Evangelism is usually defined as “Good News”, and evangelists are people who spread good news. We Mainline Christians struggle with evangelism; in fact, we are pretty terrible at it. Part of that, I think, is that we fear being lumped in with the hard-sell evangelists who have become caricatures; screaming at people that they need to be saved – standing on soap boxes shouting condemnation – knocking on doors, and asking people if they have seen Jesus. I have always favored the Jesus way of telling the good news, one that invites people into a relationship with God and the community that is affirming, not fearful.
The other day, as I was driving down Park Road in Wyomissing, I saw a woman at the corner near what used to be Friendly’s; she was bouncing up and down on her toes, holding a Bible in her hand, and she seemed to be singing or praying. Her eyes were closed, and she had a big smile on her face, but there was no mistake about what was going on. She was being an evangelist. To be honest, I thought she looked a little strange; it seemed to be an odd way to tell people how much you love Jesus. I had to wonder how many people felt called to follow Jesus by her interesting witness. I drove on.
I don’t think that what she was doing was wrong, and I would never try to make her stop. She wasn’t hurting anyone; she was just expressing her faith, believing that others would see her joy and respond. Maybe they did. I just thought it was weird. In many ways, we Christians are our own worst enemies; too often we behave in ways that are mean or meaningless, and the God we serve isn’t glorified by our behavior. In fact, most evangelism turns people away from our faith communities. It is usually either condemning or silly. Instead of living our faith through mission, we point fingers and tell people that if they were only more like us, their lives would be so much better. That’s arrogance, not caring.
I think we should be more about doing and living our faith than shouting about it. If someone asks why we do good works, we should say we do them because God loves us and we love God. Instead of telling people what God can do for them, we should tell them what God has done in our lives. My faith isn’t transactional – it is reactional. The good news is that God invites us into a relationship with the Almighty and each other. Our lives won’t be perfect, and it won’t fill our bank accounts. It will bring us connection and hope. And love. Things we and the world need more of.
Prayer – Holy God, cure us of our spiritual arrogance and teach us to reach out when others are in need. Amen.
Today’s art is “Have Faith” by Jennifer Yoswa.