• Invite Your Friends to Church

    January 19, 2006

    Last night in our small group bible study we were having a discussion on sharing Jesus with others. There is a big challenge before us to share Jesus in a society where once we share our story the response is almost always “I am glad you found something good for you.”

    I think we are often scared of being rejected. Though, to me, this rarely happens. Usually its the response above, great for you, not for me.

    Our discussion turned to how do you share Jesus with people in this kind of culture? I am sure Lesslie Newbigin had some great thoughts in his book “The Gospel in a Pluralist Society” (which i should go back and read again) but i have forgotten them.

    When it all comes down to it. I just want my friends to meet Jesus. I mean, really meet Jesus.

    When it all comes down to it. I just want my friends to meet Jesus. I mean, really meet Jesus.
    I have wondered in the past (link) whether or not many of us “churchgoers” have even had that personal encounter with the risen messiah. I think the often trite sounding answer cannot be overlooked…Pray for the Holy Spirit to act.

    Seriously. Pray.

    On a practical level. I wonder if we have forgotten a simple practice. Inviting our friends into community with other people who have met Jesus (this is usually best and most easily practiced in the simple act of inviting them to church!).

    Jesus wasn’t kidding when he said that the world will know that we are his followers by the way that we love each other. (John 17)

    So, i think we need to start getting a little old school. how about inviting our friends to church. (or, if that is not possible, at least invite them to some consistent spaces where other believers are together and loving as Jesus loved).

    All our apologetics need to be backed up by 1) prayer 2) Christian community.

    Any other thoughts???

  • Comments on this Post:

    Comment by: Kevin


    1

    Todd, I’ve been feeling this since Wednesday night. I don’t have any morsels of wisdom to add. Except I’m on board with what you’re talking about. I don’t know if I ever told you this but the last week of my senior year of high school, my friend and I decided to streak through the school!
    We did it for fun and to make some kind of statement although I don’t know what we were trying to say.
    If I could run naked through my highschool, than sharing the hope of Jesus with people in this pluralistic society can’t be that hard.

    01/20/06 7:51 AM

    Comment by: Mike


    2

    Nice thoughts, both of you guys. Though Kevin, I’m not sure how the Lord would think about naked evangelism.
    Someone asked me Wednesday night if I would have been open (before I got saved) to someone sitting down with me one on one, sharing the gospel with me and calling attention to my sinful life. At the time I said I wouldn’t have listened but the more I’ve been thinking about it, the answer is I really don’t know. It’s impossible to assume that what happened to me is analogous to how either the Holy Spirit would work in a persons heart or their reactions to Him, but I never had a one on one talk.
    Rather, I was around people doing exactly what Todd suggested. The Word of God was on their lips and you could see the Spirit working in their hearts as they hung out with each other. When God finally got through to me, then, was when I compared what I had in my life and how my unsaved friends interacted with each other and how my saved friends did
    It’s actually quite possible that I would have been really turned off by a one on one chat cause I would’ve been felt I was singled out. God got my attention by putting me in community with believers, and again I know I can’t say this will work for everyone, it sure can’t hurt to try.

    01/20/06 9:07 AM

    Comment by: Kevin


    3

    Naked Evangelism…. hmmm… That sounds like a potential book title!

    01/20/06 1:18 PM

    Comment by: wezlo


    4

    Kevin, I’ll write it, but you’re doing the posing for the cover….

    01/23/06 2:10 PM

    Comment by: Gerald Hiestand


    5

    I’m all for old school! Preach it Pastor Todd!

    01/25/06 6:59 PM

    Comment by: Humble Servant


    6

    I think that inviting unsaved people to be around saved people is great. I’m not quite sure how the unsaved would feel about this. How would you feel if your unsaved friends invited you to a rave or some sort of dark drug saturated party? Would you be interested? Probably not. That is why Jesus said that those who are in the darkness prefer to stay in the darkness because they don’t want their sin to be exposed. Dark and Light simply don’t go together. But if they are willing to come, that means that they are searching. So invite, invite, invite! My concern however is for those who aren’t searching and are quite content enjoying the pleasures of sin. Should they be warned? Or should we just leave them alone until… or perhaps…”if” they decide to start searching.

    Charles Spurgeon has a way with words…a way to inspire others.I like a quoteof his that goes like this, “If sinners be dammed, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one GO there UNWARNED and UNPRAYED for.” That’s the way I see it as well. We should be warning people of their fate. Not just inviting them to church. I’ve been a christian all my life. I’m 28 now and I gave my life to Christ when I was 6, and there was never a time that I didn’t attend church. That’s a lot of Sundays, Wednesdays and special events. I’ve heard thousands of sermons, and never in my life have I understood Christianity like I have in the past few years. Look for the “way of the master” teachings and learn all that you can. I’ve been sharing salvation with my friends, ,family and even going out onto the street and striking up conversations with complete strangers. All my life of going to church and loving the Lord and I would have never shared the gospel with so many people if it wasn’t for the way of the master teahcings. There is not sufficient space to explain them now, but if you have a desire to win the lost, all you need now is the knowledge on how to do it. It will change your life. Who knows….maybe a few months to a year from now, you’ll be sharing the gospel with more people than you ever thought possible.

    Invite the seekers to church, but don’t forget about the majority that are in the world and have no interest in the church. They need to be warned more than the seeker. At least the seeker is aware that he needs something.

    02/6/06 4:09 PM

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