Posts
I had to chuckle when I heard an author speak of door to door type evangelism as a big game of "Duck, Duck, Damned." :)
There have been a ton of thoughts and ideas running through my mind as of late about how we do things like: evangelize, talk about Jesus, and "make disciples of all nations."' My gut instinct is usually to wince when someone is talking about "going out to evangelize." I begin to wonder who will be ducked and who might be intelligent enough to be "damned?"
I have been reading a book that is focusing on the "Reformission" of the church. How can we connect with people, our culture and share the shalom of Christ, in a way that makes sense to unchurched and de-churched immersed in today's culture. During my reading of this book and simply trying to live this way vocationally and personally - two ideas have really stood out thus far.
The first one I wrote about in a blog for Hope Community Church (hopesatellite.blogspot.com) on 6/9/09. Acts 17 finds Paul in the city of Athens - speaking with the philosophers and thinkers of the day. Sidenote: what a life to live in ancient Athens and just sit around and talk philosophy, religion and though - all day! Anyway, this is who Paul is summoned to talk with - and he just starts telling stories about Jesus. I can only imagine the freshness that the stories of Christ brought in comparison with the Grecco-Roman gods. The ideas of wholistic - life changing faith and practice. Good news for the poor, inclusion of the lame and feeble minded and a concept of caring, creator God who wants to interact with humanity. Thinking of the culture in that setting - these ideas where very unique. My argument is that Paul was sharing this in an obviously pre-Christian culture, and that our audience is very similar in out post-Christian culture. Even Athens seems to be so parallel to the worlds that many of us live in, with an interest in personal spirituality, the arts, expression, love and character.
It seems that so many folks in the church today see that type of culture as hostile to the Gospel, and yet I believe it is more primed than ever. When we, like Paul, simply talk about Jesus for what He is, with no connection to the convoluted Americanized, materialized, politicized marketing scheme of past decades, our culture is aching for something/someone like Jesus.
The second idea that stood out to me over the past week or reading on Reformission - is that we often see our progression of "evangelism" in a false light. Traditionally we (in all of our foresight and genius) essentially tell people: "believe in Jesus and then join a church." There are more holes in this approach then there is time here to discuss them. But, I think we have it flipped...
People should be able to relationally and experientially join a faith community and be loved for who they are (not for their "ministry potential") first - and that would be their starting point for a journey of conversion. But the question remains - are we the type of faith community in which this is our practice and all people feel welcomed and loved?
-Whether it is realized or not, all mankind bears the image of the creator God...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Great stuff Timmy. I also cringe whenever I see evangelists doing their typical evangelism thing. Talking about God with strangers or people that don't want to listen is difficult. People seem so disinterested in God. The solution? Make God exciting! I think we need lots of catchy catch phrases and hip, post-modern coffeehouse-churches. We need to make a huge production out of church to get people to keep coming week after week. I think instead of a big projection screen or two, then need to get headrest monitors like they do in airplanes. Our job as Christians is to market and sell God to as many people as we can; praying that God will use our cool t-shirts for His glory.
Ok, I need to stop before I vomit. I think the biggest problem with evangelizing in the United States is not that there are so many people who have never heard God's proposition, but that most people have heard it. Simpsons, Family Guy, Touched by an Angel (you've all seen it). Certainly not the most accurate or thorough portrayals of Christianity, but most people can roughly tell you that Christians believe that Jesus was raised form the dead and that if you believe that, you can go to heaven. There are certainly exceptions, but I think you're wasting your time if you're out to inform people about the Bible, thinking a story alone will change their lives.
Did Jesus call everyone he talked to a disciple of his? NO! Then why do people think that they are "making disciples" by passing out tracts at the mall? Jesus clearly said go make disciples of all nations, not "go make converts of all nations".
Making converts basically only requires having knowledge of the Bible. Making disciples of God means that you yourself are a disciple of God and know God extremely well. I can't rave about how cool a friend of mine is if I've never actually met them or spent any time with them.
If you love your spouse, you will spend as much time with them as you can. Everyone that meets you will be able to tell that you are in love and that you care about them. If you want to "evangelize" and share God with people, you need to focus on spending as much time with God as you can.
Oh, and I almost guarantee you that Jesus is not your homeboy.
http://www.fellowshiptractleague.org/
I think you're spot on Tim, and Jon. To build on what Jon said... As a faith community, we aren't called to provide non-believers a beautiful story or moment of conversion and then look back on "our successes". So many times have I seen this attitude in "evangelists". Faith has been described as a journey, not a moment.
Building healthy relationships with people and showing Christ's love with the intention of planting a seed seems (to me) a more realistic and powerful approach. By building relationships with ANYONE and allowing them to see Christ in you will hopefully stir questioning and lifestyle changes. Paul's stories of Christ were a breath of fresh air... so is a lifestyle of kindness, caring for one another, and spending quality time talking.
Post a Comment