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.

Kiss of Betrayal

I've been working my way through the book of Mark for about 2 months... This is depressing... It hasn't taken me this long because of the depth of my reading (though sometimes I really focus on small sections), but rather how intermittent my scripture reading has been (I am reading other stuff... but I have been guilty of spending more time on books about the Bible than the Bible itself which is lame and I'm working on it...)

Anyway...

I just read for the one hundred sixty third time the betrayal of Christ... and the kiss of Judas is really bothering me...

At the moment where Judas is finishing his whole brilliant plan of betraying the Master and Commander of the entire Universe, he doesn't point him out from a distance and then scurry away from the wrath that he should surely incur... Rather, he gets right up in the face of the man he is about to hand over, and kisses him...

Yikes...

The final step of the plan is one of the most intimate actions that occurs in a relationship (next to holding hands... but that is my own ridiculous rant that I will save for a more opportune time). He gets right up in there and pretends everything is normal.

Peter jumps up flailing a sword, and then later we see him betraying Christ in his own way...

So what about me...

I am quick to jump up and defend Christ or my interpretation of Christ's teachings in some arenas... But then how often do I betray him... Be it publicly or in my own personal struggles... And as I betray him how often do I step up and kiss him on the cheek... How often do I spend Sunday mornings praising him, and then spend the rest of the day judging people, gossiping, slandering, lusting, coveting, backing down or remaining silent in conversations with my extended family...

If I'm honest, I betray Christ so often it's just ridiculous... How lukewarm am I? I'm reading Crazy Love right now, and there's a whole chapter devoted to being lukewarm... it's crazy, scary, convicting, and depressing... I have spent the last week and a half repenting of who I have become...

I guess I am just trying to acknowledge that I need to change...

I have become self-absorbed, self-glorifying, selfish, prideful, bitter, insecure, bored, and jaded... I betray Christ constantly with my decisions, my attitudes, and certainly my actions...

Judas just helped me realize how even when I draw near to Christ, I am in danger of my intentions being more along the lines of trying to go through the motions of being close to God, while meanwhile I have so many other motives that I have no business even muttering the name of our Lord....

God Help Me...

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

Isaiah 58: True Fast/Worship?

So, I stumbled back across a passage that I had forgotten about, and it was pretty intense. Isaiah is calling out the people of Israel about their fasting practices, and it's unsettling. When I read this I swapped out the word "Fast" for "Worship"... And it's kind of intense... Isaiah 58:1-8

¹ "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.

² For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.

³ 'Why have we [worshiped],' they say,
'and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?'
"Yet on the day of your [worship], you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.

⁴ Your [worship] ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot [worship] as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.

⁵ Is this the kind of [worship] I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call [worship],
a day acceptable to the LORD ?

⁶ "Is not this the kind of [worship] I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Yikes!

How often do we focus on Sunday mornings and forget that our worship spans beyond that time together... Worship is so much more than a once a week ritual!

We are called to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God... That is our spiritual act of worship!!! We cannot settle for going with the flow... We are called to be counter-cultural, to meet people's needs, to love people, to rattle cages, to be excellent examples of who Christ is... that is a huge order!!!

How can we do this? What does it look like to live life totally for Christ? What about the tough situations? What about the comforts of the American lifestyle? What does a life lived for the Lord look like in the 21st century!?

Really Kuyper?

So I started talking about this with one of my professors a bit the other day...

Abraham Kuyper is a championed individual in the Reformed Tradition, and he did a lot of impressive stuff... He was a pastor, reformer, newspaper editor, Parliament member, and even Prime Minister... However, I am not in support of some of his ideologies. In fact, my interpretation of his ideals and influence frustrate me to an extreme...

Kuyper stood at the forefront of "pillarization" which was a movement that has had intense influence on Christianity. The idea is that Christians develop their own institutions and structures for the sake of being in Christian community and almost being the "light on a hill". This means the development of Christian schools, Christian businesses, Christian supermarkets, Christian fitness centers, Christian newspapers, Christian universities, Christian Sports Clubs, etc...

Hey here's a great idea... let's take all of the local Christians... and put them in secluded locations... then, all the "heathens" can see how much fun the Christians are having with their supermarkets, and how smart they get in their secluded schools, and how productive their businesses are, or how holy their sports leagues are, and then they can feel like they're missing out and want to join in on all the anointed fun!!!

