Many people will come into a church and publicly or privately announce that they accept Christ but have not sincerely accepted Him as their Savior. Often, people know of Jesus and are interested in Him, but they haven’t quite reached the point of truly accepting Him into their hearts and lives as their Savior. When this happens, these same people may drift out of the church due to a lack of interest or connection with others in the church before the real event of Salvation in their lives takes place, when they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. George Hunter III, the Distinguished Methodist Professor Emeritus of Asbury Theological Seminary, wrote that “Most of the people who became Methodist converts first joined a class, and some time later became conscious Christians.”This is why it is so important to connect people to your local church and help them build relationships with the people of your church.
If we let people drift into and out of church without true relationships and a path to Christian conversion, are we really helping the cause of Christ? Are we really showing His love to others? Do we really care?
This is where Team Ministry is so important, where every person knows and uses their Spiritual Gifts in ministry with others in their church, home and community.
People in your church with the spiritual gifts of evangelism, teaching, exhortation, shepherding, serving, and mercy-showing can minister to the needs of others and serve to connect visitors and new members to the people of your church, whether or not they have truly accepted Christ into their hearts at the time. Participating in the life of your church increases the odds of a person coming to a true conversion many times.
This article is excerpted from Team Evangelism: Everyday Evangelism for Everyday People. Includes practical steps for helping others to share their faith. More…
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