Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Evangelism

Evangelism usually creates mental images of televangelists in big stadiums, unwanted intrusions knocking at your door, or someone sticking a pamphlet in your face. Usually, impolitely. Evangelism is derived from a Greek word meaning "good news" or "good report". Most people who are not part of God's family treat it like an intrusion. It doesn't seem to them to be good news at all.

It seems to me that for someone to receive it as good news, there is a process that needs to be gone through.

First, we need to demonstrate that in reality, it is good news. We need to show what a life of trust in Jesus means. Francis Schaeffer called this pre-evangelism. How we go about this changes, depending in circumstances, and cultural background. Sometimes rational arguments can be used. Sometimes an emotional stimulus is needed. And sometimes practical works. The end result that we are looking for, is someone saying "Hmm ... there is something good/right/true about this Jesus thing. Something that maybe I need." I am not suggesting that God's children over emphasize the positive aspects of living life with Jesus. Nor am I suggesting that they ignore or minimize the commitment and possible complications. Still, good news needs to be seen as good news.

Second, there is an explanation of the message of Jesus. Simply laid out. Tailored at the level of the audience's understanding. The Bible says we need to adapt our communication, rather than compel the audience to adapt to our communication.

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