by Nelson Searcy and Tommy Duke

Evangelism is one of the purposes of the church that we recognize as a high priority – I rarely hear from a Pastor who isn’t trying to reach more people for Christ.

But sometimes, Pastors and their churches appear to be doing and saying all the right things, but they’re seeing little (if any) fruit.

Their frustration is often voiced in questions like:

• What are we doing wrong?
• How can I get my people to invite their friends to church?
• Why can’t we seem to reach the people of this community?

To check for one (unfortunately common) bottleneck, I’ve learned to ask a few key questions of Senior Pastors who are struggling with this situation:

• What are the names of 3-5 unchurched friends that you are praying will come to know Christ?
• Who have you personally invited to come to your church this week?
• When was the last time you prayerwalked through your own neighborhood?

See, in Coaching over 800 Pastors, I have observed this truth:

Evangelistic Churches are Led by Evangelistic Pastors

The Pastor is a huge piece of the Evangelism puzzle (and more important than we often realize).

It’s true across the board – evangelism has to flow down from leadership if the people of your church are ever going to reach out effectively.

Notice, I didn’t say “Evangelistic Churches are Led by Pastors with the Gift of Evangelism” – because that’s not always the case.

In fact, some of the healthiest, most fruitful churches I know are led by Godly Pastors who understand that Evangelism is a vital function of every believer – and just preaching about it on Sunday doesn’t exempt them from living it out the rest of the week.

So, how about you Pastor…

• Who’s on your “needs to know Christ” list?
• What are you going to do this week to reach out to them?

P.S. To learn more about the essential pieces of your church’s Evangelism System and a proven strategy to Double Your Church in a Day, check out The Ignite Seminar.