Field Number Two - Gospel Sharing

As mentioned previously, in our work on a new housing estate we are following a model for outreach called 'Four Fields'. This is not a quick-fix system, but is about being intentional and recognising that there will be different phases to our efforts. The first phase (Field Number One) is simply about meeting people and building relationships. We intentionally get ourselves 'out there', volunteer locally and so on for this to happen. This phase is open ended - the timescales are in God's hands, not ours.

In our conversations we share who we are. We have always found it better to be up front and honest about our faith identity - people can react with interest or disinterest, either is fine and need not cause any offence. Sometimes this can lead to a conversation about faith developing along the way ... which brings us to Field Number Two: Gospel Sharing. Here we start actively sharing, seeing if the conversation might develop from a casual exchange to more interest being shown. Spiritual discernment for this phase is crucial: might the person we are talking to be open to being invited to a place where we can talk in greater depth? Are they showing signs of being genuinely spiritually open and seeking, or just interested in passing?

The wonderful thing is that God can surprise us! At a time when we would be quite happy to continue meeting people in the first field, someone comes along who appears to be actively asking for conversation about faith - in other words we find ourselves in the second field already! This has been our experience recently, which we are now following up. Hopefully those seeking can be invited into exploration sessions including Discovery from the Bible (another important tool in the toolkit).

Of course there is still a long way to go (fields number three and four await for the future). Note that in this model introducing to the wider church is delayed until that fourth field: for now the action occurs in the 'third space' meeting places or in homes, and will mostly continue in these places whilst we are in fields two and three. The small setting is a better environment for someone to discover Jesus and learn what it means for them to follow Him: the model pursues depth with each individual.

You might be asking: 'Do these four fields relate to the parable Jesus told about scattering seed?'. There is indeed a rough parallel, but not an exact correspondence. In meeting people and gospel sharing we are indeed scattering: liberally and plentifully. Some falls on the path (the people we get to merely encourage along the way). Some may fall on rocky ground - there is interest but no real roots are put down. Some may explore with us, maybe even accept Jesus, but be choked off by the cares of the world (entering field three, but not moving beyond it). Finally some may endure and be fruitful - only time will tell.