(Matthew 4:19) “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

“I do not care if you ever darken the doors of my church.” I would often say this to folks I am sharing the gospel with. My wife Jay did not like the tone of that statement and asked me to stop saying it. Tone aside, however, I mean it. I first said it to a person who accused me of evangelizing because I want more people to come to my church so offerings can increase.

Our youth pastor lamented in a recent sermon, “We invite folks to a location rather than to the Person of Jesus Christ. That captures perfectly what I have felt all along. Too often, Bible believing Christians make it a habit to invite folks to a location. I decided years ago that I will never invite anyone to church without first trying to present the gospel to them. After all, it is far better to see that person in heaven than at my next church service.

Here are four reasons why we invite folks to church rather than to the Person of Jesus Christ:

We have relegated evangelism to the pastors and the missionaries. We treat evangelism like a gift or some sort of specialized skill and convince ourselves that only people trained in ministry can present the gospel to the lost. That, my friends, could not be further from the truth. The command to “go” was given to lowly uneducated fishermen and it is given to all who have a testimony of being born again by His grace.

We are ill-prepared for the opportunity. The Bible admonishes us in 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Many Christians are not prepared to verbally share the gospel so they resort to handing someone a tract and inviting them to church. Do not get me wrong on this point: I do not believe that giving out tracts is wrong in and of itself. But I believe it has become a crutch because we are ill-prepared to present the gospel to every soul the Holy Spirit has given us an opportunity to reach.

We are promoting the programs and ministries of our church in lieu of evangelism. Does your church have a vibrant children’s ministry, a spectacular choir, or a top-notch music ministry? Good! While these ministries are great for the edification of the local body, our Lord’s last command was not to promote them to the lost, but rather to present the Person of Jesus Christ and his saving grace.

We fear men. Fear is real. We often fail to share the gospel because of it. We can overcome some of those fears by being prepared, having our confidence in the God who commanded us to go in the first place, and by prayer. Afterall, prayer is the soulwinner’s greatest work. Pray and ask the Father to help you overcome your fears. Ask him for the words to say and trust him to do the same.

I have never seen any of the apostles inviting anyone to church, but boy did they preach! The next opportunity you have to share the gospel, I encourage you to do it verbally. Trust the Lord for courage and share the gospel.