Personal Evangelism Urgently Needed, Leaders at DBG Summit Say
By Alex Murashko
The need is great for an unprecedented effort by Christians to be personal in their approach to sharing the Gospel, especially in light of today’s turmoil, ministry leaders who attended the DBG (Digital Billy Grahams) Summit said.
“There was a strong emphasis on the need for personal evangelism, and a clear evangelistic impetus from our ministries,” DBG Summit co-host and Think Eternity founder Matt Brown said. “We are not called to simply have influence, but to point to the need for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every person’s life that we impact.”
Ministry leaders who attended the summit were given a chance recently to reflect on the meeting which took place in the Spring.
DBG (Digital Billy Grahams) Summit co-host Dr. Malachi O’Brien greets ministry leaders attending at Foundry Church in Kansas City. May 3, 2022 (PHOTO: Vitaly Manzuk)
“This DBG Summit in Kansas City was marked by the presence of God. Many leaders shared with us that they were refreshed and encouraged from our time together,” Brown said. “There was camaraderie, and a blessing on this gathering.”
In such a time of turmoil and difficulty in our world, it’s never been more needed for young people and people of all generations to raise up the banner of the Gospel and declare the hope and peace that comes from faith in Jesus Christ, he said.
“We believe the Gospel is the cure for all of culture’s ills, and we are not ashamed to declare the whole Gospel, and point men and women to turn to faith in Jesus Christ.”
Former pro baseball player turned evangelist Darryl Strawberry (L) shares about how God uses his influence to share the Gospel. He is joined by Josiah Kennealy (C) and Sam Kim (R) on the panel at the DBG Summit. May 3, 2022. (PHOTO: Vitaly Manzuk)
Josiah Kennealy, who co-leads the Minnesota Young Adults movement with his wife, Micah, told Think Eternity that he considered the summit in KC a blessing and a historic event.
“The number one thing I walked away with was a renewed passion and commitment to personal and relational evangelism,” Kennealy said via email. “I’ve made it a daily prayer for God to illuminate opportunities to have spiritual conversations and share the Gospel.”
He is praying and believing that God will bring another Jesus Revolution.
“Our generation today is primed for a move of God. I know it will take His Word, His Spirit, His love, and willing believers to lead courageously in their neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and in daily life,” Kennealy said.
Other leaders who attended the DBG Summit are also looking and praying for revival.
“The church now has a historic opportunity to usher in a Gospel movement unseen since the Jesus Movement (also known as Jesus Revival),” Sam Kim, co-founding pastor of 180 Church, told Think Eternity via email. “The harvest is plentiful, but workers who understand the heart of the culture are few. The church does not need more innovative or cool missiological schemes, but a return to simplicity.
“The culture today is saturated with sophisticated marketing strategies from Facebook and Google and other tech giants, and starved of authenticity and hospitality. The church should not be distracted by popular trends, but should focus instead on creating meaningful social interactions with those of its neighbors, friends and family who need the Lord.”
Kim pointed to a Cigna study which states that close to half the respondents said they did not have a single meaningful in-person social connection, such as daily conversations with friends, or quality time with family.
“This is why the single greatest gift we still can give others outside of eternity is our time,” Kim said. “Time is precious because it is the only commodity we cannot ever recoup. Thus, intentionally taking time to drink a coffee or share a hot meal with a friend is still the most effective Gospel witness today, as it was in the times of Jesus.
“It may not seem that much at first glance, but if we consistently practice a Gospel-centered hospitality, we’ll see one day from the other side of heaven that we have touched and changed eternity, much to our surprise and delight.”
Bill High, who is the executive chairman and founder of The Signatry, said he loved the energy and passion at the summit for sharing the gospel. “It was refreshing particularly in a consumer minded world.”
High said he grew up in a world where evangelism was taught as a part of discipleship.
“The percentages around those who (a) don't share their faith and (b) don't know how to share their faith in today's world are troubling for the sake of the future of the Church, let alone for a world longing for hope,” he said.
When asked about what is needed to reach more people with the Gospel, High said he recalls how a group of people at the college he attended would regularly share their faith and then meet together to discuss those efforts.
“That community of evangelism was so helpful, encouraging and motivating. The DBG Summit is at the beginning of that movement,” he said.
For Rob Fultz, who is a Campus Pastor at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, the urgency to evangelize well is in “the developmental/discipleship realities of evangelism.”
The focus should be on, Fultz said, “Helping leaders discover and articulate a theology of evangelism, helping churches elevate and promote a lifestyle of evangelism, and helping organizations and institutions make values-based decisions for evangelism.”
He shares the same optimism held by others at the summit who believe revival is near.
“The greatest revival in human history will come through the Gen Z/Alpha generations,” Fultz said. “It will not look like any other revival we have seen. The local church will regain its biblical and theological place among the communities they serve. But, they will change what that looks like, how that operates, and where that takes place.”
Brown said he was thrilled to gather with dozens of influential Christian leaders in Kansas City.
“This gathering has been on my heart for 7 years, ever since our ‘Wheaton Evangelism Conference’ at Wheaton College in Illinois in 2015 that brought together Will Graham, Jon Bloom and hundreds of evangelists and young leaders,” he said.
“We held both of these gatherings in the spirit of the Billy Graham Amsterdam gatherings that brought together as many as 10,000 evangelists from all parts of the world to be encouraged and equipped to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”
Brown shares that it has been a vision in the hearts of the movement’s participants for many years to "raise up 1,000 digital Billy Grahams to take Christ to culture.”
He said, “We love how God is using Think Eternity to reach people online, but we know that more workers are needed in God’s harvest, and we have such a burden to raise up, encourage and equip other young people to spread the Gospel. Please join us in this mission, and pray with us for workers.”
Featured speakers at the DBG Summit included Darryl Strawberry, Mark Mittleberg, Bill High, and Lee Strobel. Worship was led by singer/songwriter Stephen McWhirter.
Gospel singer and writer Stephen McWhirter leads worship at DBG Summit. May 4, 2022. (PHOTO: Vitaly Manzuk)
Alex Murashko leads the Thinke Writing Team and blogs at Media on Mission. Find him on various social media sites (@alexmurashko). GETTR username @MediaOnMission.