Why Evangelism Must Start with Leaders
The basics of the Christian life require full participation from every believer, no matter their role or leadership status.
This week was “Everyone Week”—a week we host each month across all our locations that is dedicated to engaging strangers in conversations about Jesus. The photo I selected is from one of the groups I joined in my city. There were about 25 of us, ranging from newly connected students and new believers to co-vocational missionaries and me, the lead pastor.
One of my deepest convictions is that the basics of the Christian life—evangelism, discipleship, and church community—require full participation from every believer, no matter their role or leadership status. Every believer should be personally engaged in sharing the Gospel, discipling someone, and being discipled themselves.
Without fail, every time I take part in these weeks, I meet someone who has never encountered a Christian or heard the Gospel. It’s incredibly humbling to ask, “Do you know what Christians believe?” and hear the response, “No.” In those moments, we are doing the most important work we could ever do.
The Struggle to Show Up
Despite knowing this, I had to dig deep to get out there myself this time. My week was packed—travel, business demands, church leadership responsibilities, and an all-day training event on the weekend. But we all have reasons why we’re too busy, tired, or overwhelmed to engage in discipleship and evangelism.
As a leader juggling many responsibilities, it’s tempting to feel too important or overscheduled to do the basics. But if I allow that mindset to take root, what’s stopping the business leaders in my community from saying the same? Or the nurse working 12-hour shifts? The mom with three young kids? The engineer managing late-night calls across time zones? If I’m too busy to personally make disciples, then why wouldn’t they be?
It’s easy to finish a long workday, shut off my brain, and avoid investing in others. But the urgency of the Gospel is too great. By fostering a co-vocational community where everyone shares the work of evangelism and discipleship, we set a standard that invites full participation.
Evangelism Must Start with Leaders
Whenever I speak at conferences or talk with church leaders, I’m often asked how to spark disciple-making and evangelism in a community. My answer is never easy to hear: it has to start with the senior leaders.
If key leaders are too busy to make disciples, no one else will. But if leaders model a life of discipleship outside their normal work hours, it naturally becomes part of the community’s rhythm.
I once shared this with a pastor from a suburban church. His face fell. “I’ve never been in a discipleship group,” he admitted. “And my people are too busy with hockey and evening activities. I’d rather just encourage them on Sunday mornings.” I walked away heartbroken—heartbroken that our love for Jesus could be so easily eclipsed, and that entire church communities are missing the call and the joy of evangelism and disciple-making.
Making Time for Evangelism
So how do we practically make time for evangelism in our communities? Here’s what has worked for us:
Schedule it. One week a month, we ask everyone to block off just one hour for intentional, one-on-one evangelism with strangers.
Do it together. Evangelism doesn’t have to be lonely. A good friend invited me and one of my disciples to dinner with his disciples before we hit the streets. I knew the food would be great, and the company even better—an easy yes!
Use simple tools. We’ve developed conversation guides to help people confidently share the Gospel with strangers.
Take action, even when it’s scary. It’s intimidating at first, but always worth it— even in the face of rejection.
Create accountability. Most churches value evangelism in theory, but few actually ask people to do it in an accountable way. Because we operate through a decentralized network of house churches (Simple Churches), we can delegate responsibility and accountability through deep, personal relationships.
The need for the Gospel is urgent. If we want to see a movement of evangelism and discipleship, it won’t come from sermons alone—it will come from leaders who are willing to live it out.
Great post Robin!