snow and evanglizing.
I don't know whether to laugh when I have to climb snowpiles to get on the bus or to cry, knowing that I'm going to be surrounded by snowdrifts for a long, long, long, long time.
Does anyone have any thoughts on evangelism? More specifically, effective and ineffective ways to go about doing it? I have some fairly evangelical friends who are handing out tracks and randomly sitting down at cafeteria tables to talk to people about Jesus. Me, I find it has at least two dangers: (1) of explaining things too simplistically (how much can you express your faith in a 10 minute conversation?) and (2) often (though not always) there is a wrong attitude of trying to get more jewels on your crown in heaven...oh, and maybe I'll add a third...there is also an attitude of "I'm right. You are wrong" (again, not always). I'm uncomfortable with this blatant approach, but is that simply a personality clash or something theologically inside of me screaming that this isn't what evangelism should be?
Where do these thoughts come from? From hanging out at a coffee shop last night with friends for the pure purpose of discussing theology. Mmmm. It has been much too long since I've done that. And my exciting news: I spent hours expressing myself ONLY IN FRENCH! Not Franglais. Not Fringlish. French. I think that you can finally call yourself bilingual when you are able to express feelings and faith-- that's the hardest part of learning a language. And I have finally crossed that barrier...
posted by ann renee. @ 5:09 p.m.
6 Comments:
ann, that's fabulous! congrats on becoming truly bilingual (even though i've admired you for being bilingual in my mind for a long time...)
thoughts on evangelism? let's talk about it next time we call each other. it doesn't really seem like a comment is the best place to lay out my views on the matter :)
Ann, I will send you a link to an article I just read.
i cannot help but think of those people who like to walk in pairs, wear suits (even during the summer), carry briefcases, and have name-tags; or those guys that strap signs on their bodies and stand in the middle of a busy street or some county fair, preaching loudly for any and all to hear... perhaps my experiences with evangelism, from any religion, have been too negative for me to give a fair opinion... but i know someone very well who does not understand how people have such a hard time figuring out how to evangelize, why they pray all the time for the right opportunity but never seem to find it...this guy has an incredible ability to speak openly about himself, including about his faith, to anyone. he goes to business meetings with middle- and older-aged men, meets students every weekend, hangs out in bars with his friends, and somehow he seems to very regularly end up talking about faith. perhaps its because his politics are so closely tied to his faith... but what i'm getting to is that this guy lives what i consider to be the best form of evangelism. he just lets it come out whenever the conversation leads in that direction. and people listen.
i for one would be much more interested in discussing faith with a mormon or a buddhist who i met in some cafe or a bar with whom a conversation was started that somehow by accident led in that direction than with someone handing out fliers or randomly sitting down at my cafeteria table trying to preach at me.
If I even mention I'm a Christian to some people here they look at me like I don't have all the bolts down in my head. Its a weird sensation. And I wish I could speak Nedenglish at this point but its more so just an uuhhhhhhh when I try and speak in Nederlands. Congrats on that achievement!
I am skeptical about the hand-out-fliers and speed-evangalizing anywhere. I guess I keep thinking that I would never read a religious flyer, nor would I want someone trying to convert me in 5 minutes, or asking about my spiritual life so they can show me the better alternative after just having met me...
But I think evangalism is important, it just has to be done right. And to get at how to do it right, we have to go to the Bible. From what I can tell, Jesus spent time with people. He only preached when people were gathered around him to hear him. It almost seems like he waited for people to want to listen before he spoke, or to want to learn before he would teach. He didn't go out on street corners to hand out fliers or see how many people he could talk to in five minutes. Even his disciples after him, though they went out and taught and preached and wrote letters and started churches etc., the Bible says nothing about them going door to door or person to person on the sidewalk imposing themselves on unwilling listeners...
One of my problems with these in-your-face styles of evangelism is that they often end up driving people further away from the Christian Faith. People have enough reason to dislike Christianity, annoying Jesus freaks gives one more reason. What it does is turn people off so much that – when they do desire to search into spirituality – they will not even consider searching Christianity.
The real problem is a view of the church as an in-group and everyone else in an out-group. The lines between the “in-group” and the “out-group” are not (and should not be) so clearly defined. And they hurt the mission of the church more than they help it. I consider Mark 12:28-34 one of the best models for how to do evangelism. Jesus doesn’t tell the questioner to “repent or go to hell”, instead he gently assures him by saying, “you are not far from the kingdom.” In other words, “keep searching and you will find it.”
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