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Summary

In this conversation, Hiram Kemp discusses the challenges busy preachers face in evangelism and offers practical advice on how to prioritize and engage in evangelistic efforts. He emphasizes the importance of following biblical patterns, making evangelism a priority, practicing wisdom in preaching, personally engaging with people, stepping out of comfort zones, praying specifically for evangelistic opportunities, and collaborating with others in the ministry. Kemp encourages listeners to view evangelism as a vital part of their calling, regardless of their busy schedules.

Chapters

00:00 The Challenge of Busyness in Evangelism
03:00 Biblical Patterns for Evangelism
07:41 Prioritizing Evangelism in Daily Life
10:26 Practicing Wisdom in the Pulpit
14:49 Engaging People Personally
17:28 Pushing Out of Comfort Zones
19:49 Praying Specific Prayers for Evangelism
22:59 Partnering with Others in Evangelism
24:56 Conclusion: The Call to Evangelize

Transcript

Hiram Kemp (00:04)
When Brian said he handpicked this lesson for him, just thought, well, I’m off the hook. He’s about to preach this sermon right now, but I guess that’s not what he meant.

Bob Brody wrote an article in The Guardian called, I’m Too Busy to Talk to You with the subtitle, Our Modern Reality and the World We Live In. He talked about just humanity. It wasn’t an article about preachers. It was about people in the world in which we live. And we almost wear busyness like a badge if people ask you how things are going, how things are going in your life. Our typical response is, we’re busy. He has a section in the article where he’s sort of tongue in cheek talking as if he’s a modern person and how we engage with other people. I’m 22 % more busy than I was.

as last year, I’ve got a to-do list to keep up with my other to-do list. And we’ve got so many things going that sometimes things can slip through. Maybe you’re listening to this sermon and you think from the standpoint of a preacher, not me.

I’m studying the Bible. I’m doing spiritual things. I’m engaged in the work of the Lord and for a good cause and good reason. I’ve got elders meetings to go to, bulletin articles to write, Facebook friends to rebuke. I’ve got my hands filled with things that I need to be doing for the kingdom’s sake. And maybe when it comes to this topic, as has already been stated, we think somebody else is going to get to it. We talk about evangelism, we preach about evangelism, but somebody else is actually going to do the evangelizing.

The first evangelists were gospel preachers. The apostles were that. Jesus is marching orders to them in Matthew 28 and verse 19 was, and disciple the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, whatever I’ve commanded you. And, Lord, I’m with you always to the end of the age. Preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized will be saved. He that does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16, 15, and 16. And Acts 1 and verse

8 he says you’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth and you start reading an axe and you read through the New Testament and you know exactly how it happened but just suppose they didn’t do that and Jesus returned what would they have been able to say for themselves if Jesus returned and they said to him you know we heard a lot about you we memorized a lot about you we highlighted a lot of verses about you but we just didn’t get around to it but Lord we got really

skilled at designing our own PowerPoints. We got really good at coming together with other preachers just like us and talking about other things that you told us to study and told us to do. They wouldn’t be able to answer for themselves. It’s not the case that in church work evangelism is the only thing that matters. It’s important. It’s not the only thing that matters. If you read the whole New Testament, the apostles and the early Christians, they did more than evangelize.

But it is the case that they didn’t let anything else supersede this important task. What I want to talk about is how busy preachers can still evangelize.

But I guess we can apply this to anybody. How can any busy person still evangelize? I’m not preaching this lesson because I’m an expert. I’m preaching this lesson because it’s a biblical topic. And what can we do practically in our own lives so that we don’t fall short in this area? So if you have your Bible, follow with me as we go through these seven things. Number one, pay attention to the biblical patterns.

