Evangelism

evangelism |iˈvanjəˌlizəm| |əˌvøndʒəˈlɪzəm| |iˌvøndʒəˈlɪzəm| |ɪˌvan(d)ʒ(ə)lɪz(ə)m|
noun
• the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.
• zealous advocacy of a cause.

Is this really what evangelism is?

I had a great conversation with my wife last night on the phone. She just finished reading Blue Like Jazz so her mind was busy processing that information as she was trying to get to sleep. So of course we ended up talking about some of the topics that were brought up in the book. We also talked about how much we desire that people we love would one day join us in this pursuit of serving Christ. Desire isn't really the right word. It's more of a longing or even an aching. It's something we talk about and pray about a lot.

That got us to talking about evangelism and what the heck it is. Is it something we need to do more of or do a better job of? We obviously didn't come up with a solution, but I'd like to post some of my thoughts resulting from our conversation.

If God is the one who changes a person's heart where does evangelism fit in? Should I be telling a friend all about Christ and what he's done for me and what he can do for them? Maybe I should. Should I be giving them little knick knacks that have Bible verses on them that they can refer to everyday? Maybe, but I don't think that'll work. Should I invite them to church every week? Maybe, but being a Christian isn't about going to church. Should I give them the latest cool Christian book or CD to check out? Maybe, but is that enough? Should I blog about Christianity all the time and hope they read it? Maybe, but I think that may get a little boring for both the writer and the reader. Should I pray for them? Well of course.

If God is leading me to do any one of those things or anything else then I think that's what I need to do. Since people are so different we can't just try to show them Christ in the same way every time, however, I think there is one thing we can do for everyone.

God is love. He IS love. I mean love in its purest form. The kind of love where you forget about yourself. The kind of love a parent has for their child. The kind of love that wakes a mother up after two hours of sleep to feed and/or change her baby again. The kind of love that God has for us. If we can show this love to everyone who comes into our world I think that can be real evangelism. It's not preaching, or witnessing, but it is most certainly sharing the love of God. It is sharing who God is. It is spreading God's love.

The God I believe in created me! This complex living being that us humans can't even come close to duplicating. He is the creator of the stars. The creator of the moon and the sun, the oceans and lakes and water itself. He created all of these things. If I love people in the way he loves us and pray that God will change their heart it is certainly within the power of the creator of the universe to make it happen.

So that's where some of my thoughts ended up. I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts, especially if you think I'm off base here.

GL