Numerous churches struggle to get church attendees, who believe in the Great Commission, to do the work of evangelism. They do, however, understand the necessity of outreach. The breakdown comes between knowing and doing. The primary cause of the breakdown is fear. Fear doesn't feel good, so we avoid what causes discomfort. Simultaneously we operate on the assumption, "God wouldn't ask us to do anything that makes us feel uncomfortable." With this line of thinking, we are at ease being at ease.

What is the answer? We can have more of the Spirit of boldness than we have the spirit of fear. We can prioritize the spiritual over the emotional. We can elevate courage over comfort. We can embrace God's directive to minister to people without faith in Christ.

Another helpful approach to inspiring people to interact with unsaved people is to tell stories of unreached people in your community. Talk to doctors, police, educators and social workers. Clip articles from your local newspaper telling about sin and its consequences. Learn to interpret life from God's point of view. Encourage new converts to tell their stories of God's grace, the Church's influence, the Holy Spirit's work.

Report witnessing attempts, particularly failures. The average person will begin to feel capable of at least trying. For example, the other day I invited a neighbor and his son to children's activities at our local church. The father sighed heavily, opened the screen door, accepted the printed invitation, looked away, backed up and started to close the door. "Keith, I would like to be your pastor and friend to your family." He pushed the door open half-way. "Thanks," he stammered and closed the door. Now this behavior took place two years after I first met him and he expressed interest in getting his family into church. Not exactly a stellar response to my persistence. I will, however, continue to invite him as long as he opens the door.

We are in great need of mentors--people who will show us how to engage unchurched people in conversation. Unfortunately few effective models are available. Being an example is a start, but we must intentionally recruit (as Jesus did) workers to serve as harvesters.

We need to multiply the number of mentors and witnesses. We know how to recruit church board members, greeters, and Sunday School teachers. No role is more important than people who reach out. A minimum of 10% of the local church work force should be aimed at reaching people without faith. Take an inventory of your church's volunteer staff. How many reach out? How can that number be multiplied?

In August 2004, materials focused on this effort will be available on-line. Look for Multiplying and Mobilizing Witnesses on www.missionevangelism.org.