What began as the relaying of a conversation I overheard and my initial reaction to it has grown in the comments into a much more important discussion on evangelism.
Mainly, where do you begin when sharing the gospel with a skeptical seeker or seeking skeptic? (They are slightly different animals you know.)
I think most of us can agree that the Left Behind novels should not be used at the beginning or in the middle or at the end of the process. Let’s leave them behind for now and always.
What about the Bible? Is that the place to start? Brad thinks it is, but I’m not so sure.
Darin begins with “truth” as the unavoidable reality. But Darin, what is truth?
Let’s continue the discussion, where would you begin the conversation?
Of course, where we begin the conversation should depend entirely on where the other person is on their journey, but that answer will kill the discussion, so let’s just assume we’re dealing with a generic post-Christian skeptic who has been to church a few times over the years and has decided organized religion ain’t all that. He (or she) has read the DaVinci Code and doesn’t buy all that Brown is selling, but figures there’s got to be a little truth to it. Now you find yourself with an opportunity to share the gospel with this person. Whatcha gonna do? Where you gonna start?
My answer: I’d start with the church. I’d invite the person to become a part of a Christian community and start exploring the gospel through relationships, conversations, and experiences. If the gospel is experienced in a community of faith, then I think a lot of the other obstacles to faith, intellectual and otherwise, can be dealt with accordingly.
Of course, there’s a huge weakness to this approach, but I’ll leave it to someone else to point it out.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
Personally I will start where they open the discussion. Last week the conversation was about why would God allow things to happen. Friday morning the breakfast comment is “I’m an athiest” yet he wasn’t and helping him figure that out is really not that impossible in an hour if they really listen to themselves. Sometimes it’s just asking someone elses story and you just lead them to Jesus role in it. Of course it helps when they figure it out on their own.
I love the idea of the relational network of the church being the fishing-net for us modern-day fishers. But, wow, does that have some implications for the ways in which we believers interact, network and live together.
Wade,
As I said, I would and do start with truth. Now when I say that, I mean with a truth that they believe in. An example on the other post was the person talking about community. That is a truth this person believes in. He believes that community matters. That truth, that reality they believe in is a perfect place to begin.
When I speak I assume at least one skeptic is in my audience and I prepare accordingly. I want to take the discussion beyond scripture and even Jesus to experiences that we all share. That is the truth I speak of. You will find nothing people believe in more then their own experiences. If I can connect their experiences to Christ, if I can show them that he truly is the way, not logically or theologically but at the very basic point of our shared experience, then I am doing what I am called to do.
I don?t have to prove truth. I just have to find which one you believe in. This is my way and need not be anyone elses. It is what I am called to and what works in my experience.
I think inviting people to a shared experience is great. I just haven?t experienced that much sharing of experience in what is called church.
The only thing that seems to stick with people is seeing the impact of God on Christians’ lives. From there, people see the Gospel as a positive message, and the Bible as a valuable text, and from there accept the metaphysical truths. Unfortunately it cuts both ways – a committed skeptic can always find Christians to criticize, and a seeker who wants to find a church home can find Christians living the Will of God.
here’s a few things that jump in to my head.
as for hell, etc., yes, Jesus and prophets talked about them, but lets look back at the audience for those conversations.
i agree that the church is a vital part of this process. by that, i don’t necessarily mean “church service”. the gospel is necessarily a message shared, lived, and experienced in a faith community, and when its divorced from that community, it ceases to be the gospel.
i think we have looked in evangelism for a lot of formulas and lists, probably with the good intention of effeciency–being able to reach as many as possible. however, as some people have been hinting at here, the answer is not lists, or shallow relevance, it is relationship. it’s love. the gospel is absolutely relational, and the secret to evangelism is real love. love is never effecient.
another thing that concerns me is seeing how sharing the gospel has become just about getting people to make some sort of “salvation decision”, instead of about genuine transformation and entering the kingdom. we use either guilt or a “worshipful” atmosphere, or whatever else to coerce people to make a decision, then hand them a tract and a compact Bible and get them to start ushering. its got to be about love, and unfortunately, that means a sticky, ineffecient, mess. very inconvenient, but necessary.
My daughter starts with “Blue Like Jazz” – it usually elicits considerable discussion – which is the whole point of the initial process.
