Post Info // super fun stuff.
Evangelism Doesn’t Suck.
As a church that cares about Jesus and seeing others follow Him and find themselves get caught up in His story (instead of the many stories we live instead), we have been trying to think creatively about how to be a little more intentional (yet still incarnational) with our efforts at evangelism (ghasp! the E word!).
I personally think the word evangelism has gotten a bad rap due to the ways we Christians have gone about it in the recent past (sealing the deal, finding targets, war analogies, etc). Despite the fact that a lot of people are freaked out when they hear the word evangelism, I’m still convinced that its not evangelism itself that sucks. I think some of the ways I have approached it in the past have sucked. But, not evangelism itself. (Perhaps the best commentary on contemporary evangelism that I have seen was in the Hollywood movie “The Big Kahuna.” Its a real provocative movie that takes a look at the “sales” nature of evangelism and is great to watch in a small group or with a few friends. )
Anyways, like I said, as a church that still cares about evangelism (hopefully done in a helpful, Christlike way) we are working out what it would look like to have a team of people who are gifted as evangelists (or Storytellers as JR helpfully puts it) lead the rest of us in “doing the work of evangelists.”
So here is my question for all you people who read this blog…I’m not necessarily trying to get free help here, I am just really curious how you might look at this topic…
How do you think a church can give those gifted as “evangelists” a chance to lead the rest of the community?
What would an evangelism, or storyteller or community outreach team look like in a suburban, postmodern, consumer, almost post Christian culture?
So, what do you think?
Bruce Logue said...
112/13/06 8:08 AM | Comment Link |
Todd, I just recently learned, second-hand, that a person I visit with occasionally at Starbucks lost his wife to a terminal illness a year ago.
He comes to Starbucks to talk with friends and be around people. IMHO what he is engaged in has the shape of 21st century evangelism, if only the subject was changed.
Because of the baggage it carries, the term “evangelism” is hard to think about. I’d be in favor of a new word. A word that conveys the idea of building relationships and sharing things that are important to us.
For the disciple of Jesus, this clearly means sharing the Jesus story, plus how you and I have been changed by it.
“Evangelism” today takes more time. There’s a sea of people out there that will never be reached by knocking on doors or being handed a tract.
I think it comes down to deciding if we care enough about a person/s to invest our time, not tracts, in them.
Joshua said...
212/13/06 6:52 PM | Comment Link |
How about calling them “Eschatalogical Raconteurs” who tell the story that subverts the myths and assuages the nightmares of modernity as well as postmodernity!
Tim said...
301/1/07 7:22 PM | Comment Link |
“What would an evangelism, or storyteller or community outreach team look like in a suburban, postmodern, consumer, almost post Christian culture?”
Not sure what it would like in your context (where you live, your city, your community etc.) but I know that you need to be intentional and deliberate in your efforts to reach the marginalized and forgotten in your community. Don’t want to write an essay here but find the most feared, ignored, rejected, and, in the eyes of the mainstream church, hopeless people in your city and start there!
The kingdom of God is dirty and messy–jump in start getting messy with it.
Check out the book “This Beautiful Mess” by Rick McKinley–this guy is doing exactly that and his church is impacting his city in a powerful way.
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1590525019/ref=s9_asin_image_1/103-4429473-3764668