Evangelism Theory

Upon hearing the word, “church” on FM 96 this week, my ears immediately perked up. When you hear mention of the church in the secular media, the news is rarely, if ever, good. They don’t bother reporting when the church helps build houses for the homeless, or its members give shelter to those living on the streets. Those items aren’t newsworthy. Whenever I hear mention of ‘the church’, it’s normally because of some sin or some blatant shortcoming of her people. So when I heard the DJ talk about church, I knew it couldn’t be good.

Fortunately, nobody was molested this time around and no one embezzled money from the finances. They were making fun of a couple of different things that some churches are doing in order to try and ‘fill up the pews’. One church is giving away two prizes of $500 in order to draw people to its Easter service. Another offers Christian pole dancing classes. The radio DJ’s found these examples to be absolutely hilarious.

It is a very sad day when even the people of the world are able to recognize when the church has debased herself. Unfortunately, some churches are the legitimate targets of public ridicule.

We all have our own theories on the most effective ways to lead people to Christ. The proof is in the putting. If you have led 6 or more unchurched people to Christ within the last year, I’ll be glad to listen to yours. In my life as of late, I have had the unwanted privilege of watching the debate through the spectacles of my e-mail account. I don’t know if this sounds anti-evangelical, but sometimes, I think that it is better to let that church or that Christian organization die. It isn’t that I mind being subject to public ridicule for the sake of Christ, but when the jokes take aim at our worldliness, what shame it is. It is better for the church to close its doors than to dirty the name of Jesus.

What are your evangelical theories? I have very few. Here is however one of my own theories.

2 Timothy 2:20-21 (New Living Translation)
20 In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. 21 If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.

Being used of God has less to do with strategy than it does the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those around us. How many of you know precisely the inner workings of God’s Spirit in hearts of those around you? Being ready to be used by the Master is tied to the lives that we live.

I’m not Mr. Superhero Evangelist. However, today I watched as my little sister publicly professed Christ as her Lord and Savior. My brother in law did the same. For some time now, I have prayed for them and done what I could to be a witness for Christ in their lives. Praise God.

You’ll have to ask her as to how much weight my example has played in her faith. I don’t know for sure. However, if she knew me to be a liar, a drunk, an abuser, greedy, licentious, a gossip or a slanderer, how interested do you think she would be in knowing the Jesus that I proclaim?

For those of us who consider ourselves to be evangelical, how much weight do we really place on keeping ourselves pure? Is that part of our strategy? Or are we more inclined to show how worldly we can be and still be fine with Jesus? Paul tells Timothy, “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use.” Vs 21

I’m sure that your church isn’t handing out fistfuls of cash on Easter Sunday. You likely don’t have pole dancing lessons either. I pray that the Christian freak show doesn’t get any worse than it is.