In Using the Word as a laborer for Christ

By Roger VanNoord
Detroit Metro Mission

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“Would you like a refill on your coffee?”

Don and I both said yes to the waitress as we continued our discussion. For several months we have been meeting every other week in a restaurant. Our friendship continues to grow and our interaction on the Gospel of John is deepening.

Don and I started meeting after being introduced at an area Christian event. However, our meeting together can really be traced back to my deciding several years ago to take the next step in being a laborer for Christ. At that time, I was a successful financial planner and a committed Christ follower who loved the church and the Christian fellowship. Even though I was committed to Christ, there was a real turning-point in my Christian life when I decided to start doing something that was initially difficult. I started seeking to intentionally relate on a spiritual level to the men I was meeting. My purpose was to share truth with them in a natural way and to eventually read the Bible together. Intentionally relating to others with the purpose of imparting truth is what I refer to as the “Next Step” in growing as a laborer for Christ.

Let me share some of the major points that have helped me:

1. Make The Decision: We first need to make the decision to take the next step. The decision relates to whether we are going to choose to reach out and impart truth to our non-believing friends. If you are a young adult, maybe a recent college grad, then one of the real strengths I see in you and others in your age group is your ability to develop relationships with others. You spend time with your friends in-person, on the phone and through social network sites. You have a real love and concern for those around you and you are committed to helping each other with practical needs. I think this is great and I am very impressed with your strengths in these areas. However, even though you probably have numerous relationships, you may find it difficult to make the decision to intentionally relate to your friends on a spiritual level and eventually read the Bible with them. I personally believe that this is the most difficult step in being a laborer for Christ and at the same time it is the most fruitful step.

2. Pray for those you meet: A verse that has been a great encouragement to me in the area of praying for the people I meet is found in Isaiah 43:4 (NIV). It states:

“Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.”

It is God that gives us people. As we pray, God will bring new friends into our lives and show us individuals that we already know. He will orchestrate encounters with new people as we ask for His help. As we pray and believe Him, he shows us with whom we should initiate a conversation. They will be individuals that we have contact with through our daily routine, through work and through leisure activities. It will also include people you meet at church or other gatherings. Start praying for people and God will open doors for you to relate to them in a deeper way. God also increases our awareness of those around us as we pray and seek His involvement in this area of our lives.

Something that has really helped me in this area is to have an evangelism prayer list. This helps me to consistently pray for family and friends that don’t yet have a relationship with Christ. I place their names on my list and I pray for them regularly. This is especially encouraging if we can find some other believers and pray for each others’ friends.

3. Be intentional in our relationships: As we go to work and live in our neighborhoods we have numerous naturally occurring relationships. We encounter people when we go to buy our morning paper, purchase a cup of coffee, take the bus or train and when we go to work. In our natural networks there are a number of people that we relate to that don’t yet know Christ. We can look at these encounters and relationships as something separate from our Christian walk. However, I would like to encourage all of us to view our contacts with others as a part of what God wants to do in our lives and communities. I believe that God is involved in these naturally occurring meetings and He wants us to be salt and light as we live our lives on a daily basis.

The challenge for us is to take our naturally occurring relationships and be intentional in finding a way to deepen these relationships. Think creatively on how you can spend time with those you meet. You can play golf together, meet for lunch or choose from a number of other activities. When I first made the decision to spend time with non-believers, I found that I needed to find ways to include them in my schedule. I had to make it a priority and it meant that I had to give up certain things in my life so that I would have time for my new relationships. I have no regrets for making the decision to spend time with these friends.

4. Raise the Flag: It would be surprising to us if each day we drive by a local school and there isn’t a flag flying from the flagpole. You start to wonder why the flagpole is there. One day you can’t stand it anymore so you go to the school and ask to talk with the principal. You greet each other and then he asks the purpose of your visit. You graciously say that you have noticed that there is a flagpole out front, but you have never seen a flag flying from the pole. The principal then shares that he loves the flag and in fact all the teachers in the school love the flag. He even pulls out the flag and reemphasizes how much he loves and honors the flag. You would go away from this encounter perplexed by the principal’s obvious love for the flag and the lack of follow through in flying the flag in front of the school. For some of us there is an equal disconnect between our love for Christ and our willingness to speak of Him to our friends. We believe with all our hearts that He is the answer for a hurting world. He is truth and He is salvation. However, often we don’t raise the flag. We don’t mention to our friends that it is Christ that gives purpose and balance to our lives. We let them assume that it is through our abilities or maybe our cleverness that life works for us.

