10 percenter or 90 percenter

Casey sits in the pew on Sunday with a deep desire to hear God speak to her heart. There are so many issues she deals with on a daily basis that church sometimes seems like just one more thing she has to do in her busy schedule. However, today she centers her thoughts on God and genuinely desires a significant experience with the Almighty. Not only does she desire this experience, she needs His touch right now.

The worship leader is being used by God in a special way today. As she sings the words of the songs, she is being drawn into a meaningful and profound time of worship. She senses her bond with God as her spirit is being lifted. She rejoices as her spirit is connected with God’s Spirit. As the pastor comes to the front, Casey excitedly grabs her Bible to follow along with the morning message. She is ready to hear from God. She waits with expectation.

His topic is on the need to witness to our neighbors. The pastor states, “If you are not doing something to evangelize the people around you, you are simply not in the will of God.” Her heart sinks. She would like nothing more than to know that she is in the will of God. However, she sits in quiet desperation being fully convinced that she is not capable of being an effective witness. Although she does not want to be disobedient to God, she knows from past experience that she is an utter failure in evangelism. Her spirit weeps as guilt and depression slowly turn off the message. Her time of worship is over. Her mind, once focused on God, now turns to the concerns of the rest of her day.

This scenario is not uncommon. As you read this, you may feel a strong connection with Casey. As far as evangelism is concerned, she is one of the 90 percenters who stand in stark contrast to the 10 percenters who have almost no problem sharing their faith with others. The 10 percenters are the ones who usually write all the evangelism materials and who cannot figure out why the 90 percenters just can’t get the job done. To them it is so simple.

Below are some of the differences between these two groups. Generally 10 percenters:
• Regularly lead non-Christians to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
• Have unusually strong desires to see everyone come to Christ.
• Have spiritual gifts or use their God-given talents in the area of evangelism.
• Love to persuade, convince and urge.
• Constantly look for creative ways to talk about Jesus Christ.
• Use every opportunity to practice outreach.
• Love to give their personal testimony in public or private.
• Like to hand out tracts, do door-to-door work, visit prisons and rest homes, do rescue mission work, etc.

On the other hand, 90 percenters generally:
• Have never had the joy of personally leading someone to Christ but have done some things to help.
• Have a desire to see others come to Christ but are not overwhelmed by it.
• Have spiritual gifts but use their talents and abilities in other areas of ministry.
• Say they witness by their lives.
• Seldom are comfortable with talking about spiritual things.
• Outreach is not foremost in their thinking.
• Uncomfortable with talking about their personal relationship with Christ.
• Keep a low profile when it comes to one-on-one evangelism.

Because 90 percent of Christians find themselves in the latter category, it is not hard to understand that most Christians feel either disobedient or defeated in the area of evangelism. Because of guilt most 90 percenters have just given up and resigned themselves to the ranks of the ineffective believing that there is nothing they can do, or nothing they are willing to do to fix he problem.

If you are a 10 percenter, you can rejoice in the fact that almost any type evangelism training will work for you. In fact, you have probably already figured out the best way to do evangelism on your own. For you who are 90 percenters, you can rejoice in the fact that there is still hope. I too am a 90 percenter. However, I have figured out how to do effective evangelism that does not stress my comfort zone. It is my goal over the next years to share, train and implement evangelistic strategies that not only train the 10 percent but also the 90 percent. We want to include all our people in effective evangelism. We can change Minnesota and Wisconsin one life at a time. I would love to talk with you about evangelism. I can be emailed at sundeen@mwbc.org or called at 507-282-3636.

David Sundeen
Evangelism Director
Minnesota Wisconsin Baptist Convention