversation which more naturally makes reference to God. Eventually, coming along to church is a much more natural step to take because they already know a good number of folks there.
• They have a gospel too! Listening to them we can build a picture of what they worship? What defines their identity? What do they think they need? What do they look for to bring them happiness? Once we understand these things better we can speak into their lives to show them that their gospel is flawed and show them that our gospel is a far superior alternative.
• Think about when and where in your regular activities you can be more intentional. Here’s an exercise by Tim Chester** which is a helpful way to think that through:

List all the activities you do as part of your normal routine – including the   mundane:

• Daily: e.g. eating meals, travel to work, walking the dog
• Weekly: e.g. shopping, watching favourite TV show, exercise,
• Monthly: e.g. haircut, cinema, gardening,

Now think about ways that you might be able to…

• include a discipleship/community component (another believer)
• include a missional component (an unbeliever)
• include a gospel component (where you can talk about Jesus/to Jesus about others)

• Think about where someone is on in stages and find ways of engaging with them on their journey…

- it may be that they are at the building relationship stage, so invite them to join other believers socially, come to the café or board games night at Carrubbers, arrange a walk with them or whatever will help you get to know each other better.

-then there is the open to bitesize gospel truth stage… like hearing testimonies or short conversations about who God is and what He’s done. Our summer mission weeks and Christmas services often try to engage people at this level… as do sports quizzes that have a short gospel talk… they key to this is being creative about the ways to engage people at their interest level… perhaps asking a group of folk to your house and someone to come share their story

- then they may be at the breaking down their objections stage, you know the stage when people need to wrestle with hard questions about Christianity. There are some good books they may want to read, or asking them along to come to one of the good question nights at Carrubbers may be helpful here… often though we need to get behind the objections to work out where their heart really is.   

-and lastly, there are those people who genuinely are interested and want to know more. It’s great to find ways to get them into the word to grow in their own personal exploration and search. Being in church, or doing a Christianity Explored or Life Explored course, or reading the bible one to one may a helpful thing at that stage.

• Get to know what resources are around to help you: there are some great courses like the new Life Explored Course, or the Christianity Explored Course… there’s Uncover, or Word one to one. Carrubbers has most of these available to look at and see what might work for you and there are people who have tried them so do ask one of the staff team to be put in touch with someone who can advise.

There is so much more that could be said about Evangelism, like the responsibility we have to share the good news and how God is ultimately sovereign over each life and over the opening of people’s eyes… but I hope these things are food for thought as we mull over how we can reach out with the amazing gospel of Jesus to those we love!

I’ll finish on my favourite verse about evangelism which is a phrase Paul uses in 1 Thess2v8. He says “..we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.

Where are the places you share lives with others?

How can you be more intentional in sharing the gospel?

Who can you involve in your relationships so that evangelism becomes more of a community effort?

*Rico Tice “Honest Evangelism”

**Tim Chester Everyday Church

Pintrest Café

Friday 29^th January, 7-9pm, in Carrubbers Café (use the side entrance)

Hopefully you will have heard about the special night we are planning to run in the cafe at the end of the month... it's called a "Pinterest Cafe" because it was inspried by the idea sharing website "pintrest" where people post their ideas/ interests/ creations etc on virtual pin boards to share with others. We have asked a few people with varying passions to come share something they love with us so that we can enjoy, be inspired, buy, explore or learn something from what they share. We are having it in carrubbers cafe so that you can come with friends and enjoy time together over a coffee and hopefully have some significant conversations. 

So here are a few FAQs about the event which will help you know what to expect. Please do take a leaflet from church and invite people.

What is it? It’s an opportunity to invite friends to a “church event” where they will meet other Christians, have a fun night and hopefully enjoy exploring new ideas on some of the “Pintrest” tables.

What will happen on the night? In Carrubbers café there will be all that you would expect from a café, tea, coffee, cakes, music, and places to chill and chat. In the lower hall – just off the café - there will be a selection of tables to explore where you can look at, interact with, purchase, or just browse… much like a craft fair but some of the tables will have ideas to share rather than things to sell.

What tables will there be? Art, Craft, Lace, Books & Quotes, Recipes, Nails, Neal’s Yard beauty products, Traidcraft, "Health and Hope" hygiene packs for Tanzania, and Parenting.

As it's an evangelistic event, will there be a gospel presentation? There will be a 3 minute chat where Karen Clark will welcome everyone, explain what we are about as a church and why we are doing this. She will point to God as our creator in who's image we are made and offer opportunities to find out more (Sunday night guest services/ CE/ tract or book). This is primarily an event aimed at encouraging relationships and opening up opportunities for discussion.

What other Christian input should I expect there to be? Some of the tables will have Christian related literature such as books on the book table that can be taken away. Other than that, its entirely up to you to use the opportunities that may arise naturally as you chat.

How much will it be? No cost at all to come, drink tea/ coffee and eat… there will be things available to buy at some of the tables but no one organising a table is seeing the night as an opportunity to make money - rather its an opportunity to bless us and share their passion/ work/ ideas… if people want to buy they can but there's no hard sell!

Please do invite friends, come along, and pray that the evening will be a small stepping stone in someone’s journey towards knowing Jesus.

For more information contact Karen Clark

Claire Percival writes:

Do I Know Enough?

‘What’s that?’ I asked Hannah, pointing to something in a church yard of ruins in Paphos.

‘A lump of stone?’

‘No, it’s St Paul’s Pillar.’ (Blank expression). ‘Do you know who St Paul was? He wrote some of the bible and was an early missionary.’

‘What’s a missionary?’

‘Someone who goes to tell others about Jesus, like Ruth and Noah’s families at Sunday School. But you don’t need to go to Papua New Guinea, or Latvia or Nigeria. You can do it at home, or at school or at work.’

‘But I don’t know enough!’ came the anguished response from a keen yet frustrated 4 year old.

‘That’s ok, we can read and learn more together. But you don’t need to wait until you know it all, you just need to tell people that Jesus is your friend and that he loves you and you love him...’

This whole conversation made me smile. Then it stopped me short in my tracks. After all, how often do I shy away from engaging in conversations because I feel that I don’t know enough? How many opportunities have I chosen to ignore? How many times have I walked away from a conversation kicking myself because I didn’t say enough. Or anything at all?

You see, we’re not all called to be missionaries, but we are all called to spread the good news of Jesus and his Salvation. We may not have the eloquence of preachers, but we do have the relationships with friends and families that lead to regular conversations and natural opportunities to share with them. We may feel that we don’t know that verse, or be able to quote that author, but we aren’t expected to be some mega encyclopaedia, rather we can be who we are…someone who has a living relationship with Jesus.

Matthew 22 v37-39 commands us to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ and to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ By simply doing what we can in sharing the good news of Jesus, we can show Christ’s love to those God has put around us.

Who has God put around you today? Pray that you might have opportunity to share something of the good news about what Jesus has done in your life with them.

For more about Women to Women, check out the website where you will find more articles and useful resources.