Need-Oriented Evangelism

Natural Church Development assesses a church in eight different quality characteristics. With this post, we will take a quick look at one of these characteristics – Need-Oriented Evangelism.

Natural Church Development defines healthy Need-Oriented Evangelism as:Need-oriented evangelism intentionally cultivates relationships with pre-Christian people so they can become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ who are actively participating within the life of the church and community. Using appropriate ministries and authentic relationships, believers can guide others into the family of God.

For leaders whose churches have this as one of their lower points, NCD offers the following starting points as a means of improving this area…

• People who experience the harvest field will develop compassion for the harvest.
• Look for the person of peace who has ties to pockets of people.
• During the church service regularly make people conscious of the “potential congregation.”
• The discipleship method you chose should be reproducible.

If you want your people to develop a greater level of compassion for those who don’t know Christ, they have to have experiences where people come to know Christ as the leader of their life. As the leader, you need to be conscious in scheduling activities that are designed to have your people share their faith.

There will be people in your congregation who know a large number of individuals. They will be the person that everyone likes and who is a natural encourager. These individuals are great to train on how to share their faith because they have a natural gift of influence. And this influence will open the door for them to tell people about Jesus.

As the leaders, you need to work on helping your people become more aware of those who don’t know Christ and how they can become a part of you church family. Encourage people from to the platform to invite their friends who don’t have a church home. Talk to people in the hallways and classrooms about the importance of sharing their faith and the impact it could have on the Kingdom of God.

If all the discipleship fall on the staff of your church, your effectiveness in advancing the Kingdom of God will be limited. Your congregants need to be discipled on how to share their faith and how to help someone grow in their faith. This process needs to be reproducible so that people who are new the church body can then share their faith and start the cycle all over again.

As a coach, I can come alongside of you and assist your in church’s growth in this area.