Evangelism culture cultivated in churches through intentionality, 9Marks panel says

HOUSTON—Pastors must be intentional and overcome fears in order to cultivate a culture of evangelism in their churches, according to a panel of pastors and professors during the 9Marks at 9 event at the SBTC Annual Meeting in Houston, Nov. 9.

“You don’t have to be all that good at evangelism to do evangelism,” said Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville. Barber admitted he does not consider himself an expert evangelist, but “evangelism happens to me because I’m willing to do it despite the fact that I’m not that good at it.”

Panelists—which included Barber; Don Whitney, professor of biblical spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Nathan Lorick, evangelism director for SBTC; and Juan Sanchez, pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin—agreed that intentionality is key.

Whitney noted that it was easy for him as a pastor to spend all his time with Christians, so he had to go out of his way to engage lost people. “It’s got to be intentional, even for pastors,” he said.

Sanchez listed several practical ways he encourages church members to be deliberate in personal evangelism: pray for unbelieving people, write down names of unbelieving people, and look for opportunities for gospel conversations. He said his church seeks to celebrate gospel conversations, even if they do not allow for a full gospel presentation. Celebrating these intentional encounters gets the whole church talking about and praying about evangelism.

When addressing obstacles for evangelism, Lorick noted most people fail to share the gospel because they fear rejection or a lack of knowledge. He said proper evangelism training in the church and giving members opportunities to witness through visitation or door-to-door evangelism help build confidence.

Lorick also noted that some pastors unintentionally supply their congregation with excuses not to share the gospel, which undermines evangelism.

“We make more excuses on what doesn’t work in evangelism than put effort into intentional evangelism,” Lorick said. He pointed to a pastor in the crowd who has been told by other pastors that door-to-door evangelism does not work anymore, but his church has experienced great success with the practice.

“We make so many excuses as pastors as to why things won’t work, so we empower people to find excuses in their own life why it won’t work at the coffee shop or in their cubicle or at Walmart. There are tons of obstacles … but I really think in the church culture, one of the greatest obstacles is that from the pulpit we have given them every reason not to share the gospel versus the challenge, the commission, to be burdened and broken for the lost.”

Barber encourages his congregation to be flexible in using different evangelistic approaches that fit their personality and the circumstances.

Sanchez warned against the temptation to treat evangelism as special, which assumes that someone needs special skills or techniques in order to share the gospel, when it should be normal.

In a discussion on how to cultivate a culture of evangelism in the church, Whitney said such a culture can’t be developed without a clear understanding of the gospel. He encouraged churches and pastors to work hard at being clear in their presentation of the gospel as well as in helping members articulate it.

Lorick answered that true disciple-making should include evangelism.

Sanchez agreed, adding, “Never underestimate the power of expositional preaching,” The gospel should be clear in every sermon from every text of Scripture.