The big E word
Lately I've noticed that there is quite a bit of talk in our churches
regarding the need to “evangelize the Unchurched.” In the moment that
I hear that juxtaposition of terms I usually have to suppress a laugh,
mostly because I end up imagining some of my "unchurched" friends and
their response to such a proposition. I'm not sure they're interested
in being the object of someone's efforts at "evangelizing" them! At
the same time, I can relate to what most of us mean when we refer to
the verb, "evangelize." It's just that it's a Greek term that has been
misused and abused and confused with lots of other impulses.
There is a quote that has lately come to explain what I understand as
bona fide "evangelism." It was offered by a Sri Lankan Methodist
minister who practiced a joyful understanding of what it means to
“share the good news.” Though he died nearly thirty years ago, one of
D. T. Niles’ quotes is probably as lively as the moment he first
offered it. He claimed that “Evangelism is one beggar telling another
beggar where he just found bread.” Unfortunately, that’s not how this
minister is usually quoted. What we often hear is “Evangelism is one
beggar telling another where to find bread.” Can you feel the
difference between the two?
I think the misquote is a great insight into what so many Jesus
followers think of as their duty when it comes to evangelism (no
wonder it is such an onerous task to so many!). They live out the
impulse to tell someone else about something they may not have
recently experienced. The difference between the two is that, in one
definition, the informer is telling another where bread is supposed to
be found. In the other, one person who has just had a meal is telling
another where they can satisfy their hunger, as well. The former often
tends to be dry while the latter is an act of “heart to heart”
generosity.
Here is one of the ways that this understanding has come home to me.
For four years I served on the clergy team at a homeless ministry in
Asheville NC. The members of that faith community who had no housing
of their own showed me what “DT” was really talking about. It was so
subtle that, for a long time, I didn’t “get it.” We would be walking
down Patton Avenue around lunchtime and one of the homeless men
walking with me would stop an acquaintance and offer the news that
"The Mission" further down Patton was still serving a “really good
lunch.” The response was some version of “Oh, what have they got?”
Then there was offered a quick description of the menu and the parting
exchange always included, “You think they still have some?” (For a
while I wondered about that, until I started walking everywhere and
learned to check things out before walking across town on a hunch. I
started checking the story out, too!)
What happened in that quick sidewalk exchange? The best of it is
mostly lost to this telling because body language and facial
expressions told the real story, every time. Whether or not the food
was really good, or whether or not there was really any left could be
discerned in a moment. There were no apologetics, no systematic
explanation, no verbal proof offered. It was one recently satisfied
person telling another where they had just enjoyed generous
hospitality. The recently fed didn’t have to convince the other that
their story was real – their whole demeanor told the story. It was in
the eyes, the posture, the description of the Kielbasa and the mashed
potatoes with real butter. It was real-time experience in the here and
now.
I know you can see where I’m headed with these parallels. I’ve come to
believe that “evangelism” is all about telling your story – the story
of God’s generous hospitality in your own stomach – in your own recent
experiences. It’s not about convincing or proselytizing or making
members. It’s not about reversing decline or bucking denominational
trend lines. It is about sharing the incredible story that only you
can share – the story of God’s abundant love in your own corner of the
world.
Now if that’s what you mean by evangelism, I want to hear all about
it. It seems to me that many of us want to live in faith communities
of story lending and story borrowing. On some days, I may lend you my
recent stories of the way God has been showing up and satisfying my
hunger. Tomorrow, I’ll probably be coming to you for yours. That kind
of good news sharing is constantly paying it forward. It’s robust and
it’s joyful and it shows all over. To me, that’s the kind of good news
that’s worth sharing!
Let me know what you think, OK?
With hope,
Tom
646-203-6266