My father was not raised in church. When he was in his early 20’s, someone invited him to a church service. As a result of being invited to church, Jesus changed his life forever. My dad got saved that night, ended up going to a Baptist college and met his wife (my mom). My brothers and sister and I were raised in a Christian home because somebody invited him to church.
Studies show the vast majority of people come to Christ primarily because someone invited them to visit a church service.
It should come as no surprise that evangelism does not happen unless we become intentional about it. So, I’d like to challenge you at the beginning of 2021 to make a simple but significant resolution. Resolve that once a month you will invite at least one person to attend church with you.
According to a Lifeway Research, around 1 in 10 churchgoers (10%) average at least one evangelistic conversation a month. What if we could increase that to 5 out of 10? Or 7 out of 10? Or even better, 10 out of 10?
It’s true, most people we invite will not respond affirmatively. Even for the Apostle Paul, the world’s greatest evangelist, the book of Acts reports that some scoffed at him, others said, “We want to think about it,” but “a few believed.” A few believed! That’s our goal.
If you become serious about inviting others to church, then I would recommend you take the next step and go out of your way to make friends with people you invite by serving them. People will be much more likely to be responsive to your invitation if you show a genuine interest in them and help them along the way.
It’s amazing how much influence we can have, if we will simply be obedient to Jesus’ commands to tell others about Him and invite people to come to His house with us. I never met the man who invited my dad to church, but I am going to hug him one day in Heaven.
By Dave Delaney