Let me encourage you to graciously find a way to raise the flag for Christ and have a spiritual conversation with your friends. Moving from secular conversations to spiritual conversions is not an easy transition and it is at times a bit frightening. We need to be intentional in developing deeper relationships with non-Christians and we also have to be intentional is finding the next step. How do we move our relationship to the point that it has a spiritual dimension? One of the tools that has helped me a great deal in this area is to ask my friends some simple questions. One question that I use a lot from Garry Poole’s book entitled, The Complete Book of Questions (Zondervan) is:

“If you could ask God one question you knew He would answer right away, what would it be?”

You should try different questions and find the ones that you like. I have used his book frequently in my ministry.

5. Team up with others believers: If you land in a community or a city and you don’t have a good support system with other believers, you can take the next step on your own. You can intentionally relate to others and intentionally share truth with them. This is possible and has been done by many individuals.

Even though it is possible to take the next step on your own, I have found over the years that it isn’t as much fun or as fruitful as when we work with a group or a team. If you can find one or two other Christians who have it on their hearts to share truth with their non-Christian friends, then you can team together, and it will be so much more enjoyable. Having a mentor will also be a great help to you as you encounter obstacles and bumps along the way. My encouragement to you, if possible, is to search for a job in an area that has mentors and groups already in place. This isn’t always possible, but within The Navigators there are a number of major cities that already have thriving discipleship communities. Take advantage of what exists in these cities. These discipleship centers have taken years to develop and they are there for your benefit. You can search for these cities by going to The Navigators’ 20s Mission, Metro Mission or City Life websites.

If you can find two or three other Christians that have a heart for reading the Bible with non-Christians, then it would be great if each of you can invite a non-Christian friend to a small group meeting. I did this with two Christian friends. We each invited a non-Christian friend to join the Bible reading group. Several years have passed and the six of us are still meeting. A resource that has really helped me in this area is a booklet by Bill Mowry entitled, A QuickStart For Small Group Evangelism. This is a discussion guide for non-believers using the Gospel of John.

A passage I love on the importance of partnering with other believers is found in Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NIV). It states:

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

6. Read the Word in Irresistible Environments: My prayer for you is that you will catch a vision for reading and discussing the Bible with your non-Christian friends. Once you are committed to this step, then you need to create an “irresistible environment” for it to take place. An “irresistible environment” is a place where your non-Christian friends will find camaraderie, feel safe and unthreatened, will be able to interact and feel free to ask questions. We have seen over and over that when we expose our non-Christian friends to this type of environment, many of them come to faith in Christ.

We have found that there are four places where it is easy to create an irresistible environment for reading the Word. The four places are the (1) Workplace, (2) Neighborhood, (3) Restaurants and (4) Churches. These places will become more and more “irresistible” to your friends as they start discovering truth from the Bible, they feel accepted and they sense that you are listening to their thoughts and questions. The environment is also more “irresistible” when there is a small group of Christians and non-Christians experiencing it all at the same time.

I would like to encourage you to make certain that you get your friends reading and discussing the Word of God. You can have an ideal environment, but without the use of the Word of God, it isn’t irresistible nor life changing from a spiritual perspective. I have led groups for months where we have had a wonderful group of people, met in superb surroundings, talked about great Christian topics and even used great Christian books. However, I have seen everything taking a dramatic turn when we start focusing our discussions on the Word of God. As His Word spreads out to your friends, people come to Christ and more disciples are added to His Kingdom. A favorite verse on this topic is found in Acts 6:7 where it states:

“So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”

7. Be patient: As you take the next step, you will learn a lot and you will make some mistakes. Be patient with yourself. You may feel discouraged at first and you may want to quit. Avoid giving in to these feelings. Stick with it and note what you are learning. Share your struggles with a more experienced laborer and ask God for guidance.

Remember that it takes time to develop relationships and it could take a number of years before any of your friends become Christ followers. In the past we did the ministry by focusing on some sowing from the Word with new contacts, which was followed by a 20 minute presentation with a yes or no response. Today we see that our non-Christian friends need to gather information on the gospel and spend considerable time processing the new material. We have to understand that they have to undo a lot of falsehood. They aren’t starting at zero in their understanding because they are dealing with years of input from education and culture. Because of these factors, it can take months and even years to replace the false teaching with truth. In our experience it takes between two to five years to see our friends come to Christ.

Keep in mind that in most cases you will be sharing truth with someone who has never had consistent input of eternal truth. They may be well educated and sophisticated in their lives and professions, but they have never looked seriously at the Word of God. Be patient and keep praying for their willingness to embrace truth. Always remember the power of God’s word in changing lives. Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) speaks clearly to this when it states:

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

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I will be praying for you as you make your decision to take the next step. If you are a Nav Grad and you need to interact with me or ask any questions, please use the form at the end of this article to send me a note. I would be pleased to assist you as you reach out to your friends.