I am listening to an excellent book by my friend, Steve Parr. The Title is The Coffee Shop That Changed The Church. It is written as a novel and introduces you to key, research-based principles of evangelism in a local church. Get it on Amazon today! Here is an excerpt:

“Let me tell you what I learned about evangelism through church softball several years back. Our church had a team, and we had a pretty stringent requirement that all of the players attend church at least three out of four Sundays. We had a good team, and they represented our church well. At least they did most of the time. It’s amazing how competitive church softball can be.”

“You’re telling me. I actually got in a fight at a game one time. Let’s just say that my opponent didn’t appreciate the way I slid into second base and broke up a double play. I was getting pounded for a minute there.”

“Are you serious? You got in a fight and got beat up?”

“No, I didn’t get beat up. She was pretty scrappy, though,” Mitch said with a grin that let Benton know that he reeled him in on a joke.

“You’re killing me. Seriously, let me tell you what happened. We decided to have two teams, and I pulled the men together and told them we were only going to have nine men on each team. They began to object knowing that you need at least a dozen members, and I told them to hear me out. I suggested that we open three spots on each team for guests only. I explained that we would give the guests a discounted price, but we would expect them to pay. If it were free, they might show up for a couple of games and then drop out. Having them pay ensured a greater level of commitment.”

“How did it work?”

“I explained further to our men what I meant when I said that we wanted three guests on the teams. I told them that ‘guest’ was a code word for ‘heathens who can hit home runs.’ I asked them to work together to find three unchurched friends to play on each of the teams. We weren’t looking for members of other churches that did not have teams but rather for men who were not Christians. The way I figured it was that heathens are going to play softball somewhere, so why not with us?”

“Are you serious? Didn’t you have to put up with some stuff? I mean if the members are competitive, I can’t imagine how you dealt with unbelievers when they got bent out of shape over something.”

“Well, we did have to confront some challenges. We had men who were swearing, fighting, yelling at the umpires, and bringing things to drink that I would not approve of.”

“How did you handle that?”

“I told our deacons to stop acting like that and to be a better example!”

Mitch laughed out loud. “Touché. You got me back on that one.”

“Seriously, we did have to confront some issues, but it should not be surprising when people who are not Christians act un-Christlike, but here is what happened. Now mind you that I do not intend to devalue worship by making this statement. Those men spending two nights a week with our men was the closest thing to worship they had experienced in their adult lives. They were hearing testimonies of how God changed the lives of the men on the teams, hearing men pray for one another, and having a great time. Many of them had the perception that Christians don’t know how to have fun. Not only that, but their wives were in the stands with the wives of our men. We started seeing several of these men show up for Bible study and worship, and ultimately several decided to become followers of Jesus. In addition, several of the wives followed their lead. We saw women coming to faith through men’s church softball.”

“That’s an awesome story.”

“Here’s my point. The same people that you could never pay to come to church will pay you to play softball, or eat barbeque, or to attend a couples’ banquet. The possibilities are limitless. Dozens if not hundreds of activities are available that both Christians and non-Christians enjoy, and they are spiritually neutral. But here is the key––no event is inherently evangelistic. Softball can be evangelistic in one church and not in another. The same could be said for fish fries, golf outings, youth sports leagues, revivals, seasonal banquets, or any other activity.”