Archive for: grace
Recently, I was talking with a man who’s heading up one of our outreaches called the Wild Game Feast. He was commenting on my statement that I’ve been in evangelism for thirty seven years and how I’ve never seen people more approachable to the Gospel. I thought his response was interesting.
He told me how he spoke to his college and career group and mentioned to them that there’s obviously always fear in evangelism. Sometimes fear comes because we are expecting things from people that, interestingly enough, never happen. He went on to stress how people seem to want to talk about spiritual things. They simply want to be approached in the right way. By that, he meant that people will be most interested in what you want to tell them when you come to people with
1. A caring spirit
2. An attitude of grace, and
3. A genuine concern.
I couldn’t agree more. I often tell people that it’s not that they don’t want to be approached. They simply want to be approached in the right way. Sometimes when people seem uninterested, it’s because they feel like it’s being “jammed down their throat”, or forced upon them. That rarely ever works. But when you come “up from underneath” them, and they sense sincerity about you, it’s amazing how open they are to talking. As you talk, it’s easy to find one way or another to talk about spiritual things, and ultimately the Gospel. In our day when people fear cancer, terrorism, and the uncertainty about the economy, they’re even more open and approachable.
I encourage each believer I meet to just begin a conversation with non-Christians with the objective of hopefully talking to them about Christ. Take it one step at a time and show your genuine concern in them. When they sense they’ve met a friend, they might be interested in talking about your Friend!
Guilty is often how a lot of us feel when we hear the word “evangelism.” It feels more like a pain than a privilege. However, the truth is that it is a privilege we don’t deserve – a privilege to make a difference where people spend their eternal destiny. But how do we get to the point where we’re excited about sharing? Would we know what to say when we got to that point?
Evangelism.net attempts to answer these questions. We’ll talk about our experiences, get equipped, and be encouraged to share the Gospel out of grace not guilt.
+Continue Reading
AJ Rinaldi
Global warming, neo-Darwinism, casual sex, homosexuality, drug-addiction, moral relativism, abortion, pornography, instant gratification…the list goes on and on. These examples of “hot-button” topics illustrate a few of the issues that Christians deal with intellectually and emotionally every day at work, school, church and other social interactions. News stories center on these topics and how they impact American culture.
This word culture signifies something of importance to everyone, yet has many definitions. Of all the definitions for the term “culture” the following three best summarize the idea for discussing what all these issues mean today:
1. A particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a certain nation or period. (Greek Culture)
2. The behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group. (youth culture, drug culture, pop culture)
3. The sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another. (Anthropology)
Differentiating between Western, Eastern, and developing cultures is no longer practical in certain applications. The world is fast becoming a global society. Although major differences still exist and need to be understood, when it comes to issues of morality and lifestyle – isolationism is a thing of the past. Therefore we must be aware of what impacts a culture and how to respond.
How do we do that while operating through a biblical worldview? The answer is deceptively simple. We follow the example of Jesus and his disciples.
Throughout the New Testament, the gospel is the consistent solution to what ails the world. Jesus did not organize a protest. Paul did not advocate dissent and rebellion to the governmental authorities. The writers of the New Testament clearly state that the power to change the world was in changing individual lives with the gospel—Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead.
Christians can be reasonably involved in society with grace and truth. However, believers can be most effective by exercising leadership within their sphere of influence; sharing the gospel to change hearts and minds one at a time…
Pastor, author, and blogger Mark Batterson wrote briefly on his blog today about his personal and corporate perspectives on evangelism. First of all personally – he authentically shares:
“To be perfectly honest, over the last several months, the Lord has really convicted me about my lack of urgency…And it’s not about sharing our faith out of guilt. It’s about being so excited about who God is and what God has done that I can’t not talk about it.” (read more)
I love his passion. I have been given numerous opportunities lately to share what I believe about evangelism both in witnessing and in casual conversation. I think the biggest thing that Batterson points out is something that we teach in our evangelism training at EvanTell…that we should share the gospel out of grace and not guilt. Guilt has so often been associated with evangelism that it has given evangelism a fearful, negative connotation. I pray that outlook is overcome. That is my dream for the church.
Batterson closes explaining his dream for the church:
“Can I share a dream? I’ve always dreamed of being part of a church that was experiencing the reality of Acts 2:47. It says people were added daily. Don’t you want to be part of a church that is experiencing life changing transformation on a daily basis?”
Just like I do – he desires to see a church with Acts 2 Church DNA.
If there is one word in the Christian vocabulary that needs an extreme makeover it is the word “evangelism.” The attitude behind the word is one reason why only a small percentage of believers ever lead someone to Christ. The situation is compounded by the fact that even when Christians do evangelize, they often do it out of guilt – feeling that they have to, not that they want to. This begs the question: “Do you ever get to the point that you do evangelism out of grace, not out of guilt?”
The answer is found in a biblically sound perspective on evangelism. A careful study of scripture reveals that our God of grace wants us to witness out of grace. He wants us to approach taking Christ to the lost with excitement and anticipation. Evangelism can become an enjoyable experience, not an endurable episode. Join the conversation this week at Evangelism.net and offer your thoughts on the importance of doing evangelism out of grace and not guilt.
The first thing that Christ taught His disciples was not how to manage money or raise a Christian family, as important as those are. It was something bigger. Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). A fisher of fish takes something alive and makes it dead. A fisher of men takes something dead and makes it alive. Jesus was in essence saying, “With Me, your life can have eternal perspective. It will count for something that will last forever.” Furthermore, “I will make you” implies, “I’ll teach you everything you need to know. Just follow. I’ll do the teaching if you’ll do the learning.”
“Wait a minute,” someone might say. “I grew up in a church where evangelism was a means of determining if you were a Christian. You had to evangelize or you weren’t saved.” Another might say, “I was made to feel that I had to present the Gospel to everyone I met. One man I knew pigeonholed people and immediately confronted them with the Gospel. I just can’t do that.” Remember that we do not have to live by the impression we receive from others, especially if those impressions are unbiblical. God tells us to follow Scripture as our guide and gives us freedom to be ourselves.
A biblical perspective on evangelism will help us develop healthier attitudes toward it. We can learn to profit from the good in our past experiences (such as recognizing a person’s concern for the lost), while freeing ourselves from mistaken assumptions. Too often people bring baggage into evangelism that isn’t biblical. Seeing evangelism from a biblical perspective can really set a person free.
God is in the business of populating heaven. If you’re interested, He will let you in on the privilege of assisting Him. The fruit of your life will last into eternity.
