Why Doesn’t Our Church Evangelize?

Many years ago, when I first started preaching, a man would regularly visit my office on a Monday morning and complain about how “dead” our congregation was. His favorite charge against the church was that “nobody ever evangelized.” Week after week I would question his accusation and ask him, “Do you know what your brothers and sisters are doing throughout the week?” to which he would admit that he did not know. What this man failed to realize is that just because he couldn’t see evangelism happening, or didn’t know what his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ were doing on a day-to-day basis, was no reason to accuse them of not evangelizing. After repeated complaints from this man, I began to wonder if maybe he was judging the entire church by his own behavior.

Maybe you aren’t aware of the evangelistic efforts that are occurring in your congregation, and maybe you’re beginning to wonder if your congregation is evangelizing. May I remind you of a principle and use the congregation where I preach as an example?

The Principle
One may not be able to evangelize in person, but he can in purse. A person may not always have the ability to evangelize around the world, but they may have the ability to support those who are able. Paul praised the church at Philippi for their financial support and told them that the fruit he was bearing was being credited to their account (Philippians 4:17). If you, through your congregation, support missionaries around the world, you are engaged in the work and rewards of evangelism!
Don’t discount the evangelism congregations do through their financial support of those who preach the gospel, locally and in foreign fields.

The Example
The Karns congregation probably resembles many other congregations in its evangelistic work. Here is a portion of what we did, in a year in which Covid 19 shut down the world.

Our websites had 305,000 visits, reached 170 nations; our sermons were viewed in 41 states, 34 countries, and watched 39,000 times. Who gets the credit for such outreach? Just the preacher? How about the men working the technology the allows it? Even further, how about every member who financially supports the work of the church? Nearly every member of the congregation is involved in this evangelistic effort!

Our Bible Correspondence Courses had 1405 new students along with the other students we already had. Numerous members are involved in the mailing and grading of these courses.
In a typical year, we have hundreds of non-Christians visit our assemblies because of an invitation. And the same can be said of our Bible classes, ladies classes, and vacation Bible school.

Being a preacher may allow me to be a little more privy to many of the things in which our members are quietly engaged.

Don’t make the mistake of measuring a congregation’s evangelistic zeal only by what you can see. Countless Christians, without fanfare, are inviting people to church (“come and see”), are engaged in Bible studies, answering questions with their co-workers and friends, are engaging people online, advertising gospel efforts, hosting Bible studies in their homes, and showing kindness and benevolence to others with a view of leading them to Jesus through their example and friendship.

We support five foreign preachers and two local preachers to aid them in preaching the gospel.

And, for the past 50 years, the congregation has supported a school of preaching. Hundreds of preachers have been trained and have gone out to preach the gospel all over the world. All the fruit they bear is, in part, credited to the church’s account.

My point is that when someone accuses a church of not being evangelistic, they are usually making a very rash and short-sighted claim. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely! No one would deny that. But saying there is room for improvement and saying we’re not evangelizing are two different things. Maybe we should stop looking at the glass as being half empty and rejoice over the good news that is being shared!