Thank you! Timely reflection on sharing God's message of love and redemption through Christ - this very topic came up last night at dinner with friends. We shared examples of how this happens - in line at the store, at our grandkids' ballgames, wherever we are. I especially liked your statement, "your example is a complement, not a substitute." Too many people have bought into the lie that living life with joy or kindness or generosity is enough. No! It requires - at some point - that the Gospel be vocalized. Blessings to you both.
So true. I find in my daily life I am not as bold as I once was when I was a young man. I also liked what Micheal said about awkward, goes away, truth does not. Witnessing and being a witness is intensified when working alongside unbelievers. Non believers see through the BS of our lives, especially if we are compromising and making excuses for our performance in particular. It can be both discouraging and revealing. There were days in my life that I failed miserably at construction. It is a hard gig that will reveal the true you. Perfection is always a little better and farther down the track. Mastering the scope of this life is not for the faint of heart. Dragon Slaying is not a natural profession that’s why I continue to trust the true Dragon Slayer for each victory, day, and breath I get. Pax Vobiscum
Agree. Evangelism is a glaring weakness in parts of the Reformed world. Also, Presbyterians are perhaps the most shy of all Protestants, which doesn't help, and it's true that sharing the gospel is not something that's really taught or emphasized.
But the answer is not necessarily big tent revivals. I think we'll do better playing small ball. It certainly fits our culture better. In this I see two parts: making our churches more vibrant communities, where we'll be comfortable inviting friends, and finding ways to integrate our Christian outlook into our normal conversation.
On the first, a big problem, at least in urban/suburban settings, is members of a local church really don't know each other very well, so the community never develops far. You can't get to know someone well, even after many years, if all your encounters are only in one context (at church). This has been a problem in nearly every church I've been in. The ones that did best emphasized home groups, outside ministry, retreats, and other ways of mixing up the context so people really got to know each other.
Regarding the second, most folks are quite reluctant to get bold about sharing their faith. Boldness does have a place, but it's probably not for newbies. Still, anyone can begin to develop these skills by simply developing a practice of mentioning simple things like their local church, their willingness to pray for someone, a brief scripture related to the topic of conversation, etc.
A big part of the problem is that evangelism, as far as it has been taught to American Protestants (at least since Finney), is very much in the sales mold, as a goal-oriented activity with measurable outcomes. But we would do better to think of it as the planting of seeds. For instance, we show our concern, we share a little of God's Word, we practice small acts of hospitality, we mention going to church as a normal activity.
The seed model also helps us to understand that God works with people over time, and we don't have to do all of it - someone else may water and then another may harvest. But we can at least get the process started.
We've been going through this book called "Always Going" and it is pretty much the same idea.
I do like your point about how people will deflect in all sorts of creative ways and do anything they can to avoid confronting their own sin. In that way, we can be encouraged, since Jesus made it clear that conviction of sin is one of the missions of the Spirit. I think there is a time and place for us to call that sin out, but in a loving, gentle, and hopefully natural way that comes from their witnessing the changes in our life (and not in a standing-on-the-street-with-a-megaphone way.)
Thanks for this. The Lord is pleased to increase my engagement with strangers, pointing to Christ. A man I met was emphasizing that he was stress so I would told him what Jesus says in Matt. 11:28-30. Is that enough? I need to learn to direct people to further understand their need for Christ to save them.
Thank you! Timely reflection on sharing God's message of love and redemption through Christ - this very topic came up last night at dinner with friends. We shared examples of how this happens - in line at the store, at our grandkids' ballgames, wherever we are. I especially liked your statement, "your example is a complement, not a substitute." Too many people have bought into the lie that living life with joy or kindness or generosity is enough. No! It requires - at some point - that the Gospel be vocalized. Blessings to you both.
So true. I find in my daily life I am not as bold as I once was when I was a young man. I also liked what Micheal said about awkward, goes away, truth does not. Witnessing and being a witness is intensified when working alongside unbelievers. Non believers see through the BS of our lives, especially if we are compromising and making excuses for our performance in particular. It can be both discouraging and revealing. There were days in my life that I failed miserably at construction. It is a hard gig that will reveal the true you. Perfection is always a little better and farther down the track. Mastering the scope of this life is not for the faint of heart. Dragon Slaying is not a natural profession that’s why I continue to trust the true Dragon Slayer for each victory, day, and breath I get. Pax Vobiscum
Agree. Evangelism is a glaring weakness in parts of the Reformed world. Also, Presbyterians are perhaps the most shy of all Protestants, which doesn't help, and it's true that sharing the gospel is not something that's really taught or emphasized.
But the answer is not necessarily big tent revivals. I think we'll do better playing small ball. It certainly fits our culture better. In this I see two parts: making our churches more vibrant communities, where we'll be comfortable inviting friends, and finding ways to integrate our Christian outlook into our normal conversation.
On the first, a big problem, at least in urban/suburban settings, is members of a local church really don't know each other very well, so the community never develops far. You can't get to know someone well, even after many years, if all your encounters are only in one context (at church). This has been a problem in nearly every church I've been in. The ones that did best emphasized home groups, outside ministry, retreats, and other ways of mixing up the context so people really got to know each other.
Regarding the second, most folks are quite reluctant to get bold about sharing their faith. Boldness does have a place, but it's probably not for newbies. Still, anyone can begin to develop these skills by simply developing a practice of mentioning simple things like their local church, their willingness to pray for someone, a brief scripture related to the topic of conversation, etc.
A big part of the problem is that evangelism, as far as it has been taught to American Protestants (at least since Finney), is very much in the sales mold, as a goal-oriented activity with measurable outcomes. But we would do better to think of it as the planting of seeds. For instance, we show our concern, we share a little of God's Word, we practice small acts of hospitality, we mention going to church as a normal activity.
The seed model also helps us to understand that God works with people over time, and we don't have to do all of it - someone else may water and then another may harvest. But we can at least get the process started.
We've been going through this book called "Always Going" and it is pretty much the same idea.
I do like your point about how people will deflect in all sorts of creative ways and do anything they can to avoid confronting their own sin. In that way, we can be encouraged, since Jesus made it clear that conviction of sin is one of the missions of the Spirit. I think there is a time and place for us to call that sin out, but in a loving, gentle, and hopefully natural way that comes from their witnessing the changes in our life (and not in a standing-on-the-street-with-a-megaphone way.)
Thanks for this. The Lord is pleased to increase my engagement with strangers, pointing to Christ. A man I met was emphasizing that he was stress so I would told him what Jesus says in Matt. 11:28-30. Is that enough? I need to learn to direct people to further understand their need for Christ to save them.