This past Sunday we concluded our sermon series on our church's mission statement with a focus on the so-called Third Table: of us being a faithful evangelistic presence in our communities.
Throughout that sermon, the Scriptures challenged us to think about how we live out that presence. And I specifically challenged our Mesa groups to ask these how-questions, together.
Here is some follow up, starting with the list of 'homework questions' I 'assigned' to our Mesa groups.
The main, overriding question is:
How do we—in our Mesa groups—be a faithful evangelistic presence in our ministry context—our neighborhoods or sports fields or schools? What does it look like where we live right now?
Here are the specific homework questions with respect to each of the four how-to lessons from the Scriptures:
Be Relational--especially around Real Human Needs
Questions: Who are the people we collectively and I individually are called to get to know and get to know deeply? Who are the real people and where are real needs that might connect me deeply with others?
Be Open to Others and Their Differences
Who is our neighbor? Where is the LORD calling us to cross a divide—to walk across a street, either literally or figuratively?
Challenge Heart Issues--especially with Scripture
What are needs in our neighbors where Jesus is the true answer? How might we pray for them and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in speaking with them?
Speak out of Your Testimony
What difference has Jesus made in your life? Begin sharing your answers to this simple question within your Mesa group, and pray for the opportunity to share it with others outside your Mesa as well.
Here is a good resource when thinking about your testimony and another about the power of story when presenting the Gospel to others. In a way, evangelism is nothing more than sharing how the story of your life was changed by the story of the Gospel--the story of God's work in Christ Jesus! Our story is now wrapped up in God's story!
Like I said on Sunday, your story is uniquely yours. And in our contemporary context, our stories are core to our identity. So it is not something someone can really refute or reject! Of course, folks might not believe your story applies to theirs...but we are not able to, nor called to control others' response. Just to be faithful in sharing what difference Jesus has made in our lives--and the Holy Spirit does the rest!
It is freeing when we realize that across the many differences that divide us today--some marked by legacies of sin, dysfunctionality or hardship--we are not responsible for bringing conviction of sin and the need for Jesus. That is the Holy Spirit's work. We are called merely to be a faithful presence. So we go. Extend mercy. Proclaim God's righteousness. And share our need for the Savior.
What some additional food for thought about evangelism? Here are two excellent book length resources that are great 'culture fits' for our church. It's like they had our 3Rs and 3 Tables in view as they wrote them!
I love what Jerry Root and Stan Guthrie say about the work of Jesus in their book The Sacrament of Evangelism. (They are not--yet--Anglicans, but they should be!)
We do not take Christ to anyone; He is already there. We go to make explicit what we see Him doing implicitly. It is not a question of whether God is at work in His world . . . Our hope is to see more of God’s people at work with Him! Learn about why we share our faith, Christ's role in our evangelism, the deep longings in all our hearts, and how to effectively live a sacramentally evangelistic lifestyle.
We are offering a way of looking at life and the world that is open to God’s presence everywhere. This approach is called sacramental. And where better to experience God’s presence than in His workplace? This is the Sacrament of Evangelism.
The most basic definition of a sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward grace. And so Root and Guthrie see the 'outward' opportunities to share our faith everywhere because God Himself is the 'inward grace' at work in our circumstances. Concretely, Jesus is out there already seeking the lost. We just join Him in His mission!
Fr. Rick Richardson's (yes, he is an Anglican) Reimagining Evangelism: Inviting Friends on a Spiritual Journey is another great 'culture fit' book for our church. You might say, he challenges us to rethink our approach along truly rooted, restful and relational lines:
Sometimes talking about Jesus with your friends can feel like trying to close a deal on a sales call, pushing something on people they may not really want. But what if you thought of it more like inviting them on a spiritual journey?
Imagine being free to be yourself and free for the Spirit to work in you. Imagine that it doesn't depend on you alone but that you can be an important part of a witnessing community. Imagine telling people stories instead of trying to download content.
Here is your invitation to reimagine what evangelism could be for you.
So if your Mesa group would enjoy reading one or both of these books, I can heartily recommend them as we begin exploring more of how we might best share Jesus with others!
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