I had an interesting conversation (although I had to take more of a listening and defensive posture, so I say 'conversation' for lack of a better word) after church this Sunday. The subject matter included evangelism. I love it when someone I don't know comes up and tries to tell me using preselected passages from the bible (ignoring one's that I pointed out) in an geographical area he knows nothing about (you can't go door-to-door evangelizing in this neighborhood when they won't even come to the door for carolers!), how to do ministry. Specifically evangelism.After I left the 'conversation' (it would have never ended), I had a few thoughts, some positive, some negative, and some I don't know. I'll pursue the latter tomorrow.
1.) Positive-I'm a crock pot evangelist (wish I could say that I coined that phrase) who believes in sharing the content of the gospel in the context of hospitality, community, community groups/bible studies, church (preached word), and one-on-one relationships. Folks like me, who focus on the context can sometimes neglect or put off sharing or discussing the content of the gospel. We may not be intentional in looking for opportunities that WILL come up in conversations. So I need to surround myself, or at least be in communication (or accosted by out of town church visitors) with folks who are 'quicker on the draw.' This man was and he reminded of the sense of urgency that must be considered. None of us are promised tomorrow. So I'm glad we had the 'conversation' even though it bothered me some. It did challenge me.
2.) Negative-If you ignore the context of relationships and mercy, I think you neglect to do evangelism the way Paul the apostle did (Paul was his example for why you need to go up to pretty much everybody you see and ask them, "If you were to die today....."). I Thessalonians 2:8 reminds us that Paul's missionary team shared not only the gospel of God but "our lives as well." That spells relational ministry to me.
If one ignores the context, there is danger not only in ignoring relationships, but in ignoring real Kingdom work. For instance on Saturday, we worked from 8a-12 pm on a Habitat for Humanity house. Foundation work is a blast. But even if we are never able to share the gospel with those who eventually move into the house, we played a part in bringing the Kingdom (God's invisible perfect will done perfectly in heaven) down to Earth. And there is a real danger in ignoring stuff like that if one thinks that saving souls is the only thing that matters 'down here.'
2 comments:
Great points, Geoff. I heartily agree. Evangelism in the broader church, in the last couple hundred years, has tended to be very impersonal and on the spot pressure decision-oriented. There's no real emphasis on relationship building, which is the best context for evangelism. Another misconception in the broader church is the idea of "soul winning":that somehow, all that matters is the individual soul; everything else can rot. This, like you said, misses the entire purpose of the Kingdom of God which is God redeeming all creation(physical, social, relational, as well as spiritual).
Tom
Anonymous Tom,
Well played brother. Strictly "soul saving" ignores the fact that Jesus is bringing redemption to the entire cosmos; that's what he means by His Kingdom. I wanted to write some more about that, but the post was getting kind of long. Thanks for bringing that up brother.
Post a Comment