JUST A HAND-FULL

By

Morena Arthur Maphutsi

0120718-SAO

A Project

Submitted to the Faculty

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

MIN 1103

Great Commission Strategies, 1st Ed

PN 01.13.01

Global University

June, 2016
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JUST A HAND-FULL

OUTREACH STRATEGY

The mass evangelism strategy in the twenty-first century has proven not effective in

reaching its intended goal. People have become sophisticated, intelligent, and highly opinionated

as a result. With technological advancements, information is literally available in the palm of

anyone’s hand. This has somehow lead a lot of evangelism writers back to the drawing board to

construct new methods which will possibly reach the lost souls of this era.

Fortunately the Gospel is not just a religious medium of control, neither is it a man-

made philosophy but, “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans

1:16 NIV). This knowledge should already entice an evangelist/believer to have faith in the

content of the message. However, even Jesus had a strategy to plunge into the world with this

powerful truth. Coleman (1993) states, “A person unwilling to fail in the determination to find

some way to get the job done will never get started, nor will the one afraid to try and try again

make much progress” (100). By this Coleman suggests that Christians (whether spiritually

younger or matured) begin the work.

Here are some of the outreach methods which may be relevant and functional to the

twenty-first century evangelism with just a hand-full of workers:

 Door to Door Evangelism

Church folk seem to have developed a faulty assumption that people will come to church

or to a Christian event solely because they are ready for salvation. The truth is that there are

people sitting in their homes, not even belonging to any religious organization who are

desperately in need of leadership and inner peace. They are in the darkness and do not know
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where to find help. Door to Door is a method which brings the Gospel to the convenience of

People’s homes.

Acts 5:42 (NIV) states, “Day after day, in the temple courts and in from house to house,

they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” This

method which was used by the apostles show a high motivation in fulfilling the Great

Commission. Door to door evangelism in itself is a training experience where the witnesses will

have to have a good Christian status in the community to be given a platform to witness, and

also, it is open for every Christian to partake. Jaffe (2013) adds, “When people are submitted to

the Lord, the Holy Spirit is free to work in their lives and produce fruit” (226). The other

advantage of Door to Door is that it may be done individually or through teams consisting of just

a hand-full of people.

 Open-Air Evangelism

People are curious beings, and people are also created to be social. As the title suggest,

Open-Air is done in an informal setup and is otherwise known as Street Preaching. Musical

instruments and P.A. sound may be put somewhere in a public area where people can be

attracted to investigate what the event is all about. Throughout church history and especially in

the nineties, open-air evangelism was very prominent in South Africa. However, as complacency

infected the church, criticism about its ineffectiveness expanded, and due to extremism in the

preaching content, Open-Air evangelism decreased.

Open-air evangelism is not standing in the public places preaching like a mad man, but a

presentable casual event which is done by a team in public. As the event progresses, other

members of the team will invite people around to come and be part of the event and to hear the

Word of God. In Matthew 5-7, Jesus preached and taught what Theology calls “Sermon on the
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Mount.” This was one of Jesus’ strategies for evangelism which was later adapted by His

disciples. The advantage of Open-Air evangelism is that all Christians may partake, whether

matured or spiritually young. The more matured Christians may take the preaching role, and the

young ones will be the ones inviting bystanders to come to hear the Word of God. Houdmann

(under “Street Preaching”) affirms, “Rather than wait for the lost to come to us, we should go to

them.”

 Feeding Scheme Evangelism

James 2:15 (NIV) states, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.

16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing

about his physical needs, what good is it?” This is one of the incarnational entities of

Christianity- reflecting Jesus’ compassion through association with sinners and the needy. Jesus

Christ shared meals with them either providing sustenance (Matt 14:13-21; 15:29-39) or being

catered for (Luke 19:1-10). Nevertheless, He ate with sinners! Perhaps this is what the Apostle

Paul was stressing in 2 Corinthians 9:7, that as Christians advance in spiritual matters, may

giving not be disregarded.

