Once upon a time a young man went home to his flat where he and his roommate had lived and worked together for several years. "I must tell you something," he said to his friend. "Tonight I invited Christ to be my Saviour, and He has changed my life." His friend smiled and said, "Wonderful! I have been hoping you would do that. I have been living the Christian life for several years, all the time hoping that you would trust Christ as your Saviour." Surprised, the new Christian said, "You lived such a perfect life that I kept trying to do it without Christ, since you seemed to be doing it without Christ. Tonight I invited Him to become my Lord and Saviour because I failed to live the way you live. Why didn't you tell me how I could know Christ, too?"

If you asked the young man who was already a Christian why he didn't speak of Christ to his roommate, what are some reasons you think he might give? His answer probably would have been, "That pushy evangelism isn't for me. I just witness with my life. I didn't want to offend him and thought he wouldn't be interested."

Have you ever heard that attitude expressed? Have you ever had that attitude? It seems common in the Christian world today. And although this attitude - "just witnessing with my life" - sounds noble and good at first, it can be subtly twisted by Satan to neutralize our effectiveness for the Lord.

We all know that exemplary living is important, but normally it is not enough to reach people for Christ. People won't give Christ the credit for living a godly life unless you can tell them about Him. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we see both example of and exhortation to take initiative in evangelism. But here is the point at which Satan can mislead us: There is no choice between living a Christ-like life as a witness and verbally proclaiming the good news. It isn't an "either-or" proposition. Rather. it is a "both-and" situation. But we may easily be led to believe that it is an "either-or" choice, and therefore many of us may choose the path of least resistance (usually the path of least joy, fulfillment and fruit).

Many Christians have adopted the philosophy that tolerance should supersede truth: that it is narrow-minded and naive to "push" your beliefs onto others. As a result, many Christians don't share their faith.

However, in Mark 16:15 is a clear command by Jesus to take the gospel to the world: "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."'

We need to understand the biblical basis for evangelism so we can answer the critics, as well as the questions in our own minds.

A. People are lost and separated from God.

1. People are lost without Christ (Matthew 9:36; Luke 19: 10). Jesus' highest priority in coming to earth was to provide a way to bring men back to God. We should have an equally great burden to tell others how they can have a relationship with God.
2. People are unable to save themselves.

B. God has made a provision for salvation for those who will receive it (Romans 5:8; 10:13).

Christ alone has paid the penalty for man's sin. Christ was willing to die so that men might know God. Many people today know the facts of the crucifixion. but they do not understand its significance until it Is explained to them.

C. God prepares people for salvation (2 Peter 3:9).

1. God convicts people of sin (John 16:8).
2. God initiated reconciliation and draws people with His love (I John 4:10).

a. He prepared the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-35).

b. He prepared Cornelius (Acts 10).

D. God commands us to be involved in evangelism (Romans 10:14,15).

1. People need to hear about Christ (Romans 10:14,15).
2. God has given us the responsibility to be ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). In this verse we see that God has given us the work of reconciling men to Himself. We are His ambassadors. As ambassadors of Christ we have the privilege of bringing to others the saving knowledge of Christ.
3. God commands us to witness and to make disciples of every nation (Matthew 28:19,20).
4. Christ's love for me should motivate me to obey (2 Corinthians 5:14).

E. Case Study: Paul and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:19-34).

You may feel a little better about taking the initiative in evangelism when you see what it is not (and clear up some fuzzy thinking about it). Initiative evangelism is not high pressure salesmanship. Often when we think of evangelism, we picture a salesman who, once he gets his foot in the door, absolutely will not take "no" for an answer.

Unfortunately, some Christians have been insensitive, even obnoxious, in their zeal to witness to others. But while the Bible tells us that we are to be as wise as serpents, it also says that we should speak to others with gentleness. Jesus never criticized the disciples for their zeal. We should be eager to tell others about Christ, but we need to add wisdom to our zeal in order to make our witness more effective.

Our approach, our style and our methods should never be "high pressure". We should remember that some people will be offended by the message we carry - the gospel is not always popular and easily accepted. People may reject our message; we cannot help that. But we should expect that as we become wiser and gentler, we will see fewer and fewer people offended by our style of witness.

What then, is successful witnessing" Successful witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God. The key word is initiative. We are not to wait for others to come to us and ask about the Lord (although this happens occasionally). We are to take the initiative to talk to people about Him. In John 4:35, Jesus says, "Look on the fields, that they are white for harvest." When we take the initiative in evangelism, we are simply telling the Lord that we believe what He said is true. The harvest is ripe - men and women are ready to hear the gospel.

In summary, we have the most dynamic revolutionary message the world has heard or will ever hear THE GOSPEL! Wherever it has gone, new life, new hope, and new purpose for living have resulted. God has commanded us to share this message with anyone who will listen. We are motivated by God's love for us and by our love for others who are lost without Christ. Although we use methods and techniques to better communicate to people, we depend on God and the simple gospel message to bring the results He desires to accomplish.

Filter Process

The filter process is a process the Holy Spirit uses in helping us identify people with the potential to disciple others.

This process involves broad proclamation of the gospel to a large population, and activities that allow Christians to demonstrate faithfulness and a desire to grow.

Before we get into the specifics of how we can use the filter process, let's first look at how Jesus used it.

He is always our best example. There are three parts to the process.

First, He evangelized widely (Matthew 9:35). Everywhere Jesus went, He talked to people about spiritual matters and how they related to them.

Second, He involved interested followers (Mark 1: 16-20). He took the initiative and He looked for particular qualities in people.

At this point in His ministry, Jesus had not yet chosen His 12 disciples. He was calling many to follow Him and to begin getting involved in the ministry. As He talked to people, whether individually or in large groups, He continually took the initiative to involve interested followers who had particular qualities. We will look at these qualities in the chapter on "Establishing a Discipleship Group."

Third, He selected certain ones to be His key disciples (Mark 3:13,14), to have a special relationship with Him and with one another, and to have a personal ministry. We need to be careful to remember to select and not to settle on the first two or three Christians we find. Even though all Christians should desire to be discipled and to disciple others, not all do. Let's remember, we are involved in a filter process.

Jesus involved many in His ministry to help build them to a point of personal commitment to Him. Then came the time to select and challenge certain ones to be His key disciples and carry on His ministry.

In summary, remember three things

First, the filter process helps us identify potential multiplying disciples for our ministries. These disciples will ultimately help reach the entire world for Christ. Our responsibility is to take the initiative in faith relying on the Holy Spirit for guidance and wisdom. It is solely God's responsibility to produce the fruit.

Second, the process involves sharing the gospel with people, involving interested ones in the ministry and challenging certain ones to discipleship. We will discuss how to challenge people in following chapters.

Third, this was the method Christ used. His plan was to speak God's truth to thousands, involve many and select and challenge a few who would go on to do the same thing. The result is clear. Through Christ's plan and power, His purpose of reaching the world with the gospel will be accomplished.