Evangelism: A Manifesto

Evangelism

What a loaded word. For some it brings a feeling of intense fear/embarrassment, for others there is a sense of guilt surrounding it, and still for others a sense of pain or simply annoyance.

The whole thing is really just sharing our faith with those we know and love... Seems simple enough.

Shouldn't evangelism be something we are as opposed to something we do? Our entire lives should be emanating the light of Christ. Shouldn't we simply live lives that clearly illustrate the Gospel of Christ rather than memorizing cheesy slogans/diagrams and handing out condemning tracts on street corners whenever we schedule it into our week/month/year?

One of the women from the church I work at said:
"It's like we build it up to a whole huge thing and we get so scared of messing something up or not knowing something that it gets to the point where we're so terrified of the idea of discussing faith that we avoid it all together..."

I think there's a lot of validity in that statement... We don't need to deliver a certain number of truths or a specific doctrine in a clear organized manner to be sharing Christ's love with someone...

Doesn't a simple act of service speak louder? How about a genuine conversation that contains no trace of condemnation or judgment? How about allowing the passion you have for Christ's work in this world to find its place in your regular interactions throughout the day, rather than awkwardly trying to fit cheesy cliches and loaded questions into those interactions...

Now at the same time I don't want to encourage sitting around doing nothing... I've heard that message... "Preach the Gospel, use words when necessary!" And in some ways that's exactly what I'm musing about here, but I'm fearful (because it has been the case in my own experience) that clinging too tightly to this can become an excuse for laziness and timidity.

I can't always find that balance, and definitely can't find that for you...

Maybe you are that taxi driver who asks every person who enters their cab if they know Jesus Christ, not because you are filling a quota, but because you are so legitimately excited about Christ's work in your life that you can't help but let that enter the conversation...

Or maybe you are the mom who won't let your kids friends sleep over at the house on a Saturday night unless the kids join in going to church the next morning because "as for you and your house you will serve the Lord"

Or maybe you are that college student who visits the same pizza place week after week and as you get to know the guy who works the counter at the same time every week you begin to share more and more of each others lives...

Either way, the Glory of God is not something we can suppress, smother, or snuff out... We must allow our lives to speak of His wonders and make His name known in this world.

Wheeeeeee!!!

I haven't actually posted anything in quite a while... I've got some posts in progress that I never got around to putting up, but I felt inspired... I'm back...

So I'm on the tail end of a slide...

I have less than 3 months of my Trinity Christian College career left.. wow...

I feel as though I am on the tail end of a slide at the playground. You know how you start out and it's kinda scary, and you are hesitant at first, but once you go for it you pick up speed and pick up speed until the slide levels out and ends?

I'm about to level out.

Life is flying by faster than it ever has before, and I am just trying to get the most out of each day...

This means that my Academic life is suffering, and my wallet is continuously growing thinner and thinner, but at least I am enjoying the company of people and trying to make myself available rather than cloistered...

All in all I am excited about what is going on so far this semester... I have been taking more and more time to enjoy life and avoid responsibility (probably not a great thing) and I have been learning to keep my eyes open a bit more for God's hand in my presence...

So in conclusion (I'm a senior now, so I have finally learned that every paper has to have a clearly identified conclusive statement)... I'm doing my best to say WHEEEEEE!!! as the slide starts to level out and I prepare to go flying off into the mulch to get my butt dirty...

Leaning Forward

We're comfortable...

We're comfortable with routine, we're comfortable with expectations, we're comfortable with the standard, and we're comfortable with sustaining...

In a recent conversation with a friend I was talking about the Praise&Worship ministry that I am a leader of at school... I was talking about a vision where rather than the community of worshipers leaning forward to and anticipating each Thursday night worship gathering, they would view it as an opportunity to lean back or "touch down"...

By this I mean that the community would be reaching out in this world and seeking out God's face in the hungry, the oppressed, the naked, and the voiceless, and then would take our worship gathering as a time to meet as a community that cries out to the Lord through song and builds each other up...

Too often I receive comments from people that make it seem that our gathering is the one hour they come to get filled up and then rather than spending the other 167 hours of the week pouring out the Love of Christ and being the hands and feet of God, they self-indulge and sit around waiting for the next week of "emotional pump up time".

I am far from adequate... I am selfish, prideful, undisciplined, jealous, reserved, and awkward... So I am by no means saying that I have got things under wraps, but I am currently trying to lean forward in my life, rather than always leaning back and then jumping to attention during Sunday morning or Thursday night "worship".

I don't know if this analogy works... It makes sense in my mind, but one of my failings is communication... so if this is nothing more than a giant rambling for you I am sorry, but it has helped me work a few things out... so maybe this post is just for me...

And that's all I have to say about that...

This Generation's Civil Rights Movement?

I have heard of things like Invisible Children, Rapha House, Baht, International Justice Mission, World Vision, and I support two studly young gentlemen through Compassion International...
I have seen films like Trade and Blood Diamond...
I have heard missionary accounts of the horrors of trafficking...
I have talked with friends about how we feel helpless because we feel as though we can't do anything for those in other continents despite our passionate desire.

I am not entirely new to this, but I have spent the last week pouring myself into books, articles, films, and blogs about human trafficking.

In case you are not aware... Slavery did not end in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation... Slavery plagues the world today. Be it in the form of forced labor, or sexual bondage, or child soldiers, slavery is still very much a part of the human condition...

The estimates of how many people are currently enslaved are upwards of 27 million...

As I have been reading and watching this past week, I have found myself horrified. The descriptions of the conditions people are exposed to are beyond comprehension. I have become physically sick to the point of vomiting while reading... It's pretty intense...

This problem is this generation's civil rights movement... This abhorrence is this generation's opportunity to glorify God and share the love of Christ with the hurting, lost, and abused.

So what do we do? Again, I have had overwhelming discussions with friends where we feel so ineffective and unable to make a difference... and often times in these conversations we forget one of our greatest weapons. Prayer. We start by praying... continuously. We pray for the enslaved, we pray for the traffickers, slave holders, and abolitionists, and we pray for governments and law enforcement that have the opportunity to expel the corrupt and make clear, unambiguous legal frameworks. We can also raise awareness and lobby for action with our nation's leaders. This is what Invisible Children is currently trying to do, and there is opportunity to support that movement.

Above all, remember that we serve a God who loves and hurts with us. We have the power of the Holy Spirit... Let's put it to work...

“Let no one be discouraged by the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills – against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence…Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation…

It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Robert F. Kennedy

The Way It's Supposed To Be?

This is not the way it's supposed to be...

It's not fair...

How does a girl who is nearing graduation and planning a wedding get diagnosed with Lukemia, and then within a year, leave behind a mourning husband and family?

I understand that sin entered this world, and I understand that God is beyond my understanding, but why is a girl who is seeking to serve God with her new husband struck down at the threshold of adulthood?

People always say, "Well this is part of God's plan, He will use this somehow"... But it is so hard to buy into that when you are in the midst of something like this...

It's just not fair...

This is not the way it's supposed to be...