There are flaws in this approach too. Thankfully the result is not determined by the perfection of our plans.
I think we start with the idea that gospel is good news. Good news means different things to different people. The fact that a life is deemed “hell bound” if it is not changed never appears to be good news to me. Good news would be something that is relevant and tangible to a person who is seeking something.
So, said believer has an interest peeked by The Code and our job becomes discerning what is good news to her. Why is The Code intriguing – is it the mystery? Is it the revelation of information that has been hidden? When we know what the angle it is then we can begin a dialogue based on what is relevant to the person. In this case, can we talk about the heart of Christ and his followers being one that this “code type” deception would not desire. Can we talk about the great themes of justice, compassion, equality seen in movies and relate that to the heart of God. Then can we tell stories of God in our life and as we testify we reveal our own brokeness, our own searching and then the power of God to meet the needs of our heart.
Can our goal be the community of faith experience, but for someone who has been turned off by organized religion, can we first be a representative of God who is not so churched that we turn away someone and then once they see us as credible can be bring them alongside a whole group of people who can also witness to another way of being church besides what they have rejected? IMHO That is good news.
completely random thoughts going thru my head.
I’m going to throw them in here, like I would a boiled spaghetti noodle agaist the wall to see if it is done…. they might not be 🙂
1) This conversation has a heavy orientation toward somehow creating a transation, sealing a deal, or convicing someone to buy what we have to sell. Would our conversations be a lot more fruitful if we weren’t so amped up to wrap it up with a nice little bow?
2.)Can a person be a skeptic of christianity and still be a christian? ( I hope so, because I am)
3.)There is a great tone about this discussion. Thanks to you all for not coming down with the hammer on each other.
4.) I really like the idea of inviting someone into a church community. Honestly, I think all the answers anyone needs from God can be answered through a community and the Holy Spirit’s work in all of our lives. Though often we in the church don’t trust He is actually working, thus we get as gittery as an 8th grade girl who’s eaten 6 packets of sugar and two packs of red bull, we have a lot of enthusiasm, but there’s a crash coming and it’s not going to be pretty.
Gotta run!
It seems that all of you are trying to find the best way to market or sell–no, give away–your religion. If your “truth” is so wonderful, if God is so powerful, then why isn’t the value of this religion more obvious to people? Why aren’t there more takers?
Maybe you have the “Great Commission” all wrong: perhaps when Jesus commanded to “go into all the world”, he wasn’t speaking to you, but to those people who happended to be with him at the moment. Why do you take this so personally?
Martin,
There is little to no value in religion itself. So if religion is at the crux of the “Good News” we are trying to share, we do end up in a sales process. That is a basic problem we have with Christianity as it is practiced today for the most part.
If, on the other hand, we share our experience with God and how that impacts our lives that is quite another matter. When I run across something in my life that I view as good, fun, or whatever, I share it with the people I love, because I want them to have the opportunity to share in it. If Jesus makes a difference in our life, and we see and experience that, we are going to take it personally and let people know our experiences.
Of course if we just practice religion, he isn’t going to make much of a difference in our lives and we are going to end up trying to convince people we barely know that they should come “join our church”. Not very compelling, and you have to be a very good salesperson.
Do we start at the same place for everyone? Wouldn’t it be different for each person?
We also have to make sure we know what we’re talking about when we say “gospel”. If it’s what I think the gospel Jesus was teaching, it’s in the way I live my life and project the love He did with humility. That would be the start of the conversation.
I start with Jesus. I don’t “tell”, I ask questions. I like to probe and find this person’s source of faith – we all have one – and teach by asking questions like, “Have you ever considered…” or “Have you ever wondered about…?” I am never shocked or thrown off balance by their response. Accept it and move on. Eventually they will ask me questions, and I share where I am in my journey. I am open about my own questions and doubts. I am looking to build a relationship if I can. If it is a chance encounter, I just try to do what I can to work with God at that moment, and then move on.
Note: I will not be throwing spaghetti.
I think Romans 1 helps us immensely when thinking about how to approach the lost with the gospel. But first some thoughts by Francis Schaeffer. Schaeffer says:
-No one is consistent with his or her own non-Xian worldview
-Push the lost in the direction of their non-Xian presuppositions
-Everyone seeks protection, and non-Xians find their pretection by borrowing from the truth. The evangelist is to remove the covering that serves as shelter for the lost man and his non-Xian worldview.
