The Outcome Of Evangelism: Is Your Church Ready?

I have yet to meet a Christian who will not answer the question, "Should we be sharing the gospel more?" with the answer, “Yes.” There exists within the church, both individually and corporately, the conviction that evangelism should be a more prominent function of the church. In our eagerness to fulfill this aspect of the Great Commission, though, sometimes we fail to think about the consequences. Permit me to ask you a question: when you and your church say “yes” to the Great Commission, are you ready for the effects?

The easy answer to that question is yes. In fact, out of fear of looking unprepared or unholy, our pride would tell us we have to say yes, even if we may not be prepared. The reality, though, is that evangelism comes with consequences. Hopefully, the direct result is seeing the Lord work through those efforts by calling people to Himself. If this is the case, the expectation is that incoming into your church are new believers, which brings its own effects AND challenges.

The Unintended Effects of Evangelism
Though the Lord called each of us differently, for most of us, there are some common characteristics about that initial call to faith. Included in that description for most of us was an unhindered zeal combined with not knowing what we don't know. This is often the nature of a new believer, meaning that upon faith in Christ, they will enter your church with this attitude. To a community of believers who have been established and are comfortable with one another, a new person, and a spiritually immature one at that, will be disruptive to the status quo.

The effect of evangelism is to bring in new people that will be different from those who may already be present, and this automatically changes the church. There is no way to avoid that reality. It will change the church in the following way:

• It Changes the Dynamics: A new person entering the church impacts the dynamics. It may be different family dynamics, backgrounds, lines of work, or interests. Yet, at a basic level, a new believer entering the church means there is someone less mature than the others, and that alters the dynamics that were there previously.
• It Changes the Perspective: Because that individual is a newer believer, their own secular beliefs have not yet been filtered through the Word of God. As a result, they will come with those unfiltered beliefs without discernment.
• It Changes the Function: A change in dynamics and a change in perspective influences the function. I do not mean that it changes the biblical function of the church as outlined by the Lord when He instituted the church. What I mean is that it changes how we sometimes function individually. As an example, people with different perspectives will challenge us in various ways. We may be forced to evaluate how and why we do things. A body that has already existed together for a time is well-acquainted, knowing how best to work together. Someone who lacks the same level of maturity may require us to function with more patience, more self-control, or more humility.
• It Changes the Focus: Finally, it alters the focus slightly with new believers by forcing the church to contend with how to teach and disciple newer believers. Again, I don't mean to suggest that the church changes its priorities away from the Lord's mandate. I simply mean that sometimes we might have to pivot by putting more energy into an aspect that we had overlooked for a time.

Prioritizing evangelism is both necessary and biblical, and adding to the body of Christ is something to celebrate. In that celebration, though, we sometimes forget to consider the effects and our response to those effects.

Responding to the Unintended Effects
Crucial to fulfilling the Great Commission, evangelism deserves a spot of priority within the ministry of the church. The outcome of evangelism, though, affects the church, and if the church has not adequately prepared itself, it can shock the system. Caught off guard by the unexpected, people sometimes react severely, especially when their own 'norm' is impacted. So how do we work to minimize such unintended consequences? There are several basic and unsurprising tasks that we can take on, including the following:

• The first step is to have conversations, helping those in the church recognize how they can help rather than hinder in this process.
• The second is to teach and model what it looks like to lovingly walk alongside new believers as they wrestle with bringing their thoughts, ideologies, and plans underneath the authority of God's revealed will through the truth of His word.
• Finally, be discipling your own people. The Lord's perfect plan of the Great Commission helps us navigate these transformations naturally by simply what the Great Commission is.

There's nothing complicated here. It's simply a matter of recognizing that for most people, change is hard and shepherding them through that change.

who I believe because God is perfect, this plan is perfect. But we are sharing His truth with sinners, which is made more complicated by the reality that we are sinners ourselves. As a result, sometimes, the process of the Great Commission has messy implications. That does not permit us to ignore the Lord's call; it simply forces us to think more about the implications and how to be ready for the results as the Lord works in the lives of people.

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