OpinionPriscilla Pope-Levison  |  April 26, 2022
“What if evangelism is likely one of the issues that our international wishes maximum?” Brian McLaren’s penetrating query gives an apt street to release this essay. His query takes us on a distinct tack from maximum essays and books on evangelism, in particular the ones written by way of mainline Protestant varieties like me, who hand-wring over the dismal overlook lately for evangelism.
The note itself seems ceaselessly on this discouraging abbreviation: “the e-word.” Whilst McLaren admits that evangelism, the e-word, conjures up the picture of promoting God like vinyl siding, he nonetheless acknowledges the worth, even the need, of this sharing the excellent news follow as it pursues vital, life-changing conversations providing “a style of grace, a ‘rumor of glory,’ as songwriter Bruce Cockburn says.”
Priscilla Pope-Levison
McLaren believes that excellent evangelism and excellent evangelists could make a global of distinction, actually. I concur. Alternatively, it isn’t simple to be passionate about evangelism lately, given the big variety of demanding situations mitigating towards it. On the identical time, golden alternatives exist as neatly.
So let’s have a look at a number of two-sided realities within the twenty first century that serve up each problem and alternative concurrently. Then it’s as much as every one among us and the church buildings we’re engaged in to show every problem into a chance.
Evangelism has an enormous PR drawback to triumph over proper off the bat.
The Elmer Gantry evangelistic hucksters who preached something and lived every other have embedded in many of us the equation that evangelism equals hypocrisy. Although the Elmer Gantry name from Sinclair Lewis’ 1927 vintage doesn’t strike a chord, everybody acknowledges the cool animated film of the sweaty-browed, striped-tie, used-car salesman evangelist, replete with a neon-bright, white-toothed smile, whose sleazy, heavy-handed enchantment turns our stomachs.
The feminine evangelist in Elmer Gantry was once in response to Aimee Semple McPherson, whose nationally lined kidnapping saga — was once it reality or a malevolent fictitious ruse? — passed off the 12 months sooner than Lewis printed the unconventional. This cool animated film of the evangelist-minus-integrity reemerged within the Nineteen Eighties with the downfall of outstanding televangelists Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. Their monetary and sexual shenanigans justifiably precipitated many of us, Christians amongst them, to cringe on the mere point out of the e-word.
Extra not too long ago, televangelists are purchasing airplanes — plural! Kenneth Copeland owns a minimum of 3 personal plane. The Texas-based preacher claimed he could be surrounded by way of demonic forces if he have been compelled to commute on business planes. Every other evangelist, Jesse Duplantis, quipped that if Jesus descended from heaven and bodily set foot on earth lately, he wouldn’t journey on a donkey; as a substitute, “he’d be on an plane preaching the gospel in every single place the sector.” Duplantis requested his fans to pay for a $54 million airplane, although he already owned 3.
Sadly those evangelists, whose antics flood the inside track cycle, gas a good better sense in our time of evangelism as excessive. In line with a up to date Barna Team find out about, “a startling six in 10 American citizens imagine that any ‘try to convert others’ to at least one’s personal religion is ‘excessive.’ Greater than 8 out of 10 ‘nones’ say so! To be transparent: A majority of U.S. adults, and nearly all of non-religious adults (83%), imagine that evangelism is religiously excessive.”
“The No. 1 explanation why cited by way of individuals who gravitated to Christianity is their dating with a believer.”
At the turn aspect — and right here’s the chance — the No. 1 explanation why cited by way of individuals who gravitated to Christianity is their dating with a believer. In different phrases, they changed into a Christian as a result of a private connection.
Just about three-quarters of respondents to a up to date survey establish a partner or spouse, a congregation, a minister, a father or mother or different circle of relatives member, a chum or any person they have got a dating with because the influencer of their determination. If youngsters are added to the combination, then the quantity will increase to 86%.
Even in a 100-page file explaining the way to make the most of social media in evangelism, the authors reiterate the centrality of relationships: “Human relationships are treasured, whether or not face-to-face or digital ones that happen on social media platforms. They require time, prayer and private funding. Whilst we applaud your passion in pursuing social media as a ministry platform, we wish to provoke upon you that the introduction and construction of relationships … is each an impressive alternative in addition to a heavy duty that are meant to now not be taken frivolously.”
