7 Tips for Encouraging New Believers in Evangelism - repost from evangelism.net

CLICK HERE FOR EVANGELISM.NET ARTICLE

Okay, take out a penny. Toss it. Tails—focus on discipleship today. Heads—do some open-air evangelism.

Does the thought of flipping a coin make you uneasy? It probably should. Yet, if you think about it, we do almost that very thing. We don’t literally flip a coin, but people often tend to focus on either evangelism or discipleship. Neither is a bad thing. In fact, both are commanded. But the fact still remains that many of us find one easier than the other. What do you do if you’d rather teach a Sunday School Class than do open air evangelism? Can you evangelize so much that you lose sight of training new believers?

The problem here is that we tend to see evangelism and discipleship as two completely separate things. Yet, it is not about two separate sides of a coin. It is more about seeing both as being on the same side of the coin. Discipleship and evangelism are part of the same process. They are not the same thing, but to be healthy you can’t have one without the other.

Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19–20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The very notion of “make disciples” implies that you must both evangelize and then disciple those converts. The above verse describes disciples as persons who are taught to observe all of Christ’s commands. Therefore, as part of the discipling process, we need to teach new converts to evangelize.

You might be thinking, “How on earth do I get a new Christian to evangelize, when I can’t even get Christians who have been saved for 20 or 30 years to evangelize?” Or you might think, “How can I expect someone to evangelize who knows so little about his new faith?”

The truth is new believers are often the most excited about their faith. It has been said that new Christians lead more people to Christ than anyone else. They realize that they have been rescued from an eternity of torment and separation from God, and they are so grateful they want to shout it from the rooftops. Still, that doesn’t mean that we should leave them on their own, or that they don’t need some encouragement and guidance.

How can we encourage new believers in evangelism?

1.)    Be an example—people are watching what you do, and they tend to pay more attention to what you do than what you say. When new believers see other believers evangelizing, it encourages them to do the same.

2.)    Evangelize in teams—pair a more experienced evangelist with a newer convert. Whether it be witnessing in a park, church visitation, or simply visiting a friend you think would be open to the gospel, take along a new believer. Your experience will help them, and hopefully their newfound joy will encourage you.

3.)    Pray with them for specific people who are not believers—praying for the lost increases our love for the lost.

4.)    Realize that it is not about the numbers—God tells us to take the gospel to lost people, but it is God who does the saving, not us. With that in mind, we don’t need to feel like a failure if someone doesn’t trust Christ after we have shared the gospel (1 Cor. 3:6–8).

5.)    Remind them that fear is normal—it is an experience that everyone deals with. The Apostle Paul even asked for prayer for boldness, something he would not have needed to ask for if he didn’t have fear.

6.)    Tell them it is okay if they don’t have all the answers—It is okay to say, “I don’t know.” Unbelievers are more impressed by someone that admits they don’t know an answer than by someone who makes up an answer or acts like a know-it-all.

7.)    Help them learn a basic method—there are many good methods, but having one basic method that they can always use is a must. It frees them up to talk and listen, instead of worrying about what to say next. (For more help on learning a method see EvanTell’s online training www.act111.org).

As new believers learn to share the Gospel early on, it will help solidify their own faith, and build a strong foundation in evangelizing for the rest of their time one earth. Who might God be asking you to mentor in evangelism?