I've discovered that most church folk, whatever their denomination, have a similar reaction to evangelism: "That's just not my cup of tea, thank you." You can almost hear the iron gates clanging shut in their minds.
When I ask people why they don't evangelize, I've heard: "I've never been fond of imposing something on someone." Or, as one Reed College student so succinctly put it, "Evangelism is how many people I've offended this week." Or one of my favorites, "You know, I would evangelize if I didn't love people so much."
Most Christians are so afraid of being labeled part of the lunatic fringe that they say nothing about their faith, save in the friendly confines of the church. Any effective evangelism training begins by realizing people are plagued by guilt, fear, and negative attitudes, which must be identified and exorcised before we can get anywhere.
Where do these negative attitudes come from? No Christian group has as its conscious aim "Let's totally violate their personhood and mow them over for Jesus." Yet that's the stereotype: buttonholing and forcing tracts on people.
I've been amazed how consistent church people are in their reasons for not evangelizing. And the reasons are nearly always what evangelism should never be in the first place.
Most Christians intuitively know that evangelism belongs not in the sales department but in the context of loving relationships. Common sense tells us we must both proclaim the Word and live it out among the people our lives naturally intersect. Whenever evangelism majors in technique and strategy and minors in love and respect for individuals, we've gotten into trouble.
But some of us have swung too far the other way, majoring in relationships and minoring in a clear proclamation of the gospel and the call to commitment. The result is mere friendship and no evangelism.
How do we avoid the extremes and encourage a biblical evangelism that is sensitive and loving, respectful of the individual? I'd like to suggest three elements that need to be part of our training. The first two have been suggested by Gabriel Fackre, who says we must get the story straight and get the story out. I'd like to add that we must take the story in, meaning that our training must deepen our spiritual resources as well as build content and communication skills.
Getting the Story Straight
We in the West always have been fairly effective in stating gospel truth through theological propositions or four-point outlines. We are now beginning to discover what our brothers and sisters in the East have known all along—truth is also communicated through storytelling.
I recently read how Lewis Alemen breaks down the verbal message into three parts: (1) telling God's story—the drama of his deeds, particularly the life, death, and resurrection of Christ; (2) telling my story—which isn't the gospel message but illustrates its power; and (3) telling their story—how God's story relates to the person to whom we are witnessing.
Genuine witnessing integrates all three stories. I've found, however, that most people need special help in learning how to tell the Lord's story. We usually can explain the gospel through outlines and diagrams. But can we talk about Jesus in a way that makes him come alive? Can we tell his story and parables in a way that others can see their relevance for daily life?
One of my frequent activities as an Inter-Varsity staff member was giving evangelistic "dorm talks" in which I would speak to skeptical students about Christianity (usually dealing with apologetics) and then would open it up for questions. The atmosphere frequently was stimulating and charged. Often we would have a lively debate into the wee hours.