“Growing relationships is much more important lately in evangelism as a result of maximum Christians come to religion step by step fairly than instantaneously.”
Growing relationships is much more important lately in evangelism as a result of maximum Christians come to religion step by step fairly than instantaneously; it’s a adventure, now not a jog. While a century in the past, revivals in The us, stuffed with urgency to make a decision now — this night! — held prominence as evangelism’s most sensible billing, their affect has since waned dramatically.
“The stereotype of an individual changing into a Christian in a second of awakening or conversion is for essentially the most phase false. … The preoccupation with getting fast effects, additionally, will also be bad taking into consideration the types of adjustments in lifestyles patterns, practices, commitments, ideals and objective that steadily finally end up accompanying conversion,” says Byran Stone in Discovering Religion These days.
What those statistics and feedback from contemporary research upload as much as is that evangelism calls for time and a focus for the advance and preservation of relationships. Evangelism is for the lengthy haul.
“Those that wish to support others in coming to religion want to take significantly how they may come along those that are on a adventure of religion, nourishing and nurturing them by way of figuring out religion as a technique of cultivating conduct, practices, convictions, and inclinations of personality over the years,” Stone provides.
All that is to mention that unfavorable stereotypes of evangelists fritter away in the middle of private or small crew evangelism, the place dialog flows in a context of hospitality, grace and love.
“Unfavourable stereotypes of evangelists fritter away in the middle of private or small crew evangelism, the place dialog flows in a context of hospitality, grace and love.”
For many years, non secular conversations were at the decline, in line with the Barna Team, which tracked this development over a 25-year length. An vast majority of American Christians in finding non secular conversations downright embarrassing.
A United Methodist pastor in Arkansas corroborated those statistics when he informed me he didn’t discover ways to speak about his religion at church: “Rising up within the UMC, I used to be now not taught that I had a tale to inform. I used to be taught the Methodist tale in point of fact neatly, however I used to be now not inspired to believe my very own religion tale and the way it will affect any person else.”
The similar impulse to clamp down on talking about God presentations up within the subtitle, Why Sacred Phrases Are Vanishing, of Jonathan Merritt’s contemporary e book, Studying to Talk God from Scratch.
Merritt, raised Southern Baptist, describes the non secular language barrier he encountered when he moved to New York Town. “I by no means expected, upon arriving, that I’d run right into a crippling language barrier. Certain, I may just order a late-night kabob from a halal boulevard cart or relay an cope with to a taxicab driving force. I spoke English in addition to I all the time had. My drawback was once that I may just now not ‘talk God.’”
Merritt insists he isn’t on my own. Neither is this a phenomenon restricted to New York Town. Even heartland Christians revel in the similar language barrier and proclivity to deflect non secular conversations. Statistically, in line with Merritt, best 13% of American Christians discuss God on a weekly foundation.
Throughout the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, devout leaders noticed their other folks hungering in remarkable techniques to listen to tales of the place God is at paintings on the earth in spite of unemployment, grief, depression, anxiousness, loss, uncertainty and isolation. To deal with this starvation, a Dallas church started to incorporate testimonies all over the Sunday on-line worship carrier.
One younger nurse operating in a tactical COVID-19 unit at Parkland Health center testified to the intersection between her religion and her paintings: “At paintings, I’m greater than only a nurse. I’m the arms and ft of God. … I’m seeking to be circle of relatives to them. Religion is giving me energy to try this.”
The congregational reaction to her testimony was once overwhelming. Once I requested the senior pastor concerning the determination to include testimonies, he answered, “We made up our minds we might do the entirety shall we to contain the congregation creatively all over this COVID length. Testimonies and different types of video occasions have been a technique to try this.”
This is only one instance of the shift to integrating testimony, the follow of Christians telling tales about how and the place they revel in God’s task of their lifestyles. Those tales are “life-giving,” McLaren wrote in an electronic mail to me. “When other folks see how others are discerning the presence of God of their lives, they’re impressed to do the similar.”
“Testimony as martyria manner a note spoken for which one is able to be martyred.”
