“A New Evangelistic Idea”

Monday, June 25, 2018

All right, it’s not totally new (Ecclesiastes 1:9). But I don’t hear many people talking about it these days. Everyone always seems to be looking for the latest gimmick or scheme for church growth. We have filmstrips, videos, lesson plans and suggestions galore. And, as long as they teach the truth, it really doesn’t matter which one you might be the most comfortable using.

But, may I suggest going back to a really old idea? Maybe it’s time to resurrect something that has worked for us in the past.

Why don’t we try to bring our lost friends and neighbors to our services so they can hear the gospel, be convicted by it and obey God’s plan for the salvation of their souls?

Now be honest. How long has it been since you personally brought a friend or neighbor with you to the regular worship services of the local church you are a part of? I don’t mean a Christian visiting from out of town, but a real life, bonafide sinner who needs to hear the gospel?

Some churches have had a “bring your neighbor” day with a special emphasis on doing just that. You may not be totally comfortable with that idea and yet, it does provide a format for those who are shy to invite their friends. That’s really the same principle as a gospel meeting. It’s a “bring your neighbor” week; we just don’t call it that.

However, it seems to me that we have all but quit trying to bring lost people to gospel meetings. We want them to come. But, they usually don’t. We expend lots of time, effort and money on a meeting. And we are satisfied if one or two guests show up all week long. In the last gospel meeting where you attend, how many non-Christians did you personally invite? We expect someone else to bring the guests. We are really disappointed if no one comes. But how much did we do toward getting non-Christians there? We either need to work at having a successful meeting or we need to stop wasting everybody’s time, money and energy.

The principle of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:7) teaches us that the results are proportionate to our efforts. In other words, if we continue to do the same things in the same way we have always done them, we will continue to get the same results. No one will come. If you think that’s acceptable, that’s between you and the Lord. But if you don’t think it’s enough, then we need to come up with a plan to do better.

Here’s a suggestion.

Plan your regular services in advance. Choose important sermons and coordinate the songs to go along with the lesson. Announce the sermon title at least a week in advance.

This will give everyone an opportunity to say to their friends, “Say, the lesson this week at services is going to be something I think you will really enjoy. We'd love to have you come.” Is that so hard? Can’t everyone do this?

This has the additional advantage of giving our guests the chance to hear the regular preacher, the one they will hear each week if they become a member. Often, they get excited about a gospel meeting preacher and then he goes back home and the person they hear at their next visit is someone very different. That doesn’t hurt anything, I guess, but it can set up false expectations and some disappointment on their part.

I recognize that announcing sermons a week or month ahead will require more organization on the part of the local preacher. And there will be times when the needs of the moment may require choosing a different sermon than the one previously announced. But the extra effort will be well rewarded.

However, the key is still going to be personal effort to invite lost souls. Those of us who have gotten out of the habit are going to have to get back into that habit. We need to pray about it and work much harder to bring our friends to hear the gospel.

Let me ask you again and I want you to give an honest answer. How long has it been since you even tried to get a guest to come to our services? If everyone else put the same amount of effort into bringing outsiders to worship, how many guests would ever come?

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

The gospel still has the power to save souls. But we have to get people there to hear it.

--Roger Hillis

Biblical Insights

August 2002

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