Intentional Evangelism

Evangelism is such a vital component of our Christian walk, and yet at NHF we have devoted so little time and attention for members to share our personal views and practical approaches, that I will take this opportunity to share my general views on evangelism, practical strategies, and some recent personal examples. They are by no means necessarily correct, but as always, I'd like to initiate the discussion with the hope that we will foster more interaction on this topic, to inspire more sharing to the benefit of everyone.

1. Our attitude and commitment to evangelism

Evangelism is a natural expression of our faith and of how much we need God everyday in our lives. The woman at the well in John 4 responded to Jesus by telling the whole town about Him, even though she would count most of them as her persecutors. Someone who had experienced God in a deep and personal way would naturally desire to tell others about Him. Someone who has no hunger to tell others of Christ may not yet taste the goodness of God in a life-changing way, and likely treat God as merely a philosophy or a cosmic police, etc, as described in J.B. Phillips' book “Your god is too small”. Meeting and seeing the power of Jesus is the kind of experience that people would bust down doors (and roofs) for. When we encounter the real God, we can't help but continually desire to tell others.

Evangelism is reliance on God.  Some people think of evangelism as gaining converts, and getting to behave and act as they do. This misunderstanding is sad and harmful to both parties involved. The prospect would sense that he is merely a target of social agenda and thus resist the whole faith. The Christian would mistakenly assume responsibility for others' salvation. Only the Spirit does the redeeming work of drawing people to God.  Eventually, we will realize that we can only bear witness and share our testimonies . It is only the work of the Holy Spirit that transforms people. This will keep us humble, (Ephesians 2:8), and continue to strive for the sake of Gospel as Paul had. Evangelism is the natural activity that reflects my faith in God, that He is alive and relevant and ready to redeem every aspect of our daily lives, that I want to tell others about Him, and that others will benefit tremendously when they get to know Him. We merely act as the conduit for the grace of God, and as the bearers of the good news for others to hear.  When people are not listening despite our best efforts and hopes, that is when we are prompted to pray even more to God for them.

Evangelism is tactful.  Current society discourage discussion of religious matters, mainly due to adverse reactions against cults. Consequently, until I gain sufficient trust from my hearers and earn the right to speak, I am no more than an annoying pop-up ad.  That means I need to take pains to build the bridge in order to communicate to my hearers, perhaps taking years of time.  I also need to be sensitive to their style and needs, find out what form of communication and exchange can touch their hearts.  Bluntly forcing my message on them will merely be resounding gongs or clanging cymbals. But offering genuine sharing at the right moment will be much appreciated.  Skillful evangelism will require good communication, that we know how to listen to people, reading what is their main concern, and not to waste time on trivial details that may distract the main flow of a heart-felt discussion. When we sense people are not ready for a deep discussion, we need to let go and wait for an appropriate time. Furthermore, given our limited time and energy, we should use it wisely. For example, even if I can convince someone in a science / religion debate, if I know that they treat it only  for the sake of debate itself but with no intention to follow up on the implication of the results, then I would not waste my effort. I would offer my limited time to someone else who could benefit from my time and attention much more.

 

Evangelism is caring for people.  As we experience God's transforming grace in all areas of our lives, we understand that all of life's problems are awaiting God's redemption.  When we see people in need, we naturally wish the best for them.  Often we can offer direct material help, but the real need is the spiritual.  Notice how when Jesus heals people, He focus on forgiving the person first, to address the ultimate spiritual need.  If we truly love people, and we know that the best to offer is God Himself, then how can we hold back the knowledge of the ultimate solution to their current problems and eternal Salvation.  In light of the previous point, if we want to be effective, then we need to learn how best to communicate this good news to them, much like a parent who attempts to get a child to learn something (like piano) or to take medicine. We care more for their good and the final result than whether we have done our duty. Genuine caring requires patience, relationship, sharing, and avoid forcing.

Evangelism helps us mature in Christ.  When we raise our children, we learn to take on responsibility whether we like it or not.  In the process of caring for them, we mature.  Similarly, in evangelism we are raising our spiritual offspring, or tending to a flock as a shepherd.  We want the best for them, and we learn to guide them through their various stages of growth. We don't leave their development to chance. Instead, we design everything for them intentionally, and we learn enough of the environment to protect them from the wolves such as cults, dysfunctional groups, or false teachings.  In learning to nurture them, we ourselves learn so much more, and mature in the process.  