Lest testimony be understood as all communicate however no motion, believe the Greek note for testimony, martyria. Testimony as martyria manner a note spoken for which one is able to be martyred. Believe Stephen, the primary Christian martyr, who testified to the risen Christ in the middle of a murderous mob.
“Stephen isn’t known as a martyr as a result of he dies, he dies as a result of he’s a witness of Christ,” in line with Amanda Drury in Announcing Is Believing: The Necessity of Testimony in Adolescent Non secular Building.
Martyrs, like Stephen, who held extra tightly to their testimony than their very own lives, have profoundly formed the Christian church throughout the ages. A modern instance — and there are lots of — is Dorothy Day (1897–1980), founding father of the Catholic Employee Motion. Whilst now not persecuted for her religion to the purpose of martyrdom, however she confronted relentless grievance for bringing her testimony into the political and financial arenas.
“If I’ve completed the rest in my lifestyles,” declared Day, “this is because I’ve now not been embarrassed to discuss God.”
An evangelism professor, Jack Jackson, wrote in a Catalyst article outlining the central significance of testimony, “There hasn’t ever been a greater time to make Christian testimony, as soon as once more, a central act of the Methodist group.”
Together with the not possible destruction of lifestyles, well being, employment, housing, commute and such a lot else wreaked all over the worldwide pandemic, the North American church additionally has skilled a devastating affect. Participation in worship products and services and different church actions recently falls 30% to 50% underneath the pre-pandemic reasonable, in line with a up to date Barna Team find out about. The toll on pastors and worship leaders has been exceedingly heavy.
Throughout an evangelism webinar I taught closing month for the Presbyterian Church in Canada, one pastor declared that she by no means sought after to listen to the note “pivot” once more Now not unusually, just about 40% of pastors have significantly regarded as quitting full-time ministry, and part of the ones experiencing a heightened sense of burnout serve church buildings in mainline denominations.
“The 12 months 2020 — and now 2021 — are arguably the 2 toughest years to ever be a pastor in the US. … I’ve by no means noticed extra other folks able to try,” mentioned William Vanderbloemen, head of a Houston-based church consultancy crew.
On the identical time, in line with a up to date Harris ballot, a majority of American adults — two-thirds — state that the pandemic has had a favorable affect on their religion. Those statistics are borne out anecdotally by way of the emergence of testimony all over the outbreak of COVID-19, as described above.
“Contributors of all teams — by way of gender, age, source of revenue, training, family make-up, race and area — additionally record feeling a private non secular awakening,” the Houston Chronicle reported.
An sudden crew main the proportion is males between the age of 35 and 44, who’re “the possibly to really feel extra non secular and non secular lately than sooner than the pandemic.” For American citizens now not affiliated with a faith, 13% state that they have got transform extra non secular because of the pandemic.
To go back to McLaren’s query, “What if evangelism is likely one of the issues that our international wishes maximum?” Now could be all the time the time to have interaction in evangelism, and that is true now greater than ever. Even with protecting and social distancing necessities in position, every of the 8 fashions introduced in my e book, Fashions of Evangelism, may also be practiced robustly and successfully. Alternatively, for brevity’s sake, I will be able to point out right here best 4 of the fashions that I believe in particular apt for evangelism in a COVID international:
Private evangelism: Start to pray for one user you move paths with, both in-person or on-line, and in finding alternatives to start up gospel-related conversations.
Small crew evangelism: Release a momentary crew for the aim of evangelizing six to 8 other people whose passion in faith has been piqued all over the pandemic.
Church enlargement evangelism: Each and every church can start now a brand new port of access for like-minded other folks to assemble round a subject matter or task associated with the Christian religion.
Media evangelism: This style is 100% geared to evangelism all over the pandemic. Spiritual conversations by the use of social or different media can really feel much less threatening for a spiritual seeker. When conceivable and with protection measures in position, a web based dialog can proceed offline and incorporate methods from the non-public evangelism style.
Now could be all the time the time to have interaction in evangelism, and that is true now greater than ever.
This text at first seemed at Catalyst and is used right here with permission.
Priscilla Pope-Levison serves as analysis professor of sensible theology at Southern Methodist College’s Perkins College of Theology.
 
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