North Point Evangelism Strategy (Invite-Invest)

North point’s invest-and-invite strategy has made it safe for hundreds of seasoned but scared believers to get back into the game.  Instead of training our people in the art of personal evangelism, we instruct them to invest in the lives of unbelievers with the express purpose of inviting them to an event where they will be exposed to the gospel in a clear, creative, and compelling manner.  Is there a need for training?  Yes.  But our strategy is not dependent upon training.  It is dependent upon purposeful relationships.

Believers are responsible for leveraging their relational influence for the sake of the kingdom of God.  That’s the part they can do that we—the church—can’t.  I have gone so far as to tell our folks that if they are not willing to leverage their influence for the kingdom, they are attending the wrong church.  I don’t want to raise money and build buildings so we can seat more note takers.  Out mission is to lead people into a growing relationship with Christ.  We operate off the premise that all regular attenders have embraced that mission as their own.

They are not responsible for knowing the answers to every question their unbelieving friends may throw their way.  But they are responsible for exposing them to an environment where they will be presented with the gospel.  Anybody can do that, assuming there is a church close by that is designed with the unchurched in mind.

Andy Stanley/Ed Young, Can We Do That:  24 Innovative Practices That Will Change the Way You Do Church, (Howard Publishing Co.), 2002.  pg. 2