The Job of Evangelism Poll
A Personal Perspective on Evangelism
Hi to all...
I don't know how much emphasis or validity one can put on polls and surveys, but it is possible they give a
glimpse into public perceptions. I wanted to share these with you so you can see
where I am coming from with respect to how effective modern evangelism is or
better put, its lack of effectiveness in growing the kingdom of God. I maintain
that Christians need to be more focused on living out their faith and being
Christians and less focused on doing evangelism and doing Christian 'things'.
Examples speak so much louder and more effectively than words ever will. If they
didn't, then God never would have sent Jesus since all He would have had to do
was keep telling His people to listen to Him/read His Word. But Jesus came and
showed us by example...
Understand that I know that I, personally, do not exemplify this ideal.
Nonetheless, it is what I believe and what I intend to
strive for rather than telling others about Jesus. It seems to me that when we
focus on "witnessing" or "evangelizing", our focus in on THEM and not on the
Lord or ourselves - our own witness. (Interestingly enough, we have decided that
they need to hear about Jesus - what did we use to determine they needed to hear
in the first place? Was it their example?) Looking around at our society and the
world at large, there appears to be way too much looking and finger-pointing at
others but very little examining ourselves and seeing if we be in the faith. I speak
specifically of myself (and of no one else in particular) and at the condition
of society as a whole. I, personally, have a long way to go before I can ever
'set an example' of the Christian life. However, if I continue to focus on
whether or not 'you' need to hear about Him, I will never get to the place where
I can show Him to you by the way I live and respond to people. With one simple
action I can undo all the words I've spoken! I can spend 15 minutes telling you
of the love of Jesus and how much you need Him in your life and how He has
empowered you to live a holy life and how much victory He's given you but if I
get impatient with the waitress or clerk or fellow driver on the road, then I
have just undone my 'witness' [words] with my actions (of which I've done more times
than I care to count). I want to stop doing it and start being it!
(If you want scriptural references start with the entire book of Titus & Jam.
2:14-26 - I believe these scriptures speak of doing what the Word says to do and
not just speaking what the Word says.
Please note: I am not advocating being saved by your works...)
Anyway, not that I need to explain myself to you... I just wanted to share with
you a different perspective. While we can only see through our own eyes, it helps
for things to be brought before our eyes so we CAN see them, right?!
Blessings to you all!
Please visit the Barna Group's web site to see the results of various nationwide
surveys
