SMALL GROUP EVANGELISM

Small Group Evangelism
Rad Zdero © March 2000, rad@housechurch.ca, www.housechurch.ca

Introduction
The Christian community today recognizes and utilizes the power of small groups, often referred to as Cells, as vehicles for spiritual nurture, accountability, intimacy, and growth in a particular area of knowledge. In many churches and faith communities there are a number of such subgroups to plug into – prayer groups, bible study groups, book study groups, affinity groups, accountability groups, home groups, and the list goes on. Often, however, these huddles are geared toward the development of the Christian (i.e. discipleship) as a very specific outcome.
The purpose of this short article is to open up some of the possibilities of utilizing small groups as a vehicle for very intentional, creative and sensitive evangelism. Let me state that I am not saying here that evangelism should only be done one way or that there is necessarily a best way – this is dictated by context usually. What is given in this article, however, is an examination of an alternate way of thinking about evangelism specifically in the context of small groups.
Two Approaches to Evangelism
Now let’s suppose that our spheres of influence as Christians – such as the city we live in, our immediate neighborhood, our workplace, our circle of friends, or maybe our school - is like a flowing river (see diagram). The river represents the various contexts that we have in which we relate, in the daily ebb and flow of life, with the lost. Our non-Christian friends are like fish in the river, some are big, some small, some are easier to get along with than others. Some are very open to engaging on faith issues, whereas others are either indifferent or hostile. So, we see this huge opportunity to ‘be Jesus’ and ‘see Jesus’ and to engage those around us with the good news. So, now what do we do? There are two choices as I see it, namely bridge fishing and small boat fishing.

Bridge Fishing
Belonging to a tight knit group that has a somewhat definable goal is, unfortunately, not only a foreign experience to many followers of Jesus, but also to much of larger society. And so, when it comes to evangelism, the Christian approach is often similar to someone who gets their fishing pole, worms it, and positions themselves at the most strategic spot they know of on the bridge. This tactic ensures that we never get wet or dirty or in any kind of real close contact with dirty and smelly fish, until we catch one and pull it up to where we are.
In actuality, this might mean that we invite a friend to an ‘outreach’ event that’s coming to town, or perhaps we invite someone to church or a church related event, or we take part in a missions week that our church or campus group is sponsoring by going door-to-door in our neighborhood handing out videos on Jesus, etc.
The advantages of this method are that it’s safer, cleaner, and less risky for the person doing the evangelizing. There’s not much of a chance that we’ll have to go to places and be with people that may challenge our moral or theological views. The main disadvantage, though, is that we’ll never truly be challenged and forced to grow in what we believe by thoughtful non-Christians. And we may never really get to know any non-kingdom friends up close and personally until they become Christians.
So, bridge fishing is more of a ‘suck in’ rather than a ‘reach out’, periodically going out on evangelism raids rather than becoming an insider in our non-Christian circles. I‘m not suggesting that this strategy has no place at all, because that is in fact how I became a Christian, by someone handing out Bibles. But, I think there is a complementary approach that may be ideally suited for today's Christians, namely small boat fishing.


