Skip to main content

Evangelism gone wrong, Evangelism rectified

I've been reading the book The Provocative Church lately, and must say I give it two hands up and an amen. Reading this book will jump in the face of everything you thought evangelism was.

Once not long ago (as in, beginning with my entrance into college and up until just recently) I felt very guilty regarding evangelism. The book hit this to a T when it sums up that most Christians feel that evangelism is something that ought to be done, but they don't readily do because they don't know how, they don't feel good at doing it, or they don't want to subject friends to a church that they themselves are bored and unfulfilled with.

I have always wished to evangelize, but have always had the principle hindrance in feeling that it does no good to talk about God to someone who isn't really curious. And, to that end, I've simply strove for Christian progress (see Justification, Sanctification, Reconciliation, in a previous entry). This book holds that just such an approach, on a church wide level, is the cornerstone of evangelism. If the whole chuch should be living a life different to the world around it, and preach a message of how to practically go about loving others, living in peace, and caring for people and the world around you, people will ask why. When you tell them why, tell them about Jesus. Having already gained their attention, they will be far more likely to listen.

Some might say that there's people out there who just don't seem like they would notice, or care. Well, and I indite (sp?) myself on this as well, I guess we just haven't shown them something different yet.

The other day over ice cream I was telling an old high school friend what I do with my friends for fun, and also telling her that all of these friends for the most part are from my church. She was interested, excited that we had so much fun and were so communally close without having to get completely drunk. Pretty soon, I'm going to make sure she (as well as anyone else she cares to bring) gets to see this kind of community. I'm not going out of the way to share the gospel with her. She's asked a little before, and I've answered a little, so I know she is to some degree interested. Hopefully, she'll be more intrigued, and gradually (by observing it) get to see the truth of the gospel through life lived by a church.

Popular posts from this blog

The $2000 monkey on my back, deferred

It’s been more than a week, and I think an update is due. Plus, I can give updates on my own status with my heart murmur, having seen the doctor this past Friday. The only thing that has kept me from updating until now is simply laziness (in other words, I was far too busy studying/eating/cleaning/sleeping to actually relax and write). This past Friday I went to the Student Health Center to see my doctor about the previously mentioned murmur recently discovered. My doctor presumed it was most likely an innocent flow murmur, which occurs if a heart valve doesn’t close all the way or in time when the heart beats, allowing blood to flow back the opposite way, and the blood causes turbulence heard as noise. If you’ve ever heard turbulent water flowing over and through rocks and back upstream in eddies in a river, you should get the idea of what a murmur is. It was recommended that I have an echocardiography done, or an ultrasound picture of my heart. This would allow us to see exactly how ...
Read more

Learning Leadership

This past Thursday-Friday was the annual Internal Medicine Residency PGY-2 (means a second year resident) Leadership Retreat. At the retreat, we had several lectures, breakout discussion sessions, and role play practice in how to employ leadership skills that help foster a positive learning and working environment. The lecture and discussion series was led by facilitators who have been trained through the Stanford Faculty Development Center and utilizes their Clinical Teaching Program curriculum. The focus was for how we, as residents, can facilitate a positive learning environment for incoming interns and for medical students on the team. It also focused on how to set goals for an inpatient team, and how to best use your attending as a resource. Overall, it was a great retreat. Though many people think that some people are natural born leaders, I think many leadership qualities, if not most, can be learned and trained. Sometimes those who have had some kind of training or learning in...
Read more

Pediatrics clinic and becoming compassionate

On Tuesday I had my third day in the pediatrics pulmonary clinic. I am grateful for the experience I have had there. I have been given a lot of practice in interviewing and examining patients that I would not normally have in my APD class. The first time there, I was nervous and avoidant of seeing any patients by myself. This Tuesday, however, I saw several alone before they were seen by the doctor, and prior to being seen by the doctor would return and give him the rundown, a.k.a. presenting the patient. I was getting better even as the morning wore on. One thing challenging about pediatrics is that your patient is often only a third your size with a will and defiance five times your own, making for a formidable adversary. When you ask an adult patient to comply with a request, generally they will without much hesitation. When you ask a child, you are first faced with putting the request in a manner they will understand. Second, you must ask it in a way that they will comply with. Tha...
Read more