-People create a world of lies within the truth. Xians are subject to the same distortion.
Lost people are dysfunctional sinners therefore:
-Listen to people as individuals, recognizing the general effects of sin
-Learn the cultural language that expresses their situation and seek to grasp their worldview
-The unbliever’s dysfunctional spiritual condition is as important to the evangelist as a patient’s physical condition to a doctor.
-Probe to find where every lost person is suppressing, inverting and exploiting the truth, for here is where a sinner is caught by the truth.
As it says in Romans 1 the lost suppress the truth and exchange it for a lie. You could say that all sin springs from this one sin. It was the sin of Adam, and it is the pattern in our world today. Knowing what we know from Romans 1 the evangelist is not the first witness of God the lost has, but shouild attempt to coordinate his witness with the prior and contiual witness of God. It is also important to remember that Christless religion is not a search for God, but a flight from Him. For the lost are spiritually active and contiually so, because dysfunctionality requires constant attention.
Wade,
A great series here. I am a little late to this conversation, but have enjoyed reading the responses by everyone else. What you have asked, and the experience you shared forces all of us to consider how we contextualize the gospel today. Before I tell you where I would begin, let me share where I wouldn’t begin.
I won’t start by inviting them to watch the Jule Miller films. I am sure at one time, these vidoes were a good tool. Not today. Secondly, I think in order before we get to the point of sharing Jesus, we have to number one be authentic in the way we are living. And then, we must first be good listeners. I think we must also focus on Jesus and his ministry and life. As a former skeptic myself, I didn’t care about the issues as we’ve in the church have defined them.
As a YM. I have had quite a few skeptics come amongst us. I have treated them the same as everyone else. I have allowed room for their questions, and I haven’t shyed away from admitting when I couldn’t answer their question. At Camp this year, one of these young men who came to our youth group game night ( a non-threatening entrance into the community)as a skeptical visitor accepted Jesus and put him on in baptism. I wish all our visitors would respond the way this young man did. Will they? No. But, we still must treat them like they matter to us, and look for ways to infuse the gospel into activities and conversation without driving them off.
I have always like Paul’s approach in “becoming all things to all men”. My interpretation of this is meeting people where they are and connecting on a personal level. Listening to the concerns in their lives and using those concerns to find help and wholeness in Jesus and the church. The “hell” argument is weak and I would never start at the “end”. I would like to help people avoid “hell on earth” so they can spend eternity in heaven. God harvest’s the hearts of men, we , the church must be ready to gather the harvest whenever it is ready. Lynn
I would start with Jesus.
Mike’s response to Martin is a great example of how often church leaders miss the questions that are actually being ask.
Martin asked a great question about the power of God and the good news.
mike seemed to want to talk about Martin’s use of the word religion.
this happens ALL the time.
Martin’s questions has power to it. It’s an indictment on us all.
Not to be so quick with answers but maybe listen to what is actually being said.
Sorry if you feel picked on Mike. not trying to pick on you… just seeing somethings in the post.
Ultimately, one would hope to get that person to experience that community of believers, relationships, etc that should exist in a church family, but I think I would start with where they are rather than trying to bring them to where I am. How to do that would vary from person to person, but I’m trying … really trying … these days to meet people where they are. Didn’t work the other day when I encountered a very blatantly open satanist, but like I say, I’m trying.
Fascinating discussion here. Thanks for jumping in.
Like Kyle said, the biggest weakness of my starting place is that we have to trust the church to deliver a “gospelly” experience, something that doesn’t always happen. In the past, I’ve been a part of churches and groups that I didn’t trust with seekers. Not because they were bad people, but because I lacked faith in the power of God to work through a group of imperfect people.
Brad here,
Great discussion. I need dialogue like this to sort through some things not only in my mind but in how others think, especially you emergers. For me, the jury is still out on ya’ll, though I find much to embrace and hold on to, and some things that scare the bejeebers out of me. Maybe that would be a great discussion for another time.
