Pastor Mary Johnson continued the Everyone, Everywhere series by inviting the church to turn to Matthew 9. She reminded everyone that God has a calling on each of our lives to partner with him in changing the world around us. He has placed each of us in different environments so we can share the good news of who Jesus is with the people there. Last week, Pastor Matthew Johnson taught that when we understand we have been saved from death to life, we understand we have been saved for evangelism.
Breaking Something Intimidating Into Steps
Pastor Mary acknowledged that evangelism feels intimidating to many people. We want to share our faith, but we do not know what steps to take. She compared it to other goals that can feel overwhelming, like getting our finances in order, getting healthy, or starting a daily quiet time with God.When something feels intimidating, breaking it into steps can help. Dave Ramsey created baby steps through Financial Peace University, starting with a budget, then a $1,000 emergency fund, then a debt snowball. A couch to 5K program starts with walking before it ever gets to running. Pastor Mary shared that her role at The Tree Church through core membership is to help people take attainable steps toward becoming disciples, like joining a connect group, serving on a ministry team, tithing, and being baptized. She believes evangelism can be broken down the same way.
It Starts With Love
Pastor Mary explained that evangelism grows from a heart of love. God loved us so much that he made a way through Jesus for us to be in relationship with him. We were loved first so that we can love others.Building on last week's vocabulary lesson, she added the phrase relational evangelism. She admitted it is actually redundant, because all evangelism should be relational. She said, "All evangelism should start with some sort of relational connection with others." Jesus had a unique calling to speak to crowds, like at the Sermon on the Mount and the feeding of the 5,000. But this morning she wanted to look at Jesus with one person, which is much closer to what our lives look like.
Relational Evangelism Requires Intention
Matthew 9:9 says, "As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth." Pastor Mary's first point was that relational evangelism requires intention. Jesus saw Matthew.Tax collectors were despised. Matthew was a Jewish man who had turned against his faith to work for the opposing power, and tax collectors often overcharged people and kept the extra. People saw them as thieves and traitors. Yet Jesus saw a man who did not know him but needed to know him, a man who was spiritually dead in his sin.Pastor Mary encouraged everyone to look around their own environments. It might be a coworker going through something, a classmate who sits alone at lunch, a neighbor who walks a dog past your house, a teammate, a cashier, or someone at the gym. She walked through her own environments, including people who visit the church building, parents she meets while working the concession stand at her kids' high school games, neighbors on her walks, and regulars at her grocery store. She noted that the people God wants us to see are not only the ones we would naturally pick. Anyone who does not know Jesus needs to know him.
Making Margin to See People
Seeing people requires taking our eyes off ourselves, and Pastor Mary admitted she struggles with this. Her life is so full that she sometimes lacks the margin to see the people around her. New neighbors moved into the house behind hers this spring after it had been empty for about six years. She saw them move in, but she did not truly see them. Months later, she finally brought them a gift and introduced herself. When the husband offered to get his wife, Pastor Mary had to say she could not stay because they were leaving for her son's soccer game. She said God has been convicting her that she needs more margin.She reminded the church that awkwardness is not an excuse, because this is a matter of life and death. Neither is personal preference. "We won't develop deep relationships or intentional relationships accidentally." It takes being intentional.
Knocking on the Door
Pastor Mary shared about a pastor she listened to for years who described evangelism as knocking on the door. He would ask an opening question, like asking the person next to him on an airplane how they were doing. If they responded, the door was open and he took a next step. If not, he did not push.Her late mother was wonderful at this. Pastor Mary laughed that her mom would go to a restaurant restroom and come back with someone's name, number, and what they were going through. She would come out of a store saying they needed to drop something off at the house of someone she met in line. Pastor Mary now realizes her mom was knocking on doors. She said, "We have to live close enough to people that they can experience Jesus through us." People are not a project or a task. They are creations of God whom he loves. And if we are in a relationship with God, she said, we are rich in love.
Relational Evangelism Requires an Invitation
Matthew 9:9 continues, "And he said to him, follow me, and he rose and followed him." Pastor Mary's second point was that relational evangelism requires an invitation. Jesus did not give Matthew all the answers or settle theological questions first. He simply invited Matthew into relationship.Pastor Mary encouraged the church to keep using the invite cards to bring people to church. But the invitation she described is broader. It is asking whether our lives can start to connect. That might look like sending a text to say you are thinking of someone, sitting with them at lunch, taking a break or a walk together, inviting them for coffee, partnering on a school project, sitting with another parent at a game, or checking in with a neighbor while walking the dog. She shared that she has been in this invitation stage with some longtime neighbors for years, with friendly surface-level conversations.
Relational Evangelism Requires Investment
Matthew 9:10 says, "And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples." Pastor Mary pointed out that in Luke's account, Matthew hosted the meal and invited his friends. Her third point was that relational evangelism requires investment.Investing might mean communicating more often, sharing meals at each other's homes, planning activities together, having deeper conversations, and praying for people or asking to pray with them. While preparing this message, Pastor Mary felt challenged that she had stayed at the invitation stage with her neighbors for so long. So last week, she and her family invited them over for dinner. They did not talk about God. They talked about each other's lives, and it was wonderful.
Letting People See Christ in Us
When we invest in people, they get to see our character. They see how we handle conflict, hardship, joy, family, and faith. Pastor Mary said this does not require a perfect life. It means living an overcoming life that addresses problems in a way that honors God. A friend might notice that you do not gossip about a rude boss, that you and your spouse are seeking help for your marriage, or that you are working to overcome an addiction with accountability. They might notice you are never available on Sunday mornings, that cars fill your driveway on Wednesday nights for a connect group, or that your kids love going to Movement youth group.Investment also lets people experience your Christian community, and it lets you hear their stories and be a light in their situations. It takes sacrifice of time, energy, and privacy. Jesus formed relationships with people who were nothing like him. Matthew went from sinner to disciple, and from sinner to evangelist, and he wrote the very book the church was reading from. Pastor Mary asked who God might want to reach through the one in your life.
Relational Evangelism Is an Interruption
In Matthew 9:11-13, the Pharisees asked why Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus answered, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice for I came not to call the righteous but sinners." Pastor Mary noted that Jesus is a friend of sinners. She shared a commentary's picture of the Pharisees as doctors who wished sick people would get well but did not want to risk being infected themselves. Christians can do the same thing, saying a group of people needs the Lord while doing nothing about it. Yet we are the sick ones Jesus came for too.Her fourth point was that relational evangelism is an interruption. People are messy, and so are we. Investing in others takes time and energy, and it can be tiring. But Jesus was not afraid of the mess. He engaged with Zacchaeus, the woman caught in adultery, lepers, the Samaritan woman at the well, and Roman soldiers. He did it not because they were projects, but because they needed his love. Pastor Mary acknowledged that we need healthy boundaries, but she encouraged the church to see interruptions as ministry.
Where Are You in the Steps
Pastor Mary closed by asking everyone to consider where they are. Some may need more margin and sensitive eyes to see the people God has placed around them. Some already see those people and need boldness to knock on the door and invite them into relationship. Some need to take the next step and invest. Others have been doing all of this and are simply tired, and they need the reminder that people are worth it because God created them, loves them, and has a plan for them.She closed in prayer, thanking Jesus for the gift of life through his sacrifice. She asked for boldness, energy, and help making changes in our schedules, so that this week the church would see people, invite them, invest in them, and view them as people loved by God.
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