Religious Opinion Polls Work

In my travels over the years among our churches and associations there has often been negative comments made about "door knocking" (cold turkey evangelism). I understand that some are not experiencing much success from this kind of outreach and have abandoned it altogether. Others have never tried it simply because of the "negative press" that door knocking has gotten for so long. Some of us took the word of experienced brothers who said they knew what they were talking about and so we quit "door knocking" on the basis of their "knowledgeable experience".

I've done door knocking all over the world. It has worked everywhere that I have gone, from Toronto to Tokyo, from London to Athens, from San Francisco to Dallas, from Dayton to Tampa, from "Podunk Hollow" to East Texas. And it will work where you are to, if you will give it an honest chance. Now don't turn me off just yet.

The rules for door knocking have changed a lot. Instead of just meeting someone at the door and trying to introduce your church and the gospel, why not take a religious survey of the person at the door? We have found tremendous success using the Religious Opinion Poll (inititiated by Charlie Ellison) wherever we have gone. City Reach has successfully used it, XSTREAM has used it, church planters have used it, and laypeople in the average church have used it. We have also used it successfully at our national ABA evangelistic outreach meetings for several years. An Opinion Poll allows the person at the door to interact and express his feelings and opinions to the guided questions that are offered to him. Ultimately, he is casually asked "Has anyone ever shared with you how you can have a personal relationship with God?" And then the gospel presentation begins. Most people are willing to listen and will respond one way or another to you.

Religious Opinion Polls are not new. They are not an invention of anyone in particular. The idea has been used many times and many ways for nearly 100 years by churches and cults.

We have been privileged to win several people to Christ through the Opinion Poll already in the last couple of months. One of our church men lead a soul to Christ last night during our Opinion Poll outreach. He was rejoicing all the way home! We have had so many prospects to follow-up on as a result of this outreach that we are getting other members involved in helping us.

David