Servant Evangelism -- a new way of life

I ran across a website that has great examples of servant evangelism. I would really like us to consider doing some of these to reach those in our community for Christ. Pray about this and see what the Holy Spirit says to your heart.

I have a story attached below that sums up what servant evangelism is all about. If you are interested in the website, you can get there by clicking here.

Greg
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Acts of Kindness Show God's Love
By the Editors of Religion Today


Unexpected acts of kindness are surprising and delighting people and leading them to Christ.

...Christians are giving away soft drinks at intersections and mall parking lots, washing cars, cleaning toilets, shining shoes, grilling hot dogs in parks — all for free with no strings attached. Others are picking up trash, tutoring on college campuses, feeding parking meters, buying ice cream for customers at a sweet shop, and returning grocery carts, among other things.

...Steve Sjogren got involved in "servant evangelism" out of frustration, he told Religion Today. Sjogren, pastor of Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, found people in the Midwestern city to be quite conservative. "Cincinnati is where men wear both suspenders and belts," said Sjogren, (pronounced SHOW-grin). "They think that if it is fun it must be bad."

...Cincinnati residents, many of whom are Roman Catholic, also are "very skeptical and resistant to traditional evangelism," Sjogren said. In preparation for starting a church, he canvassed neighborhoods, talking with 1,500 people in two years, and got practically nowhere. "I hit a brick wall."

...He then learned from a survey that less than 10% of Christians have the spiritual gift of evangelism, but 90% have the gift of serving. "I wondered if Servant Evangelism would be possible. I believed that if people were served, they would be curious and probably ask questions. I figured that most people could answer questions about their faith."

...Sjogren’s small church started holding free car washes. Members constructed big banners making it clear that the wash and rinse was absolutely free and that the church would not accept donations. "Some people thought they must be on Candid Camera," Sjogren said. "We had everything from a mom in a rusted station wagon to a businessman in a DeLorean."

...The effort was a lot of fun, Sjogren said. What was most amazing was that "those who served actually broke out of their shell — they broke free from their own personal Christian ghetto. People were amazed that they could actually do something for Christ. There was an atmosphere of courage, relevancy, and excitement. They were thinking, ‘Even if I am a wheel washer, I am useful to the Body of Christ.’"

...Eventually, though not initially, many people who had been touched by the outreaches responded by coming to church, Sjogren said. Excitement and fun grew. Congregates knew "they could have a purpose and a place. People knew they had a value." The church tripled in size within a year, and now has 4,000 attending.

..."A very important thing to note is that we don’t do Servant Evangelism to grow our church," Sjogren said. "We do it because the Spirit of Christ is in us and compels us to acts of love and compassion. If you do Servant Evangelism for the purpose of growing your church, you violate His Spirit. You serve because the Spirit of Christ is in you." Often several churches join together in a Servant Evangelism outreach so that God, not an individual church, gets the glory and attention.

...Most people are surprised by free acts of kindness, Sjogren said. People who don’t go to church are "almost always impacted positively. They say things like, ‘I always thought this is what the church should be doing.’"

...Christians are more skeptical, he said. "Many times they ask, ‘Why are you doing this?’ When they are told we are sharing Christ’s love, they ask, ‘What are you really trying to do?’ "

...One girl who offered free cookies said it made her sad when people repeatedly turned her down and made her realize how God must feel when people reject His free gift of salvation.

...Sjogren spends about half his time serving and half "getting people excited that they can actually do this," he said. He has written the book Conspiracy of Kindness (Vine Books) and often is invited to talk about Servant Evangelism. He and others are planning a Kindness Explosion weekend in Nashville in September and one in Manchester, England in the spring. A group from the church will be doing acts of kindness in Gisborne, New Zealand, "the first spot in the world for the new millennium," on New Year’s Day. Secular and Christian events will be held there; and the site probably will receive a lot of coverage from the world media, he said.

..."We’re just trying to show people what God’s love is like, free and with no strings attached," said Mark Daniels, pastor of Friendship Church, a Lutheran congregation in Ohio that undertakes weekly Kindness Outreaches. "It’s sort of a mind-blower for people; and that’s the way God’s love of us is, free and always mind-blowing."