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
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!
With hope,
Tom
646-203-6266
