From Parties to Evangelism

When it comes to communicating the gospel to people who don’t know Christ personally, there is general agreement that the best way to do this is in the context of relationship/friendship.   By and large most people in America -both Christians and non-Christians are decently averse to other modes of evangelism like street preaching, door to door, or random contact etc.   Although I don’t think any of those is unbiblical, I do think that these days it is most effective to communicate the gospel in conversations with people who you know and care about.  We should try and do that as often as possible!

But this doesn’t mean we should only talk about Jesus with the people we already have relationship with.   Certainly not.  Compelled by the love of Christ and commissioned to help the whole world  know and follow HIM, we must endeavor to reach out to others.  Living on mission with Jesus means meeting and connecting with more people.  We must strive to communicate God’s love and grace powerfully and effectively.  

Especially because all ministry is essentially an act of hospitality, one of the best ways to reach out to others involves hosting some form of hospitable gathering.   Here people can be exposed to the grace of God and experience fellowship in community.  This might look like a neighborhood cook-out, a party, maybe an open-mic style event, a bonfire or even something like an informal group of friends going out for burritos or bubble tea!   Whatever it is, it’s a venue for those who know Christ to spend some time mixing it up and building relationships with others who don’t know Christ.  

Below are three basic tips to help you be missional at a simple fellowship/party type of event.  

MAKE CONTACT:  

It is absolutely critical for those who know Christ to introduce themselves and welcome and talk to the people who are new!  This might seem obvious, but I can’t tell you how many fellowship/party events I’ve been to where all of the Christians are standing around talking only to other Christians while the non-Christians are out in another circle talking to each other!  MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!  What is happening?  Jesus’ words about  the wrongness of lighting a lamp and putting it under a bushel would apply here!  You need to extend your hand and meet people!  

There is nothing more missionally ineffective than a bunch of Christians hanging out NOT talking to those who do not know Jesus!  

MAKE A CONNECTION:  

Shaking hands and saying “welcome” is just the first step.   Again, because the idea is “relational evangelism” there needs to be a relationship!   Moving beyond simple greetings, take the time to  pursue conversation.  Think about where you are sitting.  Are you physically positioned in a place where you can connect with new people?   Sure someone needs to make sure that the napkins are stocked and that the ice bowl is full, but are you spending all of your time tending to logistics while ignoring the people?  Calm down Martha!  Take a load off, make yourself available, talk and chat it up.  Get to know things about the other person, and try to find those things that you might have in common.  

What we are doing here is actually caring about people.  The old saying: “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” is applicable here.  Not talking to others essentially communicates; “I don’t really care much about you at all.”  

MAKE A PLAN: 
When you are at a large group cook out or dance or coffee shop or whatever kind of event, there is a good chance you are NOT going to be able to share the gospel right there and then.  Hopefully, as you cover ground in conversation, you’ll be able to at least broach the topic of spiritual things in some way.  And as you share a little bit about your life hopefully you’ll get the chance to at least mention the name of Jesus.  But in the crowded environment, you won’t always have the opportunity to really dig in and “talk theology” -especially if you haven’t known the person for more than 5 minutes.  So, you need to make a plan to meet up some other time.  How will you foster the relationship going forward?   It may involve inviting the person to something, or it might mean you going to something they invite you to!  Let’s say for example you learned that your new friend plays a lot of basketball at some gym or playground.  You could offer to meet up there and play some hoops.  Maybe your new friend has a booth at the farmer’s market.  You could make an appointment to go visit them there some Saturday morning.    Now the specifics of the situation might make this more or less conducive, but at the very least you should always try and exchange some sort of contact info. 

Even if you don’t sketch out a plan together, you as the missional-minded ambassador for Jesus Christ should be thinking of a plan!

Mom and Dad Celebrate

      Despite the negative circumstances, I must say that it is totally awesome to be home for the Holidays.  We haven't been able to come home for Christmas in years, so spending this time with our parents, siblings and extended family is really great!

