The 3 elements that make evangelism possible for all!

Phil Worthington is the Elim Evangelism Lead for Evangelism Culture and is travelling the UK sharing how everyone can evangelise. He told Direction about his new course on Kingdom Culture

Think of an evangelist and you might well picture a larger-than-life character on stage fluently wowing a crowd with a strong message about faith. But, in reality, most people are gently evangelised by someone they know over a period of time.

Every Christian has it in them to evangelise, says Phil Worthington, which is why he has launched a course focusing on three key elements to help us all become more confident at it.

With a secure identity in Christ, an understanding that we are all authorised to be ambassadors for God, and with the backing of “embassy” churches, we are well equipped, he says.

Here, he talks us through each of these areas.

IDENTITY

It’s not about church…

One of the first things Phil teaches is that a strong faith should be centred around Jesus. It is he who gives us a secure identity from which we can be confident to evangelise, he explains.

He warns that many people fall away because they are invited to church – rather than Jesus.

They are invited to great kids work, amazing worship or a great community, and while all of those are good, they are not the gospel – Jesus is.

“Church is great, but it’s not perfect. The minute any issues arise, people think God has let them down. They fall away because they were sold the wrong gospel in the first place.”

…it’s about Jesus

“Instead, we should tell people about Jesus, how he will never let them down, no matter how good or bad church is,” says Phil.

He has his own test imony of l i fe changed by Jesus.

“Before I became a Christian I never felt I fitted in at church.

“I used to dress in a long black trench coat and Doc Martens, trying to look intimidating. But I looked like a fat version of Neo from the Matrix and wouldn’t have said boo to a goose.

“When I came to Christ I found myself transformed. God gave me a new identity and I became a different person; confident and happy to speak on stage.

“Seeing that transformation was a powerful testimony to my brother who eventually came to Christ too.”

Phil warns how easy it is to miss Jesus out, citing how Speaking of Jesus author Carl Medearis once asked workshop attendees to share the most important words they associated with the gospel. After a few minutes they had a whole whiteboard full of words but Jesus had never been mentioned!

“Let’s make sure we’re signing ourselves and others up to the right gospel. Let’s keep it about Jesus.

“If you get your identity right in him you’ll gain the confidence that brings and be able to share about him in a natural and easy way,” he explains.

AMBASSADORS

Are you provocative?

“As Christians we are Kingdom ambassadors, called to evangelism and authorised to share the gospel,” says Phil.

This means Peter 3:15’s call to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have” is a key instruction.

But watch out, he says, because teaching on this verse can miss one essential point.

“Pastors and evangelists often home in on the instruction to ‘be prepared’, leaving people believing they need to do as many courses as possible and have the whole of Genesis memorised backwards before they can ever talk to people.

“But what this verse actually says is to be prepared to give an answer ‘to anyone who asks you’ about your hope.

“The biggest issue is that often we’re not being asked anything because we’re not living hope-filled lives that provoke questions.”

An Englishman in New York

What does a provocative life look like? Phil says it’s a bit like when he was living in America and his Britishness was distinctive and unmissable.

“If we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, our Kingdom culture should naturally exude from us wherever we go,” he says. “The way we talk and react should provoke questions, just like when I was a Brit in America. In his book The Provocative Church, Graham Tomlin says we need to be people who live provocative lives in the best sense; so people look at us and see hope, joy and life – and want it for themselves.”

A tale from a till

Phil had another experience of this back in the UK. While queuing at a till he was reading a Christian book. The cashier asked what he was reading, so he explained it was a book about Jesus.

“She told me she used to go to church, then pulled out some till roll and asked me to write down the name of the book. Then the lady behind asked if she could have it too. All I was doing was reading a book. My point is that if we are from a certain culture we exude it no matter where we are and it causes people to ask questions.

“And since we are all ambassadors of Christ, we can have confidence to answer them. Our answer does not have to be a five-point Bible tract or an exegesis of Revelation, we just need to know the reason we have hope.”

EMBASSIES

Sovereign soil

Ambassadors are based in embassies, so our churches should be like embassies, says Phil.

“These places are sovereign soil; if you step into a British embassy anywhere in the world, you’re on British soil despite physically being overseas.

“When you step into a church you should find yourself on sovereign soil too; the soil of the Kingdom of God, where the atmosphere is different and you can learn about or be welcomed as if you already have citizenship.”

Have you got your phrase book?

These days, we can’t expect visitors to our services to have any understanding of church culture or language, says Phil. That’s why he is writing a “Kingdom Phrase Book” – a booklet explaining terms like ‘baptism’, ‘the blood of Jesus’ and ‘communion’.

“Part of being an embassy is being welcoming. How can we make sure our services are accessible for anyone with no church background, while also not losing the distinctiveness of our Kingdom culture?”

Don’t discard your culture

“The temptation for a lot of churches is to make themselves look a lot like the world to make people feel comfortable, but we need to welcome people without discarding our culture.

“Like in an embassy, we can make people feel welcome and included without sacrificing who we are – as ambassadors for Jesus, secure in our identity in him, welcoming people not just into our churches but into the Kingdom.”

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.