Today’s Readings: Psalm 27; Exodus 15:11-18; Matthew 25:14-30; 1 Corinthians 2:7-13; Psalm 74
One of the words that is most difficult for people in progressive churches to use is the word “evangelism”. There are many reasons for this. One reason is that many progressives have come to equate evangelism with pushing your beliefs down another person’s throat. Another reason is that progressive people think of evangelism as a memorized spiel that one person recites to another that’s laden with scriptural quotes and creedal assertions. Needless to say, none of these things elicit warm, fuzzy responses from most progressives. I don’t think those are the only ways to do evangelism, however. In fact, I would go so far as to say that those two ways represent perhaps the least effective ways of doing evangelism. So what’s a more effective way for us to think about evangelism? In speaking of the work of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul noted: “God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that [God] is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way” (1 Corinthians 2:11-13 from The Message). The passage gives us what I feel are two of the best ways to think about evangelism. First, evangelism should come from an experiential place predicated on sharing one’s experience of God - not a cognitive place predicated on sharing one’s beliefs about God. Second, evangelism should come from a personal place based on sharing one’s story - not an impersonal place based on sharing the creedal assertions of others. If you think about evangelism in those terms, then evangelism becomes very, very easy. In this Advent season when many of us will stand up during our worship services and sing the old spiritual “Go Tell It On the Mountain”, I would remind you to think about the act of telling it on the mountain in terms of the way Paul taught us. If you do that, you just might surprise yourself by going out and actually doing some of that tellin’! Til next time…
One of the words that is most difficult for people in progressive churches to use is the word “evangelism”. There are many reasons for this. One reason is that many progressives have come to equate evangelism with pushing your beliefs down another person’s throat. Another reason is that progressive people think of evangelism as a memorized spiel that one person recites to another that’s laden with scriptural quotes and creedal assertions. Needless to say, none of these things elicit warm, fuzzy responses from most progressives. I don’t think those are the only ways to do evangelism, however. In fact, I would go so far as to say that those two ways represent perhaps the least effective ways of doing evangelism. So what’s a more effective way for us to think about evangelism? In speaking of the work of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul noted: “God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that [God] is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way” (1 Corinthians 2:11-13 from The Message). The passage gives us what I feel are two of the best ways to think about evangelism. First, evangelism should come from an experiential place predicated on sharing one’s experience of God - not a cognitive place predicated on sharing one’s beliefs about God. Second, evangelism should come from a personal place based on sharing one’s story - not an impersonal place based on sharing the creedal assertions of others. If you think about evangelism in those terms, then evangelism becomes very, very easy. In this Advent season when many of us will stand up during our worship services and sing the old spiritual “Go Tell It On the Mountain”, I would remind you to think about the act of telling it on the mountain in terms of the way Paul taught us. If you do that, you just might surprise yourself by going out and actually doing some of that tellin’! Til next time…
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