Small Boat Fishing
Imagine a Small Boat that’s part of a larger fleet of similar boats whose main purpose is to catch fish (see diagram). The crew of each small boat eats together, hangs out, strategizes, encourages every member of the team, and casts out the fishing nets together. They are a unit. They do everything together: move, stop, slow down, speed up, change direction, pull up the nets, put down the nets. They make decisions quickly in a non-bureaucratic manner regarding issues like when they need to buy new nets, fix the side of the boat, and change directions. They also have the accountability, support and direction that comes from being part of a larger fleet of such boats.
This method may look something like a small group of five or six friends who have decided that they want to intentionally reach out to their friends together as a team. Their main thrust and contribution to evangelism is in the context of what this small team does. They meet together once a week, pray for each other and their non-Christian friends, learn from each other’s attempts at evangelism, brainstorm on overcoming obstacles, invite their seeker friends to social occasions or events, and get into each other’s social spheres. They are mobile, flexible, non-bureaucratic, quick to implement decisions and changes, and have support from each other as part of a team. There is also the accountability and intimacy that naturally evolves in being part of a close knit team.
The main caution here is that, unless this small boat is part of a larger network of small boats doing the same thing, an independent and Isolated Small Boat (see diagram) can potentially sink or get shipwrecked due to questionable doctrine, unhealthy practices, lack of direction and not much space. The other danger is that using an overly large group, i.e. Big and Loud Boat, as an evangelistic tool that meets, say, in someone’s home, may possibly scare some people away because it is large, loud and may seem cultish. We need to be aware of the potential obstacles with any approach we take, however, making sure to capitalize on the strengths of each as well.
Examples of Small Boat Fishing
From my personal experience, the advantages of small boat fishing far outweigh the potential dangers involved. As such, this section explores 6 possible scenarios, based on personal experience, of how this approach to evangelism could work within the context of one small fishing boat. One thing to keep in mind here is the importance of being an ‘insider’ and full participant in our non-Christian networks. Without such insider status, small boat fishing can easily degenerate into ‘suck in’ evangelism rather than ‘reach out’ evangelism.
Discussion Dinners
A discussion dinner is basically an event hosted periodically (maybe monthly) by the evangelistically oriented small group, in which members invite a few non-Christian friends to an evening meal. This is followed by people gathering in the living room for a short 10-20 minute presentation that addresses some important questions of life (e.g. does God exist?, why so much suffering?, who is Jesus?, etc) to launch the discussion. The material used to start the evening’s discussion is usually a contemporary and mainstream music video, movie, poem, song, newspaper article, painting, etc. The key here, as in any small group, is to make sure that all opinions are valued and allowed to be fully expressed and explored. A good discussion facilitator is required. The non-Christian friend should not feel pounced on or cornered or that their opinion is somehow wrong. Remember, the purpose for these dinners is to create discussion and open up the doors for further dialogue down the line. They are not meant to be high pressure situations. Casual, comfortable and creative are the main ingredients for a good discussion dinner.
Evangelists Anonymous
This type of small group is sort of an evangelism support group that meets together to pray for, encourage, brainstorm, and keep each member accountable in their personal one-on-one evangelism efforts in their respective spheres of influence, whether that be at the workplace, in the school, or in the neighbourhood. As members help and encourage each other in this endeavour, all will become more motivated and skilled in their own efforts. Suggestions for increasing skills and growing in vision may be for the group to be reading through some helpful books on ‘lifestyle’ and ‘friendship’ evangelism (Green, 1995; Petersen, 1989; Pippert, 1979), going through a video learning series (Petersen, 1989), studying biblical patterns of mission, going to related seminars, reading through a book that links prayer and evangelism, expanding our knowledge of the world’s religions (Smith, 1991), apologetics (Boyd & Boyd, 1994; Little, 1988), etc. If at all possible, opportunities to enter into each other’s social circles should be encouraged.
The Partiers
This small team of five or six folks focuses on giving each other opportunities to connect with and engage each other’s friends with the good news by merging their social circles together. These people like to party and socialize. They’re always having dinners, movie nights, going out bowling, playing hockey, and going away to the cottage on weekends. Or perhaps this small team loves to cook, play scrabble, watch movies, or perhaps play cards. They are always including their non-Christian friends so that their friendship networks begin to overlap. In other words, the focus here is on social cross-pollination. The potential here lies in the synergistic and overlapping efforts and talents of each team member with each other’s non-kingdom friends. The breakthrough that I’ve been working on with a friend may not come until they connect with another member of the team who perhaps understands them more and is able to connect at a deeper level. What we have here really is the emergence of a community made up of overlapping social circles, with Christians and non-Christians alike, that creates opportunities to dialogue on life, faith, family, work, sports, suffering, and Jesus.
Service Oriented Groups
This small team starts off, say, as a run-of-the-mill Bible study meeting once a week on Wednesday nights. But then one of them noticed that there is something wrong in town – homeless people in the streets, food banks running low on donations, soup kitchens needing volunteers. This guy then rallied a few friends from the bible study, and they decided they needed to make a difference, somehow.
They start praying, thinking, and doing some research. They come up with the idea of opening up an emergency last resort overnight shelter for homeless people when all other existing shelters and agencies are full up. They garnered support and advice from existing shelters in town, organized a homeless walk to raise money for their shelter, within a few months were up and running successfully, and were supported greatly by their home church and other agencies with supplies and money. They were able to initially recruit about two dozen volunteers, mostly from their home church but also from the community at large, some of whom were non-Christians.
Although the main goal of the project was to help the homeless, the project not only strengthened the bonds between the Christians involved but has also created opportunities to share in word and deed the good news of Jesus to those around them. This, by the way, is a true story and only one example of the possibilities.
Social Issues Discussion Groups
Many in our society are deeply concerned about social issues and are willing to engage and explore societal problems in conversation. Organizing a discussion group that attempts to address and explore various societal problems can be a way of building bridges between Christians and non-Christians. Typical meetings may simply involve discussing a book, magazine article or newspaper clipping on a certain topic. This provides an opportunity for the believer to learn about issues the church does not address frequently, to formulate and articulate their perspective, and to learn from non-Christians their views on the environment, AIDS, crime, international relations, abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering, the media, poverty, homelessness, as well as a host of local concerns. It may be surprising to both believers and non-believers that they share many overlapping perspectives, something that can create friendships and a springboard for dialogue on faith issues.
Investigative Bible Studies
This basically involves a small team of Christians organizing a weekly bible study group geared towards our non-Christian friends. Out of some friendships may emerge a few seeker friends who are interested in a more thorough look at the Bible and this guy named Jesus. It’s just a matter of inviting them.
A great approach is certainly one of the gospels, in which we all agree to systematically look through the life of Christ, one chapter at a time on a weekly basis. Other possibilities may be a topical or thematic introductory look at questions like: Who was Jesus? What about science and faith? Why suffering and evil? Is the Bible Reliable? Does God Really Care? Helpful books such as Know Why You Believe (Little, 1988) address a variety of questions that people often ask. As well, introductory courses to the Christian faith such as the ever-popular Alpha Course (Gumbel, 1993), offer a practical and refreshing look at some foundational issues. This Alpha Course is oriented around a meal and lively video presentation, followed by group discussion on the issues addressed.
Final Thoughts
This article has attempted to touch on issues related to small group evangelism and offer some practical tips. There are many types of small groups you could start. Be creative, intentional, sensitive and, above all, trust God to do something through you to touch the lives of people around you.

