:A Christian Blog

While reading through Creating a Community, I found an evangelism strategy used by North Point Church called “invest and invite.” On the surface, it sounds very simple, and that’s exactly what impressed me so much about the strategy. I’ve been struggling to come up with an effective way to get non-Christians to come to church without giving them the “holier than thou” speech heard round the world daily that just fortifies the non-believer’s thoughts on religion in the first place. This strategy, however, really puts into words the way Jesus ministered throughout his journey here on earth. From the book, “We encourage our attendees to invest in the lives of unbelievers and then invite them to a relevant ministry environment.”

First, invest. I think it’s very important that this is the first step. I put a lot of thought into how to just get the non-believer to believe. Something that’s very hard to do when the most important part of Christianity is believing. You can’t just start out with talk of belief in an almighty God and if you don’t you’re going to hell. That puts them on the defensive right from the start, and from then on, they have a mental filter for religious talk when you speak. So, how do you invest in someone’s life? Help a person in need? Let’s assume this is a peer, someone at work or at the local gym. They probably don’t need clothing or food. You may not have the opportunity to help them fix a tire or let them borrow a cup of sugar that often. So, how do you invest in a person’s life that is on the same level that you are?

My first thought was to go to another book on my shelf, 25 Ways to Win with People by John Maxwell. The book outlines 25 ways to make others feel better about themselves, therefore appreciate you and value your friendship. I’m going to go over three of them that I think most apply to the goal of getting a person to come to church with you.

1. Start with Yourself. I love the quote out of the book by Harry Firestone, “You get the best out of others, when you give the best of yourself.” Make sure your emotionally healthy and happy. The task at hand involves sharing this happiness with others and showing them Jesus through you and your actions. Remember that investing and inviting a peer will require accountability.

2. Pass the credit onto others. This is especially effective if the person your trying to invite works with you. Selfless acts that build up others. Don’t just do this for this person, but for others also. Make it a daily occurrence to build up other people by crediting them and giving them compliments. People love praise and it brightens their day to get it.

3. Listen with your heart. “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said” — Peter Drucker. Even though this is a very passive way to invest in someone’s life, it’s one of the most important. Why? Listening opens up opportunities in the other areas. When you really listen to someone, even if they seem to only talk about work, you can often hear needs and problems surface. Maybe this person and their spouse haven’t had a night out in a long time and you could give them a gift certificate to a local restaurant. That’s just one idea, and I’m betting there are plenty more if you really start listening with your heart.

It’s very easy for most people to give money to a charity but investing in peer’s life takes focus. Changing your daily routine from one that focuses mainly on your needs to one that puts some of that focus on someone else will take time. A good way to accomplish this change is notes around the house or at work that will help focus you everyday on your goal.

There are many different ways to do this. I’d recommend starting small. Invite them to a church function outside of church. The more friends they have from your church, the better chance they have of getting into a routine of attending church. Of course, there are two possible answers to your request.

Yes. Great! Reduce any anxiety they have about attending church by letting them know about what will be going on and be prepared to answer any questions they have about what will be happening. If they are anything like me, then one of their worries might be getting singled out once they get there. If they are nervous about this, take steps to insure this doesn’t happen by calling friends, letting your pastor know about them coming, etc.

No. This isn’t as bad as you think. By investing in someone’s life, it not only helps them, but helps you as well. Hopefully, you now have a friend and there will be other opportunities to get this person involved with church and hopefully in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Also keep in mind that it’s possible that another “Christian” hurt this person and now they are cautious towards religion in general.

For some, this won’t be as rose-colored as I make it seem I know. It can take anywhere from weeks to years to make something like this happen. Trust in God, pray about your goal, and let him lead you to victory. The outcome may be a little different than you expected, or take a little longer than you thought, but by investing in someone’s life and inviting them to church, you’re on the great commission given to you by Jesus Christ.

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One day after I posted about marketing for Jesus being mostly bad in my opinion, I find a good example (again, in my opinion) of marketing for Jesus. The Steelroots campaign is a skateboarding team that goes around the nation combining the sport of skateboarding and the gospel of the Bible.

From the site:
“Steelroots’ mission is revealing the truth about Jesus Christ to today’s generation through the action sports scene. We would like to portray the positive sides to these sports by letting people know that you can still have fun and follow Jesus. We are trying to unite all the Christians in these sports and let our voice be heard. We have created a few different avenues to help us with our mission.”

I like this approach for two reasons. It gives Christians other peers to be around that has the same ambitions and lifestyles that they do. Two, it gives non-Christians an easy way in, since they already love skateboarding and probably would love some other people to skate with. This seems more transparent to me in terms of marketing though. Basically, it seems more real. They offer friendship, not features. Friendship marketing seems like the best way to me to spread the word to non-believers.

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Several people I know went into the ministry soon after getting saved, but often wonder if they just assumed that was where they needed to be. Some people fear full commitment to God because they think that means full-time commitment to the Church. It seems to me that God needs more “normal people” spreading the gospel. No, I don’t mean to say ministers aren’t normal, but a friend can often put things into perspective better than anyone. Sometimes a person that doesn’t know God filters anything a minister says just because they look at it as a sales pitch. For example, who would you trust to tell you that a Nissan Altima is a great car, a car salesperson, or your friend? I think this is often the same way with the ministery. God needs good reviews from people like you and me. Mini-ministers that tell people what God is doing for them, and that choosing to follow Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to them. You don’t have to preach, just include God in your everyday conversation. When they become more inquisitive (what your waiting for), then be ready to tell them about things he’s done and does for you. I think this may be one of the best ways available to spread the gospel of Jesus.

Matthew 28:16But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.

17When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.

18And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19″Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

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