6.14.2004
To a good many Americans, "evangelism" is not a pretty word. For nonbelievers, the word inspires images of Jehovah's Witnesses sniffing around the front door, Mormons in their shirt-sleeves cornering people in the supermarket--the kind of hard sell generally reserved for telemarketers and used-car salesmen. For many Christians the word also has a negative connotation. A lot of us think of evangelism the same way we think of visiting our crazy aunt or cleaning the litter box: something we know we're supposed to do, but are always finding ways of putting off. The thing about it is that I think the majority of American Christians find the notion of evangelism itself distasteful and do not practice it in any fashion.
By "evangelism," of course, I'm referring to the practice of spreading the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus. Already you're cringing even reading the words, perhaps? Don't feel bad--it's a natural reaction. I'll explain why in a moment. What's important to note if you're not up on your New Testament is that in three of the four Gospels, Jesus clearly gives a command to his disciples to baptize people and spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. A lot of Christians hate that part. Most of the people I know that consider themselves believers wouldn't evangelize someone if their life depended on it, and certainly wouldn't have the audacity to go up to some Buddhist and tell him that he was barrelling down the offramp to perdition.
A lot of other Christians, however, take Jesus's commands at face value and will do anything in their power to get you to (and you know the phrase, I'm sure), "accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior."
Don't you hate that phrase? Doesn't it make you queasy? Doesn't it sound like you're being sold something? Of course it does! And there's a reason for that: the techniques used by these evangelists are precisely the same as those used by the worst kind of marketing people.
If you've ever run across an eager Evangelical, or a Mormon during his mission years, or anyone from a church with the words "rock", "living water", or "signs and wonders" in its title, you've experienced the discomfort of that experience. The approach is simple and exceptionally unsophisticated, but it's used because it has worked exceptionally well in the past. It begins with a few simple questions. "Do you believe in God?" "Did you know that God has a plan for you?" "Did you know that Jesus died for your sins? Yes, yours!"
...
The message that I have to those of my fellow Christians who practice such methods is that I wish you would stop doing it this way. These methods don't work anymore. They don't work. In fact, they achieve precisely the opposite of the intended result. Instead of bringing people into the Church, they push those people away in droves.
I am an excellent case study. When I was a freshman in college, I was approached by some Christian kids on a field trip who wanted me and my friends to sit down right then and there, in the middle of the Dallas Hyatt Regency lobby, and say this prayer that would (the way they described it) somehow magically make us Christians and wipe away all of our transgressions. Well, my friends weren't snookered by this, but I was. I was a gullible seventeen year old who wanted desperately to be loved and accepted. I said their prayer. They promised to keep in touch and I never heard from them again. I went around for a few months afterward wondering what was wrong with me because I didn't feel any different, and shouldn't I feel different? I mean, I said that prayer. They said it would change my life. But my life was exactly the same. No angels appeared from on high and anointed me with a heavenly light. I tried to pray, but I felt like an idiot talking to nobody. Within six weeks, I'd decided that religion was for idiots and suckers, and I never wanted anything to do with it, ever again.
Matt Sturges is spot on with this one. People aren't stupid, they just want someone who is evangelizing them to go away. Not exactly the best way to bring people to the church. Love them, accept them, live the best way you can, then, IF THEY ASK YOU, tell them about the wonderful joy and peace that is in your life and invite them to join.
Go read the whole thing - I think it is rather humorus.
By "evangelism," of course, I'm referring to the practice of spreading the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus. Already you're cringing even reading the words, perhaps? Don't feel bad--it's a natural reaction. I'll explain why in a moment. What's important to note if you're not up on your New Testament is that in three of the four Gospels, Jesus clearly gives a command to his disciples to baptize people and spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. A lot of Christians hate that part. Most of the people I know that consider themselves believers wouldn't evangelize someone if their life depended on it, and certainly wouldn't have the audacity to go up to some Buddhist and tell him that he was barrelling down the offramp to perdition.
A lot of other Christians, however, take Jesus's commands at face value and will do anything in their power to get you to (and you know the phrase, I'm sure), "accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior."
Don't you hate that phrase? Doesn't it make you queasy? Doesn't it sound like you're being sold something? Of course it does! And there's a reason for that: the techniques used by these evangelists are precisely the same as those used by the worst kind of marketing people.
If you've ever run across an eager Evangelical, or a Mormon during his mission years, or anyone from a church with the words "rock", "living water", or "signs and wonders" in its title, you've experienced the discomfort of that experience. The approach is simple and exceptionally unsophisticated, but it's used because it has worked exceptionally well in the past. It begins with a few simple questions. "Do you believe in God?" "Did you know that God has a plan for you?" "Did you know that Jesus died for your sins? Yes, yours!"
...
The message that I have to those of my fellow Christians who practice such methods is that I wish you would stop doing it this way. These methods don't work anymore. They don't work. In fact, they achieve precisely the opposite of the intended result. Instead of bringing people into the Church, they push those people away in droves.
I am an excellent case study. When I was a freshman in college, I was approached by some Christian kids on a field trip who wanted me and my friends to sit down right then and there, in the middle of the Dallas Hyatt Regency lobby, and say this prayer that would (the way they described it) somehow magically make us Christians and wipe away all of our transgressions. Well, my friends weren't snookered by this, but I was. I was a gullible seventeen year old who wanted desperately to be loved and accepted. I said their prayer. They promised to keep in touch and I never heard from them again. I went around for a few months afterward wondering what was wrong with me because I didn't feel any different, and shouldn't I feel different? I mean, I said that prayer. They said it would change my life. But my life was exactly the same. No angels appeared from on high and anointed me with a heavenly light. I tried to pray, but I felt like an idiot talking to nobody. Within six weeks, I'd decided that religion was for idiots and suckers, and I never wanted anything to do with it, ever again.
Matt Sturges is spot on with this one. People aren't stupid, they just want someone who is evangelizing them to go away. Not exactly the best way to bring people to the church. Love them, accept them, live the best way you can, then, IF THEY ASK YOU, tell them about the wonderful joy and peace that is in your life and invite them to join.
Go read the whole thing - I think it is rather humorus.