Relational Evangelism - Why?

Which is better sharing Jesus with someone as soon as you meet them (first encounter evangelism) or sharing Jesus in the context of an already established relationship? Before you knee jerk an answer consider one additional but underestimated factor…the situation.

If I’m on a plane, in a shopping centre or I meet someone at a restaurant and get into a conversation there’s a good chance I’ll never see that person again. This may be my only opportunity to share Jesus with them. So, if the Lord opens the door to a spiritual conversation, I want to walk right through it.

On the other hand, if I move into a new neighbourhood I may want to think twice about baking cakes for all the neighbours and delivering them door to door with a “God has a wonderful plan for your life” speech. In this situation I most likely have a little more time to get to know my neighbours and bring up the message of Jesus in a more relational way.

But there are a few things we should keep in mind when doing either kind of evangelism:

We need to do both brands of evangelism as relationally as possible. When Jesus did “first encounter evangelism” with the woman at the well he took time to build a relational bridge by asking her for a drink of water. A Jewish rabbi talking to a Samaritan woman was unheard of in this era because there was extreme prejudice against these half-Jewish, half-Gentile people. But within seconds Jesus demolished the racist stereo-type and reached out to this desperate woman with his message of hope and forgiveness.

In the same way we can begin a conversation with others, ask great questions, listen deeply and then gently steer the conversation toward Jesus.

Realize that the advantage of relational evangelism is the ability to disciple those you lead to Jesus. It is very difficult to effectively follow up and disciple the strangers you lead to Jesus on the street, in the plane or at the restaurant.

To be honest, I think that evangelism should be the way that we live and breathe. We need to constantly reflect the message of hope to those around us with our lives and our lips. We need to be good news people living good news lives while sharing the good news message.

Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” He was reminding them that the epicentre of this spiritual encounter with him should first impact our closest relationships (our “Jerusalem.”) It should impact our friends, family, neighbours, classmates, teammates and co-workers. But then it should reverberate out to “Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Let’s do both first encounter and relational evangelism depending on the situation. Let’s be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and push for the right mixture of relational and relentless in every conversation. As we do, we’ll witness God transform lives and advance his kingdom in amazing ways.