Mobilizing the Church
Dear Christian friends,
One of the main purposes of SOS Ministries is to recruit and train Christians to witness for Jesus Christ. We believe that every Christian should be involved in some way in witnessing for Jesus. But is this a realistic goal? What do other Christian leaders say?
At the International Congress on World Evangelization, Dr. George Peters stated that “as a church was mobilized to do evangelism, we can expect only 10 to 15 percent to be involved in what he called `active, confrontational’ evangelism. He went on to conclude that 20 to 30 percent of a congregation could be expected to be trained in a friendship or relational approach to evangelism. The rest would be encouraged to pray for the work of evangelism.” Dr. Joe Aldrich stated, “I doubt that 10 percent of Christians will ever be effective in (confrontational) evangelism….As a general rule, the confrontational approach should be a methodology reserved for the abnormal rather than the normal witness experience” (Lifestyle Evangelism, pp. 79, 81).
In contrast to this, Mark McCloskey, in his book Tell it Often, Tell it Well, asserts that it is both possible and realistic to expect every Christian to be involved in evangelism. These “experts,” he notes, are simply describing the church as it is, not as it ought to be. Jesus expects all of us to witness for Him. “You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto me…unto the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). If the power of the Holy Ghost is available to all Christians, then the responsibility to witness is also for all Christians. As John Stott said, “Evangelism is a responsibility laid by Christ upon His whole church and every member of it. So the people of God must be both mobilized and trained.”
I have no problem with those who prefer “friendship” evangelism to “confrontational” evangelism. But many choose it because they want to avoid persecution. You can only escape persecution by compromising the message. Many Christians expect the “silent witness” of their lives to result in salvations. Your friend may not see the difference Christ has made in your life. Or he may attribute that change to your self-will or innate goodness or the psychological value of believing in something. You need to tell your friend that it is Jesus who has changed you. Eventually you must also confront your friend with his sinful condition and need of a savior. This will offend some people and lead to rejection. And being rejected by friends is more painful than being rejected by strangers. “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).
Getting Started
This past month, I have spoken with several pastors and church leaders. One pastor has been bringing his worship group to San Francisco with us. He wants to involve his church in a variety of outreaches including prison ministry. Another pastor is taking some church members door-to-door in his community. Other church members are involved in mailing evangelistic literature to neighbors of the church. Anyone can stuff envelopes. A third church is setting aside a month for evangelism. They are canceling their regular meetings so they can do various kinds of outreach. They have also started a regular weekly street outreach. A fourth church is seeking to recruit hundreds of members for church-on-the-street rallies, as well as begin a coffeehouse ministry. A fifth church is training members to witness to friends and people at work. They meet twice a month to share their experiences with one another and pray for those they are witnessing to. They also have a weekly outreach at the University of California, Berkeley, using a sketchboard and evangelism surveys.
While I am encouraged by what is happening in these and other churches, much more needs to be done. Even in these churches, only a minority of the members are involved in evangelism. Here are three things you can do to help change this situation: 1. Commit yourself to get involved in some kind of outreach on a weekly or monthly basis. 2. Encourage others in your church to join you. 3. Challenge your pastor and church leaders to give evangelism a greater priority in your church.
The change must begin in our own lives. We need to stop being spectators and start doing the work God has called us to. We need to make evangelism a priority in our own lives and stop making excuses for ourselves. It is not so important where or how you witness, but that you be involved in telling unsaved people about Jesus in a consistent way. Once you get started, you can encourage others to join you.
On the Streets
On Friday February 19, we witnessed on Polk Street. As usual, the street was filled with young male prostitutes and older men who would pick them up. I spoke for almost an hour with Zack. Zack is 18, Jewish, and had arrived from Minnesota five days before. Deserted by his parents when he was seven, he lived with an older brother and sister who supported themselves through prostitution, introducing him to this “profession” when he was 13. Please pray for Zack, that he would give up this lifestyle and trust in Jesus Christ.
Often our best ministry takes place at the end of the evening, as we gather for prayer. On Friday February 26, we went to Broadway St. As we joined together for prayer, holding hands in a circle, Anthony approached us. “Please help me get free from alcohol and get back with the Lord. I’ve got two college degrees and I’m on the streets!” We prayed for him and told him about a Christian program where he could get help. Please pray for Anthony.
On Saturday February 27, the Lord’s Church from San Ramon led a worship rally at the Powell St. BART Station. Ron Woodruff preached. Among those witnessing was a young Chinese woman named Lin. Lin had been saved three years ago at a rally at the BART Station and has been following Christ ever since then! A number of people came forward for prayer, including Rick. Rick asked that we pray that he would be delivered from alcohol so he could follow Christ. He also asked for prayer for his fiance Michelle who is a drug addict.
I received the following letter from John and Jannai Pero in Los Gatos, CA: “I just had to encourage you with what God accomplished Sunday night. Bill Clinton came to our town. Sunday from 1-3:30 PM we made signs. By 7:30 PM, Bill Clinton and his entourage passed the signs (about ten mostly with scripture) and saw [a man dressed as] Jesus and the cross with [a sign reading] `Repent America for Abortion, Homosexuality and Unbelief in the Son of God.’ [President Clinton] did a double take. [The man dressed as] Jesus was interviewed on the 10 o’clock news on channel 2. Asked why he was there, he said to stop abortion and homosexuality and because Jesus is the only hope for this nation. About ten other church members were there passing out tracts. We are praying about “Preaching across America” this summer, whatever that means. We’re not sure but we know God has a message — repent!” [Editor’s Note: If you want to know more about Preach across America, call Scott Crawford: (707) 459-9588.]
Ministry Needs
Once again I want to thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. Every time we are about to leave for an outreach the enemy attacks in some way — we feel sick or tired, have vehicle problems, or an “emergency” comes up. Please pray for our house members and the other Christians who have been witnessing with us that God will give us strength to resist these attacks of the enemy.
For the first time since last fall, we have an opening in our SOS house for a spiritually-mature man who desires to be involved in evangelism. We also need someone to help us with our office work, about 4-8 hours a month. Please also pray that we could make some needed repairs on our house. A water pipe broke last month and caused our back patio to cave in. Right now our back yard is a big mud puddle. The plumber who repaired the pipe showed me another pipe ready to break “within days.” This is in addition to many other major repairs we must make on our house very soon.
Meanwhile we are making plans for this summer’s SOS-San Francisco outreach–July 9-17. I expect that it will be a great outreach and do hope you are planning to join us. We are beginning to print some very nice posters and other literature and need to start printing tracts soon. We are having a special Easter outreach on Saturday April 10. The Vineyard Christian Fellowship will be leading worship.
Our Tape of the Month is Follow-up by Ron Radachy. Ron and his wife Judy are Directors of the Oasis, a coffeehouse and street ministry in Hollywood, CA. They also organize the annual SOS- Hollywood outreach. This teaching was from this year’s National Street Ministry Conference in Dallas.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
