Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Evangelism Revisited

As I continue along my “conversion” journey I once again am visiting the idea of evangelism. I refer to this as my “conversion” since this is indeed a restructuring of my world view. This is what God is calling us to when we are told to repent, to be converted; to change our way of thinking, to realign our thoughts with God’s thoughts.

I must first pause and acknowledge some of those who are so vital and influential in this process: my students. I meet for breakfast with several groups of students who graciously discuss the various topics that I am wrestling with as I progress in my pilgrimage. They may think they are learning from me, and maybe they are, but I am benefiting from them far beyond that which I give! Their intelligent, insightful, thoughtful and critical ideas have brought to light many flaws in my thinking and given direction to new avenues to investigate and consider.

Most recently, as we have looked at the conversion experience of Paul, as discussed in Foolishness to the Greeks by Newbigin, my paradigm of evangelism took a comforting turn. I have long been dissatisfied with the canned approaches of evangelism that I have been taught and used, such as The Four Spiritual Laws, The Romans Road, and Evangelism Explosion, to name a few. I believe we are to be about the business of making disciples and spreading the Kingdom of God, but something seemed amiss. Bringing someone to a point where they said a prayer, asking Jesus to be their “personal” savior seemed to be missing something. It seemed to ignore or minimize the Kingdom message of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere in the Gospels. Of this I have written elsewhere, and won’t here review in detail. (see A Different Paradigm attached)

But, from looking at Paul’s conversion, a couple of important things surface. First, we need to communicate Jesus words in the heart language of future disciples. Unfortunately, we who have been Christians for any length of time have adopted our own vocabulary and lingo with words like saved, blessing, fellowship, sin, repent, etc. which we throw around, expecting others to understand. Some even go so far as to quote antiquated translations of the Bible that have little resemblance to the way anyone speaks today. Yet we expect people to “catch our drift” and join the effort.

Secondly, we need to broaden the scope, or change the focus of our call to conversion. The canned presentations mentioned above focus on personal sin. Jesus message certainly includes confrontation of personal sin, but goes far beyond this, dealing with community / global issues as well. As I read the Sermon on the Mount, I see some serious discrepancies between what Jesus is teaching and what many “Christian” individuals and organizations are promoting, supporting in the political process or modeling in practice.

So, what should evangelism look like? Here is what my current thinking is.

As followers of Jesus are about the business of living out the Kingdom, living lives that are so in contrast to the world about us, living in Christian community, caring for the needs of those around us, and also living lives of integrity, we will attract attention from people who are curious or sympathize with some of our efforts and causes. (Could this interest be the image of God within them that seeks fulfillment, or maybe the call of the Spirit of God, depending on your theological bent?) When we see interest in those who are not followers of Christ, let’s invite them to cooperate with us in the work of the Kingdom. As they become curious about Christ, let’s direct them to the Sermon on the Mount in some contemporary version, like The Message (attached above). A discussion could then ensue including questions like, “Is this the Jesus that you thought you knew about? Does Jesus’ teaching challenge / fit your world view? Is this a Jesus that you want to learn more about?”

I would not “push” the issue of “sin”. I would rather wait for a discussion on discrepancies between what we see in society around us, and how we personally participate in the world view that is in conflict with Jesus’ teaching. This sense of discrepancy leads to a definition of sin: things that don’t measure up to God’s standard. This then should naturally flow into a discussion of conforming ones thinking or world view to that of Jesus (conversion or repentance, without the strange vocabulary). This would include a discussion of personal choices that are in conflict with Jesus’ program for humanity (sin).

What about the cross? That comes later as one explores Jesus’ life and teaching. This, after all is the sequence Jesus followed as he presented himself to his disciples. He invited them to follow his Kingdom teaching before they even knew he was the Messiah, and certainly before the cross!

So, at the risk of replacing one canned presentation with another, this is how I currently would invite someone to consider becoming a follower of Jesus. This first of all requires a commitment on my part to be exploring and living out the life of Christ in community as an example. Secondly it requires a de-emphasis on a point in time decision or prayer, at least early on in the process. At some point there hopefully will develop a desire to make a commitment as one explores the Christian story, but let’s not rush this or see this as the goal, or as an endpoint! Discipleship doesn’t have an endpoint. Thirdly, and possibly the most difficult and uncomfortable element for U.S. Christians, this requires a commitment of time in a relationship.

