It seems to me that evangelism in this diocese is a bit like teenagers and sex -

* It’s on everybody’s mind all the time.
* Everyone is talking about it all the time.
* Everyone thinks everyone else is doing it.
* Almost no one is really doing it.
* The few who are doing it are doing it poorly.
* The few who are doing it are sure it will be better next time.
* No-one is doing it safely.

* The few who are doing it are not practicing it safely.

What do you mean by this Craig (with regards to evangelism of course)?

Yours in Christ,
Mark

Mark Tough - 20 July 2007 06:23 PM

* The few who are doing it are not practicing it safely.

What do you mean by this Craig (with regards to evangelism of course)?

Yours in Christ,
Mark

Ah, I just added that in because it sounded funny…

The other points are serious though…

Mark Tough - 20 July 2007 06:23 PM

What do you mean by this Craig

Presumably that evangelism is not possible since neither is “safe teenage sex” :-)

How about the fact that - when the weakest of us are struggling just to talk about salvation & hope of eternal life in Jesus - the Holy Spirit is at work in us anyway?

”[Our] message and [our] preaching [a]re not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that [others’] faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
- 1 CORINTHIANS 2:4-5

T.S. can’t claim that!

TZ.

Well said Tia. It doesn’t matter how good or bad we are at sharing our faith. As long as we try to do it.

cheers,
Heather.

Heather Smith - 23 July 2007 12:04 PM

Well said Tia. It doesn’t matter how good or bad we are at sharing our faith. As long as we try to do it.

cheers,
Heather.

I must admit I’m quite uncomfortable with that idea. Imagine a surgeon who said “I figure it doesn’t matter how good or bad I am at brain surgery - just so long as I do my best.” I doubt you’d feel comfortable going under his knife!

If we seriously believe the gospel is important, surely we have to make every effort to present it as effectively as we can.

Hi Craig,

So when do you know that you’ve got it right?

When can I tell the children in my sunday school class that they are allowed to share their faith - after they have done 3 years bible college training? “Sorry dear, you are not allowed to tell anyone about your faith until you’ve finished three different courses on sharing your faith.”

What level of education do you have to have to be unleashed on the world with the gospel?

Tia was hinting in the right direction. In our weakness God is strong. God can use everyone to grow His Kingdom.

cheers,
Heather.

[edit: added italics]

What level of education do you have to have to be unleashed on the world with the gospel?

Well, one needs to be “educated” in the content of the gospel, for a start!

I disagree with your analogy in comparing witnessing with a surgeon’s skill.

If you have the attidue that you won’t share your faith until you have it perfect then you have a very small view of what God can achieve with you.

If I adopted your attitude to everything in my life then my church would not have its current children’s ministry coordinator.

Even people coming out of Bible College into ministry will find that they don’t “know it all” in relation to being the pastor of their church. You can’t improve on what you have until you use it, make mistakes and learn from them.

So if I share my faith in a less than perfect way - well at least the person I’ve shared with can’t front up to heaven on judgement day and say “well nobody told me that Jesus died for me!”

At some point that person will have to respond and investigate it further. They shouldn’t just take my word for it but go and read their Bible. That’s where the gospel is! Not in a tract.

If I get the message a little bit wrong - at least I know where to send this new convert so they can hear the correct gospel - in their local church setting and with other Christians in bible study.

But first I have to get them there.

In the fellowship of believers, kind regards,
Heather. :-)

If you have the attidue that you won’t share your faith until you have it perfect then you have a very small view of what God can achieve with you.

I never said you have to be perfect. But I disagree with “it doesn’t matter how good or bad we are at it”. I think we should try hard to be “good” at sharing our faith.

In your orginial post at the start of this thread you seem to imply that maybe you too feel poor at sharing the gospel.

In your understanding can you please define or give examples of “good” or “bad” instances of sharing our faith?

A poor example would be someone who doesn’t mention Jesus. Someone who uses language that the hearer doesn’t understand. Someone who speaks in such an aggressive manner that the hearer is intimidated.

Good examples are too numerous to list.

So do you agree with Tia’s verse of scripture?

The verse Tia presented is a great verse of scripture to encourage all of us to have confidence in evangelism, but it needs a healthy balance, with a verse such as this perhaps:

2 Timothy 2:15 (New International Version)
15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

We are called to do our best to correctly handle the word of truth. We have a wonderful faith of paradoxes!

Such as Paul’s other exhortation to Timothy

“Think over what I say, and the Lord will give you understanding”

It’s not, “you don’t have to think, because God will give you understanding”, and it’s also not “Think really hard because God won’t be the one to give you understanding”

So I think both Craig and Tia make very good points. God does the work of evangelism, but we are called to learn and do it wisely. Amazing!

Cheers

Geoff