Do You Know Why 95% Of Your People Aren’t Living on Mission?

What does evangelism look like for you?

For most of us—and for many of our churches—evangelism can often look like programs. It might be Vacation Bible Schools, reaching out to the community, inviting people in, or creating opportunities to serve. All of those things are good. But we also need to be equipping our people.

When we look at the biblical model, we see something much more empowered by the Spirit than we often recognize.

As we read about how Jesus operated, how the twelve disciples and the seventy were sent out, what happened in Acts, and how Paul described his ministry, there is a resolute emphasis: We go, and as we go, we heal the sick, drive out demons, sometimes raise the dead, and proclaim that the kingdom has come.

What has made us detach those things from each other?

There is no scriptural mandate for operating that way. Again and again, the Bible shows us that the way we witness is tied to signs, wonders, and the demonstration that the kingdom is coming now.

It is not just a message of, “One day you get to go to heaven when you die.” That is true, but it is more than that. That is a diminished gospel if that is all we share.

We demonstrate that reality: the kingdom is breaking in today through Jesus.

One of the great ways we do that is through naturally supernatural evangelism.

The Mandate to Go

Think about the Great Commission in Matthew 28. One of Jesus’ last commands is to go into all nations and make disciples.

That is not just for a few people. Jesus was speaking to everyone who was following Him—and, implicitly, to us today. Everyone who follows Jesus has been given that mandate to go and make disciples.

So what does that look like?

It is a lifestyle. It is something for you and me every day.

How can we equip our people to live like this so that it does not feel like some huge, crazy thing?

At the end of Luke’s Gospel and the beginning of Acts, Jesus also says, “Wait in Jerusalem until you have been filled with power from on high.”

There is a mandate: You have to go—but you have to go in the power of the Spirit.

We cannot do it by ourselves. Or perhaps we can try—but maybe that is why we only see so much fruit.

We all have this mandate to go. The question is: What does that look like as a lifestyle?

Learning to Wait and Listen

A simple starting point is to learn the discipline of waiting and listening.

When we are in a moment where we want to dive in, sometimes we need to pause and ask the Holy Spirit what He is doing.

What are You up to here?

Father, are You at work?

What does that look like?

How can I join in?

Do You want me to join in?

That can happen in everyday life.

When you are waiting in line at the grocery store, you might ask, “God, is there something You want me to say to the person at the till—or to the person waiting behind me?”

During your quiet time, someone might come to mind. It may be someone who does not yet know Jesus. You can pray for them, but you can also ask, “Lord, is there something You want me to pray for them? Reach out to them about? Communicate with them?”

Or perhaps someone shares a difficult situation in their life.

Yes, you can offer good, clever advice. But you can also pause in that moment and ask the Holy Spirit, “What would You want to say to this person about this situation?”

This applies to passing encounters and to the permanent relationships we are already in.

Answering the Fear

Some of us get scared.

What if I get it wrong?

What are they going to think of me?

We have to get over that whole thing too.

One of the key ways to answer the fear question is to operate from a heart of love.

If you operate from a heart of love for someone rather than “scout hunting,” that comes across. You might come across as a bit curious because you are a supernatural, spiritual person—but most people in our culture are spiritually open.

Operate with a kind of bold dependence on Jesus.

That can be curious for people. But we have found that our friends who do not yet know Jesus—and even people we encounter in passing—are often wide open to this kind of thing if we do it kindly and from a genuine, authentic heart of love.

It is amazing what you can get away with for the sake of the kingdom.

A Spirit-Empowered Lifestyle

So here is the question to consider:

What does evangelism look like for you personally?

And what does it look like for your church or your community?

How do we make evangelism more Spirit-empowered? How do we become more sensitive to what the Spirit is doing and follow Him into those ripe harvest fields?

Think about what that looks like.

How can we move toward greater dependence on the Spirit and learn to follow Him?

We pray that we would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to lean into this further.

That we would be filled afresh with the Holy Spirit.

That we would walk with boldness and godly, humble confidence in Jesus.

That we would operate as people who are spiritual first, rather than treating spirituality as an add-on.

That we would stop responding purely with rational, human responses and instead respond with God’s supernatural grace, wisdom, anointing, and gifts.

And that, in the days and weeks ahead, we would have opportunities to test this out—and encouraging stories to share that would help all of us keep moving forward.