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Evangelism
"For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’”
Luke 5:9-10
Recently, I attended our Episcopal Diocese of Texas clergy conference, where I took in a workshop on evangelism and public witness. The leader of the workshop asked us to imagine approaching evangelism as a practice where we “listen with ears to hear where God is at work in someone” rather than focusing on converting people. When we are in conversation with others out in the world, he invited us to engage with them thinking, “God is at work in you and I want to listen and bear witness to that.” After all, God is already out there ahead of us, working in the world, before we take our first step.
This model of evangelism is more about listening and inviting than talking; and more about watching and modeling behavior than presenting. How can we learn where God is working in the world if we are doing all the talking? Rather than telling a person that they need to read the right books and come to our church to learn about Jesus, perhaps we should listen to them to find out where their faith journey started and where they have been. Then we can show them where we are going and what we are doing. In a chapter on evangelism in the book “Reckless Love” by the Rev. John Newton, he says it this way, “We can only truly catch people when we ourselves have been caught and when we learn to love others with the same reckless abandon with which Christ loves us. This is how we are to evangelize the world.”
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 100)
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