Evangelism, Part II
… Not to be confused with Evangeline.
In Part I of this little two-parter, I gave a brief, incomplete, and arguably laughable history of Christianity in the western world. To sum it up, Christianity is no longer the default religious category in the western world, and as such, it does not dominate philosophy and scientific theory. As a result of this, and in response to this shift in America, a distinct American Christian Culture has evolved. This culture often describes itself as “Evangelical”.
On this blog, I have often referred to this American Christian Culture as the “Christian Bubble”. It’s a good description, because the response to the rise of humanism has been hostile, which has warranted a defensive posture. Those who live in the Bubble like to boycott things. They listen to “their” music and condemn anything “secular”. They spend time so involved with their churches, and seriously question social activity that does not have an overtly Christian theme. If they join the local bowling league, they feel the need to explain it away as a chance to “minister” to bowlers. There are Christian Business Associations and Christian clubs. They put their kids in Christian schools and daycares. Everyone is clean cut, and they spend a lot of time talking about how “blessed” they are.
The problem with the “bubble” is the fact that it is detached from the rest of the world. With legalistic fervor, the American evangelical spends a lot of time worrying about what is and isn’t Christian, and how to separate themselves further from the world outside the Bubble.
Many Christians who read that last paragraph and say, “but what about sin? Isn’t the process of determining what is and isn’t Christian the process of eliminating sin from our lives?” I would say yes, but the problem is we take it a step further. We aren’t just concerned with eliminating sin from our own lives, but from everyone around us. Our weapons are boycotts, legislation, and angry rhetoric.
The problem with this practice is that the goal should not be to remove our neighbors sin, but to introduce them to Jesus. Jesus through his Spirit will take care of the sin. It is this desire to get rid of the sin and get people in the Bubble that drives many modern Christian’s evangelical efforts. We want Jesus to make them like us, with out political ideologies and fashion sense. Jesus wants to make them like Him.
The result of our detachment from society is that our efforts at evangelism are detached. We don’t know how to relate to the outside world, having spent so much time in the Bubble, so we have to come up with a logic puzzle or sales-pitch to try and convince others to leave their lives and join the Bubble.
Perhaps one of the best indictments of the Christian Bubble Culture is Franky Schaeffer’s book Addicted to Mediocrity. In the book, Schaeffer laments that as Christianity rejected many art forms due to their perceived connection with humanist philosophies, many talented artists found themselves useless and misunderstood by the Christian community. And so they left. The result has been that Christian attempts at arts and entertainment are a far cry from their secular counterparts in quality and meaning. In fact, since artistic pursuits are representative of societal attitudes, it is not just art that is suffering from a case of mediocrity. Schaeffer’s words for this addiction are strong:
“There are no valid excuses for accepting this mediocrity. The excuse that ’sometimes people are saved’ is no excuse at all. People have been saved in concentration camps because God can bring good from evil, but that does not justify the evil.
“The idea that ‘the Spirit can work somehow’, that God can bring something out of it if we just sort of throw it out there, is unjustifiable from those who claim to know the living God and can see his integrity and dedication to quality in the Word and the world around us.”
Let’s face it, our attempts at evangelism can be downright annoying. People just want to go downtown and have a drink without some stranger getting in their face and handing them a poorly drawn pamphlet full of religious jargon. I am not saying that street witnessing or sharing the gospel with strangers is always counterproductive or a bad idea, but sometimes the mark can be missed so bad it does more harm than good.
It doesn’t have to be a sales pitch. It doesn’t have to come across as preachy or condemning. Jesus isn’t selling anything, and he certainly doesn’t offer a life of condemnation. The best way to share your faith is to live it. Why would anyone want to be a Christian if they’ve never spent any serious time with someone madly in love with Jesus? Why would anyone want to be a Christian if all they have to offer is bad music and lame movies, and a poorly conceived sales brochure. What is appealing about a mediocre lifestyle?
The truth of a life with Jesus is one lived with tremendous freedom and joy, in spite of the worst the world can offer. It is a life of love, and unconditional forgiveness. It is a life that is engaged with the world, not bent on changing it to our own cultural standards and political ideas. We need to break out of Bubble and start living in the world, even though we are not of it.
Evangelism is showing the world the love of Christ. I think that is done in conversations with strangers, service to our neighbors, and above all, living a life consumed with the reality of Jesus. But to do this successfully, I believe Christians need to start engaging the culture as their own without trying to separate themselves from it (or subvert it). We are as much human as anyone else on the planet. We share common experiences with those around us in our community. We have to show the world that the message of the cross is relevant to every culture, because humanity’s concepts of beauty and goodness are God’s handiwork.
March 22nd, 2009 at 5:44 am
I like your point:
Why would anyone want to be a Christian if they’ve never spent any serious time with someone madly in love with Jesus? Why would anyone want to be a Christian if all they have to offer is bad music and lame movies, and a poorly conceived sales brochure. What is appealing about a mediocre lifestyle?
That’s a great description of non-contagious Christianity
Chris W
EvangelismCoach.org
June 10th, 2010 at 11:25 am
“Why would anyone want to be a Christian if all they have to offer is bad music and lame movies, and a poorly conceived sales brochure”
Great point here. May Christians pursue the arts with excellence. I believe if a Christian is in the vine (so connected to the Father through Christ) and then pursues their art that God will be a part of it without God being forced into it.