On the 22nd of December my parents celebrated 38 years of marriage!  Certainly, they are gaining deep insight into their covenant vows to stick beside each other "in sickness and in health" this year, and we had a wonderful time celebrating all that God has done in and thru them.

My dad had a good day!  He spent the day pretty content; sleeping a good amount, but also awake and alert at different times.  We all got to take pictures together and he was engaged with us, doing his best to pose with us and look at the camera!  That was a gift from him to my mom and the rest of us!

We got out their original wedding photo and hung it up on the wall behind my dad's bed.  

Going out to dinner was out of the question, but our sister-in-law Wendy prepared a delicious dinner and we all gathered together like we do almost every night now to eat and hang out.  All the kids and grandkids were there along with my grandma and one of my aunts.  

We are so thankful for my dad. 

This is me with my sister Leslie, Rachel, my mom and my brother David

Here's my dad with all 7 of his grandkids

My brother David, my Dad and Me

Our God is Personal

The film Evan Almighty has been replaying over and over on TV recently. My boys and I have watched pretty much all of it again over the course of the last couple of weeks. The other night, Joe and I were watching the climactic flood scene again. I like it, because much like the actual Noah’s ark narrative, I get a picture of the Gospel – people being saved by entering into the Ark. My kids like it of course because it’s dramatic and there are tigers and camels and monkeys and all sorts of cool animals!

I changed the channel at the end, right before Evan goes to have his final conversation with God under a tree. “God” is played by Morgan Freeman.

Joe immediately exclaimed “turn it back dad! Turn it back!”

So, I did! I had no idea, he wanted to see that part.

“That’s God.” Joe said to me. He watched the scene, which he’d apparently already seen before with intrigue. He was intent and engaged.
“Well,” I said, “that’s an actor buddy –He’s not really God right?

“Yeah.” He said. His tone indicating a “whatever.”

He’s only 3, and he’s still trying to figure out exactly how this whole God thing works. And actually, he’s still trying to figure out how movies work! I observed that he was attracted to the character of ‘God’, so I didn’t feel the need to try and clear up all the confusion. I just let it go.

It all reminded me of the time a couple of years ago, when I ended up watching that movie with a different relative. He’s a guy who historically has been very, very antagonistic about God. He’s even acted out fairly belligerently when the topic of God, or even church came up. He can get pretty angry, and he’s expressed his opinion that the Christian conception of God is totally stupid and even offensive.

So we ended up watching Evan Almighty together, and he liked it. And I remember him saying specifically “I really liked Morgan Freeman as God, he was really good.”

That was surprising to me, because again, this guy really never says anything where “like” and “God” are in the same sentence! Now, I’m fully aware that the theology in that movie is far from accurate in many ways, but this is what I thought when he said that.

The truth is, God is probably a lot more like Morgan Freeman in that movie than he is like the god formed in many people’s warped, misinformed and cynical misconceptions.

In the movie, Morgan Freeman’s ‘God’ is powerful, and wise and good. He demonstrates a certain omnipresence and sovereignty. He is also tender, caring and funny! Above all, he’s personal!

And that’s real! The truth is that the God of the Bible is an intensely personal God!

I think that ending scene of the movie is a beautiful one. (Aside of course, from the Christ-less theologizing about the ultimate meaning of the Ark of course.) In it, God dances with Evan, and talks with him as a friend. It’s incredible! The idea that, the all powerful God of the Universe would talk as a friend, to man.

That’s true, and that’s Christian. And, I think that’s why Joe asked me to flip the channel back!

C.S. Lewis talks about our Personal God in Mere Christianity (pg 160)
A good many people nowadays say, ‘I believe in a God, but not in a personal God.’ They feel that the mysterious something which is behind all other things must be more than a person. Now the Christians quite agree. But the Christians are the only people who offer any idea of what a being that is beyond personality could be like. All the other people, though they say that God is beyond personality, really think of Him as something impersonal: that is, as something less than personal. If you are looking for something super-personal, something more than a person, then it is not a question of choosing between the Christian idea and the other ideas. The Christian idea is the only one on the market.