Why is it that we have to train ourselves to do evangelism with methods and programs? Why do need F.A.I.T.H., CWT, EE, Kirk Cameron and other tools to share the greatest truth we’ve ever heard? Why are these methods unfair to those we share with?
Here are a few reasons I think…
- They don’t know us
So many of us live on campus, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Awanas, Upward basketball, Jesus Gyms and all of the other “Christian” activities keep us pinned up on campus. We lose the natural relational ties that existed before. We live among them but not with them.
- They feel like projects
When I first became a believer I attended a Sunday school class where the “cool” Godly guys had hit lists of the ten guys they each wanted to convert. Wow, how would you like to find out that you were on someone’s list….nothing more than a project…nothing more than a pipeline. We fail to see the reality that they are much more than a potential client that needs our service…that instead they are a person who needs a friend that can help them make sense of this life and live with them. We usually prefer the “project” mode because we share, run back to campus and either brag on their conversion or blame Satan for their hardened heart.
- They feel like we’re only after the conversion
I see this here on the field a lot….I see one person with two faces. When they’re on all they want to do is share stories and hand out bibles. They enter into this mode any time they’re invited to a national’s house…they plan out the time like a sales pitch….and regardless of which direction the conversation naturally goes they’re going to deliver their message. It usually comes across as forced and fake but who cares…if they want Jesus they’ll understand the out of context message. Then when they’re done, they’re off. They retreat to the countless team activities they help to create and they play. On/off, on/off, on/off
- They never get a chance to see what we profess
We only play with other Christians, and if we’re not on a sales-call (time of evangelism) we’re mentally off. So when we show up at some poor guys house to do a survey, thank him for visiting church, or whatever it is we do all we’re presenting is a message….a message the person has never had a chance to see fleshed out. So unfair…anyone in marketing knows that a good product is contagious when you see it in action. You play someone’s wii and you have to have one, you ride in their Mini-Cooper and it becomes your dream car. We’re asking people to buy into something they haven’t seen in action. I know that proclamation is vital….but it has to be partnered with us living out our faith with people, living with them, playing with them. When we do this they can see and touch the results of a transformed life.
- We speak out of Christian context into Secular context
The US is quickly becoming post-Christian and secular and this is creating more and more people without a set of religious norms. It’s not only possible that they don’t know the definitions of the words….they may not even know the words. For many, Christianity is one of many options and the respect once automatically given to Christians no longer has any value. Often times our approach to evangelism assumes alot about the other person. We assume they want to be “saved”, we assume they believe the Bible to be the Word of God, we assume they believe in sin. We assume that they are sitting at home wanting to be right with God…hoping for answers…when in fact they may not even know they have questions.
So how do we fix this? How do we get beyond the methods? How do we make it fair for those who hear?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Grady,
Excellent observation! I think you’re exactly right. I recognized these signs in my own life a few years ago, and these are the changes that our family made. 1) We moved out of seminary housing. 2) We stopped participating in all those “good” church activities. 3) We began hanging out with people who were not like us, and we began to care about them as people. 4) We listened to people to find out where they are in life and what they cares / concerns were. 5) We served people.
-Alan
CWT, that takes me back!
“So many of us live on campus” – In my experience, my family and church encouraged this. My mother was actually fearful if I tried to make any non-Christian friends, no matter how harmless they may have been.
“…like we’re only after the conversion” – I fight this perception all the time in my field due to the missionaries that have been here before me. I feel the tension when we meet someone new and they know why we’re here; their eyes say, “When will ‘the pitch’ come? I know what they want from me…”
I agree with Alan. You have to choose to live amongst everyone and, while maintaining your church friendships, make it a point to circulate genuinely with those around you. It’s definitely a shift in thinking and priorities.
The other thing I would add is to just not force “the conversation”. It took me all of a 4.5 year stint in a secular job in the States for one man to feel comfortable enough to ask questions about God and why I was a Christian; when I left the job, the relationship had matured enough for me to give him a Bible and some other literature that he would willingly accept. However, had I stormed in on my first day and pushed the literature at him, he would have closed up towards me for good.
Hello,
I have a few questions for. This are not antagonizing but really want to try to gather myself in this area.
1. What would you say to the Ray Comforts who have had great “success” as many have returned converted and grateful for this method driven evangelism.
2. What would you say of the many accounts of Phillip, Paul and others who used the proclamation method and people became believers (Most of the gentile churches
Thanks
Lionel,
Great questions…and they’re definitely part of the struggle. I want to respond with a post addressing this. My initial thoughts are this…
The Great Commission is not about making converts but disciples. How does Ray Comfort’s methods connect people in relationship with believers so they can be discipled. Most method driven approaches leave the responsibility on the new convert to find a church…and be discipled. This command was given to us.
My other issue with “Way of the Master” is that they say that THIS is the way Jesus did it. First, I don’t see this in Scripture. Second, it doesn’t work in most of the modern world. If I’m working in a Muslim country then there is no way I can do this or I’ll be either beaten or kicked out within hours…and then there will be no witness. So when we claim that something is “The way of the master” we better make sure that it is applicable in all settings or else it’s not the way Jesus did it.
We also confuse those with the gift for evangelism with the Great Commission. I do believe that the Lord appoints men with the gift of Evangelism to proclaim in various venues. Not all of this have this gift and therefore we cannot expect the same type of ministries. However, we all have been given the GC and we need to Ask God to help us speak truth and life into the relationships around us.
Thanks so much Grady, I never considered this one:
If I’m working in a Muslim country then there is no way I can do this or I’ll be either beaten or kicked out within hours…and then there will be no witness
“They never get a chance to see what we profess”
that was your best point. Love it! We have got to get away from “hit and run” evangelism and present the truth just as God did–in the form of a person, incarnated into their world.
So when we claim that something is “The way of the master” we better make sure that it is applicable in all settings or else it’s not the way Jesus did it.
Guess I’m trying to imagine Jesus on a blog speaking against others who are proclaiming the “Good News” and putting lemons on His face.
jk
I did read your original article and I see the same frustration when it comes to having 2 to 3 programs going on each week in the church buildings so there is no time to live for Christ because we have to be to the next place.
Suggestion: Christians..me too…next time we are heading to a church function, maybe we are speaking and we see someone in need on a bench or on the side of the road, or in the hall way looking outside the window of the church building.
Stop and be Christlike…speak to them. They may need us.
They certainly need Christ.