This morning, I had a most unusual reminder from the Holy Spirit.  On the way to my office here at the church, I stopped by the dry cleaners that I patronize.  As usual, I pulled my vehicle to the curb and ran in for a quick drop-off.  The petite lady from Korea who waited on me said “Good morning” to which I responded.  I then noticed that she took the ticket and, without asking me, began writing my name down.  It was at that moment that I realized that I had been coming to the same dry cleaners so often that she had come to know my name.  It gave me a great feeling as I grabbed the ticket and was about to walk quickly out to my vehicle.  At that moment I felt the Holy Spirit ask me the question, “Do you know who she is? I died for her.”  The fact was I didn’t know because I had never bothered to ask!  The sad thing for me was the fact that when I said “TELL ME YOUR NAME”, she had a surprised look on her face as if to say ‘people generally never care enough to ask’!

Often we are apprehensive about sharing our faith.  Consider the word Evangelism.  It has no synonyms and is by popular definition ‘militant zeal’.  Most of us would honestly say that we lack that zeal!

Author Michael Simpson in his book, Permission Evangelism, noted “Effective evangelism requires compassion, consideration, and the great Counselor.  In other words, you must have the heart of God for the lost, think about and understand their needs, and the best approach, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide your conversation and prayers for the person God has directed your way.  Every communication must be crafted with the goal of ensuring that it’s not the last one.  The best way to do this is to make sure they know they are in charge of choosing how much information they receive.  They must know you honor their choices at their level of willingness to engage, or they will feel pressured and threatened and trust will be broken”.

Recently, I heard a speaker offer three simple principles as we attempt to share our faith and become a church that reaches pre-Christians.  First, Invest: In the past the church was the primary path to salvation.  Today the un-churched people of our culture rarely attend church and thus their primary path to salvation is not “organized religion” but rather a person who has invested in their lives with integrity to the point that they now trust that person to answer their spiritual questions.  Second, Invite: The statistics prove that most people will attend church with someone that they know and love who offers them an invitation.  The greatest proof of a great church to a person who does not attend is the fact that you are committed to it!  Third, Include: Most churches and church members are “perceived” by those who do not attend as being arrogant, cliquish and exclusive!  The first question a guest asks on a Sunday is not “What do they believe?” but “Can I belong?”

Here at CCC our goal is to provide a safe environment of excellence that demonstrates the love of Christ, offers hope and provides a path where the slowest seeker can begin taking the steps that will lead to salvation and spiritual maturity.  TELL ME YOUR NAME - we can all ask that question and begin a relationship adventure!

Chester L. Mitchell

Chester L. Mitchell - Lead Pastor
Capital Community Church
Ashburn, Virginia  20147
Web: www.capitalcommunity.org

Web: www.chestermitchell.org