Motivation: sometimes we feel that that’s the crucial missing piece in seeing our fellowship move forward in effective evangelism!
Here then are six possible ways we can ask God to help us in tackling this…
First, let’s start by recognizing that we (meaning, any of us) genuinely can build commitment by modelling, by example. Some of us doubt whether God could possibly be capable of creating anything in us that could ever be a good example to others! But he does (fortunately it’s his work, not ours!) And, we may be a particularly effective model if evangelism is not our personal gifting, not something we’re very good at (see 1 Cor 1:27!), and yet we do some of it anyway! Leadership by example is actually a thoroughly biblical idea: Paul, for instance, tells the young church in Corinth, ‘Follow my example as I follow Christ’s example’ (1 Cor 11:1). In reality, we do tend to follow examples set by one another. When someone joins a new church, for example, or when a Christian student first comes to university, they may well look around ‑ unconsciously, perhaps ‑ and observe what faith means in other people’s lives there. How do people here spend their time? What do they live for? What part does evangelism really play in their lifestyle? Or prayer, come to that, or the Bible? Enthusiastic commitment is infectious (so indeed is cynicism): if, even with all your weaknesses, you’re living for God and drawing on his strength to keep you from discouragement, God will slowly give you likeminded people who share some of your dreams. Remember too that it’s always easier to mobilise by sharing enthusiasm than by guilt!
Secondly – if this is something we can affect – we build commitment by good teaching. If there’s a general feeling around us of sluggishness, maybe we should take a hard look at the spiritual growth topics that are the priority for our current programme. Are the topics we’ve chosen genuinely ones we all need to help us grow in discipleship and mission, practically and relevantly? Also, are we occasionally bringing in outside speakers who are really gifted by God to give us a vision for what he wants to do with us, for why we’re here? Or what about using videos, like for example one of J John’s on youtube, `How to share the gospel` or `Sharing your faith`?
What passages of Scripture can help us with motivation for evangelism? Many do ‑ even some unexpected ones! Some of our fellowship may somehow have been trained by past experience simply to be a positive but passive audience, positive enough in church but not taking much action outside meetings; and then they need to hear Ephesians 4, that God gives ‘each one of us’ a part to play (v7), and that his Body only grows and builds itself up as ‘each part’ does its indispensable work (v16). Or, maybe we’ve got the common problem of people seeing the Christian community as a fortress, not an army, and it’s the ‘outward‑bound’, adventurous nature of discipleship that needs to be shared: that we’re followers of a Christ who came into the world to ‘seek and save that which was lost’ (Luke 19:10), who wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), and who now challenges us, ‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you’ (John 20:21). Or, maybe we need to absorb the fact that the prime purpose of the Spirit’s coming, according to Jesus, was not just for our own blessing but to equip us to impact the world (Acts 1:8); and indeed that, if we aren’t giving ourselves in love for the lost world, we aren’t growing much like the God who `so loved the world that he gave His only Son’ (John 3:16) at all!
Or, if we’re struggling with a group mentality that’s a bit afraid of stepping out, we might like to plunge into the old testament and study Joshua ‑ that book of breakthroughs and conquests by the power of God, with just a few blunders and defeats, as there usually will be – and in particular to compare its opening few verses with the end of the first chapter of Judges (the book, in contrast, of decline and disintegration). You know which of the two situations you want to be in, and you’ll want people to see the point of these passages: when we go forward in faith, like Joshua, God goes with us; when we settle down in disobedience to God’s call to mission, we decay inside, and we end up losing what we think we have. Or again, maybe we find it hard to think of ourselves ‑ with all our weaknesses ‑ as the bridgehead of God’s power where we are; again we could consider 1 Corinthians 1, and Paul’s comforting insistence that God has chosen ‘the foolish things… the weak things… the lowly things’ to accomplish His purposes (vv26‑31)! And perhaps most important, every year or so: do we all need helping with how practically to deepen our central, empowering relationship with God, as we meet with him in Bible reading and in prayer each day?
If we really want to see our church’s culture changed in a way that reflects the priority of Jesus’ outreach to the lost, this will need to keep on being focused from upfront. (It can be very valuable too, if there’s an evangelist in your church, for them to be on the leadership team, so that that team’s deliberations and plans aren’t just inward-looking.)
Then thirdly: we motivate by clear objectives. Unless our fellowship’s direction is clear, and its value likewise, we maybe shouldn’t expect people to be committed! Our evangelistic aims do need to be expressed clearly, and enthusiastically!, in terms of our vision for a particular season, term, or maybe year. If you’re a leader, God has overruled that you should come into leadership; and that means he has promised you the wisdom (see James 1:5) to think prayerfully where the fellowship should go during the period to come, and then to share that helpfully with the group. Unless our direction is clear, and its value is obvious, we can’t expect people to be committed. In particular, at any point people should be very aware of the next outreach they’re praying towards, and, yes, praying to bring their friends to!
Fourthly, we can build commitment by news from elsewhere. Keep an ear out for people who have seen God break through in a situation not too dissimilar to yours, and get them a slot on your programme. Conferences can be treasure houses for this: what stories can we take home of God using very ordinary people like ourselves? And maybe the God of those places is God of our city too?! (Remember too that some of our fellowship members may have hardly seen anyone turn to the Lord and find it hard to imagine it happening. Who else is there among your members, or your friends from elsewhere, who can share their story as a living proof of what can occur?)
Fifthly – perhaps this should have come earlier! – we build commitment by praying, systematically, by name, for each of our fellow brothers and sisters. (Look at how Paul prays for his friends in Eph 1:15‑19 or Col 1:9‑12. Why not follow his example in your own prayer time, one night each week?) Also we build commitment by pastoring. There are many things that can cripple our willingness to venture out for God: sin; doubt; old emotional wounds; past occult involvement; wrong relationships; grudges; guilt… God calls us to care for one another, to love one another, and as we pray, God may help us sense that something is hindering a brother or sister from really going forward with him. We may be wrong ‑ or we may be right, and perhaps he will use us sensitively to talk it through and pray together, so that our friend can be liberated for the kingdom’s work. (Sometimes the problem can be something beyond our experience to help; we can’t be experts in everything. And that’s why if you’re a leader it’s good to keep a list of people who have expertise in areas you don’t, pastorally especially; because one day God may want us to link a friend up with someone, maybe from another town or another church, who has that experience that they need.)
And lastly, of course, we motivate by providing training that gives our group members confidence. Many people are scared to witness for Jesus because they feel inadequate; but if they’ve benefited from some good, practical training in what this means in day to day life, that can change dramatically! The best thing is to invite an experienced evangelist to be with you – both to share in some services and do some training, but also to take people out in practical neighbourhood evangelism. Otherwise though there are lots of good training resources available; or perhaps https://petelowmanresources.com/category/foundations-course/foundations-2/ may give you some raw material for this, to adapt for your own situation…
I pray that some of us may find some of these things good ways forward in our own situation; because heaven and hell are genuinely at stake for those around us; and God loves them passionately, and his Spirit longs to reach out to them through us!!