My comments were more intended to defend a sacred view of the Text for believers than to make Scripture the one and only starting point in the evangelism process. In my mind, a skeptic needs answers to his questions. That is what he is, a questioner. Maybe this is where my modern roots give me trouble in fully embracing some of ya’ll’s emerging thoughts, where questions don’t seem to need answers, where it’s all about the questions and very little about answers. I’m still working on processing through some of that. I’m all for questioning, but questioning should consumate at some point or other with an answer or two in there.
I understand it’s hard to know where to begin with someone – truth, text, Jesus, community, church, etc. I would just inject this thought: there are varying ways to plant and water seed in the hearts of men. Some are better than others. But here’s the great part in all of this – God is in charge of the seed taking root and growing. That seems to be very wise of Him. Discussions like this make one thing painfully clear – we all have different approaches and ideas and methods and starting points and proof-texts. Though God have us a role as planters and waterers, He kept the real work, the crucial work, to Himself – the work of germination. That’s why I try to pray and root for anyone who is trying to do the work of sowing seed, whether I think it’s the right way or not. I know it’s my God who ultimately gets it into His hands where everything is right.
make that “God gave us a role…” ooops!
Wade, that was the problem I see as well. So you might have to preface that trip to church by pointing out that people in church aren’t perfect; they just think they are.
Here is a link that you might find interesting, that is right on subject.
http://atheistrevolution.blogspot.com/
I wade into this conversation (pun intended!) as a neo-modern Schaefferite who writes books about worldview. So, with my cultural apologist hat firmly in place, I feel like I need to remind folks about two things:
First, Schaeffer said the ultimate apologetic is love, and he actively invited people outside of the Christian faith to judge the Christian community on the basis of whether or not they loved well.
Second, Schaeffer was fond of saying that if we must speak of hell, let us do so with tears in our eyes. I would add that if we are not mature enough to muster up tears, perhaps we should not speak of hell yet.
Finally, I would suggest — as a strategy for evangelism — two words: Invest and Invite.
First, invest in the other person. Do not simply view them as a project or potential convert. Really invest in them. Get to know them with no other agenda than getting to know them. Let them get to know you for who you really are — not just who you want them to think you are. Jesus did not love people in order to get them to follow him; people followed him because he loved them.
Second, as you are investing in them, look for opportunities to invite them to environments where they can observe the Christian ethics of faith, hope and love actively at work in language that makes sense to them.
There’s your high-falutin’ evangelism strategy: Invest & Invite.
John Alan,
As a fellow Schaefferite I affirm your words wholeheartedly.
I don’t feel picked on. I was actually agreeing with Martin. We have lot’s of people who talk about religion, and I don’t think there is much value in religion. His point about people wanting “it” if it is so great is dead on.
The problem is we end up trying to sell people on religion. It not making a difference in our lives, so why would people want to “join” something like that. If people see anything in our lives that makes a positive difference in our lives, they will want it. Obviously I did not express myself well before, and I am risking missing expressing my point again.
Nuff said.
When I was 18 or 20 (forget now just when), I worked for for a mom-n-pop record store on main street in our small town. It was right next to a pawn shop that sold lots of guns and ammo. One day a guy came into the shop, and it was just the two of us. He was poking through the blue grass section and suddenly approached me at the counter with a pamphlet. It was an underground militia recruiting device -think Timothy McVey (is that how he spelled his name … no matter).
Anyway, he was on a mission to save the world when the stuff hit the fan. I could be part of the problem or part of the solution. Which was it gonna be? I insisted that I would need to think it over. He insisted that there was no time for such. Thankfully, more customers came in and he slid his pamphlet back into his vest pocket and left quietly.
I think the gospel of Mark was written and used much like that pamphlet. However, it was not a militia agenda being promoted. Rather, Mark was recruiting people to follow a crucified Jew. It is a very somber document. It requires a stark decision -are you in or out? If you’re in, you sign on to die! But you won’t stay dead!
How do you talk to people about that? Good question. I figure it is important to confront their demons. Save them from the bullies that torment them. I do this with street people all the time. I really don’t get how to do this with middle class over caffinated white people (such as myself) who stand to keep what they have by supporting the status quo. And that is not to say no one should reach out to these types, but I think it is a mistake to treat the evangelism too casual. It is not a little something to add to your life. It is not “that missing something” that will bring fulfillment. It is a radical revolution. You don’t get to be the same after you hear about this good news.
