One of the more stinging criticisms I receive year after year is that I am not evangelistic. In my beginning years at Memorial it came from within as well as critics outside of our congregation. Still in 2012 I receive the snubs from some church leaders around the nation for the same reason.
As usual, such accusation really hurts my heart.
I constantly think about winning souls. Really.
So what's missing about me? I don't know.
What made me think about this is that I have prayed for over a year for the vacant house two doors down; that someone would move in needing God. This morning a sold sign stands in the yard! I began to wonder if it will be a couple, a family with children, or two gay men?
What will be their story? The bigger question will be what will God need from me to connect with them for His cause?
And then I thought about how long God and I have spoken about those eventually inhabiting this house. I am guessing this would not count as evangelism to some; but it is one area where I love to work.
Yes, I once believed evangelism was a Tuesday night event where we would study with the lost. Over time, however, I see it as a 24/7 kind of teamwork among the seed sowing, watering, and harvesting body of Christ. I believe we children of God (as a partnership body) converted souls in New Jersey and Singapore over night while the most of us slept.
To me evangelism is a big deal and we are to be so engaged. For me? I direct the Tulsa Workshop. The fact that we updated the title by eliminating Soul Winning (as in Tulsa Soul Winning Workshop) gives proof to my critics that their accusations are correct. That I would produce a film titled 100% Natural Evangelism, again, irritates those frustrated with me for this seems lazy and sloppy to them.
For some, evangelism is an attentive and personal advancement of campaigns, studies, and baptisms. I get it. I was it.
All I can say is that today I feel no less enthused about reaching the entire world with the good news of Jesus. Whether to be criticized is of no significance. We are to be about the Lord's business of spreading the good news.
For those who have a knack of aggressive evangelism, I say awesome.
For those who don't sit at a kitchen table to study the book of Acts with a neighbor, but stand in your kitchen to bake cookies for VBS so that a child can be filled with VBS joy and eventually bring her parents to Sunday morning class that they might be invited to a Class BBQ which would discuss a film being shown next quarter regarding raising children which would mean they would stay over for the assembly and hear the singing by the shy lady with a microphone only to conclude that maybe they two should be baptized because the youth minister baptized three of his teens at the conclusion of the morning and then they were handed a loaf of bread baked by another sweet and shy lady for the sole purpose of blessing a family who might happen to be encouraged by their attendance simply to find that the gentle secretary sorted the visitors cards put in the pews by a widow woman that no one noticed during her kingdom labor which caused a deacon to take their card and give them a call during week and then to find the Tuesday morning Ladies Class sent them a card which really touched the couple that they should study with an Elder in the church and be baptized....well I say to these forty-eight people who won this couple....awesome.
Evangelism: it isn't a one-way for all. It is all-ways to win one.
2 comments:
Thank you for a great post. Our Sunday morning class recently concluded a study on the book "A Church That Flies"by Tim Woodroof that dealt with the concept of "form" vs "function". Your post was aligned with the function i.e. how evangelism occurs or can occur. Again, thank you, and know that there are many like minded people who are so uplifted to read your thoughts each morning as part of the start of their day. God Bless you Terry. Mike.
I'm encouraged that your prayer is being answered. I say this as I realize I need to pray for the young family across the street in front of my house and for the single mother and her two teenagers across the street at the side of my house. Mostly, though, I pray that God will guide me in being a light for them. I'm confident He's doing that, but I seem to be a recalcitrant sheep. I'm praying about that too.
I've come to realize in the last few months that there were years I spent far too much time trying to make the BIG impact with well planned events, catchy titles, and well crafted words. What I should have been doing was searching for the one person to whom I could show God's love as a light into their life. Your post today has helped to reinforce that for me. Thank you so much.
Another truth I've recently realized is that when Jesus said "go into the whole world" He didn't necessarily mean another continent or a disaster area or a repressed region. It can just as well mean going into the world next door to me.
Terry Cross
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