EVANGELISM 101
What comes to mind for you when I say the word “evangelism?” Does it elicit warm and happy thoughts akin to children playing in a park on a sunny summer’s afternoon? Or does it elicit feelings of insecurity like when your 10th grade biology teacher, Mr. Assumssen, walks up to you in the middle of class and says, “Jensen, you’re pretty smart, although I don’t know when!” Then he holds up a twig and says, “What kind of tree does this twig come from?” And you say, “I’m sorry, Mr. Assmussen, I just don’t know!” What comes to mind for you when I say the word “evangelism?” Chances are, your feeling is more akin to the latter than it is to the former.
The dictionary defines the word “evangelism” this way. Evangelism is: 1) the winning or revival of personal commitments to Christ; and 2) militant or crusading zeal. No wonder the word “evangelism” evokes such pessimistic and distasteful sentiment!
Perhaps a part of our feelings about the word “evangelism” comes from the negative associations we have with the term “evangelist” – specifically, T.V. evangelists. We wonder how in the world they can stand up in a pulpit and promise untold heavenly and material blessings if we will but support their ministry. Then, truth be told, we take a kind of sadistic pleasure in seeing them fall from grace amid some kind of irreverent scandal.
Evangelism isn’t meant to be a scary word. I was taught in seminary that the word “evangelism” means “outreach.” I have a dictionary of Christian theology that defines the word “evangelism” as “mission.” Personally, I think either term will suffice. In fact, perhaps the best definition of the word actually embodies both. Evangelism is outreach, and evangelism is mission.
I’ve got to admit that – in a way – I admire the evangelism of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons…now known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Of course, they don’t come to my door. They identify the homes of clergy in a community and they avoid them like the plague. And I don’t know how you feel about them when they come to your door, but I do admire their dedication. I don’t agree with them, but I can appreciate their outreach and their mission. Regardless of how we feel about them, we’ve got to admire their evangelistic zeal.
I mean, hey…they’ve got us beat, don’t they? The statistics indicate that the average Presbyterian invites someone to worship with them once every 17 years. At least we’ve got the Methodists beat. The average Methodist invites someone to worship with them once every 24 years. But before we begin to gloat, let me share something else with you. I recently heard a Presbyterian minister define the Presbyterian evangelist this way. The Presbyterian evangelist is the one who knocks upon someone’s door. When they come to answer the door, the Presbyterian evangelist stands on the porch and doesn’t know what to say! Is that definition true? And if it is, is it funny…or is it sad?
Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not going to advocate a new program here where we begin door-to-door evangelism. We’ll get to Presbyterian evangelism later. For now, let’s focus on the issue just raised. Do Presbyterians know what to say? Can a Presbyterian articulate his or her faith? The reason I ask is this. The mission and outreach of evangelism have never been more important.
I’ve finally been able to get around to reading that David Kinnaman – Gabe Lyons book from which Mollie Little taught a class here last September. The title of the book is unChristian. It is not a book about how to be un-Christian. In fact, the subtitle of the book tells us what it’s really about. The subtitle is: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity…and Why It Matters.
The new generation they’re talking about is the generation – actually generations – that followed the Baby Boomers. The last of the so-called Baby Boomers were born in 1964. The next generation was born between 1965 and 1983. I’ve always called them the Baby Busters; the book unChristian just calls them Busters. Then it talks about the generation after that – the generation born between 1984 and 2002. The book calls that generation “Mosaics.” I’d never heard that generation described that way. A mosaic, of course, is an art form. It’s also a kind of virus that infects certain plants, but I don’t think that’s quite what they mean.
I said a moment ago that the mission and outreach of evangelism have never been more important. The book unChristian tells us why. Busters and Mosaics do not have a very positive view of the Christian faith. Many of them think, and I quote, that “Christians no longer represent what Jesus had in mind,” and “that Christianity in our society is not what it was meant to be.” In fact, 38% of them claim to have a bad impression of present-day Christianity. A woman from Mississippi put it this way:
Christianity has become bloated with blind followers who would rather repeat slogans than actually feel true compassion and care. Christianity has become marketed and streamlined into a juggernaut of fear-mongering that has lost its own heart.
