Comments on: The Bad Habits of Christendom Evangelism – “The Romans Road,” The Four Spiritual Laws, Evangelism Explosion and the Bridge Illustration (WTWNC 3)

By: sandro

sandro — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:40:09 +0000

should we not begin with HIS story? i understand where you’re going with all this post-christendom stuff, but i wonder if our post-resurrection stories will continue to include telling God’s whole story to as many people as he places in our lives? can i make a confession? i tend to talk about tools more than simply talking to people about Jesus – this is the ‘professional’ part of me that i continually try and crucify daily. i just want so much to be perfect in my ‘Jesus talk’ instead of just talking. but hey, that’s just me.

By: Reclaiming the Mission » IMAGES THAT HELP US THINK ABOUT THE NEW SITUATION WE ARE IN #1: The Image of “THE OTHER” and Post Christendom Evangelism

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:39:10 +0000

[...] everyday life, not through attractional means, that we become onramps for the gospel as opposed to transaction salesman, that we look for ways to inhabit our neighborhoods as Christ, incarnating the gospel in our ways [...]

By: Reclaiming the Mission » WTWNC: From Bridge to Onramp – On a Proposed Way to Teach People Missional Evangelism

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:29:23 +0000

[...] previous posts and writings (here and here) we have covered the challenges of evangelism in the new post Christendom contexts of N America: [...]

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:34:21 +0000

Thanks for this post. I remember being asked (or coerced, perhaps) when I was in college to “go evangelize” (walk up to people you don’t know who are trying to enjoy a meal at the mall and write the Roman Road on a napkin) on multiple occasions. I never felt comfortable with it but felt guilty telling these folks no. I did end up going once.

I love the post, though, because although I didn’t feel like that approach was effective, loving or genuine, I think I would feel much like the guy in the Starbucks story — without a great alternative! I feel like I grew up in the Christendom mentality but realize that those methods of evangelism do not work Now I live in this place of tension where I am trying to re-learn how I think about my faith in order to live it out everywhere I go. And hopefully tell the story as I go.

Sorry for the scattered thoughts! Thanks again for this series.

By: davidfitch

davidfitch — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:54:44 +0000

Timmy Bailey, you heretic … I think your statement “the good news will finally have to stand on its own” is telling. Owing nothing to its own inherent character, the modern way of evangelism was to defend it, prop it up, make it appealing based on reasoning, appeals external to itself. Not any more, for I believe the gospel has always been about an invitation into the redeeming of all creation, including ourselves, in Christ Jesus, beginning where we live right now … (PS enjoyed the time in Hamilton Saturday)..
Dustin … stories … yes … we’ll connect on that with the next post …

By: The Mustard Seed

The Mustard Seed — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:26:48 +0000

[...] The Bad Habits of Christendom Evangelism *name [...]

By: Dustin

Dustin — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:04:05 +0000

Dave,

Thanks for these posts. As we search for a new *tool*, I’m reminded of an influential preacher in my life who emphasizes the power of stories. I’m wondering on what your thoughts are on the ability to evangelize using stories, in much of the same way the parables explain yet also challenge the hearers to partake in the roles of the story?

By: Tim Bailey

Tim Bailey — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:02:28 +0000

I think the issue surrounding evangelism in the Christendom/Post-Christendom worlds is motivation. Why “share” the gospel? Why “receive” it? In a Christendom world, the idea of hell could be used to make the bad news really bad, so the good news could look really good…

In a post-Christendom western world, there is no memory of camp meetings, revivals and Billy Graham. And no real fear of a future hell. Just as well, it was a selfish motivation anyway. We were never supposed to fear hell. We were supposed to “fear” God.

Maybe the good news will finally have to stand on its’ own. Maybe, in a post-Christendom world, we’ll have to give up on the “scare the hell out of them” routine…

By: Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:52:22 +0000

Wow, fantastic post. Indeed, these copy and paste evangelism techniques may be largely *why* they will not come!

A potential starting place for another approach (assuming you want something that can be explained to a large group of people) is Three Story Evangelism. Check it out here: http://www.yfccampuslife.com/3story.htm . Please ignore the awful formatting, and many things could be worded more helpfully. But the basic idea of weaving our story, Christ’s story, and the story of our friend is very applicable in a post-Christendom setting (I think).

By: Randy

Randy — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:06:46 +0000

Dude, you nailed it.

I’ve been trying (poorly) to articulate my resistance to such ‘outreach’ approaches and this post has done me a world of good (with some degree of urgency, some of these methods are being repackaged and re-pitched to churches). Matt, I guess there is a piece of us that can all relate to the Starbucks employee.