As James 2:14-15 notes, Christians have a social responsibility to cater to the needs of

those who are desperate. However, it is vital that in supplying food and/or clothing, the Gospel

be a prerequisite above the satisfaction of fulfilling a social aid. Will Metzger (2012) affirms,

“Scripture declares the priority of truth over experience” (91). A feeding Scheme program may

be held either at the church, open-air meetings, at someone’s home, and even as an outreach

strategy at the shelters or in assisting social community activities. Feeding scheme could also

include offering cleaning services, gardening, and even helping students with difficult school

subjects. Notably those who will gain from this scheme may be poor, unhygienic, dirty, have
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unpleasant odour, sick, etc. Therefore, workers must know that, “To Him [God] every person

possesses a value we can appreciate only as we learn about His infinite love for all people” (Jaffe

2013, 125).

 Other Methods

The Apostle Paul prioritized preaching of the Gospel in a remarkable way. In 1

Corinthians 9:19-23, he highlights his strategies to reach those he can for the Gospel’s sake.

There are other indirect methods of evangelism such as: Issuing evangelism tracks, social media,

community radio stations, mailing textual sermons, invitation to crusades and/or church services,

lifestyle evangelism, and friendship evangelism just to mention a few.

The indirect methods of evangelism should be encouraged for young Christians who may

not be bold enough to engage in face-to-face witnessing. However, every Christian has an

opportunity to somehow partake in the Great Commission. Hall (2006) notes, “To be servants of

Jesus Christ means that we not only have a saving relationship with Him, but also have

surrendered to His authority” (56). With this authority, Jesus commanded that believers go and

make disciples of all nations. The Lord has spoken, let His people obey!

TRAINING STRATEGY

Jesus was the master teacher who planned His strategy down to just a hand-full of trusted

students whom He could easily center His attention to. This is the most effective way to

supervise progress and to achieve intimacy with subjects. In his book the Master Plan of

Evangelism, Coleman notes that in training, “We should not expect a great number to begin with,

nor should we desire it. The best work is always done with a few” (1993, 101).

Evangelism and discipleship are objectively supplementary. That is, a person cannot be

the one and not be the other. In Matthew 28:18-20 (The Great Commission Scriptures), Jesus
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clearly sends believers to disciple nations, baptize them, and teach them to obey His commands.

Jaffe (2013) affirms, “Sometimes people in the church have the idea that a disciple is a “serious

Christian,” one who is most intent on following Jesus. However, this leaves the impression that a

person can be a Christian and not be a committed follower of Jesus” (149). Whereas Jesus said to

the Jews who believed Him, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you

will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32 NIV).

Here are some of the methods which may be constructive in maintaining the Great

Commission objective:

 Home Cells

Home cells are not really a new strategy of training Christians. The term might be new

but the concept goes back way before the era of the Synagogues. Coleman suggests this as an

effective method in contrast to working with greater numbers. In Exodus 18, Jethro (Moses’s

father-in-law) counsels Moses to select trusted men and delegate them official duties of Israel in

their appointed smaller groups. This would make Moses’ workload of leading the nation much

more bearable. The difficult cases would be brought to Moses to solve. This is what the home

cell achieves.

In home cells, there is an appointed leader who belongs to a Great Commission Team and

is responsible to teach and to answer all the questions that the members might have. Sue Bohlin

makes a practical observation about the purpose of home cells which is, “to learn to apply God’s

Word to their lives” (under “small Group Guidelines”). Leaders of the home cells must have

their own classes conducted either by the senior pastor or the Great Commission officer at least

once per week. These meetings also include prayer, where members may individually present

their prayer requests which would be submitted to God in union. Through home cells,
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information will easily be transmitted from the pastor to every member of the congregation, thus

reaching the entire church to adapt to the evangelism and discipleship tradition. The limit of the

members of each cell should be just a hand-full. When the cell expands then it will split into

subgroups, which will require more cell leaders to be trained. A cell’s advantage is that it is a

platform where people of different religions and/or denominations may come to fellowship.

