“The evangelism that the church is to practice should resemble the way Polynesians catch fish. We must do it together, and we do it by inviting our nonbelieving friends to the party. We let the grace that we have been lavishing on one another spill out onto the nonbelievers among us. There is nothing wrong with personal evangelism. Philip, in Acts, was a great personal evangelist, but he is the exception and not the norm. What we have done by stressing personal evangelism is discourage more Christians from evangelizing. We have made it the “gift” of a few, rather than the practice of a community. Philip won people to Christ, but not as many as the community of believers who were partying in Jerusalem did. Luke describes their activities: “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2: 46–47).”
“Every Christian knows, or at least should know, that they have been given a gift or gifts from God. When you use your gifts to grace believers, we call that edification, but when you use your gifts to grace nonbelievers—when you pour out God’s grace upon them—we call that evangelism. This is what I call party evangelism. Every one of us, then, has a part in the evangelistic mission of the church. Your job, along with other believers, is to grace the socks off the nonbelievers around you.”
John Leonard
So, if we are thinking, praying, and acting more intentionally with our friends and neighbors, what would happen if we didn’t just do this on our own, but as a community in the church?
John Leonard puts it provocatively above as “party evangelism,” which we’ve highlighted before on Outward OPC. The idea is that you don’t have to do this on your own. As Leonard puts it, you aren’t out fishing with a rod as we commonly think. Jesus was talking about fishing with nets and you can’t do that on your own.
What would incorporating other Christians into your new intentionality among friends and neighbors look like?
-How about a game night with Christian friends where you invite some friends or neighbors who are not Christians and have a good time together? Let them get to know other Christians.
-Most people have at least a couple of backyard cookouts (or insert your regional term) each summer. Maybe one of them could more intentionally include neighbors and friends along with a bunch of Christian friends. Maybe pick one later in the summer so you and your fellow Christians can pray for the people you will invite.
-Do you play golf, tennis, or pickleball during the summer? Who could you invite that maybe isn’t a regular part of the group but might be blessed to be brought in a time or two?
-Are you taking the kids to the pool or some other activity? Maybe there’s a kid that would be blessed to be brought along one day.
You get the idea. Doing these activities together with other Christians will bring some accountability, make it more fun, and maybe more of a blessing this summer.