A. The Master Plan.
The overall plan of evangelism is to conduct evangelistic
training, pray, rely on the Holy Spirit, go and witness, and leave the results
to God.
1. Leaders Must Train People to Evangelize.
Missionaries and pastors should prompt their congregations to
evangelize.Leaders set an example by evangelizing. Someone wrote, “Evangelism
is more caught than taught.” In other words, disciples catch onto evangelism by
going to evangelize with more experienced witnesses. It is good to learn the
basics of evangelism in a classroom, but most evangelistic skill is learned
through practice.When an experienced witness evangelizes together with a less
experienced disciple, the disciple participates in witnessing when he feels
comfortable in doing so. The disciple will learn more with each household
visited. In many places, door-to-door personal evangelism produces many
converts. In other places, other forms of evangelism may be more effective.Churches
that have strong outreach and discipleship programs often are the churches that
grow. If a church has an insufficient number of people to support the work of
the church, and to support the pastor, that church may be weak in evangelism.
So the pastor may need to concentrate on outreach.
2. Pray.
As with all ministry, the work should be preceded by prayer. Pray
before going,while evangelizing, and after evangelizing. The Apostle Paul said
that we should put on the whole armor of God to combat spiritual enemies. A key
part of that armor is prayer.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers,against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers
and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all
the saints. 19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given
me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,for which I
am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
(Ephesians 6:12,18-20 NIV).
One of the greatest needs in evangelism is willing workers. The
harvest is plenty,but the workers are few. Before Jesus sent out the
seventy-two disciples to evangelize, he told them to ask the Lord of the
Harvest to send workers (see Luke 10:2).
3. Rely on the Power of the Holy Spirit.
If we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we have received
the Holy Spirit. So we now rely on the Spirit to go ahead of us and provide
opportunities for us to share the Gospel. We rely on the Holy Spirit to convict
people of their sin, and to lead them to the truth of Jesus Christ (see John
16:7-11).
One of the ways that the Spirit leads people to Christ is by
performing miraculous signs such as healing. I know of a group of Christians
who share Christ among Muslims. According to the Muslim faith, Jesus was a
prophet. The Muslim Scripture—the Qur’an—teaches that Muslims should study the
Gospels in the Bible. The Bible teaches that Jesus miraculously healed many
people. So this group of Christians simply goes to the Muslims and prays in the
name of Jesus that their sick people be healed. When the sick are healed, some
of the Muslims believe in Christ. The Muslims have seen the power of Christ
working through
the Holy Spirit.
Jesus ministered in power.
You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after
the baptism that John preached— how God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went
around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil,
because God was with him. (Acts 10:37-38).
The Apostle Paul spread the Gospel by the power of the Holy
Spirit.My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,but
with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest
on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Cor. 2:4,5 NIV).
I have seen and heard of people being miraculously healed by the
power of the Holy Spirit. But not all people are physically healed. It is not
God’s purpose that people be continually healed so they live forever in this
world. So we pray in the name of Jesus for healing according to the will of
God.
4. Take the Church to the People.
Evangelism generally is not bringing people to the church. Rather,
evangelism is taking the church to the people. Evangelism involves going out
and presenting the Gospel, and winning converts. Once the people are believers,
they will want to meet with other Christians of the church.
5. Leave the Results to God.
We pray and evangelize in the power of the Holy Spirit. We follow
evangelism with discipleship. Then we leave the results to God. We can’t save
the lost. We can only present the Good News, and rely upon God to save sinners.
(For details and for free
course visit <www.missionstraining.org>)
