On Evangelism

I struggle with the idea of evangelism as it has been played out during my lifetime. Leaving tracts as tips at a restaurant, flyers in restrooms, and door to door witnessing is not evangelism. It's annoying. It's right above telemarketers in the list of most annoying.

Lifestyle evangelism doesn't work too well either. The idea is that if I am a good example of Christ's love and compassion, then a non-believer will wonder why I am different from the "others." The reason that this doesn't work is because a majority of Christians are bitter, judgmental, hateful creatures. I've met people who are the meanest creatures this side of hell then later found out they were Christians. How depressing. How discouraging. How detrimental to the Kingdom.

The other evangelistic approach is what I call the "Java-Jesus" approach. The idea here is that you develop a friendship with an individual, then invite them to your "cool" church. The church has a very modern approach to worship, a relaxed atmosphere, and narrative preacher. Oh, and did I mention we have a coffee bar?

But what do we do when we get people into the building? My point is this: There are several styles of Churches. The church I attend is a seeker-sensitive church. Others are missional congregations, some are evangelical fundamentalist congregations, some are snake-handling,tongue-speaking,poison-drinking,holy brotherhood of the grace of God our Father in Heaven congregations.

There are reasons for all the different styles. And each has it's flaws. Some are too closed-minded to change. Some are judgmental and aggressive towards non-believers, others are over the top and down right scary. And others are merely country club mutual admiration societies.

The flaw with my church is that it's watered down. No offense to the ministry staff or the volunteers or anyone that helps out behind the scenes. But being a seeker sensitive church means sacrificing meat for milk, means prioritizing conversions over journeys of faith, means labeling seeker or believer, means being comfortable instead of holding each other accountable.

I could go on and on, but then you would think I hate this church. Instead I love it. I love this church not because of the programs, the sermons, the worship services, the youth ministry, the small groups, or the coffee bar. I love this church for two reasons.

1) It has taught me to develop my own responsibility for being fed through other means than just Sunday Morning. I have been a follower of Christ for nearly 15 years. And for the majority of those 15 years, I believed that I could only learn about God through the ministry staff at my church. I know that sounds elementary, but it's true. I assumed that since they were educated, godly men then they knew more about teaching me the truth than I knew about looking for it. So I didn't look. I didn't read books by other great godly men and women, I didn't search for study tools to develop my personal growth in the bible, I didn't search for mentors to help guide me on my journey, because pastor Steve or brother Tom knew what I needed.

2) The other reason I love my church is that it has taught me that friendship is key in living a Godly life. I have never known true friendships. The kind that calls for brutal, integrity based honesty. In fact, the guy I call my best friend was nothing more than a good buddy that I enjoyed hanging out with. Until this year. Jeff called me out. It was a slap in the face. "Mike, we have known each other since college. But we don't know each other on a spiritual friend level. We don't pray together, we don't discuss doubts, and theological questions, we don't encourage each other. It's still the same relationship we had when we were roommates in college. College was 6 years ago. We've both grown up and our friendship needs to grow up. We're not college roommates anymore. We are adults. And our friendship needs to start reflecting it." This was all paraphrased because my memory sucks. But you catch the drift.

That kind of brutal honesty took me by the hair and shook me. I instantly woke up to the sleep of denial that had shadowed my life. I need to grow up. I'm not a kid anymore. And my friendships need to be mature, God-centered friendships. I thank Jeff for that conversation, because it made me realize that I never knew the friendship of those closest people to me. My wife and I have grown closer since that day. My co-workers have mentioned how I am different. And I finally entered into the friendship with Jesus that had eluded me for 15 years. And all that is because a friend cared enough to put our history on the line for the sake of a friendship.

So where do I go from here? I go to work, to the market, to the tech store, to the mall. I go out to the world and try to develop new relationships. I try to be real, all the time. I try to present the compassion and love that Christ Jesus shows for me. I try to be the man of God that I have been called to be.

Why?

Because Jesus' own words ring in my heart, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew22:37-40) By these two commands I will strive to live my life. By these two commandments I will try to evangelize to those who don't have a real friend.

-Mike

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