 Bible Study Classes

It is necessary to teach the congregation the Word of God. Most people do not understand

the Bible because they haven’t learned principles of biblical interpretation (hermeneutics). It is

evident that Jesus spent almost all of His time with His disciples. However, in the twenty-first

century, spending all the time with one’s subjects would be improbable. Weekly Bible study

classes can therefore assist in the spiritual growth of the congregation. Besides, it is through the

understanding and acquiring sufficient biblical knowledge and fundamentals that a person may

be inspired to be involved in the work of the Gospel.

Bible study classes differ from home cells in that the purpose of the Bible study is the

equipping of home cell leaders (Great Commission Team) to be able to maintain a sound biblical

doctrine to teach the members. A home cell is an environment where all the members are given

the opportunity to express themselves and to be nurtured into maturity with the intention of

promoting them to being cell leaders themselves, and can also be used as prayer meetings to

petition for each other before the Lord. One could then ask: “What is the criteria to qualify to be

a home cell leader?” In selecting of leaders by the Apostles in Acts 6:3, “Each man selected had

to be well advanced in spiritual maturity and leadership development” (Jaffe 2013, 240). This is

the purpose of Bible Study Classes, to assist in the maturity of congregants to be able to plant

home cells.
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CONCLUSION

All these evangelism strategies correlate, and are profitable in the training of immature

Christians and also to solidify the methods of mature ones. The fact of the matter is that the

entire congregation has a responsibility to partake in the Great Commission, not only the pastor

and the Great Commission Team. However, following Jesus’ example, “We must be sensible. As

their guardian and advisor we are responsible for teaching our spiritual children how to live for

the Master” (Coleman 1993, 106). Will Metzger says the preaching of the Gospel in itself is

offensive to listeners, while Coleman affirms that evangelism is never an easy task. Jesus said in

John 15:18 (NIV), “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”

There is a high moral standard to adhere to in order to be a worker of the Kingdom.

Matthew 10, as Jesus sends the twelve, He exhorts them and also conveys the cost of

discipleship. Dr. Richard Krejcir (2003, under “Discipleship Curriculum”) notes, “The cost of

discipleship means asking the question: what does Jesus want me to do? Or if Jesus led my life,

how would He be and what would He do with my gifts and opportunities?” In all the outreach

activities mentioned students should be learning from their leaders what do, how to do it, what to

say, and how to say it. Eventually, students will have the urge to also engage in this Great

Commission. Of the most important and practical aspects of drawing souls to a relationship with

Christ is prayer and righteous living. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 (NIV), “Make sure that nobody pays

back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 16 Be joyful

always; 17 Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in

Christ Jesus.”

AMEN!
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REFERENCE LIST

Bohlin, Sue. 28 February 2007. Being a First-Century Disciple. (Accessed 26 June 2016).
http://bible.org/article/bible-study-small-group-guidelines-and-priorities.

Coleman, Robert E. 1993. The Master Plan of Evangelism. Grand Rapids, MI: Revell.

Hall, Ian R. 2006. Preparing and Preaching Bible Messages, 3rd ed. Springfield, MO: Global
University.

Jaffe, Michael. 2013. Great Commission Strategies. First edition. Springfield, MO: Global
University.

Dr. Krejcir, Richard. 2003. The Cost of Discipleship Part 1. (Accessed 26 June 2016).
http://www.discipleshiptools.org/apps/articles/?articleid=37027&columnid=4189.

Michael, Houdmann. Is Street Preaching an Effective Evangelism method? Got questions

Ministries.org. http://www.gotquestions.org/street-preaching.html (Accessed 25 June 2016).

Metzger, Will. 2012. Tell the Truth: the Whole Gospel Wholly by Grace Communicated
Truthfully & Lovingly. 4th ed. Downers Grove. IL: InterVasity Press.