Those are pretty strong words, wouldn’t you say? Why do you suppose she feels that way? Why do 38% of our young people today have a bad impression of present-day Christianity? Authors Kinnaman and Lyons make this observation:
One crucial insight kept popping up in our exploration. In studying thousands of outsiders’ impressions, it is clear that Christians are primarily perceived (by) what they stand against. We have become famous for what we oppose, rather than for who we are for.
That last line is enlightening. “We have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for.” Now in all fairness, there are some things that we do have to oppose as Christians. We cannot compromise the “Thou shalt nots” in the Ten Commandments, for example. But note that they did not say, “rather than what we are for.” They said, “rather than who we are for.” We have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for. Who are we for? We are supposed to be for none other than Jesus Christ, are we not?
So if Presbyterian evangelists are those who knock on the door, and when the person answers the door, we stand on the porch and don’t know what to say, we’ve got a problem. We must learn to articulate our faith. Perhaps even more important, we must learn how to live our faith.
Let’s take a look at the passage we read from the gospel according to Mark. I read seven simple verses. And in those seven simple verses, there are three separate scenes. The first scene is the baptism of Jesus by John. The second scene is Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. The third scene is Jesus beginning his public ministry. As you will soon see, all three scenes are intimately tied together. And I want to note that the sequence is of ultimate importance.
Jesus first was baptized by John. I don’t have time to go into all the theological ramifications of the sacrament of baptism, so let me just say this. It was there that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove. Jesus’ baptism marked his reception of the Holy Spirit.
Then what happened? The Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness for 40 days. There he was tempted by Satan, right? The gospel of Mark doesn’t say a whole lot about Satan and his wiles. You have to look at Matthew and Luke to see how Satan tempted Jesus. There you will find, if you take the time to look, that Satan didn’t show up until the END of the 40 days. Jesus did not spend 40 days being tempted by Satan. He spent his time in prayer and fasting. That’s why the Devil proved to be no challenge for him. Jesus had just spent 40 days in intimate communion with God.
After dealing with the Devil, Jesus began his public ministry in Galilee. Perhaps we
could say he began his evangelism then. He began his mission and he began his outreach AFTER he had spent 40 days in communion with God…AFTER he had made the proper preparations.
How can we expect to perform our mission and our outreach without the proper preparations? Think about it A tree can grow tall and spread its branches wide, but if it has no root system, how strong will it really be? It will simply blow over at the first sign of wind. We, too, must have a root system. We, too, must make preparations to fulfill our mission.
How does one make the proper preparations? One must first be rooted in the word of God. One must know and understand what the Bible is trying to tell us. One must also be rooted in prayer. You should begin and end every day in prayer. And I’m not talking about a couple of words spoken to God in haste. I’m talking about taking the time to communicate with God, and to listen for God in your heart. You can’t do that in 30 seconds. One must also be rooted in worship. We often say that worship is for God, not for us. Certainly that is true, but I think worship is also good for us. Where else do we confess our sin and receive forgiveness? Where else do we hear the word of God proclaimed? Where else do we take an hour out of our lives to focus exclusively on God?
Jesus was baptized, then Jesus prepared, then Jesus proclaimed the word of God. I do believe we are called to do the same. Evangelism is important. The mission and outreach that we can provide have never been more crucial. But do we really need to go door-to-door? Do we really need to invade people’s privacy to fulfill our mission in Christ? I’m not going to tell you no, but perhaps there is another way as well.
Those Busters and Mosaics who have such a bad impression of Christianity did not come to their opinions in a vacuum. They formed their opinions based upon their experience at churches, their interactions with others, and what they heard from their parents growing up. At the core of this, young people said that they formed their views of Christianity based upon their relationships with Christians.
A 24-year-old girl named Victoria said, “Everyone in my church gave me advice about how to raise my son, but a lot of the time they seemed to be reminding me that I have no husband – and besides, most of them were not following their own advice. It made it hard to care what they said when they did not practice what they preached.”
Perhaps that’s the real secret to modern-day evangelism. We need to practice what we preach. I can’t help but think that the more involved we become in our preparation – the more intentionally we strive to grow the roots of our own faith – the more likely that is to happen. Amen.
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