Evangelistic Methodologies in the United Kingdom - Essay Example

Evangelistic methodologies in the United Kingdom By Introduction Evangelism entails informing people about Jesus in a given place or situation. It is also the act of preaching or conveying the message of Christ to other people. Evangelism traces its roots to the times of Jesus. Jesus is the founder of evangelism in the early church. The disciples of Jesus are facilitators of the process of delivering the message of Christ to the society. Evangelism entails verbal methods of informing people about Christ as well as the provision of services to the society. Saint Paul’s methods of evangelism are common among the modern Christians (Green, 2004). Paul performed various actions such helping the needy and preaching the gospel in the street to spread the gospel of Christ. The modern church is experiencing a transformation in terms of evangelism. This results from advancements in technology and civilisation. Members of the present generation are obsessed with change, which implies that the church needs to change its approach to evangelism. In the United Kingdom for example, various evangelistic methods are effective in delivering the gospel of Christ to the people. The United Kingdom is among the countries where evangelistic initiates face resistance from the young section of the populace. Evangelists in the United Kingdom are developing evangelistic methods that attract the attention of the young generation in the quest to preach the gospel of Christ. Evangelistic methodologies differ across various denominations. For example, the catholic evangelists use different approaches compared to their Pentecostal counterparts (Medearis, 2011). There are, however, some similarities in the evangelistic methodologies in Christianity. The purpose of evangelism is to inform the society about the word of Christ through action or preaching. The most common evangelistic method in the United Kingdom is the church and street preaching. Other methodologies include home group evangelism, missionary, community service and friendship, prayer as well as Internet evangelisms (Medearis, 2011). Friendship Evangelism This is an evangelistic method where a church member becomes friends with a non-believer and relays the message of salvation to them. The friendship evangelistic methodology is presently the most challenging evangelistic approach in the United Kingdom. Most members ascribed to the friendship evangelistic groups experience problems making friends with non-believers. Majority of people in the United Kingdom are capitalistic in nature, making it difficult for believers to meet non-believers. In addition, most people view Christians as conservatives who spend most of their time in church. It is, therefore, difficult for believers to establish long-term friendships with non-believers. The Friendship evangelistic approach can, however, be effective in work places or learning institutions. Learning institutions are some of the places where non-believers get to interact effectively with believers hence making it easier to make friends (White, 2002). The friendship evangelistic approach is also effective in places such as hospitals and armed forces. When non-believers are in hospital, they can be friends with a Christian nurse, which provides the nurse with an opportunity to spread the gospel to them. The church is currently sending friendship evangelistic individuals to places such as hospitals and armed forces to spread the gospel of Christ. Friendship evangelistic methodologies face obstacles when it comes to convincing friends to believe in Christ. Most friendship relationships last longer in cases where the affected parties do not interfere with each other’s beliefs. It is also difficult to judge a friend based on their beliefs, a factor that hinders the effectiveness of friendship evangelistic methodologies. This approach to evangelism has a lasting impact on the non-believer. It is also suitable for most Christians since it is likely to encounter a non-believing friend in the lives. Individuals who utilize this evangelistic methodology experience considerable obstacles in the quest to fulfil their missions. They are however, quite, if not the most effective persons who are able to establish a lasting change in non-believers. Lifestyle Evangelistic Methodology The lifestyle evangelistic approach revolves around conducting oneself to act in a manner that reflects the presence of Christ in their lifestyle. The lifestyle evangelism approach is however ineffective in cases where a Christian fails to communicate their belief. This form of evangelistic approach entails various aspects of life such as kindness, goodness, acts of mercy and exemplary lifestyle. The present church in United Kingdom utilises lifestyle evangelistic method to spread the gospel of Christ in many ways. First, the church encourages its members to lead an exemplary lifestyle in society in order to attract the attention of non-believers. By conducting themselves appropriately, believers find it easy to convince non-believers to join the Christian fraternity (Bolger and Gibbs, 2005). In addition, performing certain acts in society such as cleaning public roads, being kind and living peacefully with others displays the impact of the word of Christ in their lives. Secondly, the church ensures that its leaders practice honesty, kindness and live peacefully in society. This highlights how the gospel of Christ influences the church leaders hence attracting the attention of non-believers. Church members relay the message of salvation through their lifestyles (Barrett et al., 2001). For example, the church encourages its members to live according to the Ten Commandments. Christians should also preach the gospel of love to non-believers by loving others in society. The lifestyles evangelistic methodology is effective in relaying the gospel of Christ in the society. In addition, the evangelistic approach influences all the members of the church, a feature that enhances the process of spreading the gospel to the community (White, 2002). Various factors hinder the effectiveness of this form of evangelism. Among these factors are human errors, discrimination and family issues. For example, some family members associate themselves with ungodly behaviours like alcoholism tat hinder the ability of their relatives to lead exemplary lifestyles. Christians are also prone to human reactions such as temper and jealousy, which prevents them from emulating the lifestyle of Jesus and is an obstacle to the lifestyle evangelism approach (Heard and Walker, 2010). Prayer evangelistic method Prayer evangelism is presently the most common evangelistic approach in the United Kingdom. It entails praying for non-believers to experience the presence of God in their lives. Prayer