Evangelism

I got myself in trouble with an experienced pastor the other day. Oops, I should probably learn to keep my mouth shut more often! Anyway, we got into a short discussion about my evangelism style, and I told him I don't really have one. After his initial shock, he asked me what I meant, so I told him a story.

When I was in my first year of seminary, I had heard much about the evangelism professor, who was something of a legend in that school and across the denomination... so I immediately enrolled in his Personal Evangelism class. But there was a problem. The more I went to class that semester, the more I became troubled by the whole "evangelism" thing. Great guy... I love the (now retired) professor as a person... but frankly, his methods literally made me ill. His full-court press style of gospel salesmanship was modeled after "Evangelism Explosion, " a massively popular formula for "training disciples" developed by D. James Kennedy in the early 60's. Essentially, this method of sharing the gospel centers around asking two important questions, roughly as follows:

#1 - If you were to die tonight, do you know for sure that you would go to be with God in heaven?

#2 - (if they say yes)... If God were to ask you, "Why should I allow you into My heaven," what would you say?

Then, after managing to get his or her attention (hopefully by scaring the "hell" out of them), you would lead them through a series of pre-selected Bible passages (accompanied by profound illustrations)... all purposefully designed to lead the person through a rational, yet emotionally appealing monologue about God's plan of salvation with humankind. Question, question, Scripture, illustration, Scripture, illustration... etc.

Anyone can do it, my professor insisted, as long as they commit themselves to memorizing the questions, the Bible passages, and the illustrations. That, and an evangelist must diligently maintain the attitude of prayer and "seeing" the lost with Jesus' eyes. If we don't see everyone in desperate need of Christ, then we'll quickly become desensitized, and stop being concerned about people going to hell. Now, tell me, how exactly does a person argue with that?

In those days, I didn't have the words to articulate my building sense of anxiety each time I went to class and had to report on how many times I had shared the gospel with unbelievers the previous week... but with each passing Tuesday night, I came to dread the two and a half hour class more and more. Over and over, the class schedule followed the same basic formula for success: Listen to the professor's highly-charged lecture, take copious notes (or pretend to), watch a home video or two in which he demonstrates every phase of the monologue with unbelievable ease, take a short quiz, turn in a written report, practice our pitch with a partner or small group... and of course, give the class our personal "hit list" of how many people we had gotten to the point of saying the infamous "sinner's prayer" and therefore getting them eternally "saved." We even tracked our overall class hit list per local church throughout the semester with hash marks on a blackboard representing each person won into the kingdom of God! What an impact we were making... and what a migraine I was getting!

Years later, I went to a Brian McLaren conference in Kansas City, and he helped me understand why I had difficulty relating to my legendary professor. For one thing, the two questions were not appropriate for this day and age... (Hmmm, what might a better question be for a postmodern age?)

Anyway, there is good news about the class - I finally got through the semester. The bad news, however? I later realized that the class was a two-semester course. In order to get any credit, I had to take "advanced" evangelism the following semester as well! Oh boy!... More money down the toilet!... More hash marks on the chalkboard!... More sinners saved!... More migraines!

Needless to say, I hated it. Perhaps next time I'll try to explain what my style of evangelism is (yes, I do have one, but it's not nearly as scientific or a "sure-fire" in its ability to bring sinners to their knees)... rather than what it is not. In the meantime, I'd love to learn your take on the whole subject. How you go about sharing your faith in Jesus Christ? What does evangelism mean to you?

The River

My good friend Eric laid into me the other day for not posting to my blog regularly... so I thought I'd better write something down or I'll hear from him again!

Well, it looks as though the River will be flowing very soon. I'm writing to you from a home in Spokane, where we're staying during our very short trip to Washington State to finalize the details for planting a church in my hometown of Ellensburg. We met in a downtown high rise office building this morning to discuss the financial details and philosophy for starting a brand new work in the 'Burg.' As it turns out, their proposal to us was very different than ours was to them... but in some ways it is more freeing, and certainly more balanced for all parties involved. The people who are sponsoring this new church are so wise and so positive... We were blown away by their sincere affirmation and encouraging feedback. We may be the only ones in our little town as we begin our ministry there, but we will certainly not be alone. There is a whole team of people who deeply care for us and really want to see this new church succeed.

Quite honestly, there is no specific ministry plan... at least not anything that is set in concrete. We have a lot of ideas, passion, and questions... but much of what we do depends on what and who we encounter when we arrive there. We talked it over quite extensively, and as a group, we came to this conclusion: The sooner we begin, the better! So tomorrow morning we'll fly back to Kansas City, give our notice at our respective places of employment, pack up our belongings, and prepare to leave town on June 17. I graduated from seminary on Mother's Day, so it seems very fitting to leave town on Father's Day!

I admit, I have been very negligent in posting to this site... but the past month has, without a doubt, been the longest month of my life. Waiting and praying to see if this is indeed where God is calling us to serve His kingdom. Not knowing for certain has been very frustrating to say the least. However, we left that meeting today with the full knowledge and affirmation that everything we've been sensing in our spirit over the past 12 months has been the call of God on our lives... calling us back to the very place we began our journey together 18 years ago... and of all things, to start a new church! This time around, instead of (trying to) chase girls and abusing alcohol, I'll be sharing the good news of God's grace. Instead of trying to escape my hometown, I'll be seeking to become part of the local culture... to inspire others to serve the poor... to draw near to the One who created them... to become a disciple of Jesus.

The Lord wants to redeem the years the locusts have eaten...

One other thing that became clear in the meeting this morning... we won't be able to take on this project all by ourselves. Obviously, we'll need to depend on God throughout this ministry adventure... but we'll also need a team of people around us... people with passion for Christ, and the gift of thinking through the details... especially in terms of financial stewardship.

No question... It's going to be hard, it's going to be lonely, often times we'll probably want to give up and run away... but it's also going to be wonderful! In a way I can't fully articulate, I know all the way down to the core of my being that God created me for such a time as this... that is, He created US for such a time as this! Though I could certainly do something easier than plant a church in my hometown... or something more financially rewarding... I could never do anything more right or satisfying. It is the right time... the right place... the right circumstances, and the right decision for my family... Somehow I think we'd better buckle-up and prepare for the ride of our lives, 'cause we're about to get on the biggest, fastest, most dangerous roller-coaster ever built... and it makes the adrenaline flow through my veins just thinking about it!

Yikes! Anybody want to move to Ellensburg and get on the roller-coaster with us?