By Pastor Stephen Hess –
As we have been working our way through the book of Acts this year, one of the themes that has repeatedly come up is the call for God’s people to engage in evangelism. At the very beginning of the book, Jesus says to his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This is a reminder that to be a Christian is to be a witness. We are all called to share the good news of Jesus Christ with our community and with the world.
But this leaves us with a difficult question: How can we go about engaging in evangelism? Even if we know that sharing the gospel is important, many of us struggle with where to begin. When the American church has thought about evangelism in recent decades, we have often focused primarily on how to get people to come to us. We host events at our churches that we think will appeal to non-believers and then encourage church members to invite their friends. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with this approach and as a Pastor I always encourage people to invite their friends to church. But we must recognize that this method of evangelism will probably become less effective in the coming years. As America becomes more secular, many people are less likely than ever to enter the doors of a church. Therefore, as missionary Elliot Clark says, “We need to recognize that the greatest hope for our unbelieving neighbors isn’t them coming to us, but God sending us to them.”
We need to reframe our approach to evangelism and ask how we can reach non-Christians in our community by going to them. What are some ways we can do this? One simple approach is to be intentional about regularly inviting non-Christian neighbors, friends, and co-workers into your home for a meal. To quote again from Elliot Clark, “Inviting others to our own tables can be an important first step to an effective evangelistic strategy. People who would never cross the threshold of a church will still walk through your front door. People who are indifferent to religion or disinclined to Christianity will still appreciate a friendly dinner invitation. They’ll gladly accept a free meal and, in the process, may just listen to you rejoice in free forgiveness.” As you invite people into your home you will develop relationships that may eventually provide open doors to talk with others about your faith. As people come to your house, they will have an opportunity to see you represent Jesus through the way you live your life.
This approach to evangelism is modeled for us in the Bible. Shortly after the disciple Matthew (also known as Levi) was called to follow Jesus, he opened up his home to friends and former colleagues: “Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with him” (Lk. 5:29). The Pharisees criticized the disciples for eating with sinners. But Jesus responded by saying, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Lk. 5:31-32). Jesus’ words here are a reminder that his mission and the mission of those who follow him is to seek the lost, and one of the primary ways we can do that is by sitting down for a meal with those who don’t know him.
In this way, we can engage in evangelism through simple acts of hospitality. Too often our hospitality in the church is limited to other Christians, but Jesus calls us to a wider hospitality. We are called to show hospitality to the lost in hopes that they too will see what it looks like to be a disciple and follow Jesus as well.