Peer Evangelism Part 3: The Surprising Gospel Results of a Quiet Life

So far in this series on peer evangelism we have considered young people’s reluctance to intentionally engage their peers with the gospel imperative and looked at ways to encourage those in our youth group who are naturally gifted towards evangelism.

However, as I raised at the end of my last article, there will be many teenagers (just as there are many adults and senior saints as well) who are not naturally gifted towards evangelism but have been equipped with other gifts and talents with which to serve the church and fulfil their part in the body of Christ. Is it our responsibility as youth leaders and parents to push them out of their comfort zone and challenge them to take on evangelistic conversations for the sake of the kingdom? Or is this asking our feet to be eyes, or our eyes to be hands, in the body of Christ?

I am struck by the relative scarcity of times that Paul encourages his readers to engage in overt, spoken evangelism. He speaks of his own ministry in those terms (Rom. 1:1,15), specifically encourages Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5) and recognises that evangelists will exist in the church for the sake of the body (Eph. 4:11). However, Paul’s exhortations to the church are more commonly about how to live out the gospel in their lives together, and amongst their non-Christian peers, than they are about intentionally engaging their neighbours in evangelistic conversations.

Take for example Paul’s words to the Thessalonians,

‘You yourselves have been taught by God to love each other… Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You       should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you.’ (1 Thess. 4:9-11).

Likewise, Paul’s desire for Timothy,

               “’That petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.’ (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

In both these pastoral letters, Paul’s encouragement and prayerful desire for the church is for the Christians to live ‘quiet lives’. That seems like an underwhelming exhortation. I can’t think of many kids, youth or adult oriented sermon in which the application was ‘mind your own business’ and ‘live peaceful lives’. As I said in the first article in this series, evangelism is at the heart of the Christian faith. So, should not every Christian be taking every opportunity to evangelise to their non-Christian peers? Are we failing as disciples of Jesus if we fail to speak the gospel all the time, everywhere, to everyone?

It would be far too easy to drive this wedge too far and create a false dichotomy—having to choose between either evangelising our peers or living a quiet and godly life. This dichotomy is not found in the biblical text. Rather, the surprising part of Paul’s encouragement is the very real, evangelistic effect of a quiet and godly life.

Take note of the very next verse in both the examples that I’ve given. The Thessalonians are encouraged to mind their own business and work with their hands ‘so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders’ (1 Thess. 4:12). In other words, their quiet life is being recognised and drawing the attention of those who are not yet part of the Christian community.

The evangelistic connection is even more apparent in Paul’s letter to Timothy. Paul’s urging to pray for our authorities so ‘that we may live peaceful and quiet lives’ is immediately followed by a statement of the gospel and God’s evangelistic heart for the lost.

               ‘This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and                mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.’ (1 Tim. 2:3-6).

It seems from both these examples that our peaceful and quiet lives are in and of themselves an evangelistic witness to our non-believing peers.

So, how do we encourage our teenagers to be evangelists through a peaceful and quiet life? When it comes to the home space, we can encourage our youth to be the very best sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters. Another of my youth group leaders growing up would regularly say that the best way for us to evangelise our non-Christian parents was to voluntarily grab the tea towel after dinner and help dry up. What kind of teenager willingly engages in household chores without being asked? One who is shaped by the gospel of Jesus Christ, was the answer we were encouraged to embody.

Countless examples like this can be given for the different places and spaces that our youth inhabit when we lead youth talks, discussion groups and 1-to-1 discipleship:

·        being a conscientious student across all subject areas;

·        speaking to teachers—even the bad ones—with dignity and respect;

·        being punctual and reliable with work shifts:.

·        playing sport with honour, integrity and fair play.:

·        being reflective and intentional about social media posts, rejecting gossip and slander; and

·        celebrating the status and achievements of others.

Of course, the hoped-for outcome here is that our gospel shaped lives will ‘win the respect of outsider’ and may even be one of the ways in which people ‘come to a knowledge of the truth’. Peter connects these threads in his first epistle. In the context of encouraging gospel witness through living a ‘good’ life, he then writes:

‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have.’ (1 Pet. 3:15).

In thinking about equipping our teenagers for peer evangelism, one potential application of this verse is to help our youth be equipped for answering those questions. There are many topics of conversation in teenagers physical and digital spaces where Christianity and a Jesus-shaped ethic are not viewed favourably. Sexuality and identity are particularly relevant, as well as some of the classic apologetic topics such as the historicity of Jesus and the trustworthiness of the Bible. Consider carefully the blogs, podcasts, books, YouTube channels and social media accounts that you might be able to put in front of teenagers to help them prepare for these inevitable conversations.

Should all our Christian teenagers be engaged in evangelism? Yes. It is the heart of the gospel and mission of all disciples of Jesus. Some of our teenagers will have a gift of evangelism, specifically given to the church to boldly engage their peers and families with the gospel of Jesus. Many of our teenagers will have other gifts with which to serve the body, but will be called to live peaceful and quiet lives in their families, their schools, their physical and their online communities for the sake of being a witness to the Prince of Peace in these places. And it is our role as youth leaders and parents to equip both with the encouragement, prayer, and resources required to do the good works that God has prepared in advance for them to do.