Mass Evangelism vs. One-On-One

Years ago, a shampoo had television commercials in which a woman claimed if she told two friends about it, they would tell two friends “…and so on, and so on.” Word of mouth has been called the best form of advertising. Nevertheless, large sums of money are spent by advertisers believing that will increase business for their clients. A 30-second commercial aired during the Super Bowl now costs over $6 million.

Some Christians question the effectiveness of evangelizing through the media and large gatherings. As someone who has done street ministry for three decades, I agree one-on-one interaction is usually more effective. Rick Joyner of MorningStar Ministries told me about the time he ministered to a congregation of approximately 1,000 people in Mobile, Alabama. Rick asked, “How many of you got saved through mass evangelism?” Only seven hands went up. That’s less than 1%.

However, we shouldn’t discount mass evangelism just because the percentage of conversions isn’t as high as with personal interaction. A 16-year-old named Billy Graham responded to an altar call at a Mordecai Ham tent meeting. Eventually, more than 3.2 million people accepted Jesus Christ as their savior at Billy’s crusades. Countless others were reached through television. One of whom was a rock musician named Jesse Duplantis. He got saved after watching Billy on TV. Jesse later became an evangelist himself. Multitudes have received salvation through his various outreaches.


Nowadays, any preacher can minister to multitudes online at a much lower cost. For about ten years, I programmed an Internet radio station that featured modern worship music, short teachings on evangelism, and appeals for salvation. Eventually, I closed my streaming account but have continued reaching people through podcasts, videos, social media, this weekly blog, and a monthly newsletter posted on my website, plus sent through email. I’ve also done one-on-one evangelism using gospel tracts.


Money spent on evangelism is never wasted if individuals are reached who might not walk into a church otherwise. I plan to do crusades in the future. Who knows? I might minister to the next Billy Graham or Jesse Duplantis.


“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” - 1 Corinthians 15:58

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