A life-changing approach to seeing your neighbors become followers of Jesus Christ.
Love Your Neighbor. Tell Your Story!tm
LYNTYS is a liberating approach to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. To describe LYNTYS is to describe evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development, but not as we usually think of them. It provides pastors, churches, and ordinary followers of Christ a simple means of growing in Christ and leading others to become followers of Christ. It is cross-cultural. It is rural and urban. It is Biblical.
LYNTYS is an acronym for Love your neighbor. Tell your story! To love our neighbors and tell our stories of God's providence and grace is the clearest horizontal expression of our love for God. When an attorney asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets" (NASB). Being a disciple of Jesus is to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbors.
So what does LYNTYS have to do with evangelism? Jesus told His disciples to make disciples. He told them to love their neighbors. He also told them to be witnesses. Furthermore, He showed them how to do it, and He gave them examples of how to equip others to do it. Making disciples is evangelism according to Jesus, and the results are unparalleled!
Often, evangelism is relegated to a select few people in our churches and is something done on a night of the week through a church program or a few times a year at events hosted by our church. Discipleship has become information. We talk about the Bible. We read the Bible. We discuss ideas, facts, and opinions, but we continue our journey in life with little or no change. Leadership development means a church committee needs someone to do a task, and they selected you to do it. We are very active, but we are not doing well at making disciples or seeing them grow and mature.
You’re probably asking, “Why LYNTYS?” LYNTYS is needed because a recent study by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons showed only 3% of young adults in North America have a biblical worldview. We could say 3% of young adults are disciples of Jesus, yet our evangelism efforts have seen nearly 65% of young adults make a decision for Christ. Remember, Jesus told His disciples to make disciples. He did not tell them merely to lead people to make a decision.
LYNTYS is needed because more than 70% of the churches in my network of churches, Southern Baptists, are plateaued or declining, and the situation has not improved in more than 20 years of evangelistic programs, events, and training. My network, however, is not unique. Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson report that 70%-80% of all churches in North America are also plateaued or declining and nearly 4,000 churches are closing annually.
LYNTYS is needed because the ground-breaking study of Willow Creek Community Church showed increased activity in church programs does not drive spiritual growth. In fact, the study, which Willow Creek conducted themselves, revealed a close relationship to Christ resulted in spiritual growth and spiritual conversations were the most effective means of evangelism. They concluded that in spite of their good intentions large membership and attendance numbers proved people liked what they were doing, not that their activities and programs were succeeding in making mature disciples. Jesus gave us both the goal and the plan—make disciples.
LYNTYS is a refreshing focus on making disciples. It equips people to follow Jesus in every area of their life. Their view of life and the way they live progressively changes. A few religious do’s and don’ts and participation in more programs can’t compare to the life of a vibrant, growing, follower of Christ.
Making disciples is evangelism according to Jesus, and the results are unparalleled!
What is LYNTYS?
Click HERE to see the Sunday School Department's LYNTYS Video.
Florida Baptist
Convention
