Incarnational Evangelism Part 3

One refreshing way to practice incarnational evangelism is through something called Servant Evangelism. To the best of my knowledge Servant Evangelism was best described and practiced in these last decades by Steve Sjogren who I believe used to be at Cincinnati Vineyard Church but has since moved on. I am not sure. However, Sjogren's book Conspiracy of Kindness launched new interest in this form of incarnational evangelism. Today Sjogren's website ServantEvangelism.com hosts many ideas and "how tos" when it comes to engaging in servant evangelism.

Basically servant evangelism is sharing the love of Christ by carrying out random acts of kindness. It is sharing Christ's love with no strings attached. Servant Evangelism might include handing out free water bottles, delivering goodies to rescue and fire workers, or delivering donuts to businesses.

Sjogren is quick to point us some caveats about Servant Evangelism. First, the primary purpose of Servant Evangelism is to share the love of Christ in a small incarnational way. If you begin with trying to grow your church you are starting off on the wrong footing. The primary motive must be to share the love of Christ. Whether or not people might notice your church in the process is secondary. Second, any church growth that does occur will happen slowly. As your church gains a reputation as a serving church and raises awareness about itself in the community you may have some persons that find their way to your church. Again, icing on the cake, Servant Evangelism is meant to be incarnational, not attractional. Third, all Servant Evangelism, before, during and after the event should be bathed in prayer.

While some question the motives of Servant Evangelism and whether there are really "no strings attached" there are a variety of benefits to Servant Evangelism. Servant Evangelism is a fun, easy, non-costly way to share God's love in a small way within the community. Small things done in great love can change the world. Servant Evangelism takes some of the stigma away from evangelism that many followers of Jesus have. It moves beyond knocking on doors and is high grace, low threat in its approach. Anybody can do it and most people have lots of fun doing it. Servant Evangelism offers the opportunity to engage people in conversation you would not normally engage in. For example, you hand someone a bottle of water for free and they ask if it is really free and you say yes it is, it is our church's way of serving in the community. They might ask what church. They might begin to tell you about a problem. They might ask you to pray for them. Whatever. The point is that you have a conversation you would not normally have with a stranger. The act of kindness, sharing Christ's love, opens up that door.

Here is a link to a podcast I recorded some time ago about servant evangelism.

You can read anything I have ever written on this blog about servant evangelism here.