The reason is the attitude many people have toward evangelism. For years, the excuse remains, “I don’t know enough.” The sense is that it takes a Bible scholar to pull off teaching. Others believe it takes a “preacher with a bag of tricks” to “talk people into the baptistry.”

Training sessions involve intricate study of systems. The teacher must “memorize” vast portions of scripture. Bible-markings and complicated charts finally boggle the imagination. The conclusion is simple–I’m not cut out to teach my friends the truth.

Yet attitude of evangelism is never as complicated as some have made it. It can be summarized in a simple sentence:

“I don’t know. Let’s find out.”

Those who are successful are sharing knowledge not teaching facts. They don’t send out a machine-gun spew of verses. They are simple people who don’t want to argue someone into submission. They want God’s word to have an honest hearing and they are willing to keep their egos out of the way.

Before you give up on an evangelistic church, examine your attitude toward evangelism. It may be the chock holding the steam engine back.

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Do you want to give your congregation a flavor of a evangelism from an easier slant. SMC has two special programs designed to help evangelism to be painless. The Story video series is a “door opener” that allows you to share the story of the Bible in a non-threatening way. Personal Evangelism Training is a series that has worked for hundreds. It requires no memorization and allows you to be the sharing friends. Go to the video library page and scroll down to Special Tools for Outreach to find the programs.

Why don’t young men want to preach any more?

In the last post, we explored one reason–they lack the models of ministry that give preaching respectability.

But that’s only a single cause. Over three decades ago I stepped into full time “church work” (as it was called then). Since that time, I have witnessed a weekly carnage. Preachers, many with years of tenure and full of talent, walked away from pulpits. They had enough.

It’s tough to preach. Everyone is a critic who knows how to do it better (even though they never tried). The sermon is too obscure, too simple, too long, too short, not enough scripture, not enough application, etc., etc., etc. Every preacher can visualize the face of a well-meaning assassin.

Beyond public criticism is the whispering campaign done by members. The menu for many a Sunday dinner is fried preacher. Children grow up hearing how “dumb” the preacher is. Today, preachers get skewered on the barbecue pit of blog posts and Facebook mentions. For many, the merciless stabs keep coming until its time to turn out the light and leave the pulpit.

While some church members can plead guilty to spiritual murder, the preacher must bear some of the responsibility. They either just “took it” or finally exploded and lost their credibility.

If you preach, you need to learn a little spiritual karate. See the blows coming and deflect them.

Three simple strategies blocks the attacker in full-stride

Define your work. Few preachers have well-written job descriptions. I suggest a memo to the elders or leaders stating your understanding of your work and priorities. Ask them to write back to correct (with the caveat that you assume they are correct unless specifically corrected). This keeps you from being a puppet with dozens vying to pull the string next.

Record your work. Keep a daily log. Every hour write down every hour what you do. It doesn’t have to be detailed, but enough to provide a casual reader of what your doing. For instance, don’t write down “studying for sermon.” Instead make an entry that says, “reading commentaries for sermons” or “writing first outline of sermon.” This puts teeth in the entry. Keep your log open on your desk so anyone can see it. (After all, you have nothing to hide.)

Report your work. From you daily log, write a monthly report and send it to your elders or leaders. (Regardless of whether they want it or not, send it. If necessary, tell them it is for your benefit.) From a dozen monthly reports, write an annual review. The experience will keep you on track in ways nothing else can.

This process does one thing. It provides ammunition for people who come at you with “he just doesn’t do his job” (or some variant of the attack). Cooly, you can say, “Perhaps, let’s look at it.” You open your log, take out your reports and start tediously going through them. Your attitude is not ugly. You only want to pursue the truth. (If the charge is true, be prepared to admit it.)

The tragedy of many churches is good men lost to the work simply because they never developed skills that would allow them to last. Don’t become a victim. Learn to last.

(For a copy of these resources, refer to the page on Becoming a Leader that Lasts on our website.)

It’s Sunday morning and when the preacher steps to the platform, he presents an “ok” sermon. But in another church, a preacher “hits the bull’s eye.” Is one a better preacher? Perhaps, but it may be that one took a better bead on the target.

Let me explain about a small, subtle step that puts the arrow on the flight path to hitting the listener where they live.

I’ve known Robert Oglesby for over 40 years. He trained me as a preacher and I learned a lot. But perhaps one of the things he taught me about communication happened when I started working on staff with him 9 years ago at the Waterview Church of Christ.

The final step (which I omitted for several years) is a “final gleaning.” After hours of preparation, Robert has a perfectly crafted outline typed out and ready to go. But then comes the final gleaning. Robert sits down on the morning of his presentation, with legal pad and pen in hand, and quickly outlines what he will say. This resulted in taking out the chaff and leaving the presentation (sermon or class) with laser-beam focus. The final gleaning takes about 5 minutes but it makes the difference in what the audience keeps.

Recently I spoke at Waterview during Robert’s absence. The lesson just didn’t have the “zing” I wanted. So I did a final gleaning. I ended up taking 10 minutes and refashioning the conclusion. It had drama and movement and the punch it finally needed.

If you have to communicate on a regular basis, don’t ignore this last step. It solidifies your thoughts, focuses your attention, and takes your message to the next level.

One warning: don’t try it unless you really want to make your speaking better!

(For more help in preaching, email us and ask for Program 102–Preparation and Delivery of Sermons)