evangelism can be an individual or group effort. It can also happen at any place and time as long as the individual experiences the presence of the Holy Spirit. Other places in which prayer evangelism occurs include homes, churches, work places, schools and hospital (Bechtle, 2006). It is the most effective form of evangelism since it involves a direct communication to God regarding the deliverance of non-believers. The church selects individuals who posses gifts such as prayerfulness to pray for non-believers in the society. The church leaders are also crucial for the delivery of sermons to non-believers (Bechtle, 2006). The sermons take place at locations with a large number of atheists, for instance near bars and nightclubs. The church utilises the prayer evangelistic approach to deliver the gospel to communities that do not believe in Christ. This method of evangelism is easy to implement when it involves a large number of individuals from a particular church. It is difficult to instil a new belief in a large community and the mission can encounter extreme difficulties especially when it involves a whole community (Bolger and Gibbs, 2005). Several factors form the basis of the Prayer evangelistic methodology such as perseverance, endurance, prayerfulness and faith. Christians taking part in the prayer evangelistic mission should prepare to face rejection from their target audience. Prayer evangelism comprises of four steps. The first step involves blessing the audience. The evangelist relays the message of peace to the target group with their influential sphere. Secondly, the preacher should fellowship with the audience to create a good rapport with non-believers. Third, the evangelist ministers by using the name of Jesus to respond to the needs of non-believers. The final step is to proclaim the kingdom of God to the audience and inform them that the kingdom of God is only accessible through the blood of Jesus Christ (Bechtle, 2006). Interactive Evangelistic Methodology It revolves around interacting with individuals on the streets. The evangelist takes up this modus operandi on the streets hence the name street evangelism. It is the most difficult evangelistic method and requires that the individual posses high levels of confident and perseverance. The preacher roams from street to street speaking to people about Jesus. Street evangelism is common in the United Kingdom presently owing to high levels of understanding ascribed to the populace (Bechtle, 2006). The church selects specific individuals with high confidence levels to take part in such missions. Street evangelism is the hardest of the evangelistic approaches. It is however, the most effective methodology since the preacher interacts with the target individual personally. The non-believers are able to inquire freely about Jesus and reap the benefits of becoming a follower of Christ. The street or interactive evangelistic style is common in urban centres with high population densities. It requires an individual to be precise since most people have only few seconds to spare. The process of street evangelism entails asking the target person about their church and their belief regarding the gospel. This helps the evangelist to identify the individual’s position on salvation. The other step is to give the person a hand out or tape that enables them to get in-depth knowledge on salvation (Bechtle, 2006). Online Evangelistic methodology Technological advancement in the United Kingdom makes it easier for institutions to reach their target individuals easily and in large masses. The development of online platforms such as video conferencing, the social media, you tube and blogging facilitates evangelism in the United Kingdom. The online evangelistic methodology is common in Pentecostal churches. The Roman Catholic and Methodist churches are slowly adapting to the use of the internet to relay the message of Christ. Majority of the residents of the United Kingdom have access to the internet for at least twelve hours a day. The teenagers and young adults in this populace, who make the larger percentage of non-believers, spend most of their time on the internet. The church creates blogs and places them on websites for everyone to view. The blogs answers critical questions regarding Jesus Christ and the benefits of salvation. The church also posts videos on various sites such as youtube.com where individuals can get questions regarding the gospel of Christ (Sullivan, 2011). The internet is the most common methodology of evangelism since preachers can reach many people within a short duration of time. The internet faces setbacks such as bad utterances on their websites and hacking. Cyber bullying is common on social network hence evangelists in social networking are prone to such incidences. The hackers tend to interfere with the information on Christian websites hence they create a bad image regarding the church in the United Kingdom (Von Buseck, 2010). Conclusion Evangelism is the process of relaying the gospel of Christ to non-believers. Evangelism has grown steadily in the United Kingdom since the introduction of Pentecostal churches. The evangelistic methodologies that are common in the United Kingdom include interactive or street evangelism, lifestyle evangelism, Friendship evangelism, prayer and online evangelism. Online evangelism entails spreading the gospel of Christ through various platforms on the internet such as social networks and blogs. It is currently the most common form of evangelism in the United Kingdom since it easier to reach a large number of believers within a short duration. Evangelism faces setbacks such as rejection and discrimination in society. For this reason, evangelists ought to have high levels of perseverance. References Barrett, D., Johnson, T., Guidry, C. and Crossing, P. 2001. World Christian trends, AD 30-AD 2200. 1st ed. Pasadena, Calif.: William Carey Library. Bechtle, M. 2006. Evangelism for the Rest of Us. 1st ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Pub. Group. Bolger, R. and Gibbs, E. 2005. Emerging Churches. 1st ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Pub. Group. Booker, M. and Ireland, M.2010. Evangelism - which way now?. 1st ed. London: Church House Pub. Green, M. 2004. Evangelism in the early Church. 1st ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Heard, J. and Walker, A. 201). Inside alpha. 1st ed. Eugene, Or.: Wipf & Stock Publishers. Medearis, C. 2011. Speaking of Jesus. 1st ed. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook. Sullivan, J. 2011. Communicating faith. 1st ed. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. Von Buseck, C. 2010. Netcasters. 1st ed. Nashville, Tenn.: B & H Publishing Group. White, E. 2002. Evangelism. 1st ed. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Pub. Association. Read More