There is so much to say about the concept of being missional that I could take a month. I know our friend and great SBC analyst is coming back from camp soon so I will speak to the topic of evangelism and being missional It is at this point I will become radical, maybe even rabid, about some things.

First let me push the kayak into the stream by saying that I do not think that just because a church has a scheduled visitation it is an evangelistic church. I do not think that a church that has a very successful visitation program is necessarily an evangelistic church. Now for the big statement. I do not believe that a church that has large baptismal numbers is necessarily evangelistic. A church that is evangelistic must by nature incorporate the wholeness of the Great Commission. To just go out and visit on a planned night each week is not biblical evangelism.

Now before some “wag” says that I make this statement because my church does not have a visitation, let me say my church has 18 scheduled hours of visitation each week plus I have no idea how many contacts are made beyond that. I personally go out with different people 18 hours weekly making an effort to do what I call cultivating relationships with lost and unchurched people. I will get back to the contacts that I know nothing about later because that is where the “gold is buried.”

I believe that for a church to be missional it must practice evangelism based on the biblical model that Jesus put forth in Matthew 28:19-20. To be missional a church and an individual must see the fact that disciples are to be made in the normal course of one’s life.

Let me illustrate what I mean by translating Matthew 28:19-20 as if it were written in deep Southern Greek and being translated by a deep Southern boy from Alabama.

19 Bein’ as you a goin’ anyhow make disciples among all peoples “everwhere” baptizin’ em in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, 20 and teachin’ em everthang I commanded you. It is a fact that I will be everwhere you can possibly go even to the end of the whole age.

The idea that I want to present here is that a missional person knows his or her purpose in life is to glorify the Father. Therefore, the missional person will be aware of the mandate that has been given him to make disciples as he goes through the journey of his life rather than to “sanction” a few hours a week to visit lost people with a single “showdown” so to speak for the “winning” of their souls.

I have known Bobby Welch for around 20 years. We served as trustees together during the Resurgence. I have great respect for him and I know he has a great burden for lost people. I say that so no one will think I am trying to bash him or his ministry in any way in what I am about to say.

Long before Bobby Welch and LifeWay produced FAITH EVANGELISM, T.W. Washburn along with other Sunday School Board personnel developed the four task of the Sunday School. I think it captures the essence of the missional mind relating to evangelism better than Faith, EE or any of the other plans. The four task of the Sunday School were: reach, teach, win and develop.
Let’s examine each task independently and judge them to determine if they could be incoporated into a missional statement about evangelism.

1 Reach By reaching we mean more than to do a community survey and find out who would make a good candidate for our church membership. To reach is to engage one’s community as it is and become known as a follower of Jesus that has compassion for people. To reach is to cultivate relationships with the lost and unchurched by relating to their life in any way possible within the boundaries of biblical character and conduct.

To reach one must be willing to extend a “cup of cold water” knowing that there is always the risk of rejection. It takes time to reach people in an authentic way. One must be willing to forego the glory of the Monday morning brag session at the pastor’s meeting about how many you “won” last Thursday night. To reach is hard work that takes sacrifice, humility, and prayer and the exercise of the fruit and gifts of the Spirit. To engage your community, society, and world with the story of your life with Christ in a way that makes people see you as real is reaching.

2 Teaching By teaching we mean to share the gospel story from a personal prespective, yet totally biblical in its content. As reaching is living it out, teaching is telling it out in a way that is natural and real rather than as plastic.

When I was a little boy I stayed with my Granny and Granpaw (no D in my Granpaw) for a time. My Granny made biscuits from “scratch”. No other person made them like her. They were good. They were hers and when you ate them you knew two things. You were eating biscuits and it was no one but Granny that made them.

Once Granny was sick so Granpaw bought some canned biscuits for us to eat. He opened the can as instructed. All the biscuits were the same size and thickness. When he cooked them they all looked the same. When we ate them they all tasted like mud. They were not authentic. They were not handmade and there was no love in them.

In teaching my community the gospel I must be personal, authentic, and biblical. The story must be the biblical gospel, but it must be from the love of my heart toward the person I am teaching or it will be “canned biscuits” and taste to them as mud. As I cultivate individuals to share the gospel with the story must spill from the pages of my heart and soul and not be read from a 3×5 card.

3 Win The word “win” is actually a weak word but I will use it here. To win is to introduce a person to Christ. In the process of cultivation I believe that the Holy Spirit opens the door for us to make a proper introduction of our Lord to an individual. The Spirit, Himself, has given the individual the desire to trust us to make the proper introduction.

When we share with a person the claims of Jesus on their lives the Holy Spirit moves upon them with conviction about their need for Jesus as their savior. It is the Holy Spirit that “wins” a person. We make introductions.

The Spirit-filled, missional person makes introductions as the Spirit gives him liberty to do so not as a plan and program demands. He does it willingly and naturally, with love and compassion. He is not looking for “scalps” for his lodge pole. He is a harvester of souls. He is a tool in the hands of the Holy Spirit. He may have a “plan” he has learned, but he will only use it as the Spirit gives him liberty. The missional person is a cultivator of souls and he uses his tools properly and at the right time.

4 Develop. To develop means to disciple. It means to mentor a new believer in his or her new found life in Christ. It is at this point that the truly missional shine and the missional “play like boys” become dull. To develop a believer is hard work. It takes time, love, patience and a willingness to teach and to forgive. There is a need for a tender,yet firm hand. To develop (disciple) some new belivers (my case being one) is like house breaking a bulldog puppy. They can be hard to handle sometime.

It take vision and love ot help a person see that his whole purpose for living is to glorify God. It takes much to disciple a person to the place wherein he or she will die to self and pick up the cross and follow Jesus and alow the Spirit to repeat with them what He has done in them by using another.

True evangelism is that which begins in reaching by engaging and teaching with a presonal element, introducing under the direction of the Spirit, and for no other reason, and the staying to develop the new believer. I believe this is evangelism of the missional type. I also believe this is New Testament evangelism. I also believe there is no other true evangelism. I know we will share in airports and that is good as long as it is the Spirit leading. I also believe that a Spirit -filled person will be called upon often by the Spirit to introduce others to Christ. The missional person is sensitive to the Spirit in this area.

Ther is much more to say here, but I had better rest it for now. Give your imput. Evangelism is worthy of our discusion.

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