Servant Evangelism–one story

Chuck was an alcoholic for years. Like many veterans of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), he had an experience with his “Higher Power” and thankfully stopped drinking. “But there is a difference,” he says, “between stopping the negative patterns and filling yourself with something positive. I was no longer drinking, but I was empty inside.”

An outreach team from my church met Chuck one Saturday afternoon at a soft drink outreach. As he came into the stadium, like hundreds of other fans he received a drink with a small card that read, “You looked too thirsty to pass up! If we can be of more help to you, please give us a call.” A few weeks later Chuck used the card as a map and made his way to church. Within a month of hearing about the love of God he decided to take the plunge—he received Jesus. That inner emptiness began to be filled with the presence of Christ.

Not long after coming to our church, Chuck heard about servant evangelism outreach opportunities. One of the principles from AA that he had never really worked on was “You get better as you serve others.” He told me, “I don’t know if I can do this stuff. I’m not much of a talker.”

I encouraged him: “Why don’t you come and just carry things at first. We’ll take it a step at a time.” So Chuck began to attend our Saturday outreaches faithfully and to carry what we were using in our outreach projects. Over the past six months he’s gotten more confident. On a recent Saturday morning I asked him, “Are you still having fun?” I loved his response:

“Now I’m showing and telling people about the love of Christ.”

Steve Sjogren, 101 Ways to Reach Your Community (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2009).