Event evangelism. Has it had its day? Not if you look at what is still happening in our churches in the School Holidays, at Easter and around Christmas. We still like to invite friends, family, neighbours, and colleagues to a gathering that isn’t church but where the hope is they might hear something of the gospel or even perhaps a very clear gospel presentation and a call to respond. Getting it right for everyone is pretty tricky. How do we make it outsider friendly? When will the talk be and for how long? What ought to happen around the talk time?

We often put a lot of effort into the event we are holding and possibly not as much effort and time into preparing ourselves beforehand. So, if you do go to an event as a believer, what should your attitude and actions be?

There are 3 things that need to inform our attitude.

1. Be convinced that God will work because Christ came to save sinners and God desires that all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4). He will work through the message of the gospel in power and the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 5:1, 2:13) and in you ‘to fulfil every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power’ (2 Thess. 1:11-12).

2. Be assured that the message is relevant because the gospel is the means of salvation for every single person and ‘God commands all people everywhere to repent’ (Acts 17:30-31).

3. Be aware that you have a role to play because the message is always delivered in a context. The relationship between the people who are listening is significant. In a very encouraging article about how sceptics have come to Christ, the number one influence was having a close relationship with a Christian who was patient and open with them (J. Harmon, worldviewbulletin.substack.com/p/what-ilearned- from-100-atheists) The New Testament exhorts Christians to live a life/walk in a manner worthy of the gospel (eg: 1 Thess. 2:11, Titus 2:11- 14, Eph. 4:1) speaking and walking in love (Eph. 4:15, 5:2), being wise (Eph. 5:10), pleasing to God and bearing fruit (Col. 1:10). Our friends and family see how we live, and they will have questions for us. It is up to us to be ready to answer them.

As for our actions, there are 6 ‘P’ things to do – two before the event and four at the event.

Before:

1. Pray. We know it is a spiritual act to be reconciled to God, to no longer be alienated and hostile to Him (Col 1: 21-22), and to be brought out from the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19-20). Not many come to Christ in one hearing of the gospel. God often draws people to himself over a long time. This event may be one of many things God is using to awaken people. We need to remember it is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict of sin (John 16:8) and that God will open hearts for people to pay attention and believe (as happened to Lydia in Acts 16) so we ask God to do just that.

2. Practice gospel speech. At the event the speaker is going to assume that believers will continue talking about the gospel issues, but often our church people are not ready or keen to do that! A bit of forethought and training does not go astray. A church which has learnt to love and speak gospel truths to one another is going to find it a lot easier to include the outsider in that sort of conversation. We have found it particularly effective at our church to model and expect that parishioners will talk about the sermon after the service and enquire after each other’s spiritual well-being. We also have open mic times of praise for answered prayer. Peter tells us to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that we have (1Peter 3:14-15) so we need to practice. To that end, running a course or including role playing (maybe during Bible Study) where the congregants are engaged in turning conversations to Jesus is very effective. There are a variety of courses around and you can visit the Evangelism and New Churches website to find out more. (encministries.org.au)

At the event:

1. Pay attention to what is said. For a lot of us we can tune out when we listen to a talk at an event, or we tune in to the illustration and miss the point. Try putting yourself in the shoes of the outsider. Listen so that you are internally asking questions of what is said and make a mental note of something that would be a good springboard for conversation.

2. Politely engage in conversation. We are not there to verbally pound people into submission. We want to be respectful and loving, having our conversation full of grace, seasoned with salt so that we can discern how to answer people when they have questions (Col 4: 5-6).

3. Prompt conversation by asking good questions! If you look at how Jesus engaged with people, he spent a lot of time asking them questions. Questions show that you are interested in others. They also allow people to gather their thoughts and provide the space to deal with spiritual things. After all, those invited guests know they’ve come to a Christian event. They know these kinds of topics are on the table. If you apply the above you can ask: ‘I thought it was interesting how the speaker said that the world’s complexity points to God, what were your thoughts on that?’

4. And lastly, prove that what was said out the front is true in your experience. Your ‘story’ is powerful. You are living proof that what the speaker said is true. Find ways to declare God’s excellencies to those around you (1 Peter 2:9-12) so that they know the gospel is transformational knowledge. I find that people gifted in evangelism have no trouble with this part (or any of the others actually!). They delight in telling others about how God has worked in their life. However, for your ‘average’ (especially Anglo) Christian speaking up about the goodness of God to them in salvation does not come as easily. This is where ‘God talk’ is good to model and teach (see point 2 Practice Gospel Speech) so that we are ready to be engaged in it with outsiders.

Sarah Seabrook is a Trainer and Evangelist at Evangelism and New Churches (ENC) in Sydney.