Evangelism is central to our spiritual growth. By caring for the spiritual growth of others different from us, we are challenged to broaden the horizons and deepen our knowledge of the faith.  When others don't respond to the Gospel in the same way that I respond, or feel no importance on the issues that I find convincing, I am challenged to think more deeply of the essence of the discussion, viewpoints from both side, and even the meta level of the implicit rules of discussion and what form of interaction would benefit in the future.  You all know that I think and read a lot: it is not so much the knowledge that I pursue, but the insight into how best to share the gospel: how people think, behave and respond, what they want, what gets their attention, in this current society, etc, so that I can be effective in conveying the message, or help them receive it more accurately.  When we stop being on the frontier of the expansion of the Kingdom, we may be susceptible to falls, just as David had when he stopped being a warrior and sinned with Bathsheba. God place evangelism in our lives, allowing us to partake the pleasure of helping others to know Him and grow, so that we ourselves can be challenged continually, and our faith sharpened.

2. Intentional strategies

My own faith journey started when I seriously search for the meaning and purpose of life. When my roommate at college invited me to weekly discussions on Christianity, his mentor spent a month guiding us through the historical proof of the accuracy of the Bible before I was willing to open up and consider the content of the Bible.  So when I finally encountered God in the real and living person of Jesus Christ, I was overwhelmed with joy for finding the ultimate treasure that life can offer. 

For a long time I try to lead others to Christ by the same road that I have taken.  Needless to say not everyone requires rigorous proof at every step, nor satisfied at the theoretical level of knowing God. Besides, not everyone likes to read, or has the time. Even if they come to the mental consent that Jesus is the Christ, they still have to experience God in their lives in order to genuinely grow. Slowly, I come to recognize that most people need to experience God in the everyday aspects, and that my role may be to encourage and facilitate them in taking these little steps.  We can compare this to the way that people trust in the power of science and technology, not because they have deep discussions with Einstein or because they have examine Newton's treatise, but because in everyday situations they observe technology to work in all the appliances and gadgets surrounding them.

Now I share my faith not just in the context of the search for truth, but also in the context of life experiences. I need to ask what can Christianity offer to the everyday life, how it matters, and what differences it makes. That brings to mind he various ways of loving people around us, whether cultivating relationships within marriage and family, or fighting for justice for the displace, and expressed through patience, forgiveness, caring, sacrifice, and most importantly, drawing on the power of God through prayer.  Hence, starting the conversation on these platforms will likely engage our listeners.  

However, while we spend time doing good, serving the poor, and helping people to find the things they yearn for in life, we should beware the danger of simply stopping there, and not show them God, because we would mislead people to believe that the source of goodness and power of love is in us, and cause them to place faith in Humanism and glorify men rather than Christ. For example, just think of the many institutions such as YMCA that started out with Christ in their foundation, but allowed good works to overshadow its purpose, and eventually, merely represent a token of social welfare instead of being salt and light that points people to Christ.

As we prepare ourselves in the readiness to spread the Gospel, the issue of intentionality is worth stressing. The behavior of some Christians indicates that they treat evangelistic efforts as simply a random and passive activity, resorting to wait for people to ask them about God, or passively act out Christian behavior in hope of prompting people to ask what make us different.  Yet we all know how effective and frequent such scenarios would occur.  I have to challenge such modes of outdated approaches by asking whether they would treat other areas of their lives that they deem important with similar strategies.  Instead, because evangelism is so vital, we need to be intentional, and have a clear strategy. For opponents who feel that this would mean too much “works” on our part are involved, and not enough dependence on God, as if our efforts will overshadow God's power, I would challenge the notion that someone who leave everything to chance is showing any more reliance on God. Just as in the sermon illustration that after a whole town prayed for rain, only a little girl showed up with an umbrella, I believe that the person who is intentional in his evangelistic efforts shows his faith by bringing the buckets to catch God's blessing, and carries an umbrella in anticipation of God's pouring rain; the one who leaves everything to chance reveals that he does not expect God to act in any specific way.

