Seven Characteristics of Highly Evangelistic Christians

Dr. Thom Rainer is the President and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources. He also writes a blog, Thom S. Rainer, in which he posts about various issues facing believers, churches, church leaders, and the Southern Baptist Convention. On 29 March 2010, he wrote about the Seven Characteristics of Highly Evangelistic Christians. One of the universal elements observed in all identified church planting movements* is widespread seed-sowing -- in other words, an abundance of sharing the gospel with people. Since that is so critical to the missionary purpose, I asked Dr. Rainer for permission to repost his blog article. He graciously agreed.

For over twenty years I have been researching and studying churches, primarily those in North America. I had the joy of serving as senior pastor in four churches where God blessed with evangelistic growth. I have written over twenty books about the church in America.

I am not giving you my credentials to impress you, but simply to share that my life’s passion has been leading and learning about evangelistic churches. At this point in my life and ministry, however, I realize that I have not given sufficient attention to one of the primary characteristics of evangelistic churches.



The Great Omission

It is so obvious. Indeed it is so clear that I am surprised at my neglect of this factor. Stated simply, the evangelistic churches that I have researched for the past twenty years have one or more highly evangelistic Christians.

I know. The previous statement is no great revelation. It is almost stating the obvious. But, if it is reality, why are we not hearing more about these Christians who seem to have a passion for evangelism? Why are we not doing a better job of telling their stories?

In this short article I hope to address this great omission.

Seven Characteristics

It is inevitable that, when we do research on evangelistic churches, we learn about one or more members in the church who, to use the book title by Charles H. Spurgeon, embody the traits of "The Soul Winner." Oftentimes one of those members is the pastor. But we have also seen many laypersons who are themselves soul winners.

In our interviews with these people, or with those who tell us about the soul winners, we began to discern some clear patterns. We called those patterns “the seven characteristics of highly evangelistic Christians.”

1. They are people of prayer. They realize that only God can convict and convert, and they are totally dependent upon Him in prayer. Most of the highly evangelistic Christians spend at least an hour in prayer each day.
2. They have a theology that compels them to evangelize. They believe in the urgency of the gospel message. They believe that Christ is the only way of salvation. They believe that anyone without Christ is doomed for a literal hell.
3. They are people who spend time in the Word. The more time they spend in the Bible, the more likely they are to see the lostness of humanity and the love of God in Christ to save those who are lost.
4. They are compassionate people. Their hearts break for those who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They have learned to love the world by becoming more like Christ who has the greatest love for the world.
5. They love the communities where God has placed them. They are immersed in the culture because they desire for the light of Christ to shine through them in their communities.
6. They are intentional about evangelism. They pray for opportunities to share the gospel. They look for those opportunities. And they see many so-called casual encounters as appointments set by God.
7. They are accountable to someone for their evangelistic activities. They know that many good activities can replace Great Commission activities if they are not careful. Good can replace the best. So they make certain that someone holds them accountable each week, either formally or informally, for their evangelistic efforts.

The “Secret” of Evangelistic Churches

The secret is really no secret at all. Ultimately, evangelistic churches see more persons become Christians through the passionate efforts of highly evangelistic Christians. More than any programs. More than any church events. More than anything else, we are the instruments God has chosen to use.

Sometimes we ask the question "What is my church doing to become more evangelistic?" But the better question is "What am I doing to become more evangelistic?"

Charles H. Spurgeon was right. We need more soul winners.

We need more highly evangelistic Christians.

Excuse me, Dr. Rainer, please get off my toes. (grin)

• OK, is this an appropriate emphasis for missions in Africa?
• What part does widespread seed sowing play in your missions strategy?

For the Kingdom,
Bob A

*For more information on Church Planting Movements, you can download a basic primer here. The 10 Universal Elements are discussed in Chapter 3 of the booklet. The web site, Church Planting Movements, also summarizes the 10 universal elements and adds a tongue-in-cheek guide on Church Planting Movements – How to Avoid Them!

Is the Missionary a Competent Theologian?

Guest post by Kevin L. Howard. Kevin writes a blog on theology and pop culture (with some missions stuff tossed in for good measure) from a conservative evangelical perspective -- Need Not Fret:

Our mission strategy is strongest when it rests on a solid biblical foundation.*  Because sharing the gospel and starting churches are theological tasks, all missionaries ought to be competent theologians.  But is the average missionary a good theologian?

This question is like asking, Are pastors competent theologians?  Some are and some aren't.  But certainly both pastor and missionary should be some of the best theologians.

A few years ago a person in the know told me something interesting about the trustees of a missionary sending agency.  His words were telling when he said, "They're not theologians.  They're just pastors and lay people."  I remember thinking, If he's right, then how sad that this organization has so many pastors who aren't considered competent theologians.  I also thought, Why do they have trustees who are not competent theologians?  Just what can they be "trustee-ing" if they can't at least be considered good theologians?

