Know Your Style — The 6 Pull-Up Personalities

Why styles matter

The most damaging assumption in evangelism training is that there is a right way to do it — and that the right way looks like the most charismatic, extroverted, street-preaching version of someone the church holds up as the model. This assumption produces two casualties. First, the introverts and quiet personalities feel permanently inadequate. Second, the extroverts evangelize in a tone-deaf way to people who do not respond to extroversion.

Mark Mittelberg, in Becoming a Contagious Christian, did the church a tremendous service by identifying six distinct styles of evangelism, all of which appear in the New Testament, all of which are equally legitimate, all of which God uses. The Pull Up Movement adapts and renames these six styles for the everyday small-church context.

The Six Pull-Up Personalities

1. THE STREET PREACHER (Direct / Confrontational)

Biblical model: Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2). They speak the truth boldly, plainly, and directly. They are not afraid to name sin, to call for decision, to confront error. About 10% of the church.

Best deployed: when someone explicitly asks "what does God say about ___?" When at the end of a long process and the person needs a clear call. In settings where directness is culturally expected (the barbershop, the family table).

Watch out for: running over Level 4 listening. Issuing the Temple invitation when the relationship is still at Table-level.

2. THE PROFESSOR (Intellectual / Apologetic)

Biblical model: Paul at Mars Hill (Acts 17). They love ideas, evidence, history, and well-constructed arguments. They are at home with skeptics and are the church's secret weapon against the New Atheism wing of the unchurched. About 8% of the church.

Best deployed: with the skeptic in your oikos. The cousin who reads Sam Harris. The coworker who thinks Christianity cannot survive a science conversation. The teenager going through a deconstruction phase.

Equip the Professor with serious reading. Appendix M now includes a free apologetics library — Craig, Kreeft, Geisler, Groothuis, and Paley are all available free or via Internet Archive. Give one volume to every Professor in your church and ask them to teach a Sunday school class from it.

Watch out for: winning the argument and losing the relationship. The Professor must never forget that no one was ever argued into the kingdom — they are reasoned alongside it.

3. THE WITNESS (Testimonial / Storyteller)

Biblical model: the man born blind (John 9). They share what God has done in their own life, plainly and without theological packaging. "I was blind, but now I see" is the entire toolkit. About 25% of the church.

Best deployed: in situations where someone shares a struggle that overlaps with your own. The recovering addict who can speak to the addict. The single mother who has been there. The widower who knows the grief.

Watch out for: making the testimony about yourself instead of about God. The Witness's job is always to point past the story to the Storyteller.

4. THE FRIEND (Interpersonal / Relational)

Biblical model: Matthew the tax collector (Matthew 9:9–13). Within hours of meeting Jesus, Matthew throws a party and invites every tax collector and "sinner" he knows. The Friend's first instinct is to put their unbelieving network in the same room as Jesus or his people. About 20% of the church.

Best deployed: as the host of every Pull Up Cookout, every Sunday Dinner with guests, every birthday party where the worlds collide. The Friend is your campaign's most valuable asset.

Watch out for: never making the explicit invitation. Friends sometimes assume the relationship is enough. It is not. At some point the verbal Pull Up has to come.

5. THE INVITER (Invitational)

Biblical model: the Samaritan woman (John 4:28–29) — "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did." Their primary verb is "come." They are constantly inviting, constantly extending, constantly making the ask. About 15% of the church.

Best deployed: at every event the church puts on. The Inviter should be on the texting team for every Pull Up Sunday, every revival, every cookout, every community day. They have a high-volume, high-grace approach that fits high-volume relational work.

Watch out for: invitation fatigue. If you become known for always asking, train yourself to also Listen, Love, and Uplift between invitations.

6. THE SERVANT (Serving / Helps)

Biblical model: Dorcas / Tabitha (Acts 9:36–42), full of good deeds and acts of charity. The Servant evangelizes with their hands. They show up when someone is sick, fix what is broken, cook what is needed, drive who needs driven. Their evangelism is silent for a long time — and then the recipient asks, "Why do you do all this?" and the Servant answers. About 22% of the church.

Best deployed: in every Uplift opportunity. The Servant is the secret weapon of relational evangelism — slow-burning, deeply trusted, almost impossible to dismiss.

Watch out for: never taking the verbal step when the moment comes. Servanthood without word is half a witness.

Deploying the styles in a campaign

In a Pull Up Movement campaign, every member's style is intentionally deployed. The campaign coordinator (Chapter 12) builds a roster of who is which style. Then assignments fit the gift: