Lausanne World Pulse – The Evolution of Evangelism: Ideas for the Road Ahead
By Mark Russell
|
God’s hands are needed all over the world, including in |
Recently my wife and I moved back to the United States after spending several years abroad as missionaries. Upon our return I conducted a survey at a large church. After looking over the results, I reflected on other surveys I had conducted in eight countries on five continents. I recognized that the unfortunate results of my present survey matched my findings in the others, namely that Christians are not too excited about, dare I say even afraid of, evangelism. Perhaps few have documented this through systematic research; however, it is something that many of us have intuitively perceived. The solution of many evangelism trainers has been to reduce the insecurity level by providing the laity with a surefire, time-tested, well-proven method for presenting the message. The result has been an unhealthy fixation on a single way of doing evangelism, even though this “single way” may vary according to faith tradition. Sometimes it is a tract; other times it is a memorized recounting of one’s testimony. Although such remedies may be helpful in making the future evangelist more comfortable, these same remedies will not necessarily be successful in making one truly effective.Therefore we have to be innovative and create dynamic forms of evangelism that are flexible and adaptable to various situations. We need to be imaginative in our conversations with those who are not Christian. We have to seek new ways to discuss the timeless truth of our Lord. Most importantly, we have to train our people to understand that we are living in times of rapid, discontinuous change and there is no way we can be satisfied with a single method or approach. We should not be afraid of evangelism; instead, we should be fearful of being unheard. We must evolve and adapt to our new circumstances lest the Church become an endangered species.There are two paradigms of evangelism that will help the Church evolve effectively in the changing world. While looking at the road ahead, it is often helpful to look back at those who have gone before.
Conversational Communities
In late fourth-century Britain there was a young man named Patrick. At the age of sixteen a group of Celtic pirates invaded his land, captured Patrick and took him to Ireland. After being enslaved for several years, Patrick had a dream in which he was shown a pathway of escape to a passing ship. The next morning Patrick lived out his dream and returned home a free man. At the age of forty-eight Patrick had another dream. He was told to go back to the land of his enslavement and tell the good news of Jesus Christ to the people who had once ransacked his house, removed him from his family and required him to work incessantly. The next morning Patrick began the task of returning to the Celtic pirates. He was ordained a bishop and commissioned to Ireland, becoming history’s first missionary bishop.
|
Mark Russell is a doctoral student at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, USA. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky with his wife and their two children. |