And my final thought here comes straight out of N. T. Wright: The Good News is a royal announcement. Particularly it is the royal announcement that JESUS IS LORD! And if Jesus is Lord, that means Caesar is not! For there can only be one Lord. And that means Mammon is not Lord, Aphrodite is not Lord, and Mars, Zuess or any other gods of War are not Lord either. Republicans are not Lord, Democrats are not Lord, and America is not Lord. And these, to reiterate, are the demons that ravage people. We can confront these demons with the Gospel. Their victims will very often respond -sometimes favorably and sometimes not.
But whatever else, I think of that strange militia guy when I think of evangelism. So often I think we Christian types treat our Good News like a missing ingredient in someone’s life. Not that guy. He viewed his cause as a revolution that is coming. Things are not gonna be the same after. Where are you gonna be when it hits?
Many blessings…
I read Isaiah 6 and ask myself if God is calling for stronger convictions and proclamations from people of faith in the midst of a mamby pamby panty wasted convictionphobic culture that is being pruned to a stump because of our watered down faith and shallow intimacy with God!
Jesus Christ paid too high a price for such a cheap demonstration of power and conviction among the people who claim to follow him!
OK Wade – I’m not crazy and I haven’t fallen off the wagon, but I have to admit that i’ve really been turned off lately by the very apologetic almost wimpy pink tailed approach that our generation is taking towards evangelism.
I’m not calling for anything like the approach in Panera Bread that you witnessed – but I am calling for a little more courage to actually state a conviction in evangelism. Do we actually claim more loudly the “abundant life” NOW as “the gospel” because we don’t believe in the eternal nature of the resurrection and kingdom of God very strongly. Do we actually oppose “death oriented life patterns” as hell NOW because we don’t beleive in eternal judgment very strongly.
The truth is that these objections really rarely come up because beleivers never give them a chance for one reason or another. The fact is – VERY FEW CHRISTIANS are actually even opening their mouths to people who don’t believe – so most of the debate is nothing more than theory “in case” something ever comes up with a seeker or “non-believer” or “skeptic”. I know that sounds harsh – but I think it’s true.
I admit – hell may not be a very big motivator in some arenas of today’s culture – WHO CARES? If a person brings up uncertainty about hell – then don’t talk about it. Jesus rarely – if ever – talked about what skeptics wanted to talk about.
There’s way way way way way too much weight put into relational evangelism today – I can tell you from my experience that if the Spirit (John 15) is testifying to a person’s heart about Christ – and they’re listening and seeking – then they will find him inspite of the messenger and inspite of the church and her flaws AND inspite of their questions about God and hell!
Relational evangelism is popular today because it requires almost no convictions except the conviction that relationships are powerful and community is very influential and experience can be manipulated and interpreted as valid truth. Here’s what I have to say about experience and the “experiential” truth fad of American faith – “The heart is decietful above all things!”
I’m really sorta freaking out these days about how far I’ve allowed myself to drift from the truth of God’s word in my approaches to deal with my questions and uncertainties about how the Word all came about! I’ve dove in many directions seeking to sort it all out and don’t want to play around with it any more – I’m living way too short to live another convictionless day!
Who gives a crap about how powerful a community is or how awesome or loving a relationship is if there are only shallow convictions about inspiration and authority of God’s Word – all that leads to is the idolatry of friends and the church and the worship experience.
I want to know Christ in every facet that he can be known, interpreted, shared, experienced, communicated, tasted, seen, heard, felt, or smelled!!!!!
The relational evangelism that I’ve seen written about and approached by many is really a very passive approach to evangelism that requires minimal convictions and produces very very little fruit. There’s gotta be more to the mission of Christ than what I’ve seen in America over the past 20 years. It’s embarrassing to see what has happened to the mission in North America and the Western Church. Actually – it’s horrifying.
I have to keep reminding myself and others that deal with these issues McLaren’s, “The last word and the word after that” is a very stretchy opinion of McLaren and is ONE approach to explaining God’s judgment and grace to a person who rejects God because of their difficulty embracing the eternal nature of his judgment.
