A Day In The Life of An Evangelical Superstar

Hi. My name is Kevin Abell. When I come home after a long day of winning souls to Christ, I like to sit down with a hot cup of Nestlé’s Hot Chocolate. Nestlé’s rich chocolaty taste gives me that, ‘All is well in the universe’ kind of feeling. So the next time that you’ve had a difficult day ministering to the unredeemed, try Nestlé’s Hot Chocolate – For that ‘Everything is Fine’ feeling.

This add has been sponsored by Nestle.

You didn’t drop by the tent. Heartbreaker. No. I am NOT an evangelical superstar. I didn’t lead anyone into a personal relationship with Jesus, but neither did my co-worker who seemed to have the right answers. He is a great guy. Some of you would really like him. He’s kind of like Ray Comfort.

Over and over I hear Christians beating up on the church in general, saying that too many of us are sitting in the pews and not doing enough for Jesus. I don’t know. When I’m out and about in the public, I just can’t bring myself to bring such an accusation against those who carry His holy name.

During my time at the International Plowing Match, it seemed to me that the body of Christ was very much motivated and about their Father’s business. I mean, we (The Gideons) were there handing out New Testaments and BEGGING people to let us talk about Christ. After finishing my shift, I had the chance to head over the Federation of Christian Farmers tent where they were actively and clearly sharing the Gospel. They even gave me a cool witnessing walking stick. (If any stick deserves such a label.) Just down from them, some other Christians had a car show and a little girl doing a trick with three stings. Their whole reason for being there was to tell people about Jesus.

Just down from there, another Christian group had set up shop. They were doing free face painting and telling about Jesus through the story of Noah and the flood. There were other tents with free cd’s and gospel literature. Church groups and Christian camps were also well represented.

In my humble opinion, if the church were any more motivated in getting out of the pews and having a presence at the IPM, it would make a nonbeliever want to vomit.

I mean, what else are we supposed to do? We paint faces, give out CD’s, hand out testaments, put on car shows, give out rulers, walking sticks and hockey sticks. We have Christian clowns and gospel magic tricks. We have Christians who shove it down your throat and we also have Christians such as myself who are much more timid. We have displays with marble mazes, Connect Five and those cool cup stacker games. That’s what I saw today. (Well, maybe not the Christian clown. But I know where I can find one.)

Casting Crowns has a song called, ‘If We are the Body’, and it asks,

‘If we are the body, why aren’t His hands reaching, why aren’t His words teaching?’

I really like Casting Crowns. In fact, they are probably my favourite God honouring musical group. I realize that they weren't refering to the Christian pressence at the 2010 IPM. However, I don't know to what extent that I'm really behind the message of the song. I see His words teaching and I see His hands reaching out to a world that really has very little interest in Him. Today reminds me very much of when Jesus was speaking about the generation of His day when he described them as children in a marketplace calling out,

Matthew 11:17
" 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.'

I’m convinced that there is no evangelical formula. It doesn’t matter what kind of song we play. We can sing happy songs and not everyone will want to dance for Jesus. If we sing sad songs, it’s not like everyone tears their clothing, throws ashes on their heads and weeps in sorrowful repentance.

A dirge is kind of like a sad/funeral song. There are Christians out there playing the sad songs, sharing the more distasteful truths of the faith. ‘Hello Friend. Did you know that you’re going to go to hell without Jesus? ’ I saw some of that today. We also have people who play on the flute, saying nice things like this – ‘God loves you and sent His only Son so that you can go to heaven to be with Him’. I saw some of that too.

I’ve got tell you folks, I’m doing what I can. I’m teaching all I can, and I’m reaching out when I can. If you’ve got it all figured out and if you normally lead 5 people to Jesus before breakfast, I’m happy for you. I really am. Perhaps you should patent your process.

I'm not going to tell you how to live out your faith. Maybe you play nice songs on the flute. You go to church, maybe teach Sunday School and invite your friends to the strawberry social. I guess some churches prefer watermellon festivals. Maybe you play sad songs and you love to make sure that the people in your life know how much they have sinned and have been adequately warned of the fires of hell. I'm good with that too.

What I ask of you, is that you can look me in the eye and tell me that you've been obedient to Jesus.

This blog might not be all that great, but you can trust me on the Hot Chocolate.