Evangelism Is a Community Project

I’m reading through a book called “Total Church” right now. It’s by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, British co-founders of a church-planting initiative called The Crowded House. It’s been delightful.

In short, the authors call us to structure our ideas of how to “do church” around two realities: gospel and community. I find the implications of this for evangelism to be life-giving. Rather than advocating door-to-door evangelism or street preaching (which certainly have their place but tend to be a-relational), Chester and Timmis envision a three-strand model of evangelism involving building relationships, sharing the gospel, and introducing people to community. This is based in part on Jesus’ words to the disciples in John 13:35 — “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Here’s what this looks like practically. This makes me excited:

So often the call to evangelism produces guilt and despondency. This is due in part to ungodly attitudes such as pride and the fear of man. Paul is clear in 1 Corinthians that we have a “foolish” message to proclaim in a foolish manner (1:18-2:5). So evangelism often makes us look foolish, and few people relish that prospect.

However, not all of us are eloquent or engaging. Not everyone can think on their feet. Some people are simply not good at speaking to strangers and forming new friendships. One of the practical benefits of the three-strand model of evangelism is that it gives a role to all of God’s people. By making evangelism a community project, it also takes seriously the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in distributing a variety of gifts among his people. Everyone has a part to play — the new Christian, the introvert, the extrovert, the eloquent, the stuttering, the intelligent, the awkward. I may be the one who has begun to build a relationship with my neighbor, but in introducing him to community, it is someone else who shares the gospel with him. That is not only legitimate — it is positively thrilling! Pete may never share the gospel verbally with Duncan, but his welcome and love are an integral part of the evangelistic process and should be honored as such. Meanwhile Susan can make friends and introduce them to the community, confident that others will present them — at an appropriate point in an appropriate way — with the challenges of the gospel. It is lovely to think of us making up for one another’s deficiencies with our collective community strengths.

If evangelism is a community project, our different gifts and personalities can complement one another. Some people are good at building relationships with new people. Some are socialites — the one who will organize a trip or an activity. Some people are great at hospitality. Some are good at initiating gospel conversations. Some are good at confronting heart issues. In each case I can think of individuals in our small congregation who fit the bill. I am not good at any of these things. I was the one who did evangelistic Bible studies with Al. At the end I said, “You ought to be baptized,” and he said, “Okay.” Simple as that! But I would never have got that far if I had not been part of a team. (Pages 62-63)