Evangelism

Having spent the week reading through evangelism courses, I am frankly weary of the subject. I am also just deeply weary: after a CFS relapse that has left my brains scrambled for months, it isn't that bright an idea to research and write five blog posts in five days as soon as I start to feel better. Nevertheless, this is still probably a good time to try to organise my thoughts on evangelism a little - by next week I'll probably have forgotten everything - so I hope you'll bear with me. Even better, contribute your thoughts and help me learn.

Starting from the basics: 'evangelism' is taken straight from a Greek word evangelizo - to give a message which is good news. For example, in the old days when fathers waited outside while their wife gave birth, the midwife might send a helper out to tell the father the evangelion, the good news, that a child had been born and mother and child were well. It comes from the word angello - to bear a message (which is what angels do). By the time of Jesus and Paul/Saul the term had become 'loaded'. To a Jew it was loaded with the good news that God was about to save his people, to bring them out of exile and oppression, as promised in the Old Testament, for example in Isaiah 61: 

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion.

Jesus quotes this as he starts his ministry (Luke 4), and refers back to it again when his ministry is questioned by John the Baptist (Luke 7):

"Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."

Note that this is about salvation for the whole of God's people, indeed the whole world, not just individuals.

The other way in which 'evangelism' was loaded was political: to a Roman citizen, evangelism was about proclaiming a great military victory, usually giving the credit to Caesar. For example, when Claudius led the conquest of Britain in AD43, messengers were sent to Rome to proclaim the good news of victory, and to give them time to prepare a Triumph for when he returned, bearing the spoils of victory. This idea of a great victory is an important part of the background to Paul's message of the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection. Again, this is 'big picture' stuff, unlike the individualism preached by so much of today's western church.

Of course, there is good news for individuals as well, but it is rooted in good news for the whole world. God is saving his people, and you can become one of God's people. And not just as a subject, but as a family member, from a cultural context where 'family' is all-important. Jesus, through a mighty victory, has overcome sin and death and all the things that separate people from God. Therefore, through Jesus, you or I can be part of God's new reality (or his original reality, if you like, before sin and death spoiled everything) as it starts to break through the old corrupt reality of the world as we have known it. And so on. This is all very theoretical, but if you're going to talk about 'good news' of Jesus, I think it is as well to have at least a basic idea of what the Bible is talking about when it uses the term.

Moving on from theory, earthing the good news in everyday reality, is where each and every member of a Christian church should come in. Not by doing sales pitches and horrible four-point 'gospel presentations', but by talking honestly and openly to friends, family and colleagues about their own experience of Jesus in their life, and their own joys and struggles as they try to follow him. Also, by being aware that what is the biggest 'good news' to them might be irrelevant or off-putting to someone else, so it matters that you recognise the multi-faceted nature of the good news, allowing you to explore areas that other people might find more helpful.

I know someone for whom the key bits of good news in following Jesus are confidence that he is not going to hell when he dies, and a feeling of peace from abdicating his own independence in submission to God. These are both major turnoffs for me, but I need to be aware that for some (usually very churchey) people they genuinely are good news. For other people the good news is healing or cleansing of their past: whether from guilt or shame over things they have done, or the bitterness and pain of things that were done to them. The past is still there of course, but for them it has lost its power. For still others the good news is about meaning and significance in the present, or purpose or challenge or courage for the future. Then again, for some the good news is about community and belonging, for others about being part of a people who are changing the world. And so on. The point is that 'good news' takes many shapes, and 'evangelism training' ought to be about responding to the diversity of people's needs, not learning a set formula as part of a sales pitch.

On average, people who become Christians trace a journey of around two years before they reach the point of real commitment (and the journey carries on from there, of course). A five minute sales pitch isn't going to replace that two year journey; but honest conversation about spiritual issues and things that really matter can help all parties along their road. Not many non-churchgoers go to church (duh! but you know what I mean); of those that do, fully 77% go because they were invited by someone they knew and trusted. Not someone who had given them a presentation and made a sale convert, but likely someone who had taken time to talk (and listen) to them about spiritual matters.

It's long been a mystery to me (as a very poor conversationalist) that churches are full of people who are really good at talking, and listening, but are too daunted by the prospect of 'doing evangelism' to use that skill out in the real world, talking, and listening, about Jesus. I think the real object of evangelism training ought to be to free up those talents to help people to share their own good news and to listen to what is good news for others.

I am particularly interested in feedback on this post. Have you ever been 'evangelised'? How did you find it? Have you ever tried to 'do evangelism' yourself? If it comes to that, do you feel that you are on a spiritual journey at all?

tags: religion  christanity  evangelism  good news  cfs  

links: technorati