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This resource, called “Structures” is in the form of a 7-day mini seminar presented by “Everyday Evangelism”. Please subscribe to my E-zine for more Outreach tips. The links to the other days follow the article. Thank you so much for dropping by.
I feel this is an essential ingredient of evangelism that is given the least (if any) consideration. Pro-actively giving a relevant word to a particular culture is a very complicated procedure in itself. Remember, even God laid out a plan spanning thousands of years incorporating creation to redemption to restoration and wrote it down (the Bible)!
I’m sure most of us have attempted or completed a Jigsaw. What is the most important part? I have heard many answers to this question. Everything from the corner pieces to the border. I think the crucial component is the Box lid! How hard is it to do a complex puzzle without the big picture! I would venture to say even the success or failure to complete a jigsaw can rest with having the big picture. Yet, how often do we (or our church) have evangelism activities with no ongoing plan or ‘Big Picture’ in mind? Of course a series of evangelism ‘one offs’ can yield good results, but nowhere near (I feel) the impact of a well thought out, prayed through ongoing evangelism plan. As I said earlier, God did this with us showing us who He is in his Word and outlining His plan from Genesis to Revelation through His son, Jesus. Please, let me further explain what I mean.
Plans basically consist of Goals and Desires. These two things are very different indeed and well worth a closer examination. Desires are something we would love to see happen, but have NO control over. Goals are things we DO HAVE control over and are usually thought of in terms of being time limited, measurable and achievable. Let me give an example. One Desire might be to “Bring golfers in my local Golf Club to the Lord”. This is a great Desire, but it still is a Desire (not a Goal) because you don’t have control of the outcome. It is God who brings people into His Kingdom, not us (thank God!). We also have no control over other’s responses to what the Holy Spirit prompts us to say and do. A Goal might be “I (or our group) will attend six open golf days at our local club over the next twelve months”. Time limited? Yep, Twelve months. Measurable? Yep, did we actually go! Achievable? Yep, we didn’t overburden ourselves with something we couldn’t do.
I believe it is most important we understand the difference between ‘Desires’ and ‘Goals’. From our Desires come our Goals. I find it so amazing that time after time, when I implement evangelism Goals (things I HAVE control over) so many of my Desires (things I have NO control over) come about. As God call us to do things we can do (a lot only through His strength!), He does things only He can do. What an awesome God we have!
In evangelism, one thing we need to know before we start formulating a plan is what we actually want to do. In other words, what are our ‘Desires’? These must come about through prayer and the particular burdens God is placing on our hearts. Now we can start brainstorming all our desires for the particular situation concerned. I find a very helpful way is for the team (or handpicked representatives) to put forward ideas while one person writes everything said on a whiteboard. From this we can establish our initial evangelism Goals. Remember the previous example? The desire was “Bring golfers in my local Golf Club to the Lord”. Maybe during the brainstorming somebody mentioned the open golf days. From this Desire and brainstorm came the evangelism Goal of “attending six open golf days at our local club over the next twelve months”. I know this is simple, but how many of us actually do this on a regular basis?
Another important aspect in evangelism is ‘Theme”. Themes are merely different aspects of the culture we are brainstorming. Yesterday, I mentioned the pre-school example in my church. One theme that stood out to me was ‘Busyness (run in / run out)’. The activities I suggested all involved little time. The E-zine is quite short with clear links back to the church. This can also be read at a convenient hour. I also mentioned the repeating Puppet Show. A short show right where the parents are at the pre-school. They only have to stay on for a few minutes and the children could be given a sample bag to take away. One of the focuses here is the theme of ‘busyness’. I’m not sure an invite to a puppet show at church would have had the same impact. It may certainly work later as both parents and children connect more with our church. Similarly, a large informative Magazine may be put aside to ‘read later’, in reality never. As a parent is reading the E-zine, links to the church website can be clicked on instantly, connecting the parent through relevant information on the site.
During our brainstorming session of the pre-school we identified our main Desires. From there we came up with 10+ Goals. We then came up with 30+ Themes. After this we suggested two relevant and targeted evangelism strategies (E-zine and Puppet Show) based on Culture and Themes. This is really not a hard thing to do once the basics are known.
How many of us really (through much prayer and the Holy Spirit) develop good evangelism plans with clear Goals and Desires taking into account themes and culture?
May God bless you in all your endeavors.
Captain Andrew D. Carter Dip. Ev., CA.
“Everyday Evangelism”
www.everyday-evangelism.com.au
My parting thoughts for now:
Pick the primary people group you wish to (or are) engaging with. Are the Desires and Goals clear and understood by the whole team?
In what ways do the strategies aimed at the above group take into account Themes and Culture?
Links to the other days:
Day 1; Day 2; Day 3; Day 4; Day 5; Day 6; Day 7.
Link to other Resources.
I would like to give you many more thoughts on evangelism. Please subscribe to my free E-zine at the Top.
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