Busy preachers can still evangelize if we pay attention to the biblical patterns. We sometimes talk about Jesus and his statement of purpose. There are several of these in the gospels, but perhaps the most famous in relation to what we’re discussing is Luke 19 and verse 10. Jesus is there with Zacchaeus as he’s repented of his extortion and mistreatment of others. And you remember what he says, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. And we normally focus on that saving the lost part at the end and for good reason, but appreciate Jesus says this is why

came. And so of all the things you read about Jesus doing throughout the New Testament, he says, the son of man came for this very reason. John nine and verse four, he says, I must work

the works of him who sent me while as yet day, the night’s coming when no man can work. Or John 4.35, he tells the apostles, don’t say that there yet for months and then comes the harvest. Lift up your eyes for the fields are white already unto the harvest. Jesus didn’t just preach that, he lived it. When he’s there talking with Zacchaeus before he makes the famous statement in verse 10, in verse nine he says, today salvation’s come to this house because he also is a son of Abraham. Pay attention to the biblical patterns.

It’s interesting to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and notice that Jesus was always busy but never in a hurry.

Jesus had a normal life and I think the gospels purposely portray him this way. He was invited to a wedding and he went, John 2 and verse 2. He took a nap on a boat. So there’s biblical authority for that. Not during this lesson though. Mark 4 and verse 38. He was involved in preacher training, Matthew 13, 10 through 17 with his apostles. And then you remember in Acts chapter 1 and verse 3, he taught them all things in relation to the kingdom. He had a private devotional life. Jesus got up early in the morning and

departed from the crowds so he could pray, Mark 1.35. He stayed up late into the evening so that he could continue in prayer, Luke 6 and verse 12. Nobody ever had a benevolent ministry like his. And all of the miracles and the signs he did in feeding the hungry and healing the sick and seeing to people’s needs. John says, I wrote enough, but if I wrote everything Jesus ever did, the world itself couldn’t contain the volumes, John 21 and verse 25. And yet, Jesus evangelized.

Person to person evangelism. He does it in John 3 with Nicodemus. There’s a conversation about what it means to be born again and Jesus stops what he’s doing to engage them. John 3, 1 through 21. The Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4, verses 8 through 31. Again, there’s this person to person evangelism. There’s this discussion.

Jesus talks to a lawyer about what he must do and what’s the greatest command, Luke 10, 25 through 37. He talks to Pilate when his very life is on the line in Luke, John 18, 33 through 37. He restores Peter one-on-one in John 21, 15 through 19. Just notice the biblical patterns and the busiest preacher that ever lived. He still made time for evangelism, but it’s not just Jesus. Just think about Paul.

Paul was a great evangelist in the public setting, but also in private. It’s already been mentioned. He wrote 13 books of the New Testament, 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 17. He went on three different missionary campaigns, which definitely involved his public proclamation of the gospel and his evangelism. Paul said, I worked harder than all the rest, 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 10. He was a great and mighty servant of God. He was a local preacher in Ephesus for three years, Luke 19, 11. And Corinth for 18 months, Acts 18,

in verse 10, and yet he evangelized. Busy preachers can still practice evangelism if we pay attention to the biblical patterns. We often talk about pattern theology, practicing what they preached and believing what they believed, but we also have to behave the way that they behaved. And biblical preachers in the New Testament, they made time for evangelism and so must we.

You know, a pencil is a tool that’s designed. If you follow the pattern, you will always get the very same thing. And if we follow the biblical pattern of Jesus and Paul and even people like Peter, Peter’s a preacher. He’s an elder. He’s a husband. He’s a father. And yet the first 12 chapters of the book of Acts says that Peter was committed to evangelism in and around Jerusalem. And busy preachers today can evangelize if we follow that very same pattern. But here’s number two, prioritize evangelism. I know the lectureship’s on this.

But I think we need to make it a priority. What this means is you need to sort of schedule evangelism just like you schedule other things. Make it a part of what you do as a preacher, that I’m going to be evangelistic, just like you attend elders meetings, just like you write bulletin articles, just like you prepare for your sermons. I’m going to be a person that prioritizes evangelism in my daily life, especially as a preacher.

