If your church could reach more people for Christ by focusing on one “people group” in your community, would you do so?
Certain people around your church are more receptive to the Gospel than others. I suggest that good stewardship of your church’s human and fiscal resources calls you to find and focus on these receptive people. They are the “fertile soil” (see Mt. 13:1-23) who are “ripe unto harvest” (Jn. 4:35). And your successful evangelistic results will be praised by the Master with the same words heard by those who returned more talents than they had been given: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (see Mt. 25:14-30).
The “Receptivity-Resistance Axis” illustrates a person’s openness to becoming a new creation in Christ. Every non-Christian is somewhere on this Axis.
Some people are open and responsive to the Good News—the “good soil,” as Christ described them in the Parable of the Sower. Others are resistant to the Gospel—the rocky soil. When Jesus concluded this parable with, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” I believe he was suggesting that the Good News we proclaim will not be received with equal receptivity. And we are called to identify those who will hear, listen and respond.
It is also important to note that people are always moving on this Receptivity-Resistance Axis; some are moving toward greater receptivity, others toward greater resistance.
A key question I hope you’re asking is: “How do we identify the receptive people in our community?”
One proven way is through life events. Or, more specifically, transitional life events. Here is the principle: The more disruptive a life event is to a person’s psychological equilibrium, the more it will cause him/her to be spiritually receptive.
Robert Pierson rightly observes: “People most often make decisions for Christ when they are going through transitions. Most do not make decisions about new commitments and directions in their life when everything is going well. We make those decisions when we are in the midst of stress and difficulty. When the church is there to help and share the gospel at the point of their greatest need, people respond, because those are the times people are the most open” (Needs-Based Evangelism, Abingdon Press, 2006, p. 28).
The “Social Readjustment Scale” was originally developed by two cardiology researchers at the University of Washington Medical Center. The events were identified as precipitators of a heart attack. (The numbers to the right are the relative severity of the event, from 1-100.) I, and other researchers, have found that these same events are also excellent indicators of a person’s openness (receptivity) to Christian conversion.
Put simply, people who rate high on this scale will be more receptive to repentance and conversion than those who rate lower. And, when multiple events occur in relative proximity, receptivity increases even more.
As you think and pray about responding to Christ’s command to “ … go and make disciples,” begin identifying the people in your community whom the Holy Spirit may be preparing to invite into the Kingdom—through you and your church. Creative, caring, genuine, need-meeting Christian love—at these times when people are most receptive—will bring great fruit. Watch … listen … be sensitive to these windows of opportunity … and then be ready to “give witness to the hope that is within you” (I Pe. 3:15).
