R. Larry Moyer - 101 Tips for Evangelism: Practical Ways to Enhance Your Witness

Two of my professors in seminary impacted my life by both saying the same thing. They used different words of course, but the message was the same. Ive never forgotten what they said: You always have to ask, If you were the devil, how would you do it?

Satan is having a heyday in the church. Hes distracting churches from examining the message with questions about methods. Churches are asking, How do we reach the people of todays generation? One church uses movie theater clips to grab peoples attention. Another emphasizes a quiet and reverent atmosphere of a more traditional style. Still another stresses the creative use of modern technology. While none of these approaches are wrong in themselves, our first and foremost concern is our message for unbelievers. If the message isnt right, the methods dont matter. They may be attractive in drawing people to church, but if the message isnt correct, people will not come to God.

In their good intentions to reach unbelievers, some churches try to make Christianity look attractive by presenting a wrong focus and false expectations of what it means to become a Christian. Come to Christ. Hell change your marriage. With Him, you can experience prosperity, not poverty. Tired and lonely? Hell change all of that! Tired of being selfish? Come to Christ. Hell make you selfless.

Unfortunately, that is not the message. Paul the apostle said in 2 Corinthians 5:20, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christs behalf, be reconciled to God. If Christ were to walk the surface of the earth today, His message would be reconciliation. Reconciliation should then be the focus of our message, too. God has taken those who are His enemies and made it possible for us to be His friends. The message we have for the lost is that we are all sinners, Christ died as our substitute and rose again, and through personal trust in Him alone, we can enjoy His free gift of eternal life. God has compassion on all of our hurts and will eventually heal us, if not now, then when Christ returns, but loneliness or broken marriages are not the issue at the heart of the gospel. It is our eternal destiny.

If people dont understand that message, methods dont matter. Methods may bring people to church, but only the message brings them to God. Start with the question, What are we telling the lost? If the message isnt right, whatever means of communication we are using wont help.