What Never Works in Personal Evangelism
“We’ve used ‘House to House,’ and never really got any contacts.”
“Door knocking just doesn’t work in our area.”
“We had a huge Fall festival and almost no one came.”
“We tried Facebook ads, and it just flamed out with no real response.”
Do any of these sound vaguely familiar? Oh, the specifics might be different, but I have heard similar things said nearly countless times. And, to be honest, I have said similar things more times than I care to admit.
I’m spending quite a lot of time currently preparing for a class that is coming up quickly. The elders at Central asked me to teach a Bible class in our Fall quarter dealing with personal evangelism. Honestly, it is one of the most humbling things I have ever done because preparing for this class has shown me how woefully inadequate I am to teach it, but also, it has exposed my own lack of trust and work. I pray it is motivating me to do better, even before the class starts!
But one thing that studying, praying, and thinking has helped me realize goes back to those statements that began this post. It may be true that you–or your congregation–have tried something and it just “didn’t work.” Maybe you got together a huge door-knocking campaign and did not set up a single Bible study. There is no doubt those things are frustrating.
Here is what I know for a fact, though. There is one thing that absolutely does not work in personal evangelism. It never has worked and it never will work.
What is it?
Doing nothing.
Instead of bemoaning that having a Fall festival didn’t produce the results you might have wanted, pick yourself up and try again or try something else. Just because knocking doors that one time didn’t work doesn’t mean it won’t this time (or in a different neighborhood). If the Facebook ads didn’t bring people to your VBS, try it again, or try something different.
This has to be something that would be a football team’s defensive coordinator’s dream: an all-out blitz on every play! It is not that we try something once and then bemoan that it didn’t work. It is that we try it again, along with something else…and something else…and something else.
Will we see results? YES. Oh, it may not be the results you might envision. Only God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). But if we are not taking the Word and doing constant soil cultivation, we are missing potential open doors all the time.
But doing nothing? I will guarantee: that doesn’t work.
“A sower went out sow…” (Matthew 13:3)
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