Acts 5 and verse 42 says, daily in the temple and from house to house, they cease not to teach and to preach that Jesus is the Christ. In 1 Corinthians 9, 16, Paul says, woe is me if I preach not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here’s what we know, there are people in the world wealthier than you are. There are people in the world smarter than you.

There are people in the world with more charisma, more knowledge and more talent, but there’s nobody in the world with more time than you because every one of us has the same amount. The psalmist says in Psalm 31 and verse 15, God, my times are in your hands and we all have the same amount of time. The question is, how are we going to use it? Busy preachers can still evangelize if we prioritize evangelism. That means sometimes you have to leave the evangelism seminar to actually go do evangelism. That means sometimes you’ve got to say, you know what, I’m getting out of this

67 comment war on Facebook. I’m going to actually talk to a flesh and blood person about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It means putting it higher on the shelf life in your ministry, on the list of things you have to do. He that wins souls is wise. Proverbs 11 and verse 30. The righteous do turn those that are dark into light. Daniel 12 and verse three. We’ve got to be people that say evangelism matters. And so I’m going to make it a priority in my ministry and I’m going to make it something that I do no matter what else I do. I’m going to preach and teach

We’ll talk about how that’s also a part of being evangelistic. But as a preacher, I’ve got to make this a part of who I am and be a person who regularly engages in person to person evangelism.

James Clear wrote a book called Atomic Habits. It’s sold 25 million copies worldwide. He talks a lot about habits and things we can practice to be successful. In this quote, he’s not talking about evangelism. He’s just talking about priorities. And he says, if you really want to be successful, the busy man, he says, doesn’t leave his, he says the successful person doesn’t leave his options open. He zeros in and makes a decision. The person that’s committed to nothing is distracted by everything.

Sometimes preachers say, I’m not the scheduling type. I just sort of let the ministry come to me. And that normally means I’m not doing much ministry. I just let things sort of come to me. When evangelism happens, and there are times when that happens, but there are also times to be purposeful and to say, I’m gonna go out and point people to Jesus Christ and I’m gonna do it purposely. Prioritize evangelism and make it a priority. But here is number three, practice wisdom in the pulpit.

Busy preachers can still evangelize if we practice wisdom in the pulpit. Colossians chapter four, verses five and six, Paul says walk in wisdom to outsiders. He says redeeming the time. And then in verse six, let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt so that you might know how you ought to answer each person. Busy preachers can evangelize if we practice wisdom in the pulpit. This means when we preach, we should be convicted, but we should also have an inviting tone in our preaching that says to people, we’re studying the scriptures, but we’re

willing to be examined, Acts 17 and verse 11. Evidently Jesus did this because after he preached to his apostles and to the greater crowds and taught parables, the disciples were comfortable enough with Jesus to come alongside him and say, Matthew 13, 36, would you explain to us the parable of the sower in more detail? And guess what? He did.

We should make it a habit explicitly and implicitly to say to people listening to us preach, there’s a lot more that can be said on this topic. And if anything I’ve said has brought up a question in your mind, I’d love to talk to you about it afterwards. We should preach as if we’re on a discovery to find the truth and preach it from the scriptures. But if there’s any question about what we’ve said, we’re willing to study together with them and come to a sound and biblical conclusion.

Biblical preaching involves using wisdom in the pulpit. Practice wisdom in the pulpit and busy preachers can evangelize. I guess everybody in this room has done this before. Maybe you were updating an app on your phone or you were buying a car or a house and they give you that terms and conditions paper and you check off and lie and said you read and you agreed and you just signed, you don’t know what you’re signing. You just signed away your life and you just say, know what, I just sort of scanned this thing. Agree to terms and conditions? Absolutely.

We have this custom in our congregations right at end of the sermon. We extend the invitation.

