Evangelism should be a priority among Baptists, Ronnie Floyd said during a “Who’s Your One?” service Nov. 12 at the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s annual meeting in Greensboro.

“There are many things that your church can do that are good things,” said Floyd, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. “What is the greatest thing your church can do?”

Focusing on Acts 1:4-11, Floyd said making evangelism a priority leads to progress. He pointed out that Jesus shared how people would soon receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8 specifically focuses on telling the world about Jesus and “strategizes how the church should share this message with others,” Floyd said, “because people need Jesus, and people need Jesus now.

“We may be doing good things in our churches, but are we doing the most important thing in and through our churches?”

The “Who’s Your One?” emphasis launched in February, calling people to choose one person to pray for by name every day, asking God for an opportunity to have a conversation about Christ.

“Every church in this convention of churches needs to begin like never before prioritizing evangelism,” Floyd said. “We have lost our heart for doing that.”

Some may ask about discipleship, Floyd said, but his response was “you can’t make a disciple unless they’re converted.”

Floyd said he was not concerned whether Southern Baptists participate in “Who’s Your One?” specifically, but he stressed, “Do something. Whatever your strategy is, make sure it works, and go after it.”

He asked pastors to make a “fresh commitment to prioritize evangelism in your church in everything you do.”

But Floyd said it should begin with the pastor’s own life and preaching before examining the church’s ministries for evangelism emphasis.

“People could not get saved if they wanted to in some of our churches because we do not give them an opportunity to respond to God,” Floyd said. “When evangelism is prioritized in your church, it always progresses beyond where it began.”

Not only should evangelism be a priority and lead to progress, but there should be an urgency to share the Good News of Jesus, Floyd said.

Jesus promises to come soon, he said, emphasizing a special need to reach students, ages 12-17. The decline in conversions in that age group is “dismal,” Floyd lamented.

“It’s like we fell off a cliff,” Floyd said. “If you really care about the future of your church, you will begin to focus … on seeing the turnaround of that dismal decline.”

Floyd opened up the altar in the convention hall for people to pray for a variety of reasons: salvation, ministry, missional and evangelism priority decisions.

For more about “Who’s Your One?” visit whosyourone.com.