Acknowledgements
The diagram ‘Evangelism as Fishing’ was adapted and modified based on material from my friend Jeremy Horne who is the director of The Navigators of Canada (Campus Mission).

References & Further Reading
Arnold, J (1992), The Big Book on Small Groups, InterVarsity Press.
Boyd G.A. and E.K. Boyd (1994), Letters from a Skeptic, Chariot Victor Publishing.
Bruce, F.F. (1992), The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, InterVarsity Press.
Coleman, Robert (1963), The Master Plan of Evangelism, Spire Books / Revell.
Green, M., and A. McGrath (1995), How Shall We Reach Them? Thomas Nelson Pub.
Green, Michael (1995), One to One, Random House.
Gumbel, Nicky (1993), Questions of Life, Alpha Course, Cook Ministry Resources.
Little, Paul (1988), Know Why You Believe, InterVarsity Press.
Martin, Walter (1992), The Kingdom of the Cults, Bethany House Publishers.
McDowell, Josh (1977), More Than a Carpenter, Living Books, Tyndale House Publishers.
McDowell, Josh (1988), Evidence That Demands a Verdict (Volume 1) - Historical Evidences for the Christian Faith, Here's Life Publishers.
Petersen, Jim (1989), Living Proof - Sharing the Gospel Naturally, NavPress, Colorado Springs, USA. A video series is available based on the book.
Petersen, Jim (1992), Church without Walls, NavPress.
Pippert, R.M. (1979), Out of the Salt Shaker and Into the World, InterVarsity Press.
Schumacher, E.F. (1973), Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, Harper & Row.
Shorrosh, Anis A. (1988), Islam Revealed - A Christian Arab's View of Islam, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Smith, Huston (1991), The World's Religions, Harper SanFrancisco.
Zdero, Rad (2004), The Global House Church Movement, available from William Carey Library, www.WCLbooks.com
About the Author
Rad Zdero, Ph.D., earned his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. He is currently part of a team starting up ‘HouseChurch.Ca’, an umbrella group intent on birthing a network of house churches in the greater Toronto area. Contact Information - Website: www.housechurch.ca, Email: rad@housechurch.ca, Tel: 905-820-8846, Mail: Box 42067, 128 Queen St. South, Mississauga, ON, Canada, L5M-4Z0.