And I think sometimes if we’re not careful, we just kind of use it like the agree to terms and conditions part of the sermon. We get to the end, if anybody’s not a Christian, hear, repent, confess and be baptized. Biblical wisdom and preaching, if we’re gonna be evangelistic, use biblical wisdom in the pulpit, what does that mean? It means that’s the time in the sermon to slow down because maybe somebody’s never heard that before in their whole life. And maybe it’s gonna conflict with something that they believed or have been taught. And maybe if we preach it in such a way and communicate it in such a way that we

believe people are saved by the grace of God through biblical faith, Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, somebody might walk out of that building and say, what did you say at the of that sermon about how somebody becomes a Christian? At the end of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 and verse 36, he says, let therefore all the house of Israel know for certain, God has made this same Jesus whom you’ve crucified both Lord and Christ.

And they say in verse 37, men and brothers, what shall we do? And Peter tells them, repent and be baptized. Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our, for your sins. And you’ll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And we should do the same thing, but there’s more to it than that.

As we get to the end of our sermons and we extend the invitation, we should practice wisdom in the pulpit as we invite people in that moment to study the Bible with us. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you before, but sometimes you’re preaching a sermon about elders or you’re preaching a sermon about the appointment of deacons or something congregationally and you extend the invitation at the end of the sermon.

What if somebody who’s never been to your building walks down for the very first time and says, hey, I want to be baptized right now. Are you going to baptize them? Most likely we’re not. And so rather than false advertisement, we should teach people what they need to do to be Christians. But couple that with this idea. If there’s something we said today that’s caused the question of your mind, if you’re not convinced in this one lesson, we’d love to sit down and study the Bible with you. And we invite you to open up your Bible and study alongside us. Ask people for a Bible study as the sermon is concluding as a part of the invitation. Use wisdom.

preaching.

Preach the gospel to the people that you’re preaching to on a week to week basis in the local setting. Don’t preach brotherhood issues. Most people coming into our congregations have no idea about the capital B brotherhood issues that we can unwisely introduce in the local setting. Preach the gospel. It’s interesting that when Paul goes to Athens in Acts 17, he doesn’t just exegete the text, he exegetes the town. And as he sees them given over to various idols and problems, Paul says, this is what I came to talk to you about. The idols that you’re facing in this local setting in Athens,

false gods you’re worshiping. That’s what I came to preach to you about and correct in your thinking. We need to be people that practice wisdom in the pulpit. Here’s number four, personally engage people.

First and Second Thessalonians are two books that are largely known for the teaching about the second coming and correcting the Thessalonians misinformation about how that’s gonna occur. But in First Thessalonians chapter two and verse eight, Paul, Silas and Timothy talk about their relationship to the Thessalonians. And in First Thessalonians two and verse eight, Paul says, being affectionately desirous of you, we were content not only to share with you the gospel of God, but also our very lives.

busy preachers can still evangelize when we actually engage people.

As a preacher, just keep this in mind. People don’t interrupt the ministry. People are the ministry. And sometimes we can find ourselves looking past people because we’ve got to get on to the next thing. We’ve got to shake these hands. But there’s some meeting we’ve got to get to. There are bigger things that we’ve got to get to. Paul says when he came to Thessalonica, he says, we didn’t just share with you the gospel of God, but guess what? We share it with you our very lives. That means evangelism is not some sort of salesman approach where we just have to get off the goods and get them to mentally assent so that we can get on.

about our business, it’s where we sit down and actually get to know them and not just to hustle them into a Bible study, but because we’re genuinely interested in who they are as people. Read 1 Thessalonians 2, 9 through 12 and notice what Paul says. Paul says, we worked among you. We labored side by side together. Blood, sweat, and tears interested in their lives. Out of that naturally grew Bible studies and conversions. But it was because Paul was interested in people.

And I think people can tell when they’re just props in our little scheme rather than us genuinely being interested in them. We talk a lot about this and I know what we mean. We say we want friendly churches. People aren’t looking for friendly churches. They’re looking for a friend and there’s a difference. There’s this idea that we just gotta show just enough friendliness to get them on the hook. People aren’t interested in that. There’s civic clubs and United Ways and Boys and Girls Clubs. They’re a lot more friendly than we are. People in our world are actually looking for a friend. And in Christ, we can provide that in a way

Camp Paul says we were affectionately desirous of you and we didn’t just share the gospel of God with you, we poured our very lives into you. Talk to people, find out about their lives, their children, their hurts, their sorrows, their difficulties. Listen to them when they speak and when you start speaking, they just might listen to you.

