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Relational Evangelism Road Trip Tip: Make Friends for Jesus Sake!
By chris | May 17, 2008
“Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.” (2 Corinthians 5:11)
It is great to be in church. I look forward to being with my small group Bible study each week. I even look forward to seeing my friends in the lobby of our church. It is a great time for catching up with each other and exchanging updates from continuing conversations with brother and sisters in Christ.
But each Sunday in the crowd usually is another person standing off to the side. It is the person we do not know yet. We see them there, we want them to feel welcome, but the conversation and the news of the week, the ongoing conversation with friends at church seems to take up the bulk of our time—it is not that we don’t want to greet them, we just don’t know what to say. Small talk is so hard sometimes.
The unfortunate problem in most churches these days is that a majority of church members never greet the guests and new comers who come to our churches. Do you greet new people you see in church on a regular basis?
We have a lot of great opportunities to talk with our friends at church. I believe we should do even more than we usually do. We ought to call on each other more often during the week—why fellowship only one or two days per week?
But the urgency of the gospel requires us to leave our agenda and have an agenda for bringing people to Jesus. So we should make sure we keep the focus more on meeting the new people who come to church. Try to make Sunday the day you give more of your best efforts to meeting the guest who come to your church.
Be a good witness for Jesus. Decide to make friends for Jesus sake! Make it a point to get to know the new people who come to your church. Take the initiative to say “hello” to new people you see in your church. If you have a great conversation going with a friend from your Sunday School class, invite the new person to join in your conversation. Introduce them to others. Make it a point to get to know others, listen to them and remember their name. It is so simple anyone can do it.
Don’t worry people will be overwhelmed by too many people greeting them. The honest truth is we don’t have enough people greeting the new people in church. A majority of people who visit our churches are never greeted by anyone when they visit. Imagine how isolated that feels when you see others talking and having a good time all around you? All it takes is a smile and a warm greeting to make a person feel welcomed.
As you get to know people, help them network with the people they need to meet. If they are new in town, they may have a need for professional services (doctor, dentist, Realtor, etc). You can recommend people who can help them settle in. If they are not new, you may discover their interests or profession may be similar to someone else you know. Introduce them to people who have the same profession or interests who are also believers in Jesus. Make friends for Jesus!
Topics: Evangelism |