“…these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13b
Evangelistic strategies are legion. Methods like The Roman Road, Evangelism Explosion (the Baptist version called Continuous Witnessing Training), the Sunday School Growth Spiral, church revivals, seeker services, evangelistic handouts, Becoming A Contagious Christian and more have been used for years with varying degrees of success. As one method fell out of favor and a new or repackaged method was introduced, it came with the promise that it was “the” strategy that would reach the world.
Of course, all of this was well-meant, and thankfully some people were brought into Christ’s kingdom as a result. Nevertheless, I find it interesting that you can find no discernable, evangelistic strategy in the ministry of Jesus. For instance, His approach with the woman at the well was totally different than how He dealt with Nicodemus. The same is true for the early church. Certainly, there was the core gospel message, but it wasn’t wrapped in some kind of program package. Instead its power came from the quality of the relationship that the believers had with their Lord.
The pastor of our church dubbed this as being a “withness” witness. I think he’s onto something. As our country becomes increasingly less churched, people will be more resistant if not hostile to many of the evangelism strategies that try to persuade people to the faith by their words alone. Instead what people need is to experience believers who show clear evidence that they have been with Jesus and are becoming increasingly like Him in attitude, word and deed.
Can you imagine the impact on the unbelieving world if they encountered Christians who exhibited more and more of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives? What would happen if Christ-followers of today would follow His pattern of emptying themselves of selfish ambition in order to become humble servants? How many sin-hardened hearts would be melted if they came into contact with believers who truly loved one another even when loving was hard? I think it would be revolutionary.
The key to getting there is not to create a training program or course to follow. Rather it is to be with Jesus. I’m thinking of spending time with Him in the gospels. Opening your soul to Him in quietness. Reflecting on who He is and who you are in comparison. It’s day after day after day of being with Him that changes us into becoming like Him.
Of course, not all will be reached this way. They weren’t for Jesus especially those who felt religiously superior. But for the masses of people who have given up hope in any organized religion and aren’t interested in our well-reasoned presentations, some of them will be drawn to Him, because they can see that we have been with Him. As a result, they will recognize that we have something in us they don’t have but desperately want: freedom from the chains of materialism, a joyful hope regardless of the circumstances, a gracious spirit that feels no need to condemn, a trustworthy authenticity and above all a transforming love that sees the possibility of what a person can become if they too will learn to be with Jesus.
Withness evangelism. How the world needs it.