I love McLaren’s stuff – but there is a mass of very confused skeptics out there who already are full of fear in regards to their own faith who take our culture’s flaky positions about certainty as the emerging norm – and as a result, use McLaren’s third book and others to justify their very flaky convictions about … anything that has to do with missions & faith.
I just finished preaching on this this past weekend and I’m beginning a three month treck through missions & discipleship.
Here’s my motto – never start in a place where a skeptic is wrestling. I’ve seen over 60 people led to accept Christ this year at Shannon Oaks and it was done by the Holy Spirit of God! That’s not alot compared to the millions in China or the millions in Africa – but it’s alot for a small east Texas town. Only 5 of them started out as true true true skeptics.
One of those 42 yr old skeptics went on a week long mission trip to honduras with 20 other believers and accepted Christ the Sunday morning he returned. Still struggles with the issue of hell & eternity but the community & ministry experiences took his heart past his issues of uncertainty.
One of those is a 43 yr. retired Navy Seal instructor from California who came forward 4 months ago with his 8 year old daughter and asked to be baptized with her. I played golf with him and visited off and on for over a year. He said what grabbed his heart and took him beyond his questions wasn’t “Letters from a skeptic” or “blue like Jazz” or “in search for God knows what” – he said it was that he couldn’t pretend to his daughter that he didn’t agree with her faith. He “closetly” had believed all along and couldn’t talk himself out of surrendering to Christ. He tould pretend he didn’t believe to everyone but his daughter.
I’m touched by stories and I’m getting to be appauled by theories – I don’t trust much of today’s powerless Christianity and powerless education, theory, and appologetics.
Ok – last thing –
Jesus looked up to heaven and – full of joy in the Holy Spirit – threw a stinkin dance & Shout about how excited he was that God revealed kingdom things to ignorant simple hearted children who took the mission seriously AND that God HID his approach and truths from the educated & learned.
I want whatever it was that the 72 had. Whatever they had made Jesus very happy about God’s approach to the mission!
I’m thankful for you Wade – keep spuring us on friend!
Long story short –
Sometimes you start with the Word – Sometimes Experience – Sometimes story – Sometimes community – sometimes relationship – sometimes music – sometimes prayer – sometimes recreation – sometimes crisis – sometimes intervention – sometimes a freakin’ two by four.
There’s no such thing as systematic evangelism – and it’s impossible to do effectively if the Spirit isn’t involved in your discernment and in the people you’re sharing with.
Ok – I haven’t posted in a while and wanted to rant tonight…:)
I shouldn’t put too much time into this comment, because as we speak there are a few nice Buddhists sitting near me enjoying their coffee and I should probably spend my time conversing with them. But for now, here’s my over-simplified response: Leave the obstinate skeptic sitting there at Panera Bread. Go find one of your friends or co-workers who’s heart has been opened by the Holy Spirit and spend time w/ them. Let the Holy Spirit do his job, and let’s do ours. That sounds cruel doesn’t it?
My approach to evanglism comes from Acts 3:6. I just give what I have. I try to tell someone what they need to do, but I tell them what Jesus has done for me.
This approach allows the other person to see that Jesus is a personal response to a man who may be different for everyone. We are all different and our response to this man is different. They can be different as well, personal and its okay to have questions. It also allows them to see they have a choice, not my choice for them, but their own choice to this person.
A relationship with the person is of essential need to get to a depth of sharing my response to Jesus and what he has done in my life.
I can tell someone else what they should do all day long, but they will probably not listen and get bored with my ranting and superiority. I can’t blame them. So by sharing what Jesus has done for me gives them questions in their own mind as to what he could do for them. Of course, there are some who determine they don’t need him and that is their right and their choice. The Holy Spirit will work on their hearts, not me.
I evangelize by living like Jesus did as best I can. If the opportunity to share why comes up, then I do.
Everyone is different. Everyone has different needs. Meet people’s needs first. Ask questions later.
Actually Russ, that makes sense. God tells us to go forth and tell others. He never instructed us in the techniques of how to do it, but the important thing is that we are to do what we can. There may not be just one way to do that. I do believe that everyone is at a different area in their life. Those who come to God have to want to come to him. We can just do what we can to persuade others of that.
I agree with Paul’s evangelism, “I become all things to all men that I may win some.”
