How Do You Do Evangelism in Today’s Isolated, Privacy-Minded Culture?
Today’s culture appears to be more isolated from personal interaction than ever before. While technology has made access to people more immediate, it has also affected face-to-face interactions. Think about the number of personal interactions that have been replaced with a mobile app—depositing checks, purchasing groceries, ordering food, etc. With the increased use of technology comes the real concern of identity theft. This concern causes many to limit who can contact them and to what extent they can be contacted. Given these realities, how should churches do evangelism in today’s isolated, privacy-minded culture?
At the heart of evangelism, people must hear the Gospel in order to respond to the Gospel (Ephesians 1:13–14; Romans 10:13–15). Churches should use all available means to engage their context by informing, entering, and engaging their community.
Informing the Community
Most visitors to your church will check out your church’s website and social media posts before they visit in person. It is important to inform your community of your presence and of your message. If someone in your community wants to know more about your church, can they find that information online? Does your website and social media platforms provide service times, meeting location, belief statements, access to previous messages, vision and mission of the church, and what to expect as a visitor? Can someone learn about the Gospel simply by going to your website and social media posts? Is your church leveraging these tools to inform your community of the Gospel and ways to know more?
Entering the Community
Having an online presence is not the same as having an actual presence in the community. There are four main ways that churches gain access to their community: providing help, offering hope, connecting through hobbies, and taking advantage of holidays.
Help can come in the form of many things, such as meeting basic needs of food and clothing. One church takes coins into a laundromat and helps people pay for washing their clothes. This approach affords them an opportunity to use the time to share the Gospel.
Hope is enabling people to change their life’s situation. This could be anything from helping them find work to helping them overcome substance abuse. One church helps people know the resources around them to get a job. Another church provides free counselling for those seeking freedom from addiction.
Hobbies are a great venue to meet people and build community. Many churches have faculties where a variety of hobbies could take place—hobbies such sports, exercise, or crafts. Churches are not limited only to what can take place on their property. Often there are places and events in the community in which churches can participate in order to know their neighbors more.
Holidays are not all equally observed, but there are some major holidays that most all people recognize annually. Most people try to do something at least on key holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Easter, July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Most churches offer services related to religious holidays such as Easter and Christmas. Some churches also try to use other seasonal and patriotic holidays as opportunities to connect with their community.
Engaging the Community
Having a presence in the community is not the same as Gospel proclamation. Help, hope, hobbies, and holidays are temporal events that create a context, an opportunity, to engage the community with the Gospel. Churches should take advantage of these opportunities to evangelize. Sharing the Gospel can take place in a variety of ways from providing a Gospel tract, to personal interactions, to the preaching of a message. Each situation affords a variety of ways to share our ultimate hope of redemption through Jesus Christ.
Churches should leverage who they are and where they are in order to provide as many opportunities as possible for their community to come to a saving knowledge of Christ. While it may appear that some people are wanting to live more isolated, we need to remember that God has wired us for community. In reality, people long for community, communication, and caring. That’s why God has placed your church in that community. Your church’s mission—and the Great Commission—compels you to take the initiative to connect with your community.
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