Thinking about Discipleship & Evangelism
An interview with Andy Tilsley, ministry leader at Christ Church London (by Nicole Lewis)
Andy has been involved in leading a church plant from Christ Church London based in Sutton. He says of the first year of church planting,
“It was awful! It just it just felt really hard work for very little fruit. Using renovation as an illustration, the digging of the foundations is just messy and grimy and sweaty. It was tough, and right now we’re in a sweet spot and it’s going well, but it’s a reminder to me that God works in seasons. We’re enjoying springtime right now, but it’s not always been that way and I’ve had to settle in my own spirit that ultimately all the growth is down to God.”
He shares with us here about his experience of discipleship and evangelism, and his priorities of friendship + time + truth.
Friendship + Time + Truth
“My core conviction for how to do both discipleship and evangelism would be it is relationship, time and truth. In discipleship and evangelism, those three are the most important.
So take evangelism, initially the most important thing is just friendship and building friendships with people with no agenda. That whether or not they come to faith, you will be their friend. That’s been the most powerful thing for us, and as we’ve built friendships over time we have seen people come to faith, which has been absolutely wonderful. But we’ve also got friends who haven’t, and we still love them equally. With discipleship, there are loads of models out there, but I think the core principle is be patient. It does take time, there’s no quick fix friendship.
Community and patience
“There’s a temptation to think if I just produce more content, then that will bring about the change. Actually change is more about creating good habits and finding a model that can help people cultivate good habits. That requires some good teaching initially, but also a context where you can talk about it.
Where I have seen most fruit in terms of discipleship is in a regular rhythm, say weekly, with the same group of people. You want to take some really simple principles and ask, how is this working out in your own life? Then be patient.
I remember when I was in that context, we started focusing on evangelism. It wasn’t actually the content that changed me, it was being in a community where suddenly I was watching other people say, “I’m starting to invite my friends to church” and “I’m taking my friends to Alpha” and I’m like, oh goodness I need to sort myself out here! Community was a provocation to me to do the simple bits of what it means to follow Jesus.
There’s an element that will evolve because culture is always changing – for example, we have to help disciple people in how to use social media right now, and that wasn’t even a thing 20 years ago. But the principles are always building friendships, time, and the principles of Jesus. That’s where I have experienced most fruit, and that’s where I see it most in other churches too.
Friendships bearing fruit
“One of my friends came to faith just a couple of weeks ago who we did Alpha with about 18 months ago. He finished Alpha and was like, “yeah it’s not really for me”. We just stayed friends, and he came to faith about two weeks ago which is just great.
Right now where we’re living in the UK, loads of people are moving here from Hong Kong. We see that as an opportunity to both express hospitality and welcome people, and also an opportunity for the kingdom of Jesus. We’re just being really hospitable, opening homes, welcoming people, and we’ve seen people come along to church. There’s one family who started coming who said, “we don’t believe this, but we want to find out about Jesus, can we come?”. It’s a unique moment in time, and we want to make the most of that opportunity.”
If you’ve been encouraged by anything that Andy has shared, and you want to see your church grow in evangelism or discipleship, please check out our website arc.agape.org.uk for some resources on discipleship and evangelism.
Also, if you would like to connect with us to have a conversation about how we can come alongside you as a church in this area, please email us at connect@agape.org.uk. We would love to get in touch!
