{"id":2713,"date":"2014-06-28T06:41:17","date_gmt":"2014-06-28T11:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomrainer.wpengine.com?p=2713"},"modified":"2020-02-07T15:11:42","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T21:11:42","slug":"seven-factors-hindering-evangelism-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/seven-factors-hindering-evangelism-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Factors Hindering Evangelism in Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is no shortage of pundits who are providing to us the gloomy and dismal state of American congregations, and, indeed, of many churches around the world. For sure, I am among the guilty. While personal evangelism is ultimately a heart issue between Christians and God, we do see ways this disobedience to the Great Commission is manifesting itself.<\/p>\n

Despite all the negative information you have heard from me, I remain an obnoxious optimist about local congregations. One of the reasons I am so optimistic is that many of us are no longer ignoring the problems. One of the early steps to church revitalization is a willingness to \u201clook in the mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that in mind, in this article I try to help church leaders look in the mirror if their churches are not evangelistic. And here are seven factors that leaders may see when they get that honest perspective.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. There is no priority of evangelism. <\/strong>I know. That sounds too self-evident. But churches that do not make evangelism a high priority are really making it no priority at all.<\/li>\n
  2. Many laypersons believe that evangelism is what we pay the pastors and staff to do. <\/strong>Such a perspective is first unbiblical and, second, unproductive. Evangelistic churches always have enthusiastically evangelistic laypersons.<\/li>\n
  3. Many churches have an excuse mentality.<\/strong> So pastors blame it on the laity. The laity blame it on the pastor. And both blame it on culture, the denomination, or some other external scapegoat.<\/li>\n
  4. Too many church members do not connect prayer with evangelism.<\/strong> Many members are pretty good at praying for those who have physical needs. But many are woefully lacking in praying for those who have the greatest need: a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.<\/li>\n
  5. Too many Christians fail to be compassionate and Christ-like to others. <\/strong>Evangelism always ultimately includes a clear articulation of the gospel. But too many Christians never get that opportunity to share the gospel, because they fail to show Christ in their actions and compassion.<\/li>\n
  6. Most church ministries are not intentionally evangelistic.<\/strong> The church should always seek to make certain any and all ministries include intentional efforts to share the gospel.<\/li>\n
  7. Some church members are concerned that new Christians will change their church too much.<\/strong> I\u2019m serious. I\u2019ve heard that line many times. When I was a pastor, I was chastised by a church member who told me I was leading too many people to Christ. They were, she said, changing her church too rapidly.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These are seven of the key factors that are hindering evangelism in churches, at least from a symptomatic perspective.<\/p>\n

    What would you add to this conversation?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"These are seven of the key factors that are hindering evangelism in churches, at least from a symptomatic perspective.","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,175,180],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-grow","category-outreach-and-evangelism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSeven Factors That Are Hindering Evangelism in Churches<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"These are seven of the key factors that are hindering evangelism in churches, at least from a symptomatic perspective.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/seven-factors-hindering-evangelism-churches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seven Factors That Are Hindering Evangelism in Churches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"These are seven of the key factors that are hindering evangelism in churches, at least from a symptomatic perspective.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/seven-factors-hindering-evangelism-churches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-28T11:41:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-07T21:11:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Seven-Factors-That-Are-Hindering-Evangelism-in-Churches.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"343\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thom S. 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