RiverLife Weekly #27: Evangelism and Disciple Making

In my last article about the church gathered and scattered, I wrote that the church scattered is made up of individuals and groups who connect in homes, offices and other spaces to love God, share life together, and reach others with the good news. Today, I will focus on reaching others with the good news, i.e. evangelism and its place in disciple making.

First up, please debunk the myth that evangelism and disciple making are different things.

You may recall that during We Belong 2020 (link), I defined disciple making and presented our Disciple Making Roadmap, which starts with evangelism. Evangelism involves building relationships with pre-believers, praying for them, sharing our testimony and the Gospel whenever the opportunity arises.

Our definition of disciple making is, reaching people with the Gospel, nurturing them in their walk with Christ to grow into His likeness and spurring them to continue this process with others (Matthew 28:19-20).

Disciple making starts with evangelism. We go and reach people far from God. When the person comes to Christ, we nurture him or her in their walk with Christ to grow into His likeness. Then we spur him or her to continue this process with others.

Equip our Timothy(s) to win their circle of influence to Christ and then, nurture each person won to Christ in three key areas:

• Relationship with God
• Family relationships, and
• Involvement within the cell group

Choose one of these areas as a primary focus in growing their faith in each season.

Evangelism is introducing people to Christ and helping them develop a relationship with Him. This is the starting point of the disciple making journey.

Disciple making involves knowing, trusting and following Christ, and reproducing the life of Christ in another. It is the entire process of reaching people far from God with the Gospel, then nurturing each one in their intimacy with Christ, and multiplying disciple makers.

Pastor Ben KC Lee