Don’t expect people to say ‘no’ when you invite them to some church event

Our church is running an evangelistic event this Saturday night. This means that there will be people from our church praying for and inviting friends to come along. That can be a daunting prospect! All kinds of thoughts go through our minds before we have that kind of conversation. Maybe they will laugh at me. Maybe they will mock me in some way. This could impact our relationship. They are probably not interested anyway.

This can lead us to ask, but in a way that assumes they are going to say no. “Would you like to come to this event my church is running on Saturday night? It should be interesting, but I know you’re busy, and you’re normally not into this kind of thing, so I’ll understand if you can’t come”. I’ve done this before. It short sells what you are offering and gives the answer for the person instead of letting them consider it for themselves.

There are some important things to keep in mind when inviting people:

1. Evangelism is really important. Christians know the message about Jesus, and we want others to know it too. We believe that eternal life depends on people knowing the gospel and responding well to it. They need to hear it to be saved (Rom 10:14-17).
2.  Be honest. Make it clear this is a church event. It is held in a church building and will include some discussion about church and Jesus. We don’t want to deceive people (2 Cor 4:1-2).
3. God is in control of the response, not you (1 Cor 3:6-7). People won’t be interested simply based on your eloquence or if you say the right words. Just invite. Be plain and simple.
4. Some will be hostile to the gospel, so it is possible that there will be hard rejections or polite refusals (Matt 10:14). But it is reasonable that some will say yes!
5. The conversation will probably not be as bad as you expect. At worst, you’ll probably get a polite no. At best, they might come.

The journey that leads to faith in Jesus often starts with a conversation between friends and an invitation to church or some event. Don’t be ashamed of asking. Just ask.