That's what Jesus said about being salt and light right? Go create isolated institutions so that all those "pagans" can look at you and see what's up... But don't get your hands dirty actually getting involved in peoples lives and honestly sharing how messy you are/how God has worked in your life...

Way to go Kuyper... thanks for the seclusion!!!

What happened to being "in the world, but not of the world"? Or becoming "all things to all people for the sake of the Gospel"? How do you build relationships with those who do not know Christ by going through the Christian school system to then get a job at a Christian business so you can afford to go to the fitness center in your church and pay to be in the christian softball league?

All this stemmed from a discussion about Christian Bookstores...

I am not trying to say that all of these things are inherently evil or wrong, because everything can have its place, but how can we who are to be making disciples to the ends of the earth going to develop meaningful relationships with people unless we are actually in the world!?

Is there a proper balance between these christian structures and "secular" structures?
Should there even be a divide between Sacred/Secular? Or should we begin to look for God working in all things? We can't put God in a box by limiting God to revealing God's self through channels that we deem acceptable...

I think we need to be aware of how we are approaching the world, while also being aware of how the world is influencing us... I just think that seclusion is not the correct approach...


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

Child-like Faith?

So recently I had a bit of a revelation...

I was on Spring Break and was frantically trying to catch up on my schoolwork. I was spending like 6-7 hours a day at Starbucks reading all this lofty theology crap... Like we're talking various atonement theories and stuff that is just beyond me... And I was getting so bogged down, like really struggling, not only in understanding all the stuff I was reading, but I realized that since I have been in college, I often view my faith/Christ as an academic practice, and fail to acknowledge the simplicity that is inherent in Christ's work.

Somewhere I read an account of modern theologian Karl Barth and his experience speaking at some prestigious and highbrow conference. He was speaking on some complicated issues that I can't even pronounce to people with degrees I've never even heard of... And the story goes that one of the doctorate students asked Barth, "What is the most profound truth that you have come across in your study of the Christian Faith?" Barth froze and thought for a few seconds, and then began to slowly say, "Jesus loves me, this I know, because the Bible tells me so... Little ones to him belong, they are weak and He is strong..." Apparently people began to chuckle, and then realizing the severity of this basic statement began to fall silent...

In the midst of my theological frenzy examining the work of Christ, I had begun to overlook the simple truth that a child could recount. Jesus Christ, who healed the blind, fed the hungry, and raised the dead... is risen!!! I had to stop right there in the Starbucks and spend about 20 minutes just reflecting on the simple truth of the Gospel.

So how do we live out "child-like" faith?
Is there such a thing as pursuing knowledge "too much"?
How do we balance acknowledging the simplicity of the Gospel and our own need for complex structures and understandings?

It's a tricky thing... And I certainly do not have it figured out... I am still getting bogged down by my theology classes and the "Bible Study" that I am a part of which is more of a theology debate than an honest look at scripture and each other...

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

Let's get them sinners and turn em' into Saints! - ???

So I'm in an Evangelism class right now... and it's bogus.

My professor has all the makings of an exciting teacher. He is from Africa, he is a pastor, and has had some crazy experiences... But this remains in the top 3 worst classes I have taken my entire life.

Our big assignment for the course was to go out and manufacture a relationship with a "sinner" to get them to turn to Christ and to record the process in a journal.

I can not explain to you how hollow and sleazy that feels... Christ calls us to love people. There is a lot involved with loving people (most of which I don't yet understand) and I am sure that building up faulty friendships with the intent of "exploiting" them and then moving on if the effort seems futile is not what Christ had in mind. I understand how necessary it is to share the 'good news', and I recognize that there is a definite sense of urgency involved, as we don't know what tomorrow holds for us. But I cannot get beyond the cheapness of a hollow relationship.

St. Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

I don't want to reduce sharing faith to just living your life or to give permission to be lazy evangelists, as this quote has been abused by so many, but I do think that inherent in loving people is the desire to share the 'good news' with them and to offer a helping hand as a true friend.

How do we get past the mentality of exploiting friendships, while still pursuing people who do not know the Lord?
How do we balance being lazy/timid proclaimers of our faith and trying to primarily show Christ through our day to day lives?
What part does Post-Modern Relativism play in this whole thing? I have been doing a lot of reading regarding 'emerging' generations and churches and am still trying to get a grasp on the level of pluralism and relativism that is inherent in Post-Modernity, but what approaches do we as Christians take in response to the troublesome aspects that come along with some of the freedoms and exciting parts of Post-Modernism?

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