Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Thoughts on Evangelism

I have taken evangelism classes, been through evangelism training, seminars, etc, and always come out feeling like I just got a new sales pitch or that I had to become someone that I am not. Evangelism is not about taking the message and wrapping it in a new shell. It is about realizing that there is more than just ‘a message’. When I think of evangelism the first thoughts to my mind are still negative and entail tracts, door-to-door evangelism, and cookie-cutter ‘presentations’ of the gospel. What bothered me the most about these is that it seemed to be making something simple hard and then repackaging it as something simple. I really believe that if God had intended for us to use a sales pitch approach to evangelism then he would have outlined it in Scripture. What we are given in Scripture is the command to go, tell, teach, and make disciples. What we are not given is how. Evangelism is really quite simple: learn God and His word and tell others about it. What we have done is made it overly complex. There are far too many methodologies about how to do such a simple task. As Americans we love methods. Anything that we can complete in 4 easy steps is something we must try. But, once again, God has not given us a method. Evangelism, like worship, should flow from a heart that is dedicated to God. If we truly love God, our natural response will be to worship Him (tell God about how great He is) and to evangelize (tell others about how great He is).

This shocking revelation came to me about midway through the semester. I thought that my problem was that I hadn’t found the right methodology. Or maybe I wasn’t the right kind of person. A lot of evangelists have big personalities. Maybe I needed to be more bold and exciting. In truth, my problem lies within me. Instead of seeking God and letting evangelism and worship flow from that, I have sought methodologies and mentors to show me how to evangelize and worship. If my goal is to learn how to properly evangelize or how to properly lead worship, I will fail. If my goal is to seek after God, then I will succeed in both evangelism and worship because they will flow naturally from a heart that is desperate for God.  Honestly, this is something I am still sorting through. God can use all types of people and methodologies. He can (and has) used nonbelievers, and even an ass, to communicate. But, am I really offering God my best? What good is it if I learn how to tell people about Jesus but don’t really love Jesus myself?

There is a constant struggle within me to do what is good and what is evil (which Paul so aptly describes in Romans). How can I evangelize? How will I incorporate it into my daily life? By being real with people, both believers and nonbelievers. What has turned me off about the evangelistic methods that I have seen is that they are dishonest (at least for me). I would never talk to people in such a matter of fact way or use the format that is often used. Over the past eight weeks I have had the opportunity to share the gospel with several people. It has been years since I have really talked to someone about God because I have felt that I am inadequate for the task or too hypocritical. But as I look as Scripture, I see that God uses the broken, the weak, and sometimes even those who were diametrically opposed to Him. It is when we come before God realizing that we, in fact, have nothing to offer that he can truly use us for His glory and His purpose.  What irritates me about the methodologies is that each one supposes to be the ‘best’ method or the ‘biblical model’. As I read through the book of Acts I see very different teaching/preaching styles but the same message. There is no ‘best’ method. The ‘best’ method is what works for you and the person that you are talking with at that particular time.

I have been enlightened through my reading on several areas. My wife and I have recently felt a call to missions. “We want to go to the ends of the earth,” we say, “Surely God will be able to use us there!” But we ignore the problems, the hurting, and the needs all around us. Oscar Thompson’s book, Concentric Circles of Concern really challenged me on this premise. If I can not make a difference in the lives of those closest to me, in the time and place that I am now, how can I expect to make a difference in other people’s lives in a foreign country? Why would I expect Person X (a total stranger) to listen to me when I haven’t told my own family about the Gospel? I have been encouraged to start close to home and work my way out, much like Jesus initially commanded. This begins with my family and then finding other opportunities that are in front of my face before I go trotting across the globe to tell others about Jesus. What if ‘to the ends of the earth’ is actually my hometown? What if the people that need to hear about Jesus the most are my own family and not some distant tribe in Africa? Will I still want to answer the call?

I also gained a lot from the basic understanding of Salvation described by McRainey. Surely, I thought, there must be more to salvation than belief and a simple prayer.  I knew there was more but could not adequately find the words to describe it. Salvation is encompassed in three things: believe/trust, repentance, and surrender. To be saved, I must believe that Jesus is and will do what He said. I must turn from my sinful ways and I must surrender my will to God’s will. This is what salvation means and the absence of this realization is one of the reasons for my lack of witness. I even learned something from Fay. While l disagree wholeheartedly with his systematic and simple approach to evangelism, he did realize that asking questions is important. When we beat people over the head with a message they won’t listen and will leave with distaste for what we preach. Even if the message is good, if our delivery is bad than we can expect nothing. When we allow people to talk, when we ask probing questions that cause people to challenge what they believe, then we are getting somewhere. Through asking thought provoking questions we allow a persons mind to work and for the Holy Spirit to do a work within them.

So, how do I go about evangelism for the rest of my life? To be honest, I don’t know. I know that right now I have to start with my family. My parents need Jesus more than anyone I know, yet I am much more eager to fly across the world and share with people that I have never met. If there is anything that I have learned from learning it is that the more learning I do, the more questions I have. I seldom walk away from a book, lecture, or class with more answers than questions. I have posed a lot of questions in my reflection of evangelism. The task that now lies ahead of me is to continue looking for answers. Along the way, I will tell people about Jesus. Tell them about this journey that I am on. Explain that I don’t have all of the answers, but I’m looking. I can share what I have experienced. I can share what I have learned. I can share my pain, my love, my joy, and my sorrow. Through my honest reflection of my journey towards God, I pray that the people I meet will be inclined to begin asking questions themselves and begin their own journey towards God.