What Style Are You?

I have to admit, when I heard that we were going to do the Proclaim Course in our community group, I was less than excited. As a matter of fact - I dreaded it. It's not that I'm anti-evangelism, though I wouldn't consider myself good at it by any means, but I felt like, ‘I’ve heard it all… what more could they possibly tell us about evangelism? It's one of those things that you just have to do… right?’.

During the second week of Proclaim, there was a survey that we were asked to complete. We were to rate ourselves on a scale from 0 to 3 on various questions that would reveal our evangelism style. When the numbers were tallied up, my "style" was decidedly "invitational" and "relational." Though I wasn't surprised by the results, something clicked in my mind. Here I was exerting all the evangelistic energy I had into trying to be "direct" and "intellectual" (my 2 weakest areas). I always felt like a failure if I couldn't get right to the point with my neighbor about the gospel or argue decisively with someone I was sitting with at a sporting event. Ok, Proclaim, you actually did have something to teach me.

But the dread came upon me again before the next Proclaim week. Yes, I learned something in week 2 – but I still didn't look forward to week 3. During that week's session we were asked to write down the names of people whom we know now, that we used to know, and that we could know, and then come up with a plan in how we could reach out to them. I took out my little notebook and obediently began writing down names of people in each of those categories and beside the names a plan.

All of the sudden I started to feel excited about reaching these people using a style that I was comfortable with. Putting a few of those plans into action, I asked a couple at the YMCA that we knew if they would like to come to Alpha. When they said no, that they were too busy, I found myself in a conversation with them along with Stephanie, one of my "direct, intellectual evangelism style" Christian friends. She kept the conversation going – I handed out the "How Good are You?" tracts. I went into the gym and asked my daughter's gymnastics coach if she had ever heard of Alpha (invitational again). And she responded that she did know of Alpha, and she had always wanted to go.

So my daughter's gymnastics coach is currently attending Alpha with me. But even more, invitational evangelism fervor is spreading around the Demi house. One of our 15-year-old neighbor boys is attending Alpha with my sons. During the second night of Alpha, that young man accepted Jesus as His Savior and is now sharing the Good News with his parents.

I didn't do any "heroic" evangelism, but by following through with some simple, doable plans that I wrote down on that Proclaim night; God in His kindness used me in His redemptive plan. Whatever your evangelistic style, take a step of faith and trust God that He can use you, too. As Jim Donohue said in the Proclaim video, "We're all gifted for evangelism."

It's been so much fun being in the midst of God's redemptive plan unfolding. It is amazing how one small act of obedience (asking someone to Alpha) prompted by the Holy Spirit working through a Proclaim night, set a whole plan in action that was designed before the world began. And more amazingly, my family and I have been ‘invited’ to be part of the process.