Thoughts on Evangelism

"Saint Preaching" - Jorge Ingles, 1475-1500

We attended church services in Cincinnati last Sunday before returning home to Bozeman. It was our second time at this church-we visited a year ago during our last trip to Cincy. Not much had changed since a year ago, which is not necessarily a good thing for a church.

Perhaps it is because this church is in trouble that the minister chose to focus his message on evangelism. Specifically, he focused on the importance of each parishioner inviting their friends to attend church with them. He even went so far as to suggest that it was a sin if you didn't invite unbelievers to church.

This bugged me - not because I feel guilty for not inviting my friends to church (which I typically do not), but because I'm not so sure inviting someone to church necessarily equates to evangelism.

It all comes back to the question: who is church for? In recent years, the rise of the "seeker-friendly" church with its praise bands and topical sermons has offered the viewpoint that church should be for the unbeliever - afterall, didn't Jesus say the sick are those who need the physician? There's certainly something to this, and minds much greater than mine seem to have settled comfortably on this position. The impact has been far-reaching, with churches that in no way resemble the Willow Creeks or Saddlebacks of the world emulating their tactics in an ill-conceived attempt to achieve growth/success.

It all seems pretty straightforward - if evangelism implies bringing folks to Christ, then one would expect successful evangelism to result in more people doing the things Christians do - such as going to church on Sunday mornings. So it follows that evangelism done poorly - or not at all - must be one reason for the church that languishes. I cannot argue with this.

But I can argue that it does not necessarily follow that increasing the number of folks in church on Sunday morning equates to evangelism. In the case of evangelism, I believe church attendance is a symptom, not a cause.

Why do we go to church? To worship. To learn more about our faith. To fellowship with other believers. How many folks who are not believers have any interest in these things? Why should they?

I'm not suggesting that the non-believer cannot find Christ in a church on Sunday morning. I'm just saying that if that unbeliever happens to be in church on a Sunday morning, it's because God is already working on them. You see, evangelism happens long before the  unbeliever's first church visit. It happens as believers move about in their daily lives, ready to give an answer for the hope within them - and it may have precious little to do with an organized church service.

When do people seek out God? Is it when things are going great? When life is one big party? Not in my experience. It's when things aren't going so well - when the invincibility of self-reliance wears thin - that we seek someone or something greater than ourselves. If I can provide a word of encouragement, of friendship, during these times, isn't that evangelizing? Until someone is seeking God's face, an invite to church is nonsensical, isn't it? Why would they go a second time, even if they agreed to visit once? And I don't think the answer is to sanitize the service so that it's less curious or offensive to the uninitiated, to make it "friendlier."

No, I think church is intended for the believer. Evangelism is something that happens outside the walls of the church. Am I wrong here? I'd love to hear your comments.

Thoughts on Passion Week 2009

As I grow older, one thing that's continually humbling is learning how much I don't know. I've been in the faith for most of my life, and yet this morning's sermon taught me something I certainly should have known, but didn't. I'm sharing this because I think it's really a pretty fundamental piece of the whole redemption puzzle.

On the cross, Christ's final prayer is this, "My God, my God - why have You forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) Now, the astute (in this case, the pastor's daughter) may ask, "Why did Jesus ask this question? Didn't he know what was coming?" I mean, if Christ is truly God in man, this crucifixion thing shouldn't have taken him by surprise, right?

As pastor Brett LaShelle pointed out this morning, the answer is both simple and obvious - but it's something I've missed my entire life.

While the phrase is presented as a question, it really isn't a question at all - instead, Jesus is making direct reference to Psalm 22. At the time of Christ, folks weren't walking around with the NIV tucked under an arm. No - scripture existed only on scrolls, and those scrolls were typically available only in the synagogue. In addition, there was no chapter/verse system - that's a classification mechanism that we've imposed in translation to make it easier to break things up into digestible chunks. So a reference to a Psalm was made by simply quoting its first line - in the case of Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" So Christ wasn't asking God why, he was making reference to a Psalm that tells us why. You can read the Psalm here.

With this understanding, Christ's 'question' in Matthew 27:46 goes from strange query to intentional invocation. Right up to the end Jesus is connecting the dots, showing the Jews (and us) how he fulfilled the prophecy of the Old Testament.

If you're a believer, I hope you have a happy and blessed Easter. And if you're not, I hope you also have a great passover week and Easter weekend!

"The Coming Evangelical Collapse" - Thought-Provoking Article in Christian Science Monitor

The Power of Positive Thought

Lately, I've been particularly convicted by quotes I've encountered that underscore the importance of positive thinking. I have a slight tendency to approach things from the perspective of a well-grounded realist (understatement intended). I'm conservative by nature and typically apply my analytical skills toward envisioning all the things that can possibly go wrong with a plan or scheme. This suits me well in my role as project manager; risk management plays a major role in successful project implementation. But I realize that my tendency to focus on the things that can go wrong often means I ignore the likelihood that things will go right.

So it is interesting that notions of positive thinking have been resonating so profoundly with me lately. First, I encountered the following quote in a business magazine I was reading a couple of weeks ago:

And today, I read this quote from Gainsville Health & Fitness' employee handbook, as related in a recent issue of Inc magazine:

My favorite quote of the lot: "We develop our own future by applying persistence to the possibilities." That's powerful stuff.

I'm still not sure what it means for me to live a life that assumes success instead of failure. But I'm thinking about it seriously, and that's very cool.

A Cool Story About My Son

Some time ago, our family had a chance to visit the San Diego Zoo. If you've been, you know there's a serious amount of walking to be had when touring that place. This posed a bit of a problem for us, as our son had just been diagnosed with JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis) not long before. Between strollers and shoulder rides, he got around the zoo just fine. But there was one moment that day that cast a pall on an otherwise great time. As we walked, I noticed a little boy merrily flying up and down the trail like greased lightning. It's not that I resented him for his health and happiness, it's just that his athleticism stood in stark contrast to what I anticipated for our son. I just knew my son would never be able to run with such grace and abandon.

Fast forward five years to today. Seems my son had a play date this afternoon with one of his little classmates. Her mom talked to my wife a couple of weeks ago; apparently, her daughter wanted to spend some time with my boy because he is the fastest kid in class - she wanted to practice racing him so she could beat him.

It's funny how life works out. We're not promised prosperity, happiness, or endless good times. But even when life throws us its challenges, we can be confident that all things work to good for those who love our Creator. God is good - we just need to align ourselves with Him to truly understand that.