An Evangelism Lesson from Microsoft

Being the Director of Evangelism for the State Convention, I try to keep up on the latest news that is happening in the area of evangelism. One way I do this is with “Google Alerts.” Everyday when I turn on my computer I get a listing from Google of the big stories in evangelism. A few of the reports I read are interesting and relevant to us, but most of the stories have little to no impact on our work in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

A few weeks ago I began getting stories about secular companies and their “evangelism” efforts. At first I thought that these stories would not relate to us, but as I continued to read I found that we could learn from some of their methods and conclusions.

One interesting story I read was titled “Herding cats at Microsoft.” If you want to read it for yourself you can go to www.news.com and search for “herding cats.” It was posted on March 17, 2008.

Now before you get too excited about Microsoft trying to convert their workers, you need to realize that although they are using the term “evangelism”, they have modified it to fit their needs. It has nothing to do with leading a person to Christ; rather it deals with convincing workers to change their thinking and behavior as it relates to company rules and procedures.

Tim O’Brien, a senior director of Microsoft in charge of the evangelism organization said, “My role in the company is to help groups understand what the paths are.” He does not want them heading down random paths. He further stated, “The evangelism organization was conceived to get people to adopt technology when it doesn’t necessarily seem rational… Evangelism can help envision the possibilities. My role is to… piece together an end-to-end story for developers and create a call to action.”

Isn’t that what we are commanded to do as Christian evangelists? We are here to help people find the straight and narrow path which leads to life. We do not want people traveling down random paths which lead to destruction. (Mt 7:13-14) Many times the message we give does not make rational sense to the unconverted. Therefore we need to help them envision their life as a follower of Christ. We present the story from beginning to end and call for action in the form of repentance and faith. (Rom 10:9-13)

The article goes on to point out that this evangelism organization at Microsoft consists of 1,750 people trying to herd 78,565 employees down the same path. As can be expected, trying to guide all these people in the same direction “could generate a significant amount of friction within the company.” To accomplish this task with the least amount of friction, O’Brien states that “good communication, rather than arm twisting, is the primary mechanism.”

Not much needs to be said here for us. We all know that arm twisting evangelistic methods rarely, if ever, produce transformational change in a person’s life. Often these methods actually create friction and hard feelings among the very people we hope to lead to Christ. However, any method that uses good communication and concern for the listener is the most effective way of partnering with the Holy Spirit to convince others of the truth.

David Sundeen
Director of Evangelism
Minnesota Wisconsin Baptist Convention