Servant Evangelism Myths

Every since Compass Point launched three years ago we have been conducting servant evangelism projects throughout Polk County. We have met some really great people, impacted thousands of lives and have seen God move in mighty ways. However, the main reason we do servant evangelism is not for what is does for the people of Lakeland…but for the people of Compass Point. The internal benefits far out weigh the external benefits…it makes our people think outside of themselves and fulfill the calling of Christ in the Gospels. As far as the external benefits…well there seems to be a lot of myths floating around the “church world” about that. I thought I would take some time and dispel a few that we learned about the hard way.

MYTH #1 – Servant evangelism helps get your church’s name out in the community. – If you do servant evangelism correctly, the name of Christ is proclaimed and not your church’s. In fact the less your church is named (a website address is all that we use – no logos, addresses or service times) the better off you are. Unchurched people can sniff out bad cheese like no one else…they get turned off BIG TIME when you give out free gas and then pimp your church the whole time they are filling up their car. In essence servant evangelism and marketing should never go hand-in-hand.

MYTH #2 – Servant evangelism can bring about life-change in unchurched people. In some rare cases yes, but in most cases disconnected people are just trying to get as much free stuff as they can. Ever since the dawn of the “Baby Boomers” America has gotten more and more lazy…looking for a free hand out. We have found people scamming us by sending twenty-eight of their “children” up to us just so they can get a free month’s supply of bottled water. It’s sad…but that’s how many people roll in the United States these days.

MYTH #3 – Servant evangelism will cause unchurched people to come to your church. I honestly can’t tell you one unchurched person that has come to Compass Point as a result of our “Outflow Teams”. I can give you a fairly large list of people we have prayed for, stayed in contact with and began a relationship with as the result of our servant evangelism projects. We feel that it will pay off in the end…but there are no hard numbers to back up the need for servant evangelism.

MYTH #4 – Servant evangelism will cause the press to take notice. In a few smaller cities where “Ghostbusters” is still making it’s first run and leg warmers are the “hot ticket item” at the county WalMart servant evangelism still causes a stir among the press. However, in most cities it’s been so over done…and wrongly done…that most newspaper editors, television producers and radio station managers take a pass on covering it.

MYTH #5 – Servant evangelism helps to change people’s negative thoughts about church. Not in any way, shape or form. There are two reasons for this…

1. There are plenty of churches in America that are doing so much stupid stuff that no amount of servant projects can change people’s negative opinions.
2. The Bible tells us that if we love Christ…the world will hate us…no matter how many free car washes you have or bottled water you give out…nothing is going to change that.

MYTH #6 – Servant evangelism is a great way to lead people to Christ. Maybe in the long run…not so much in the short run. The conversation is just too short per person for a proper verbal presentation of the Gospel…and handing out free Starbuck’s gift cards doesn’t exactly convey the “Four Spiritual Laws” or the “Romans’ Road”. Free coffee is a wonderful thing…but does very little in convincing people they are sinners in need of a Savior. 🙂

MYTH #7 – Servant evangelism is something everyone can participate in. This depends on your perspective of Scripture. The Body has many parts with many functions…not everyone is suppose to do everything. The reality is that some people just can’t do servant evangelism. Some are too timid to actually walk up to someone with a free can of Pepsi. Some are just so aggressive that they try to tackle anyone that doesn’t take a free donut. Still others are not called to servant evangelism…they are here to fulfill another purpose in God’s Kingdom.

MYTH #8 – Servant evangelism will grow your church. Again…this depends on your perspective. Servant evangelism will rarely grow the church numerically all by itself. It will, however grow your people in their faith in God’s guidance, expand their ability to think of others before themselves and create a deeper desire to see people come to Christ. In the end it is more the byproduct of servant evangelism…than servant evangelism itself…that can help take your church to another level.