Five verses later in 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13, Paul says this, it worked in Thessalonica. He says, when you receive the word which you heard from us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. I wonder why they listened to Paul, because Paul has spent a good deal of time living and listening to them. Here’s number five, push yourself out of your comfort zone.

Personality tests and all the things we talk about can be helpful, but I think sometimes we worry about the wrong vert, don’t you? I’m an introvert, I’m an extrovert, and we don’t think about the possible new converts. We get into our minds this idea that I’m an inside person. I don’t really talk to a lot of people. I’m an extrovert, I’m great with a lot of people. Push yourself out of your comfort zone. In 1 Corinthians chapter nine, we often quote Paul’s wisdom and evangelism, and Paul talks in verses 19 through 22 about his methods. And he says, to the Jews I became a Jew, to those under the

as one under the law, to those outside of the law, as outside of the law, yet I was under the law to Christ and to God. He says, became all things to all people that I might by all means save some. And here’s what we might assume. that was easy for Paul. Paul was gifted. Paul could just be a chameleon and weave in and out of these different communities. Paul obviously had a temperament. Paul had a personality, but he pushed himself out of his comfort zone so that he might be effective in evangelism.

And busy preachers can evangelize when we do this very thing. 1 Corinthians 9, 24 through 27, Paul says, therefore so run, not as uncertainly. I fight not like one boxing the air, but I keep my body and I bring it under subjection, lest that by any means, after I preach to others, I myself should be a castaway. Paul extended himself and was willing to do so for the sake of the gospel. Push yourself out of your comfort zone. We invite people to fellowship meals.

How uncomfortable is it for you sometimes to leave everybody else behind and sit with the visitor and just spend the whole time talking to them one-on-one? You know, people come to our meals and then everybody’s together and we might leave a visitor all alone by themselves. How challenging is it for you to get outside of your comfort zone and speak to the cashier, speak to the person at the cleaners and just invite them to worship service? As a preacher, we can think to ourselves, I’m doing enough evangelism because I preach publicly week to week, but how are we doing?

in our own lives personally as we engage individuals on a regular basis. Here’s a question to ask. We get up and preach about evangelism. When’s the last time as the preacher you brought a visitor to service? When’s the last time you invited somebody and we can tell everybody in the congregation they ought to be preaching the gospel, but if the evangelists don’t evangelize, maybe that might be some of the reason why we struggle.

Every one of us has a comfort zone and God is pushing us to get outside of it so that we can do his work and that involves reaching the laws. Here’s number six, pray specific prayers.

Who would you say is the most evangelistic person in the New Testament outside of Jesus Christ? You probably would say who? The apostle Paul. And is there any coincidence that he also is the person in the New Testament requesting prayer specifically about evangelism more than anybody else in the New Testament? In Colossians chapter four, verses three through four, Paul says, for me that doors might be open and that I might make the message plain as ought to speak it. In Ephesians six, 18 through 20, Paul says, pray for me for boldness. Evidently, Paul didn’t always feel like

saying the things that he had to say. Evidently, Paul wasn’t always fired up about preaching these things, or he wouldn’t have been requesting prayers for it. He tells the Ephesian Christians, the Christians in Ephesus, pray for me that when the door is open, I might make it plain like I ought to. He requested prayers about his missionary travels to the church at Rome in Romans 15, 30 through 32. Strive together with me in your prayers that I might be delivered from wicked people. In 2 Thessalonians 3, 1 through 2, Paul talks about praying for him that he might be delivered from wicked and unreasonable

people because all people don’t have faith. Paul was saying pray for me that I might be able to go to where the soil is fertile and people are actually interested and busy preachers can evangelize when we pray specific prayers. And maybe you can do this in three tiers in your own life and ministry. Number one, the people I’m studying with right now. Have you ever been studying the Bible with somebody and you think to yourself, this is going great, this person is going to obey the gospel and then they don’t?

