Have Christians Got Evangelism Wrong?
I discovered Relevantmagazine.com last year and have really appreciated being able to pick up on the best of their articles, videos and stuff by following them on Twitter. If you have never visited their website, let me encourage you to do so - and this article is a good place to start:
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/25194-have-christians-gotten-evangelism-wrong
Written by Jake Kircher, it addresses the question of how we share our faith - his argument is that we know we should, but how?
What particularly got my attention though was the last part of the article where he addresses the command of Jesus in Matthew 28 v19. I found his way of reading this refreshing and very challenging - much more so than trying any guilt trip about what I, or others, have been doing, or have not been doing. And the closing words of his article simply, yet profoundly, underline this too.
Read the whole article - please do - but here are the two parts that most resonated with me on my initial reading (my italics). I intend to come back to it again and see what fresh things the spirit of Jesus would say to me.
"After commissioning Christians to “go make disciples,” Jesus tells us two more things: baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit, and teach. Looking at the original Greek in this passage, we find something rather thought-provoking about these commands. According to Strong’s Lexicon, “to baptize,” means to dip repeatedly or to immerse. Also, “name” was understood much deeper than just a title. Instead, it represented everything that a person was about: their character, interests, authority, deeds, wants, desires, etc. Could it be that Jesus is saying to Christians that we are supposed to go and live our lives in such a way that we immerse people everyday in Jesus?"
"Evangelism is not something we are supposed to do; it’s something we are supposed to be. If we ourselves have been immersed into the character and values of Christ, then by simply living our lives, we are immersing others into that same Jesus. It is theologically incorrect to say that evangelism isn’t your thing and that you only do it once a month at the outreach event. It is something we all should do every day."
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/25194-have-christians-gotten-evangelism-wrong
Written by Jake Kircher, it addresses the question of how we share our faith - his argument is that we know we should, but how?
What particularly got my attention though was the last part of the article where he addresses the command of Jesus in Matthew 28 v19. I found his way of reading this refreshing and very challenging - much more so than trying any guilt trip about what I, or others, have been doing, or have not been doing. And the closing words of his article simply, yet profoundly, underline this too.
Read the whole article - please do - but here are the two parts that most resonated with me on my initial reading (my italics). I intend to come back to it again and see what fresh things the spirit of Jesus would say to me.
"After commissioning Christians to “go make disciples,” Jesus tells us two more things: baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit, and teach. Looking at the original Greek in this passage, we find something rather thought-provoking about these commands. According to Strong’s Lexicon, “to baptize,” means to dip repeatedly or to immerse. Also, “name” was understood much deeper than just a title. Instead, it represented everything that a person was about: their character, interests, authority, deeds, wants, desires, etc. Could it be that Jesus is saying to Christians that we are supposed to go and live our lives in such a way that we immerse people everyday in Jesus?"
"Evangelism is not something we are supposed to do; it’s something we are supposed to be. If we ourselves have been immersed into the character and values of Christ, then by simply living our lives, we are immersing others into that same Jesus. It is theologically incorrect to say that evangelism isn’t your thing and that you only do it once a month at the outreach event. It is something we all should do every day."
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