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Examining Evangelism 2: Perception

In my first post on this topic, I talked about conviction - my belief in Jesus, and my reasons for wanting to talk about my faith, or not doing so.

An equally important factor is perception. What do I actually think evangelism is? My mind conjures up a confused mixture of John Wesley preaching on horseback, Gladys Aylward leading children across China, David Wilkerson facing drug addicts on the streets of New York, Brother Andrew smuggling Bibles across the Iron Curtain, and Corrie ten Boom extending a hand to a penitent prison guard. (You can tell I grew up reading dusty 1980s Christian paperbacks!)

None of those people sounds much like me. Nor do any of those situations correspond to inviting a friend to the church quiz night, which is the most common form of evangelism that I have been asked to do (and have, quite frankly, never done). So, time to dig a bit more deeply.

Perception

What positive perceptions do I have of evangelism?

Well, I grew up as a Christian, which meant I had a lot of people around telling me about God, as well as those paperback books. And I seem to have come out with a remarkably positive view of God. So I guess that's a pretty good experience of evangelism, right there.

Also, I think of testimonies in the Yeldall Manor newsletter by former drug addicts who had their lives turned around by Jesus, and of the work of Lighthouse in Leeds, where the "battered and bruised" find community. There are so many other charities like this, where people meet Jesus and are changed.

And I think of churches reaching out to immigrants, and the baptisms that are celebrated. I think of the people I know, who all have their own story of Sunday school, youth group, an Alpha course, where they encountered Christ.

What negative perceptions do I have of evangelism?

Ranting street preachers. "God hates gays" placards. Emotionally manipulative healing services. Chick tracts. Western culture imposed in the name of Christianity.

There are a lot of ways that I wouldn't want to share my faith. And a lot of ways that I rather wish other Christians wouldn't share their faith, either. In the introduction to The Gospel After Christendom, Collin Hansen relates a story. He asked several groups of students what their classmates associate first with Christianity. The answer? Westboro Baptist Church.

So I have this immediate issue that a key image of Christians in the public eye is anti-gay rallies. Or, more recently, far-right marches in London. Is that evangelism? If so, I'm staying well away from it.

If I do want to proclaim my faith, it's all very well to try to reclaim evangelism for good. But then it becomes not just a matter of making myself vulnerable personally, but also somehow avoiding and overcoming all these negative perceptions. I think the question of "How do I show that not all Christians are like [negative example] while not portraying myself as the One True Christian?" is really important, but really difficult.

And after all that, despite my best intentions, I may end up inventing new negative ways to evangelise, in my haste to avoid the old ones.

What should evangelism include?

Humility and respect, definitely. Kosuke Koyama said it well in Three Mile an Hour God: "If we believe that Jesus Christ died for these millions of people, then we must be careful what we say about them". He resisted the tendency to reduce a group of complex souls to an ism - Buddhism, atheism, Hinduism - and then declare that that ism could never lead to salvation. People are more complex than that, and evangelism should include listening and learning as well as explaining our faith.

Also, an awareness that people catch a glimpse of the divine in all sorts of different ways. It might be a welcome to a toddler group, a sense of peace when they light a candle, an awakening to hope when someone talks about Jesus. There are ways in which we can provide opportunities for those things to happen. But the glimpse of transcendence might come in a chance conversation, a strange dream, or a deep forest. Much of the mediation between a soul and God is well outside of our control.

What should evangelism not include?

Any attempt to cajole, frighten, or coerce people into the Kingdom of God. Still less a refusal to serve them if they don't believe, or say, the right thing.

Also, telling people they are dreadful sinners and bound for hell. Totally out. 

I think I consider it inappropriate to try to change someone's beliefs. There's a difference between explaining why I believe what I believe, and actively attempting to convert another person. This is one of those fuzzy areas, since I, myself, have sometimes changed what I believe as a result of listening to someone else, so I'm not entirely sure why I shrink from influencing others. But there it is. I wouldn't set out to make someone else a Christian, if that were even in my power to do. I would not be too happy if someone else were trying to make me something.




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