You ever been studying with somebody else and you think this person isn’t interested, waiting for them to fall off and they’re still a Christian 20 years later? We don’t know all the soil. We’re just supposed to sow the seed. Pray for people you’re studying with right now. But a second tier on this prayer list is this. Pray for people near the kingdom, but not yet in it.

Pray for people that are visiting the services, people you’re talking to, but people that haven’t yet committed to a Bible study. And then in the third group, pray for people that you just put on the Sunday list. Her husband never comes, but I’m going keep visiting the house and being kind and someday. You know, her kids have fallen away. By the way, restoration is also evangelism. And the only phrase in the New Testament where the phrase save a soul is actually used. It’s in James 5, 19 through 20. He that restores a lost person will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

in

a while, someday. Have a someday list and pray specific prayers for people to turn themselves back over to Jesus or commit to Jesus for the very first time.

How would it change your congregations life if you publicly requested the prayers respond to your own invitation and pray for the Congress, ask the congregation to pray for you. Say to the brethren, listen, I want to study the Bible with your friends and neighbors and maybe you can bring them, but maybe you don’t feel equipped to teach them. I’m looking for people to study the Bible with all the time. If you’ve got anybody you work with and they won’t come to this building, how come to them? Would you be praying for me to have doors open so that I can study the Bible with people and then get out of your office and go, you can’t baptize your computer. And if you do,

It’s probably not a good idea. Pray specific prayers. Pray specific prayers about evangelism. And then here’s the last one, number seven, partner with others. I know what we mean. We say, we want everybody in our congregation to do a Bible study. No, you don’t.

And Paul says that’s not the biblical model. In 1 Corinthians 12, 29, Paul rhetorically asked, are all teachers? Because everybody’s not. And maybe we guilt people into it. If you were a faithful Christian, faithful Christians all their lives saying to themselves, I don’t know if I’m going to heaven. I’ve never taught anybody the gospel. Paul says, is everybody a teacher? Do all work miracles? Do all have the gift of healing? Everybody, as Dylan said a moment ago, is supposed to be engaged in evangelism, but it doesn’t look the same for everybody. And God has wired the body that way on purpose.

busy preachers can engage in evangelism when we appreciate that it really is a team effort. Paul says, planted Apollo’s water, but God gave the increase. Neither is he that plants anything nor he that waters, but God who calls us to growth. And then he says in verse eight, he that plants and he that waters are one. It’s not the person that ends up in the Baptist tree. It’s not even the person that opens the Bible and sit down and does the study. Both are equal in the sight of God. And he’s the one that gives the increase.

What if you teach other people to do the evangelism?

What if you train people in the local church to do the Bible studies? What if you go on the visit and then you hand it off? And then even when you’re not present, you’re still present because people are engaged in evangelism as you’ve taught them and equipped them and instructed them, partnering with other people. And let’s stop this idea that evangelism is a solo project, that some people just have a unique knack and gift and the rest of us just aren’t really good enough. The reality is God wants all of us to be engaged in it to varying degrees with the talents and gifts that we possess to his good and glory.

if we work together? What if we saw it as a team project to God’s glory? You plant, others water, and God gets the increase. See, then it wouldn’t matter, however busy you were as a preacher, as a Christian, as a deacon, as an elder, we can all be engaged in doing what God would have us to do. Jesus is marching orders to the apostles. His last words were, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

They’re called evangelists in Ephesians 4 and verse 11. But what a shame if the evangelists never evangelize. Preachers are busy doing a lot of great things. But if we do everything in the world except the one thing God left us in the world to do, we’ll be a disappointment. We’re successful with the gospel every single time we share it. And so let’s make sure we make time to do so. Thanks for your time.