Evangelism

Evangelism is the process of proclaiming the good news. Communicating the hope and means of attaining peace with God, returning to the family of God and gradually, being restored into living as God truly designed.

It is understandable if someone resents having a complete stranger approaching them, telling them that their whole philosophy of life, personal conduct, values, associations and community are wrong, and they need to switch their primary allegiance and all those other things. That is what I believe Jesus teaches people ought to do. And I believe that when someone agrees with Jesus, and chooses to follow Jesus, he will discover life becomes so much more. Life becomes an amazing journey. Life becomes a wonder. People should throw up their hands and yell "OMG! I have been waiting for this all my life! How do I join?" The reality is quite often, people reset the will-meaning Christian butting into their lives. There are some people who resent it so much they will engage in physical violence. (In the US, people mostly get verbal.)

If you are a conscientious sincere Christian, who is trying to follow Jesus, this is quite a problem. Persuading people to follow Jesus is part of the deal. Probably the part of the deal they like least. But, because of sincere hearts, many people try all sort of strategies to accomplish this: campaigns, extravaganza events, tools, classes and others.

One strategy promoted currently is something called "friendship evangelism." There is considerable wisdom in this. If two people are fiends, there is a connection and an intersection of what occurs in the other person's life. There is a natural inclination to be involved in each other's interests. So, if we develop friendships with people who do not follow Jesus, we have natural pathways to communicate Jesus.

The problem comes after the gospel is communicated, and the non-follower choose to not follow Jesus. Is the person really a friend. Or is the person a religious project? What the person who follow Jesus does at that point reveals what it was. It reveals what he\she believes about love, the power of the Spirit in his life and the value of people, created in God's image.