I welcome your thoughts and criticisms as I continue to explore and refine my world view, hoping that it continually becomes more like that of Christ!

Dave Drozek

December 2009

6 comments:

  1. Evangelism theology and practice has always been a struggle with me. I agree that some systems are too canned and contained, but I also worry that people won't practice the more relational style. I really like the "invite the community to come and join us in what we are doing" kind of idea.

    I once heard Dallas Willard say that we should, "lead with the lions." In other words, tell people the cost of following Jesus up front. Not just the benefits, but hard stuff. "You may lose your friends, your family... even your life? You want to sign up?"

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  2. Interesting thoughts! I like the idea you're not just bringing someone to the point where they make a decision to follow Christ and then...you're done! Conversion is a process, not something that we "accomplish".
    I'm not sure if I agree with your statement at the end, though, that "discipleship doesn't have an endpoint". I think that it does - Heaven and perfect union with God.

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  3. That is another interesing idea to ponder! A lot depends on ones theology of the end times. I like N. T. Wright's approach that the goal is retoration to an Eden like state. The new heaven will be on the new earth. The followers of God will be the stewards of creation as Adam was in the beginning.
    Certainly their will be a tremendous transformation as we enter the eternal state, but will there be an endpoint to our learning and developing as followers of God? We will no longer be hindered by sin. But will we continue to grow closer to Jesus? Will we continue to develop in relationships?
    I suspect so!

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  4. For years, I have questioned the delineation of evangelism (pre-Christian) and discipleship (Christian). As I understand the great commission (church lingo), Jesus was instructing his followers to disciple pre-Christians and through the process many follow Jesus.

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  5. I certainly enjoy the wrestling you do with scripture and various thoughts. Your thoughts on evangelism have a bent I certainly value, which is a little bit more Holy Spirit led, than a forced issue on people.

    My perspective is one of valuing just about any approach that is seeking to get the gospel out in a loving compassionate way. I see the work of God as needing to be diverse, because people are so diverse. If you listen to the "testimonies" of people, they all vary. Some came to Christ thru a very convicting conversation on sin. Another person came to Christ because they were befriended by a neighbor, and slowly that neighbor's life rubbed off. Another came to Christ thru a very challenging message of conviction on sin. Another person came to Christ thru someone knocking on their door and going thru an EE sort of presentation. Another came to Christ thru a Bill Graham crusade. Another came to Christ thru watching a preacher on TV. Another came to Christ thru a recovery program. Another came to Christ thru a homeless shelter. Another came to Christ because two people stopped them on a beach and asked them questions about sin and the law of God that made them think, and they turned to God.

    Over the last 16 years of ministry, I have heard and seen such a variety of testimonies. People turning to God thru a varity of means and way, and each seeming to be exactly what that person needed at that moment. People are different, so my perspective is that God is going to use a variety of ways to reach a variety of people.

    I certainly see great value in the approach you shared. I think for some people that will be exactly what they need. My personal philosophy is that I can't be locked into any "one approach." With each relationship, I need to seek the Spirit's leading as to what this person needs, and how to best reach and connect with them.

    The only concern that jumped out to me, as I read your thoughts, was sort of a "down play" of sin and the cross.. Again, just me thinking out loud. But it seems that the early church, the apostle Paul, were clearly talking about sin, addressing it, and making the cross central wherever they went. Having said that, again, I do agree with you, that we need to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, as to when to talk about it with our friends, and not just "pushing it or forcing it."

    But at some point we need to talk about it. It is the central message of the gospel. Paul said, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." I Corinthians 15:3-5

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  6. David said: "That is another interesing idea to ponder! A lot depends on ones theology of the end times. I like N. T. Wright's approach that the goal is restoration to an Eden like state. The new heaven will be on the new earth. The followers of God will be the stewards of creation as Adam was in the beginning."

    I rather agree... perhaps with some minor differences, but this is the idea from the beginning. Paradise was lost with Adam fell... Jesus came "to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10 What a pleasant thought!

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