Excerpt from "The Secret to a Great Preaching Ministry":
"'What I'm concerned about is announcing that "evangelism happens from the pulpit." The minute you convey that attitude, it lets the average person off the hook. It discourages church members from lengthy commitment to a new person and makes them think that their role in evangelism is inviting a neighbor or a friend or a workmate to church and letting the program take care of the rest. After all, the pastor can talk about Jesus with so much more skill than John Q. Christian.'
"'So, if I hear what you're saying, you want the congregation to think of evangelism as something they do in their daily lives.'
... "'I think it makes sense when you seriously examine what it takes to bring someone from unbelief to belief -- at least from a human point of view. I think it takes friendship. It takes walking alongside. It takes people explaining things. It takes Christians willing to share why they need a Savior, sharing their hurts and pain and struggles. I think it takes people identifying with each other in their hurt. It's an involved kind of thing -- much more than a half-hour message is going to offer, no matter how polished or how packed with truth.'"
