This past Sunday, Randy talked about some tough issues of faith. God's wrath and the consequences of Hell are not exactly "feel good" topics that leave you warm fuzzies, are they? But it got me thinking about the topic of evangelism, how it applies to my own life and what it means within the Life Group context. I'll admit to you that I do not consider myself to be an "evangelist". Although I firmly believe that aggressive "in your face" evangelism has it's place within the Kingdom of God, those particular methods do not fit my personality or vision of ministry. I believe that the most powerful evangelism begins and ends in building relationships in healthy and loving community. When we build trust and earn the privilege of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those you love, the truth becomes more powerful and authentic. The early Church was a community of people that were transformed by truth of the Gospel and the love of Christ. Thousands were coming to Christ each and every day because they wanted to be a part of this community of people that lived life radically different than the rest of culture, and they wanted to be a part of it.
The last way that I would classify Life Group leaders are evangelists. The primary role of leading Life Groups is not in sharing the Gospel or "converting" everyone in your Life Group. But in a weird way, Life Group leaders have the best opportunity to share the essential truths of the Gospel. Why? Because you are building the authentic community that enables the Gospel to be received in the most powerful and organic way possible. The Life Group is one of the most pure examples of what the early Church was all about and what is lacking in much of the modern Church culture. In many ways, you ARE the real evangelists of the Church and that only emphasizes the great responsibilities we have as Life Group Leaders.
Now, please don't misinterpret what I'm saying. As the title of this blog states, a Life Group leader is NOT an evangelist. Personally, you may very well have the gift of evangelism, and see many come to Christ through your efforts. But as you function within the context of leading Life Groups, this is not necessarily a priority that you need to focus on. Building authentic relationships, a healthy community along with guiding their group to discover God's truths are the primary functions of the Life Group leader. And this is why there exists this strange dichotomy within Life Groups, because Life Groups ARE evangelism. Confused?
I encourage you to spend some time reading through the first two chapters of the book of Acts. Meditate and pray on what was going on at this point in the story. What you will see is two powerful things: Thousands of people were coming to Christ and the early Church was community that people wanted to be a part of. And that leads us to ask a very pivotal question: "Which came first?" Were people coming to Christ and then fully realizing the benefits and blessings of the community? Or were people seeing the community as the primary motivation for checking it out, and then being compelled to accept the truths of Christ because they saw that it was real. Did the power of the community act as the catalyst of evangelism, or was it the evangelist efforts that convinced others of the Gospel?
I firmly believe 100%, and with all that I am, that it was the latter. After the Church was birthed at Pentecost, and the power of the Holy Spirit launched it into a new faith community, the people that made up the community were transformed. The Church became a group of people that were living and revealing the Kingdom of God in it's purity; quite possibly the most pure example that we've ever seen in Church history. Life was being lived as God had originally intended it to be; uncorrupted by tradition, unstained by division and conflicts, not confused by "theology" and "doctrines. People wanted to be a part of it. It was simple and natural evangelism.
May your community BE evangelism! Not by words, methods or a litany of Bible verse. But may they be what Christ had intended them to be in the beginning. May everyone in your Life Group know the truths of Christ, not by YOUR evangelism, but by the evangelism of your Life Group! May your community BE evangelism.
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