Opportunities for personal evangelism

 By Joe McKeever, director of missions, Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans

Six months into his first pastorate, I asked a young minister what was the biggest surprise he had found. “The administrative load,” he said. “I don’t have time to get out and meet people in the community.” He laughed and said, “I feel called to sales but spend all my time in management.”

Every pastor knows the problem. Between sermon studies, staff leadership, office responsibilities, weddings and funerals, outside speaking opportunities, hospital and nursing home visits, and denominational duties, the poor minister can feel overwhelmed. Finding time for his family can be a challenge; finding time to relate to his neighbors and bear a witness for Christ in the community can almost be impossible.

This becomes a burdensome contradiction for many pastors. They are preaching the Great Commission to their members while practicing it only from the pulpit and never personally. I asked a couple of pastors who I know to be strong on personal evangelism about the issue.

Keith said, “Witnessing opportunities for the pastor are just like good sermon illustrations. They’re all around; you just have to pay attention.”

He said, “One thing I do is sit at the same booth in the restaurant. In time, I’ve gotten to know the waitress, and she’s told others that I’m a pastor, and the word gets around. Now, every time I go, some employee comes over to my table with a question or a prayer request. I have actually become the unofficial chaplain for that restaurant.”

Wayne said, “But sometimes you need to be more intentional. Create a situation where you will have opportunities to share your faith.”

He said, “I encourage my pastor-friends to become the chaplain—I’m talking officially—for some business. Maybe one of your deacons owns the company. They’ll give you a name tag and you can walk around the place and meet people, hand out your cards, learn their names, and in time they’ll begin to trust you and open up to you. You’ll have more witnessing opportunities in an hour than most pastors get in a month.”

My mind was still stuck on Keith’s suggestion to “pay attention.” I thought of how I had led my neighbors, the Jennings, to Christ. It may have been intentional on the part of the Lord, but it was almost accidental to me. I was definitely not paying attention.

Most mornings, I walk on the levee beside the Mississippi River just before the sun comes up. It’s a half mile from my house to the river, then I walk a mile down and back, for a total of three miles. Most of our neighbors are still inside at that hour, but Bill and Sandra were frequently sitting on their porch drinking coffee. We would say “howdy” to one another but not much more. One morning they called out, “We missed you last week.” I said, “I was in Mississippi all week.”

On my return from the river, Bill said, “Does your work take you out of town a lot?”

Now, up to this point, we had never met and did not even know each other’s names. But I walked up to the porch and introduced myself. “I’m the pastor of the church on Williams Boulevard,” I said. Sandra mentioned something about belonging to the same denomination and we chatted, then I left.

A morning or two later, as I passed their house and we waved, Bill said, “What time are your services?” I turned aside and told them all they needed to know about visiting our church. The next Sunday they were in the services with their adult daughter Casey, and soon became regular worshipers.

One day Bill called to me from the porch, “How would a fellow go about joining your church?” Now, I don’t know if the Holy Spirit was rebuking me at this point, but I was sure doing it to myself. This man has done everything but beg me to lead him to the Lord!

I walked onto his porch and, as I was pulling up a deck chair, said, “The pastor would have to come out and sit with you on the front porch and talk with you about giving your life to Christ.”

We went through the scriptural plan of salvation and Bill prayed that morning for Christ to come into his life and save him.

Later, I prayed with Casey, and soon baptized this entire family.

The opportunities are all around; you have to pay attention. Take the initiative. Pastor, get up and walk out of the office. A fringe benefit every pastor will derive from getting into the community and relating to his neighbors is the liberty he feels the next time he speaks to his people on the Lord’s commands to be salt and light. It’s amazing how obeying the Lord frees us to help others to do the same.

 For more of Joe’s articles, visit his website at www.joemckeever.com. ©Copyright 2007. Used by permission.