Infiltration Evangelism
During a recent meeting of state executive directors recently, Dr. Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, addressed the topic of “Personal Responsibility in Evangelism.”Dr. Iorg said he grew up steeped in the conviction that every Christian was responsible to witness for Jesus but that this conviction seems to have been lost in many Baptist churches.
Reasons include:
· Witnessing has been redefined as “living an attractive life.”
· The focus on aggressive apologetics has intimidated many believers.
· The decline in discipleship and witness training has weakened personal responsibility.
· The post-modern perspective on tolerance has implied that witnessing is intolerant.
He said churches today largely focus on attraction and engagement to communicate the Gospel. The attraction strategy is a Christian event or program designed to accommodate unbelievers and introduce them to Jesus Christ. An engagement strategy is an event or program designed to involve unbelievers and introduce them to Jesus Christ. Dr. Iorg believes both are needed.
But, Dr. Iorg also believes that an infiltration strategy is more effective. An infiltration strategy, he says, is one that deploys believers throughout the culture to introduce unbelievers to Jesus Christ in their context.
For example, starting a church-sponsored softball league for the community is an attraction strategy. Creating a church-sponsored softball team and playing in a community-sponsored league is an engagement strategy. Christians joining company softball teams – practicing, playing and staying for the after game refreshments – is an infiltration strategy.
Infiltration strategies are more challenging because we cannot control the venue or conversation. Christians are sometimes afraid of being tainted by the culture and may also lack the courage of a robust faith to stand up in the market place. Generally, believers are not encouraged and celebrated for what they do outside the church. Rather, we recognize what happens inside the church.
The obvious reality is that believers are already dispersed throughout the culture. But believers must be deployed with the purpose of sharing Jesus Christ.
Dr. Iorg suggested that leaders can do a number of things to engender an infiltration mindset. His list includes:
· Model the process. Dr. Iorg is chaplain for the San Francisco Giants.
· Share the conviction that every believer is responsible for witnessing.
· Clarify that witnessing is sharing a verbal witness in the context of interpersonal relationships.
· Support simple strategies for equipping witnesses.
· Support church planters with the expectation that every member will witness.
· Intensify discipleship that produces a robust faith with a passion to share.
· Model strength in the face of increasing criticism for our passion that Jesus is the only way of salvation.
Read about Paul’s request that he might be a fearless and appropriate witness for Jesus Christ in Ephesians 6:18-20 and Colossians 4:2-6.
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posted by: Bill Mackey on February 23rd, 2010