Why every church should implement the EE training
Recently I recalled a conversation I had with a senior pastor of a large church in the Klang valley. Over the last decade, they have also planted several churches in other states and towns in Malaysia.“We are averaging a growth rate of some 20% annually. Tell me why we should use EE?” he questioned.
This short article is a reply to his question. I set out below, in my opinion, the top 10 reasons why every church should implement the EE training.
What is EE?
EE is both a tool and the name of the network of Christian leaders who promote the tool. At its heart, EE assists in the training of believers to share their faith. It also seeks to bring these trained believers to a level where they can multiply themselves by training others. The network seeks to encourage other Christian leaders to make disciples by implementing the EE training.
The top 10 reasons why every church should implement the EE training are:
1. Obedience to the Great Commission
The Great Commission is meant to be obeyed. It is not the Great Suggestion. EE helps churches to equip their members to obey our Lord’s command to be fishers-of-men. There’s no better way to teach obedience than by obeying. When we make it our priority to regularly go out to meet non-believers and share our faith during On-The-Job (OJT) events in EE, we show by example, by leadership, that we are obeying the Great Commission. This is better than 1000 sermons on why we must obey the Great Commission. By implementing the EE training, every church member can learn to share his or her faith and personally participate in the Great Commission.
2. Training and equipping the congregation members
Believers need training to share their faith. Jesus is the model but like in other areas, mentoring and coaching is absolutely necessary and EE help provide this. Far too often, pastors preach on why church members must share their faith without providing training. This only makes their members feel guilty and condemned. Implementing EE means the pastor not only tells “why” but shows “how”. When using a tool like EE, the pastor fulfills his responsibility as outlined in Ephesians 4:12. Every church that has members who are able and willing to share their faith is a strong church.
3. Character transformation
Angels too can share the gospel, as indeed they will in the last days (Rev 14:6). Therefore when God gives His people the task to share their faith, it is not because He has no other alternative. He gives His people the privilege to be involved in this great task so that they will have the opportunity for character transformation. Indeed it is His will that His people be transformed into the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Take for instance the character aspect of “patience”. To reach out to someone who is nice and cooperative is easy. However to reach out to someone who is obnoxious and stubborn takes a lot of patience. When we take it upon ourselves to reach out and to love someone who is difficult and unresponsive, maybe even hostile, it will help us to develop patience. OJTs are an integral part of EE and seeking prospects for OJTs, connecting with them and sharing our faith helps us to develop humility and love, both of which are character traits of Christ-likeness. It is God’s intention that we change in our character to become like His Son and using a tool like EE helps us to do that.
4. Experiencing the greatness of God’s love
How much does God love us? “Very much”, we reply. Is this question merely academic? How much is much? When we implement EE and train believers to share their faith, they will sooner or later come across some tough people; people who try our patience and people who are difficult to love. However, as we persevere on to connect with them, to love them and to share with them, we will need to draw on Christ’s unlimited reservoir of love. Touching the heart of Christ, and experiencing His love pouring down upon us, we soldier on – to love the unlovely. It is then that we learn that love is not an emotional feeling but an action centred in our will. We then come to understand that Christ’s love compels us (2 Cor 5:14) and we experience its vastness and depth.
5. Improving church quality: Loving one another in small groups
Jesus commanded believers to love one another. This command cannot be obeyed in a vacuum. Many folks can be friendly and loving when they are distant. There is no better pressure on relationships as when people work together. Working well together as a team requires understanding, humility and most of all, love.
Participating in an EE semester is challenging to any attempts at loving one another. EE teams go out on OJTs(On the Job Training) usually in teams of threes and they do this weekly for 4 months. On the flip side, the partnerships forged amongst team members often lasts for very long. Members of the team pray for each other, help each other to study and adjust for each other in order to do well on an OJT engagement. For many, these are the moments that give the best memories in an EE semester.
6. Empowering leadership
One of the goals in an EE ministry is to raise leaders who can multiply themselves. Guided by 2 Tim 2:2, EE participants graduate to become EE trainers who will then multiply others in the ministry. The objective to keep passing the baton to a new generation of EE trainees produces leadership of a very high calibre. Many ordinary believers who are trained in EE go on to become trainers and eventually to become church leaders.
As part of the training, each EE trainee is required to recruit two prayer partners who will pray for him or her throughout the 13-week semester. EE teams also pray together before and after their OJT calls.
One can also expect the devil to be more active in the lives of those who share their faith and storm the gates of hell. Many difficult circumstances will arise which call on much prayer.
A church cannot learn to pray in a vacuum where there is little or no service to the Lord. Certainly, when the church looks outward to the lost, it will focus itself to the reason that Jesus came to die. The Lord Himself says, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matt 9:38)
8. Developing friendly church members
Many church folks come to church to meet up with their friends. Sometimes they become so focused on their friends that they do not prioritize welcoming guests to the congregation. A church implementing EE training is on the lookout to make friends with the intention to share their faith. Accordingly, team members often go out of their way to meet new friends to connect with and to share. This attitude brings freshness to any congregation with the eventual addition of newcomers. A believer who regularly shares his or her faith successfully with others with love and respect is a friendly person.
9. Meeting the needs of the community
The Great Commission is a call to connect with people, to communicate the gospel to them and finally to challenge them to a commitment to Jesus Christ. EE teams look out for non-believers to share with. However, before the presentation of the gospel can be made, they need to connect with people first. In the quest to connect, the church visits the community, discovers its needs and raises resources to meet those needs. Then and only then, does the church earn the right to communicate the gospel. This cycle is repeated again and again in the experience of those who use EE. For communication to be successful, connecting must first take place. To connect, we must meet people’s needs.
10. Living for others.
How very easy for believers to seek the comfort zone and not leave it! The sinful human nature is basically a selfish one. Believers struggle with self-centeredness all the time. When we make a commitment to go out on OJTs weekly for the duration of the EE training semester, we make a decision to live for others and not for ourselves (2 Cor 5:15). Jesus died for us to leave us an example that we should no longer live for ourselves.
How wonderful it is when we can say no to our comforts and personal preferences and go out to connect with people and to share our faith. We are showing by our lifestyle that other people are more important than our own comforts and selfish ambitions. We proclaim that Jesus is Lord of our lives!
Getting started in EE
Well dear pastor or church leader reading this, even if you have a strong, healthy and growing church, you should still use EE for the reasons above.
The objective in EE is to equip the believers and not merely saving the lost. It’s akin to training fishermen and not merely catching fish although all churches implementing the EE training will experience healthy growth.
If you would like more information on how you can use EE in your church, you can either invite an EE resource person to share with you and your leadership or you can attend an EE clinic with some members of your church leadership team.
