Evangelism Is Another Animal-Not the One We Thought
By Fred Peatross |
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The process of salvation is as important as the event. For as long as I can remember faith communities have emphasized event over process. Yet God is just as interested in the turning points (process) on the continuum of life as he is the consummation of the process in the event (baptism/sinner's prayer). I have a friend who didn’t become a Christ-follower until after the death of his mother. Her death was a turning point in the process that led to his conversion (event).
In the near future my conversation with a skeptic will be published in New Wineskins Magazine. When we talked he asked not to have his identity revealed; “just refer to me as SuperSkeptic.” Our conversation is part of SuperSkeptic’s journey. It’s also part of mine. When you read it, it will become a part of yours. I may never cross SuperSkeptic’s path again. Yet I feel no urgency in convincing him that my convictions are something he needs to adopt. SuperSkeptic is in the middle of a process and I refuse to contravene its course.
Decades of involvement in ‘church’ programs and robust Christian fellowship pulled me away from the people Jesus seeks until a paradigm shift in the early 2000s moved me away from the comforts of my former life as a Christ-follower to a life with a more missional bent. Now for the first time I find myself with more non-Christian friends than Christian and more road stories than church stories.
Creating ‘safe places’ for the people Jesus’ misses is something I’m very passionate about. No time tables. No agendas. Call me a fellow explorer seeking to foster genuine friendships with the people Jesus’ misses the most. If it so happens that a person’s spiritual development matures while in relationship, I pray I’ll be the one given permission to become their spiritual guide. But before this will happen—I must find that point where our journeys converge and then allow time for the building of a relationship on the basis of a spiritual commonality.
Process Evangelism
Modernism played tricks on us. In one way it tricked us into confusing the expression (worship teams, do we sing with instrumental accompaniment or not, acoustic, drums, and on and on) with the purpose (missional). Ask a Christ-follower in the late 1980s through the early 1990s if they were interested in attending an evangelism class and they would quickly reminded you that they, “…were just not gifted to do evangelism.” If anyone was going to make an evangelistic attempt (as defined by the modern era) it would be the local paid preacher. But when salvation is viewed as a process everything changes.
• First, and foremost, it takes the above slogan away. The truth is, know it or not, we all make evangelistic attempts. Modernism mislead us. Evangelism is not something left to the gifted evangelist.
• Evangelism is an ordinary attempt. (Jim Henderson of Off the Map birthed this idea. See his web site at <http://www.off-the-map.org/>
It may sound trite and simple but let me emphasize how indispensable ordinary attempts are. Ordinary attempts endow evangelism with a very important interlude in the evangelistic process by creating potential turning points in the lives of the people Jesus’ misses. Ordinary? You bet it’s ordinary! But at the same time—very, very intentional.
Intentional but Ordinary?
I always have my automobile’s oil changed at the same station. In time I come to know the attendants. They call me Mr. Peatross until I tell them, “…call me Fred.” Now we’re on a first name basis. As our relationship evolves I find them talking to me about their marriages, their stressful encounters during the day and more.
Whether it’s an oil change or groceries or a trip to the UPS Store I make more than a purchase; I make a trip that is intentional. When I leave a store I always pray behind my friend’s back.
Out the Church
Last week as my office was being moved a fellow employee entered my office. I can’t remember exactly what was said, but in the context of our discussion he called me a “different kind of Christian.”
He said, “You’re not the run of the mill, stereotypical Christian.”
When he left my office I knew, without a doubt, that he had just given me the greatest compliment a Christian could ever hope for. Later he informed me that, because of expansion, his office space was being taken. He asked if I would want to share my new office with him. As coworkers, friends, and fellow-explorers we walk this journey together.
If the church is going to turn the corner on the consumerist twist it finds itself caught up in it will because leaders involve themselves in building a culture of ordinary evangelist. New era evangelist.
Jesus’ apprentice will not be formed through Sunday morning sermonettes, drama, worship teams, or edifices fit for comfort but through clear, intentional teaching that says evangelism is forged through a process of salvation. And ordinary attempts are the turning points. Every Christian makes ordinary attempts.
But Christians need to be made aware.
They need to understand that the process of ordinary is as important as the event of salvation.
They need to understand how significant and important their role is in the process of salvation.
Christ wants them to know!
The vision must come alive!
Teach it!
Practice it!
Talk about it every time the community gathers!
Make your Sundays a time for ordinary stories among ordinary Christians!
Church Culture building…until Christ comes back!
 Fred Peatross is a Christian who lives and worships in Huntington, West Virginia. He has been a deacon, a missionary to the former Soviet Union, a pulpit minister, and shepherd. Fred has written three books. He is married to a dietitian, and is the father of three college children. Fred makes "ordinary attempts" to evangelize through relational acts of kindness and enjoys praying behind his friend's back as he journeys with them as a spiritual explorer and sometimes guide. He avidly creates safe-places for the pre-Christian. He blogs here. |
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Wow...thank you. You have put into words what I have been believing for the last year!
www.kaleidoscopelives.blogspot.com
here is a question that we are not yet asking--how do we (the church) equip a post-modern person to be such a friend and sometimes guide? those of us who are older, who grew up in the modern sunday school classes--we got a big-picture view of the story. we got the details of all the little stories. we have often had bible college or seminary training. we can do the work of translating these fundamental truths to make sense to younger, more post-modern thinkers.
donald miller is a prime example. he has a spectacular, innate ability to tell the story in a relevant, poetic, story-like way. rob bell is another example of a great communicator of these truths.
but as i sat in a group of college students who were listening to donald miller speak, i looked around the room. the students were in awe--here was the gospel story, again relevant to their lives. but these same students had no clue how to speak the same poetry into the lives of their peers.
donald miller, rob bell, and probably many more of the emerging voices have recieved much training--modern training, even. i would venture to guess that they are avid readers, and always avid thinkers.
but. in a world of podcasts and instant messages, how is the next generation going to be equipped to put words around the truths that they've experienced?
i think the answer must come in the form of relationship, community. but what will that look like? and is anyone out there talking about this? more importantly--is anyone living it?
the good news is that the bible comes in story form, and the poetry that hits home today seems closer to the bible's culture than our old modern culture. so there must be a way. i pray that the spirit will help us to find it.
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donald miller is a prime example. he has a spectacular, innate ability to tell the story in a relevant, poetic, story-like way. rob bell is another example of a great communicator of these truths.
but as i sat in a group of college students who were listening to donald miller speak, i looked around the room. the students were in awe--here was the gospel story, again relevant to their lives. but these same students had no clue how to speak the same poetry into the lives of their peers.
donald miller, rob bell, and probably many more of the emerging voices have recieved much training--modern training, even. i would venture to guess that they are avid readers, and always avid thinkers.
but. in a world of podcasts and instant messages, how is the next generation going to be equipped to put words around the truths that they've experienced?
i think the answer must come in the form of relationship, community. but what will that look like? and is anyone out there talking about this? more importantly--is anyone living it?
the good news is that the bible comes in story form, and the poetry that hits home today seems closer to the bible's culture than our old modern culture. so there must be a way. i pray that the spirit will help us to find it.