Good Grief! OK, so I read a blog a while back about taking a bit of time away from blogging. So I do and look what happens!! Over 50 posts from one comment. Thanks Wade.
My 2 cents: I’d start by saying hello. Without knowing something about the person’s previous church experiences, opening with an invitation to church may be a tedious proposal. If you think about it, I doubt most skeptics are truly skeptical about God, they are in doubt of how God has been presented by people and certain expectations offered by Christians. I myself still feel skeptical in that way. Also, there is much talk about what ‘we’ would/should do. Ultimately, it is God, working through us, that brings people to the gospel. Maybe we should pray more about what God wants us to do in these situations than what we think we should do.
While I may not know the best way to encourage people to develop a personal relationship with Christ, I’m pretty sure that this is one of several less desirable ways —
In the years of my youth I dipped way down into the resources of my inexperience and lack of wisdom and did lots of “drive by evangelism”. If they had ears they were going to hear my version of the gospel! In spite of me, I am convinced that God did use my feeble witness on a few occasions to introduce some folks to Jesus.
No I’m in my 60’s and am a high mileage believer. I have seen many evangelism plans and today I am not impressed with any of them. I believe that far too often, and perhaps especially in the coC, Jesus is presented in a sales presentation in much the same way a salesman might sell a vaacum cleaner. A logical presentation is made in such a compelling way that the listener must agree to water baptism or look like a fool.
Not long ago, when our congregation was asked how many had been baptised more than once, dozens and dozens of folks raised their hands. They evidently made the right response to the sales presentation but were not sure they got the product.
God is seeking the sinner, not the other way around. The Holy Spirit convinces the sinner of his sin, of Christ’s righteousness, and of judgment to come. God extends His grace on the merits of Christ and only through Him.
Since this is wholly God’s business I think it is wise to allow the Holy Spirit to bring folks to us who are ready to hear the good news and to give us the wisdom to give an empowered message of good news and not a pitch. Sometimes it might mean months of building trust and sometimes it might be a ready heart sitting by you on a plane.
In my view, every believer who is surrendered to Christ has the potential to share the good news about Jesus. Even use words if you must.
Royce Ogle
http://www.gracedigest.blogspot.com
How about starting by just listening and showing a real interest in someone’s life. I was once in an online chart room with a guy who was into wicca. I asked him what he found attractive about it and how he came to believe in his current wolrdview. After listening to him for a long time, he began to ask me about Christianity. It was then that I had a chance to really share with him as opposed to throwing my Christianity at him.
Personally, I am sick of self righteous Christians who are more interested in their own “witnessing” than in people’s lives.
I’m late into this conversation, but in the event anyone’s still reading, my two cents worth are as follows:
I ask (in one way or another) “How are you doing with your kingdom?” It pulls people in, and starts a conversation about reality not religion. We all have some kingdom, some say, some influence, and its either going well or not. There are a handful of worldview questions that I try to answer in the process . . . Where are we? Who are we? What’s gone wrong with the world? What’s the solution? What’s reality? Who’s a good person? How can we be good people? And, finally, who’s really well-off? The Trinitarian Reality answers these questions with enough elegance that, as a hypothesis explaining life, it has enough substance to pull the skeptic slowly into God’s life.
But I think the better approach is to do things puposefully and prayerfully which provoke curiosity (Jesus’ approach). Think of ways to pull God’s future justice, mercy, goodness, wisdom, etc., into the neighborhood where you live. Do it consistently and patiently over a long period of time. God will call people to Himself through you by virture of the fact that you’re actually working in His grace through trust. That is, you’re allowing your kingdom to function out His resources, the bigger kingdom that defines us all.
Wade, how did the three souls in Panera Bread respond when you invited them to become a part of a Christian community and start exploring the gospel through relationships, conversations, and experiences?
Ok, times up. What say ye brother?
Wade, your answer is the same I would give. It also follows George Hunter III’s work in “The Celtic Way of Evangelism” , a dynamic little book that says most of the church gets in the wrong way around: become like us, they say, and you can then join us. The Celtic way, Hunter says, is to enter their world, form a community with them, and then they come to faith. They belong before they believe. The ramifications of this are staggering. In our attempt to live this out at Rochester we are finding it to be effective and life changing (for us as well as the converts).