Evangelism

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said the following about evangelism:

• It isn't something you can opt out of: you just do it, even if you are not a professional.
• Do it, not out of duty, but because you love people.  Love as Jesus loves.
• It isn't about results.  Don't try to count the number of conversions or how instantaneously it happens.
• Remember that it is good news.  It is positive, happy news.
• Trust the Holy Spirit to work.
• Pray.
• Be prepared, that your conversations may only bear fruit after you leave the scene.  Give people time to absorb what has been said.
• Don't complicate things.  Only answer what has been asked.  Keep the message simple to understand.
• Always be ready to give an answer.
• Realise the importance of evangelism.

I think Welby made good points.  When we make evangelism out to be an awkward, professional task, we become awkward and unnatural as we try to present the facts to our friends.   When we do it without love as our motivation, our message does not connect as people question our motives.  We do not want to force people to convert, but to give them the opportunity to accept the grace of our Lord.

Do you think so?  Do you find evangelism awkward to do?  Awkward to be on the receiving end of?  Should evangelism be done at the edge of a sword?

Is evangelism a Christian thing, or does it belong to other people too?

Is Jesus real?

What do you reckon?

Michael Paulkovich reckons He isn't.  His study led him to the conclusion that

“When I consider those 126 writers, all of whom should have heard of Jesus but did not – and Paul and Marcion and Athenagoras and Matthew with a tetralogy of opposing Christs, the silence from Qumram and Nazareth and Bethlehem, conflicting Bible stories, and so many other mysteries and omissions – I must conclude that Christ is a mythical character.

However, J Warner Wallace reckons that "the Christian faith is an evidential faith".  He said that the Scriptures call us to use our minds, examine the evidences, examine what we believe, and be convinced with the truth.

Indeed, Paul wrote that

if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead.

Have you studied the evidences?  What do you believe about the Bible?  What do you believe about Jesus?  Why?

Personality test

What talents do you have?  In music?  Sports?  Intelligence?  Are you a people person?  Artistic?  Analytical?

There are personality tests that you can do to find out about yourself.  And other people, perhaps, evaluate you similarly, even without tests, in order to categorise in their minds what kind of person you are.

But are you stuck in whatever it is that you are categorised as?

I think you can change - to a degree - if you choose.  And as you age, you also change, even if you don't choose to.

People can change.

Does God have a say in how you change also?

We read of hardened criminals becoming the most gracious of people when they come to know Jesus.  We read of how people change, as they get married or have children.  Or if they lose a limb or face some tragedy.

Are you willing to change?  Or do you think you are stuck in your personality?

Not of this world

What did Paul mean when he wrote Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Or when Jesus said in John 17:16

They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

I find that as we live in this world, conforming to the patterns of our society and culture is quite necessary.  Be too radically different, and people would think that you are mad, not trustworthy, somebody to shun away from rather than to befriend.  Christians need to conform to the degree that they show God's values in a way that the world would be attracted to God.  They need to be seen as righteous and honourable ... at least, to the extent that they can draw people to Christ.

However, conform too much and the world would not see any difference in us compared to themselves.  We do not show God's glory if we did this.  Instead, we shame our Lord.

Sometimes, it is hard to draw the line.

Especially when we need public favour.  Or to save our own lives.

NSW Premier, Mike Baird was once asked how he came up with the right words to comfort the public after the Sydney Siege.  Mike could have answered to say that God helped him, that God gave him the inspiration, or something to that effect.  He didn't, though.  He said that he worked on it and came up with the right thing to say.  We expect that this is to fit into a culture where one is expected  to be wise and strong as a leader.  Or where mentioning "God" in public draws too much criticism from the public.  But if he had mentioned Gd, God would have gotten more glory.

Would Christians today deny Christ if society would put them to death if they didn't?  Would Christians today be willing to be thrown to the lions, as they were in the first century?  Or, be beheaded by ISIS, in the modern context?

How would you stand out today, if you are a Christian?  Or do you think that Christians are just a bunch of mad, wimpy people who do not know that God isn't real?  How can Christians live lives that say otherwise?

What do you think?