3. Personal Examples

Given that people seldom have discussions on deeper levels, I try to seize every appropriate opportunity to be intentional and guide the discussion to illuminate others of what we truly believe.  During a recent lunch discussion among coworkers, in the context of family backgrounds, one asked another: "Are you religious?" I took the opportunity to comment on the general confusion within our culture about religion vs faith, whereby religion focus on rules and organization, while faith is a journey of real experience and personal expression.  When asked more about the distinction, I compare it to their experience of learning science, of being told to memorize an equation vs one's discovery by deriving the equation.  When another commented that "most people become religious when they are in trouble, and hence I have no need right now", I associated some materials I just read: "actually, it depends on what you want out of life. If you simply want temporary physical comfort and enjoyment then by definition you have no need for faith. But there is so much more to life. In fact a famous pastor John Piper had written a book called 'Don't wast you life' that advice high school graduates to seek more out of life in the aftermath of the Tsunami. When you desire a fulfilling life, that is where you will encounter faith and God."

In our everyday lives, we participate in numerous activities and come in contact with various organizations.  To create opportunity to reach these communities, we first have to gain the trust and the right to speak.  I find that being passionate about the common goals and display our faith within our pursue, people will recognized that distinction and take notice.  For example, since our family participate in the HXNY Chinese school, I have offered to conduct a series of seminars that encourages parents and teenagers to be more effective learners through innovative means, both for the Chinese language and other areas of pursuit. This series has attracted much attention, and I am able to gain people's trust that my intentions and methods are for their good. The latest in the series addressed dealing with priorities in our lives, touching on the common goals such as marriage and family, and exhort people to desire all that life has to offer, (along the lines of John Eldredge's Journey of Desire). I shared my own search for meaning in life, and encouraged both the grownups and teenagers to take on this daring pursuit, in the hopes that they will desire life enough not to be complacent and settle for a mediocre life. When people seek life to the fullest, I am convinced that evantually the topic of God will come up, and found to be the center of a meaningful life.

As a consequence of that last seminar, several people were inspired by my comments on the need to prioritize marriage, and asked me to lead a discussion group on marriage. Eventually we designed it to be a local biweekly group, to minimize traveling during winter months.  I intended it to be ultimately evangelistic yet deliberately cross church boundaries, so we team up with another family of a Chinese church, and invited local families with non-Christians. We agree to meet for only 6 sessions, roughly following the topics in the FamilyLife Marriage Conference, but with additional material from the NHF resource library. This group proved to be one of those experiences that people demand to participate, but we had to limit to 6 couples.  We start out being frank, that the group will discuss realistic marriage issues, rather than to promote certain Christian doctrine that use marriage as a bait; however, given that Christianity is the dominant institution that champions marriage to be sacred, we will have to look seriously into Chrsitian teachings to benefit our marriages. In this context, people do not feel that we are discussing topics that has "book answers", but that everyone is equal and capable of contributing to this mutual journey of improving our marriages. The discussions become open and intimate, and people share the deepest thoughts and feelings that would not easily surface even among their close friends. Precisely because we have open up ourselves, building trust along the way, that when we come to the deeper issues of marriage, and when we start to share how God has made a critical difference in our lives and answered our earnest prayers, the discussion that follows about how real Jesus is in our lives was taken with great interest and confidence, as the seekers intuitively sense that this is not for the purpose of proselytizing, but sharing what really works. When we are sharing on such an intimate level, the truth of Jesus Christ is discussed and received with great regard.

Summary

The Bible gives us the purpose and goals of evangelism, but often leaves the implementation details to us, so that we can design the best way to reach our neighbors in the context of the current culture and society. In the recent book Outlier, Gladwell pointed out that all the successful genius from Mozart to Bill Gates, star athletes to the Beatles, the component of at least 10K hours of practice is a necessary ingredient for their expertise. Apply this concept to evangelism, we need to avoid the futile view that “I am not born a great evangelists, so why bother, it is better to leave the task to others who are just natural at it”, and instead start the process. It is critical that we continue to practice evangelism as a communication skill with people God put in our context, rather than waiting for a secret formula for success or merely studying and talking about it. Starting a continual conversation about how we can do it better and mutually encourage each other within NHF is a start.