What do you think are some of the top priorities for Churches today? Some of the basic yet important criteria for the Church today are, to have a facility to accommodate large number of people and to own that facility where regular Sunday services and programs happen during the week and month. In addition to this Churches maintain different teams like worship team, Church committee, finance team, youth team, children clubs, prayer team, women’s meeting, etc. Most likely it can be seen as the Church today replicating a perfectly organized institution and a religious entity serving their affiliated members through the years. Though these are great, this wasn’t the model for the early Church in the Bible. Being organized is good but the institutional framework can lead to monotony without any influence in community or society. Once people congregate in large numbers, we are focused on financial security and Church management. Mega Churches provide yet another perk that is anonymity and less accountability for a Church goer.
If observed closely, we are giving an impression to Christians that loving God is expressed through church attendance and being part of different church programs but the love for God is rarely expressed through loving, serving people and bringing peace in their chaos. Evangelism is probably the most difficult area of a Christian life. With the culture growing increasingly hostile to Christianity, it’s much easier to avoid this awkward calling, to give in to fear and keep the good news to us. Jim Donohue puts his observation in one of his articles states, “this pressure results in many churches adding members almost exclusively through transfer growth (Christians leaving one church for another) as opposed to conversion growth (non-Christians coming to Christ).” We know that God wants the church to reach the lost, but how do we change to this?
Paul emphasizes in Ephesians 4 to prioritize the role of the evangelist. Most of the Church neither have a Gospel outreach team nor an evangelist. Until the church seriously plans to have these there won’t be a big impact of life transformation that can be witnessed. If you are a pastor who wants your church to grow in reaching unbelievers, then it is strongly recommended to identify an evangelist who can solely be dedicated to this task. The evangelist along with the gospel outreach team of the Church can slowly but surely equip every believer to be a witness who can share the gospel on a daily, weekly or monthly basis demonstrating their obedience to the Great Commission.
Some Churches have an evangelist in some part of the country, in a remote village who are supported by the church. They are shown as Church missionaries who once in a year make a visit to the Church inducing the commitment of the believers in give mission offerings. Church growth is a concern for many Churches but not a concern like Christ. Jesus was constantly taking the good news to all towns and villages to give an opportunity to every person in hearing the good news at least once. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, but Churches today are comfortable with the saved and train their whole life to be a better church attender and a giver. We downplay evangelism for reasons only God knows. Do not forget, Jerusalem Church had a Gospel outreach committee/team who sent Paul and Barnabas to go to the gentiles for gospel outreach work and were also asked to remember the poor which is one of the ways to give to the Lord (Galatians 2:9-10). These missionaries were not only self-supported but raised considerable amounts to address the needs of the poor. Such giving today are substituted with Old Testament tithes to make people comfortable in one-time minimum giving for their satisfaction.
You may not feel uniquely gifted in many areas, but you can “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5) by bringing leadership, resources and encouragement to your point person who may be more gifted. Result, your church will follow your example as you prioritize reaching the lost.
You may read the last blog HERE
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