Hispanic Ministries

The Priority Of Evangelism

Some weeks ago my family and I went to a city near the beach. While we were there, my son asked me to walk to the pier to see the people fishing. When I was entering the pier, I stopped to look at a list on the wall of the store, with more than 10 classes of baits used for fishing. Although I do not have very much knowledge about fishing, my thoughts and comments were that each kind of bait is necessary according to the type of fish one wants to catch.

We could call evangelism "fishing for souls," due to the statement and the call from the Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples to be fishers of men (Mt. 4:19; Mr. 1:17: Luke 5:10).

Just as a fisherman needs several types of equipment and bait in order to fish, so it is with evangelism. Although there is only one message, the ways of preaching the gospel and the methods we use in order to reach people with the message should vary according to the place, the people, and the circumstances.

We as pastors went to preach to all the people in our communities, rescue them from sin, the world, and the devil, and bring them to the church, but we should meditate on the methods we are using in order to share the Good News with them.

Many strategies are being used today by the church all over the country in order to take the gospel to the community. We should pay attention to the characteristics of our people and the needs of our area and apply the best methods of evangelism to reach people for Christ.

I don't believe it is necessary to use only the traditional way of taking the gospel to the people according to what we have learned; neither should we jeopardize the message of salvation that the people need to listen to, but we should be creative and be guided by the Holy Spirit, submitting our methodology to His authority and direction, so that we can discover which are the most effective ways of working in our cities.

From the perspective of the local church, there are several aspects that I believe are important to consider in the process of evangelizing our communities, in order to be successful in preaching Christ. I want to share some of them with you:

The church should be trained about how to share Christ with boldness, faith, and effectiveness. This teaching should come from the pulpit or in particular classes every year.

The church should focus on one of the purposes of their existence, which is the proclamation of the gospel to the people.

Include the investment necessary for evangelization in their annual budget.

Include in their annual activities many hours of prayer and intercession for the salvation of the community.

Establish annual goals and objectives in their programs, taking each opportunity that appears in order to preach to the lost.

Form and sustain an efficient plan in order to follow up on new converts with discipleship to take them toward maturity, with an emphasis on the priority of winning others for Christ.

Make it a permanent matter of conscience to have vision, passion, and action to reach our cities for Christ, not permitting members of the congregation to become slow and careless about winning souls for the kingdom of God.

Pastors and leaders of the church should meditate about the methods they are using in evangelization, and begin to think and use new ways of preaching to their communities.

Pursue excellence in the atmosphere and programming of the church, so that people who visit us return.

We should constantly evaluate all that we are doing in the church. We should not consider it a fact that all we are doing is all right, without examining everything seriously, in order to see if it is giving the fruits we want.

Work strongly to improve the welcome and greeting we are giving to all those who are visiting our services.

Have a better plan to follow up with people who are coming for the first time to our congregation.

Analyze the growth of the church constantly and be truthful in determining the failure or success, identifying and recognizing the reasons for one or the other.

Be willing to change when we notice that we should, develop sensitivity toward the needs of people and the challenges of the church in our communities.

Focus on lifting the level of Christian life of each believer in the congregation, so that the testimony we are giving to our families and neighbors agrees with the message we are preaching them. One thing that discourages people from embracing the gospel is bad examples.

Evangelization should be a priority in the church for which we need to be willing to invest everything necessary: time, money, and effort, in order to fulfill the desire and command of Jesus: "...Go and make disciples of all nations..."

 

Luis Avila, Hispanic Assistant to Superintendent