I’ve been wrestling with the messiness of relational (some call it friendship) evangelism combined with verbal proclamation and how to teach it to others. We’re seeing lots of spiritual conversations, but not a ton of those are resulting in bringing people to a point of decision. Some of that is the environment we’re in, but some of that is our lack of effectiveness. Each spiritual conversation we have is so varied that there’s no cut and dry method.  I landed on this phrase I picked up from Cru Press Green that might help us get traction…

Evangelism is both a process and an event.

I stole this paragraph from a CPG article that summarizes this statement well. Launching from a place of understanding that everyone is somewhere on the spiritual journey pictured below…

it is key to realize that moving people along that line is both a process and an event, we can continue to reach out to a person in many different ways and forms of witness – e.g., our testimony, a book or podcast, serving them in some way, hanging out, playing sports together, inviting them to be around other Christians at a Cru meeting or social event, or coming along to church. But since sharing the Gospel is also the event of them hearing the Gospel, there will need to be a time, or perhaps many times, when someone verbally shares the Gospel with that person. For some non-believers, we will be involved in both the process and the event, while for others we may only be in on the event, and others will be in on the longer process. Whatever our role is, we walk in the Spirit and let God use us in His overall plan in other people’s lives.

What I really like is that the article points out that sharing the Gospel includes people hearing the Gospel…with words, but doesn’t discount the effort we make to serve, invite and spend time with people. Maybe I’ll put it like this – verbal proclamation of Jesus is the backbone of evangelism that is surrounded by the mission to care for, love and serve those in our sphere of influence.

How do you train students in the reality that evangelism is both a process and an event?

I’ve been on this journey of rethinking evangelism over the last year. Moving to Portland will do that to you I guess. I’ve done my best trying to integrate biblical principles in these too. These are the convictions that I’ve arrived at so far…

1. I believe everyone is on some sort of spiritual journey.
2.  I believe that God is able to transform lives.
3.  I believe I’m called to take the initiative to bring Jesus to those that don’t know him (leaving the 99 to go to after the 1).
4.  I’m called to have a posture of incarnation – being present with those around me, listening with respect, engaging, serving, loving.
5. There will be opposition – those that are angry, those that don’t respond, those that are neutral.
6.  I get to be an ambassador for Christ and help people come to a point of decision. “Do you want to respond to Jesus right now?”
7.  I want to be known for talking about Jesus – a natural outflow

Am I missing anything? Are any of these challenging to you?

Thanks for stopping by. These are a few articles that caught my attention and challenged my thinking last week. So thankful for a chance to be influenced by great men via the interwebs.

• I’ve recently become a big fan of Ed Stetzer. Not only are his views on evangelism biblically sound, but he’s responded to my tweets a couple of times.  Challenging words about themes the Christian church is facing here, which I think have implications for our campus ministries as well.
• This article from Christianity Today (also by Ed Stetzer) on “Proseltytizing in a Multi-Faith World“. It’s a long one, but really practical principles in how to proclaim the gospel in a multi-faith world.
• This article from Brian Barela completely resonated with me on leading with limited capacity. Apparently it’s common for us 30 year olds.
• Lastly, this post from Tim Casteel on developing more of a culture of sharing within Cru. This is a message I’ve preached from the rooftops, but even now find myself with such limited capacity that it doesn’t happen as regularly as I’d like.

Enjoy some reading this week!

I wrestle with the fact that in my line of work there is always more to do. So many things I could do combined with a desire to do them well is a weight that never seems to be lifted. As I complete 1 task, 2 more tasks are added to the list.

If I’m going to thrive in the job of campus ministry and help my team move toward our vision of seeing the campuses of Portland transformed I have to figure out how to focus on the right things. The question I keep coming back to is how do I focus, when it seems like everything is important? Unfortunately a big audacious vision doesn’t help this problem either.

Here’s a couple things that I think could help free me up to focus on the things that only I can do. I just  need some discipline to put them into practice.

• Make a stop doing list. Identify the things that I’m doing that do not fuel the vision of our team long term and stop doing them. Identify the things that won’t matter in a week or month and stop doing them.

• Block out 2 hour “think times” at least once a week. This allows me to lift my head above the urgent, focus on the big picture and plan according without distraction. I must put these in the calendar and not fill them with meetings.

• Be ok with not completing every little task. Completing tasks is great but I often find more satisfaction in accomplishing the wrong tasks than I should.

What strategies do you employ to hep bring focus to your job?

There are three spaces that we do ministry, whether we realize it or not. Straight out of Acts 17 while Paul is in Athens.

Space #1 – This is the place you come from. People look a lot like you and smell a lot like you. In Acts 17:17 Paul reasons with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks in the Synagogue.

Space #2 – Out in the marketplace. This is public domain in everyday life for you. In Acts 17:17 Paul also ministers to people in the martketplace who happen to be there.

Space #3 – Someone else’s turf, culture or way of life. This is where you are an outsider. You might look different and the culture definitely looks different. Acts 17:19 “Then they took him”…Paul get’s invited into a meeting with the Areopagus on their turf and then he’s given the chance to influence their space.

Implications to my personal ministry:

• Recognizing that I’m comfortable in space #1 and dealing with the hard question of, “Am I open to change?”
• Recognizing that if we are successful in only space #1 that it’s probably not going to accomplish the vision that God has given us.
• If everyone that I minister to looks like me, it might be an indicator that I’m in love with my myself, my organization/church. Perhaps I’m willing to do whatever it takes to reach people as long as they look like me.
• Do we lack credibility in space #2?
• It’s difficult to train people to be kingdom minded in space #2 if we aren’t ever successful in it ourselves.
• Space #3 affords us the chance to influence people in their space with their permission. Does a portion of my ministry efforts reflect this?

Does this biblical reality challenge your ministry initiatives at all?

These are my notes (and my interpretation) from Erwin McManus during Movement Day Conference.

Lest you think I’m suddenly voiding past thoughts about innovation…I’m talking about imitating Christ’s ministry. He’s our model.

We are not here to invent ministry, but imitate ministry.

And that imitating is done in the context of partnership…a deep union in Him and a participation in what he’s already doing. All ministry is derivative. In other words, I’m just “hitching a ride” on what God is already doing. No need to proclaim that I’m “starting a ministry”, because in reality I’m just showing up to discover where God is at work. He gets the credit. He should, He’s been at work for eternity.

If we don’t understand imitation and participation, our ministry is reduced to programs, strategies and techniques. Our ministry becomes man-centered, not Christ-centered.

This reality has implications on my perspective about how I view the people I rub shoulders with every day. It’s humbling.

I’m processing these thoughts that come from a “Theology in Ministry” seminary class taught by John Johnson of The Village Church.