Over the years, Christians have tried to adopt several measures that will help them spread the message about their faith and in so doing convert others to Christianity.
This practice of spreading the message about Christianity has come to be known as evangelism.
When Christianity began, there were very few approaches to evangelizing, but as technology and several developments have sprung up over the years, several other methods have been utilized by Christians in different geographical areas to help further the cause of evangelism in Christianity.
In this sermon however, we are going to look at the different types of evangelism that Christians are using to spread the gospel.
13 Types of evangelism.
The different types of evangelism we have in Christendom are:
- One on one evangelism.
- House to house evangelism
- Open air evangelism.
- Morning cry evangelism.
- Sermon evangelism.
- Tract evangelism.
- Televangelism.
- Radio evangelism.
- Internet evangelism.
- Social media evangelism.
- FFriendship evangelism.
- Action evangelism.
- Prophetic evangelism.
1. One on one evangelism.
One on one evangelism entails privately approaching individuals to tell them the good news about Christ.
This type of evangelism requires some tricks and tactics because most of the people you are going to approach are going to turn you down. Some will give one excuse or another while some will silently walk away and a few others will even go to the extent or warning you to stay away from them and threatening one harm or another if you refuse.
Therefore, in the case of someone trying to be rude when you approach him one on one to evangelize, you have to silently walk away.
In Luke 9:59, we see how a young man gave Jesus an excuse to go and bury His Father when Jesus asked him to follow Him. Jesus did not force him or any other people hHe converted, He only told him to come with Him and allow the dead to bury their dead.
But then the young man did not hearken to the words of Christ, so He walked away and missed the opportunity of becoming one of His disciples.
2. House to house evangelism.
House tp house evangelism is simply the art of visiting people’s home in order to preach the gospel to them.
In Luke chapter 9 we see how the Lord Jesus Himself sent His disciples to go from house to house and preach the gospel. The most important thing to note in this scriptural instance is the instructions Jesus gave to the disciples concerning house to house evangelism.
- He told them to take nothing for the journey, not even their food and money or an extra clothe. (Verse 3)
- He also told them to stay in any house that accepts there until they depart. (Verse 4)
- He also instructed them to shake the dust off their feet when they leave a city that people refused to accept them. (Verse 5).
Another important point to note in Luke 9:1 is that Jesus gave the disciples power and authority over demons as well as the power to heal the sick.
In Acts 20:20, Paul revealed that He used this type of evangelism.
So before you attempt an house to house type of evangelism you must pray Jesus to give you the power and authority over demons and also the power to cure people of their diseases.
3. Open air evangelism.
Open air evangelism is simply the art of preaching the gospel in public places. Sometimes it may involve a crowd gathering to listen and at other times you will just be stuck in a public places with a public address system preaching the word of God to those who care to listen.
Open air evangelism can be done in public places like the street, market, shopping mall, roadside etc.
Jesus Himself employed this method of evangelism a lot. The sermon on the Mount recorded in Mathew 5 is a perfect example of an open air evangelism done by the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse 1 of that passage the scripture says that when Jesus saw a large crowd gathering, He went up to the mountain and sat down. Then His disciples came to Him and He began to preach the gospel.
4. Morning cry evangelism.
This type of evangelism is called morning cry because it is usually done in the wee hours of the morning before the day breaks. And it entails using a public address system to preach the word of God in a public place.
This type of evangelism works best in a rural area and Government residential areas because they are often quiet.
5. Sermon evangelism.
Sermon evangelism usually occur in the church where the preacher on the pulpit will use Biblical passages to deliver a sermon and afterwards make an altar call for those who wish to give their life to Christ to come forward.
This type of evangelism is often done when a particular Christian denomination organizes a religious gathering that will attract people from other denominations.
But I always object to this type of evangelism because it involves trying to convert people from other denominations.
6. Tract evangelism.
Tract evangelism is the type of evangelism where gospel messages are printed on a leaflet or piece of paper and are either dashed out to people in public places or dropped in strategic points where people can have access to pick it by themselves.
This tract evangelism can also be adopted or used alongside other types of evangelism especially one on one and house to house evangelism.
7. Televangelism.
This is the process of using the TV media to convey the gospel message to those who are viewing the television.
Therre are large television networks and cables that are only dedicated to this type of evangelism.
8. Radio evangelism.
Radio evangelism is the art of using a radio broadcast to evangelize to listeners who are tuned to the radio station.
History has it that this type of evangelism began in 1921 and has been capable of reaching millions of listeners across the world since it began.
9. Internet evangelism.
Internet evangelism is the art of using a webpage or blog to convey the Christian message to those who are using the internet.
This type of evangelism often involves doing a keyword research to discover what religious topic people are inquiring about on search engines and using that to create sermons that are optimized for search engines.
This type of evangelism is very profitable in that you can utilize several monetization strategies like joining AdSense or affiliate programs as well as adding a donation page on your webpage or blog and make some money from them.
10. Social media evangelism.
Social media involves the art of using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter etc. to spread the gospel message.
You can create content that ranges from sermons, write-ups, to videos etc.
11. Friendship evangelism.
Friendship evangelism is characterized by Christians developing a close relationship with people and showing them love and kindness especially by way off gifts and all aimed at drawing them to Christianity.
In the Bible, Jesus became friends with so many unbelievers and at the end was able to draw them to Himself.
His disciples were the first people He established a close relationship with before He would become friends with sinners like Zacchaeus who was a tax collector (Luke 19:1-10), Nicodemus who was a Pharisee (John 3:1-21), Mary Magdalene who was a prostitute (Luke 7:36-50).
12. Action evangelism.
Action evangelism is the means of trying to use good deeds, acts of kindness as welll as performing miracles to convert people to the Christian religion.
Jesus Christ Himself adopted this type of evangelism when He on two occasions fed 5,000 at a place near Bethsaida, close to the Sea of Galilee (Mathew 14:13-21) as well as 4,000 at a place in the region of the Gerasenes, in the region around the Decapolis (Mathew 15:32-39).
There are so many miracles that was performed by Christ and in the end all those who received those miracles became His followers.
It is recorded that the followers of Jesus grew sporadically after He brought Lazarus back from dead, having died and was buried for 4 days.
13. Prophetic evangelism.
Prophetic evangelism is the process where a Christian though the spirit of God tells an unbeiver what transpired in his ie or predicts what is going to happen in the future.
Seeing these things becoming a reality will prompt the unbeliever to believe his message and give his life to Christ.