What is a competent theologian anyway?  I don't mean a professor who has published a thick book on a theological topic.  I don't even necessarily mean someone who can speak intelligently on the details of middle knowledge and libertarian freedom or someone who can quote long stretches of Latin or recite the Baptist Confession of 1689, although, it wouldn't be so bad if more Baptists could do this.  Rather, I'm referring to someone who has spent many years thinking seriously through the general themes and nitty-gritty details of Scripture, and someone who, after being changed by these truths into a person of integrity, can synthesize those truths to deal with issues that surface along life's way.  The competent theologian in this sense would be someone who has hidden a great deal of Scripture in his heart; in fact, he bleeds it, but not in a showy kind of way, but with deep devotion, passion, and humility.  This same person has studied great scholarly theologians and can sensitively apply solid biblical exegesis to life's hardest situations.  (Scenario: A woman divorced her husband before she was a Christian because she just fell out of love with him.  Now that she's born again, is she free to marry another Christian man?)

Now, let me return to the issue of the missionary as a qualified theologian.  I suppose this will vary according to organization, but in the circles I run in, missionaries tend to be down to earth, busy people who care deeply about their people groups, who want to start churches, and who seek practical methods to complete the great commission.  Some missionaries are smart and others aren't.  Some are introverts and some are extroverts.  Most seem, nonetheless, to be practical people who want to know how to get something done; they want strategies that work.  There are some, perhaps even many, who are not just practical but also pragmatic.

Since missionaries live in the high-demand trenches of cross cultural stress, they are not often given to lofty thoughts on the hypostatic union or arguments against JEDP, and most couldn't care less about which synoptic Gospel came first.  What does the Q-document have to do with the hungry children who keep pestering them for money?  Missionaries tend to gravitate towards methods that get results, stuff that seems to break down barriers and get people talking about Jesus.  And who can blame them?  They went to the field to see people saved and become disciples.

But we would all do well to step away from our methodologies from time to time and ask, Is this truly biblical?  Where can I go in Scripture and see this methodology clearly taught?  Does the passage say what I have assumed it says?  Is there more than one clear passage to support this way of doing things?  (See Andy Johnson's article, "Pragmatism, Pragmatism Everywhere!")

Admittedly, approaching our methodologies and the Bible with exegetical scrutiny is no easy task.  We all have biases and presuppositions.  But since the task of the missionary is so vital to thousands who'll be influenced by them, it's absolutely necessary that the missionary take time to read some of the older, deeper, classical works of theology that cause the mind to ponder the deep riches of Christ's goodness.  Some Anselm, some Augustine, some Luther, some Calvin, some Aquinas, some Owen and Edwards (and perhaps even a little Wesley).  Of recent decades, among some dead biblical scholars or theologians worth reading are F. Schaeffer, C. S. Lewis, D. M. Lloyd-Jones, B. B. Warfield, C. Hodge, F. F. Bruce, and C. F. H. Henry.  Living authors of substance worth the investment are John Piper, Don Carson, Mark Dever, Bruce Ware, Wayne Grudem, Iain Murray, Sinclair B. Ferguson, just to name a few.  (If you're interested in learning more about a few evangelical African theologians, click here.)  The missionary who's a good theologian must of course plunge deep in the Word on a regular basis and more than just casual devotional reading.  None of this is easy to do with the full schedules that missionaries have, but it is critical.

One of our best strategies will be hiring and sending biblically sound people who ask at every point, "What does Scripture say about this issue or that strategy?"

Many missionaries already do theology well, and yet, there's room for others to follow suit.  For if any group should be great theologians, even good ones, it should be the ones out on the edge, those who daily smell the smoke of hell, those whom I tipped my hat to long before I became one--the missionaries.

*For a work that explains the solid biblical foundation, see John Piper's Let the Nations Be Glad or perhaps George Peters' A Biblical Theology of Missions.  Also, concerning the basis of missions being theological, see the article by David Hesselgrave, "Will We Correct the Edinburgh Error? Future Mission in Historical Perspective." Southwestern Journal of Theology. Vol. 49/2 (Spring 2007): 121-149.

Kevin is a career missionary and has lived in Africa with his wife and two children for two years.  When he was single, he served a two-year term in another part of the world.  Before coming to Africa, he worked on church staff in various places around the U.S. and wrote for The JESUS Film Project in California.

What Africa Does Not Need ...

There are some things that Africa does not need -- nor does the US. I wish I thought this was not serious (with thanks to Rastis who blogs at not all who wander are lost... -- there's some good missions stuff there):



Alzheimer's is not biblical.... [quote from leader]. What can I say? And, the Holy Ghost Hokie Pokie is biblical? And, check out the keyboard player at about 04:21 -- long night.

Posts for next week:

• Monday: A guest post by Kevin H, Is the Missionary a Competent Theologian?
• Thursday: A post by Thom Rainer, President of Lifeway Christian Resources, on Seven Characteristics of Highly Evangelical Christians (reposted with permission).

All right, y'all, if you're into putting, then put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-17), pray for each other to be given a message in order to make known the mystery of the gospel (Ephesians 6:19), and have a great weekend.

For the Kingdom,
Bob A

Does God Have a Strategy?

... and should his followers have a strategy?

Rastis, who blogs at not all who wander are lost..., says, Yes, to both questions. This is an interesting read.

How would you briefly describe your strategy for the place where God has sent you? (Maybe you'd be willing to write a longer guest post outlining your strategy.)


I'm at the end of a long, but great, 2 weeks of travel to South Africa and Malawi. There are a bunch of excellent missionaries throughout southern Africa. It's a pleasure to work with them. They are faithful under difficult circumstances.

For the Kingdom,
Bob A