Every person on the face of the earth has been programmed by God to long for meaningful relationships (Gen. 2:18). This is part of what it means to be made in the image of our highly relational God (Gen. 1:27).
Although sin has twisted this aspect of our nature in many ways, the desire for relationship is still one of the most powerful forces in the world. Every meaningful human activity depends heavily on the strength of relationships, whether in our friendships, marriages, parenting, businesses, churches, schools, sports teams, police departments or military units. Success and human flourishing in every area of life is all about relationship!
The human need for meaningful relationships provides Christians with daily opportunities to begin conversations about the wisdom principles in God’s Word, which focus primarily on relationships. Many of these conversations can eventually lead to discussions about the gospel of Christ, which gives us the power to experience relationships as they were meant to be: loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
There are many ways that individual Christians can use RW360 resources to facilitate these types of conversations. Our Transformed pamphlet makes it easy to share the gospel with friends, relatives and coworkers (see Six Ways to Use the Transformed Pamphlet). Using Relational Wisdom for Witnessing is a free one-hour online course that provides practical guidance on how to build relationships that open the door for witnessing.
Our Training Options and Opportunities page describes how you can use our online training, RW360 Smartphone App and DVD-based small group materials to engage unchurched friends and coworkers in conversations or studies that lead to the gospel. All of these resources are available in both “faith-based” (Christian) and “values-based” (secular) versions, which makes it easy to take them into virtually any setting.
One of the most effective ways to use RW resources for evangelism is through regular community engagement. This typically involves training members of your church, ministry or school as RW Instructors who go into businesses, schools, nonprofits, police or fire departments, military bases, sports camps and other secular venues to teach workshops on relational wisdom.
As an example of how far reaching this kind of ministry can be, here are a few descriptions of how one such instructor, David Mason, the Senior Pastor of Green Valley Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, has used RW resources to strengthen his church and spread the gospel in his community:
I just finished six weeks of RW training for 400 people in my church. Our small group leaders report great interaction. One of my senior members said, “That is the best thing we have ever done!” My kids (ages 29, 26, 25, 22, and 21) have enjoyed working on it as a family. RW is proving to be more impactful than I ever dreamed!
My first values-based (secular) workshop in a local business went very well. This is a great way to serve small business owners who can’t afford expensive training. Two other business owners in my church have asked me to do sessions for their employees.
Last night I had a church trustees meeting and a conflict arose. One of the trustees told another trustee, “You need to RW this, brother!” He left for a few minutes to “RW it” and returned with a calm heart. Thank you for developing this material! As a pastor, it has given me great insight into effective discipleship.
I was teaching RW to 200 couples on an Air Force base when there was a loud explosion. With all the recent violence on military bases, you can imagine the instant fear and tension. We soon learned it was only an electrical transformer exploding. After a quick prayer, I explained how the intense “fight/flight” reaction we’d all experienced could save lives during combat … but do great damage in a marital conflict or quarrel with a teenager. I had their complete attention from that point on!
The Lord recently gave me the opportunity to teach RW to fifty teachers in a nearby school district. I got a standing ovation, not a dry eye in the place. I did the values-based version but mentioned that God-based material was available at the end of the session … every item was gone in minutes.
I use relational wisdom in pastoral counseling every week. I revisit it with my congregation every other month … it’s so easy to work it into sermons. I’m still amazed by how effective this tool is in all sorts of ministry settings.
I just did a seminar, openly Christ-centered, with community service directors in NW Missouri. It was wonderful. I am doing a seminar with college students this weekend. As word about the practical value of RW spreads, I’m getting more and more opportunities to talk with unchurched people and tell them about Jesus.
We are making great strides in penetrating our community with the gospel through RW. I did two more businesses recently. We’ve just invited nearly 600 people in a basketball ministry to receive this training. I cannot express how much this ministry has blessed me, my family, my church and my community!
RW is one of the best “church growth strategies” I’ve ever seen. Almost every time I do a workshop in our community, I see some of those people walk into my church the following Sunday.
God recently allowed me to minister to a family that just went through a terrible disaster. They lost their home to a tornado and the mother was having health problems. I could tell her problems were stress related, but she only knew to go to a doctor and get meds. I used RW to help her understand stress and how to listen to her body. She accepted Christ while we were rebuilding her house!
Since I began teaching RW in our community, many individuals and families have come to our church and begun to follow Christ. I just received another request from a bank in Kansas City to present RW to their leadership. I’ve now got my foot in the door with the two largest employers in St Jo. I love telling people how RW has improved my walk with the Father in amazing ways!
Yesterday I taught RW to 63 employees at a national insurance company. It went really well. I got a two applauses and lots of positive feedback. They even recorded it for employees unable to attend.
While most churches in my area are declining, divided or dying, my church is growing and united. I’ve seen the religious landscape change so much lately, and not for the better. God has used relational wisdom to keep our church unified and relevant when so many others have abandoned the gospel for public approval.
Last week I presented values-based RW to a 42 person professional team with such serious problems that several people were about to lose their jobs. Yesterday the leader called to report that the training had triggered a major breakthrough. She then asked me to do a follow up next month.
Next month I’m doing a three week series on RW in my church using the Inside Out movie you featured in a recent blog post. I’m grateful to have such culturally relevant tools to provide training that encourages our members to invite their friends, family and co-workers into our church where many of them hear the gospel for the very first time.
Every Journey Begins with a Single Step
Would you like to see leaders and members in your church, ministry or school reach unchurched people in your community with these kinds of gospel-spreading engagements? If so, please visit our Training and Certification Program to learn how our RW Instructor training can prepare you to teach RW in a wide variety of settings in your community.
Click on the link below to learn more about our values-based materials and the many ways you can use these resources to share the gospel.