St. Patrick's Anglican Church Smyrna, TN
Evangelistening
by Fr. Ray KaschI was walking downtown Chattanooga at lunchtime on a beautiful spring day, only to have the enjoyment of my surrounding dissipated by the angry voice of a “street evangelist”. He was yelling at passers by, warning them to flee from the certain hell that they were facing. He spoke, or rather shouted, in a monotone and rarely looked at his audience. It seemed to me that he was on “automatic pilot” and while I had no doubt that he thought he was being faithful to his Lord, I rued his techniques. Before I could catch myself, I went up to him and said, “What in the world do you think you are doing?” He replied, “I’m preaching the gospel”. “No you’re not”, I protested, “You’re yelling at people; there’s a difference. The Gospel is good news and here you are condemning folks you don’t even know.” Since I was wearing a collar, he saw me as leading the parade to hell, so my words fell on deaf ears. Nevertheless I needed to say what I said and I am convinced that his attempts at evangelism were seriously misguided.
I tell this story because for many Anglicans the word, “evangelism” invokes images of the man on the street yelling at folks and not only does that seem unchristian, it’s just not good cricket. Hellfire and damnation evangelism is to an Episcopalian what a wine tasting is to a fundamentalist. It’s just not going to happen. What has happened, however, is that we have so overreacted to this image of evangelism that we have decided that evangelism is not our cup of tea or we have become magnanimous about it and assigned a decade to it. Isn’t the idea of “A Decade of Evangelism” intriguing? The Lord of the Church has given a commission to preach, baptize and make disciples of all the nations and we decided to make that our focus for ten years. Did we think that our job would be finished in ten years or were we going to give it a good try for a decade and then if unsuccessful do something else? What was the Church thinking? Perhaps next is a “Decade of the Decalogue.” And if the 10 Commandments become too difficult after a ten year try we will be exempt from them. Of course I jest, but my point is that we have yet come to terms with how we are to do evangelism as Christians whose Church is of a sacramental rather than a revivalist tradition.
May I suggest we begin with the Anglican “via media” (middle way) on evangelism. Our tradition is strong in not letting the pendulum swing all of the way to one side or the other. It is not compromise; it is balance. So if we allow our bad experiences with street preachers to make us throw out evangelism, we will be unbalanced.
First, we must believe that unless we want to be guilty of disobeying the Lord of the Church, evangelism is not an option. What is an option is how we go about it.
Second, we can be faithful to our Lord and still reject the “scalp hunting” mentality of much that passes for evangelism. In fact, if we observe how our Lord did evangelism we see an absence of yelling at folks about going to hell. We see a person who loves, engages and listens. Recall the episode where he met the woman at the well in John’s Gospel. Historical context tells us much about the woman, even before she admits the problems in her life. A woman who is drawing water alone and in the heat of the day did so because she was a social outcast. But note that Jesus did not harp on her about her sinful ways. He built a bridge to her by beginning the conversation, and he chose a topic that was real to her. “Lets talk about thirst.” Jesus listened carefully to her responses and asked questions that brought her out. Then he revealed himself to her. No yelling and no warnings about hell. It is very important to note that he went from addressing her ultimate needs and revealing who he was before the topic of sin came up. And even when the topic of sin came up, it was done in a very pastoral way - “Go get your husband” “Well I don’t really have one” “That’s true, you’ve been married five times and you’re not married to the one you are living with now.” “Amazing, you must be a prophet.” “Now you’re getting it” (Kasch Revised Version). Still no yelling and still no warning about hell. What I learn from this encounter is that evangelism is a lot more about listening than it is about yelling and it is my opinion that our style of worship prepares us to be good listeners. Thus, we can think of evangelism as evangelistening.
Tim Roehl, in an article on evangelism in the September 1998 issue of Discipleship Journal, offers some good insights on how to be evangelisteners. While he does not use that term, he suggests what is on the mind of many who are unchurched. He calls it...
A Seekers Top 10
1. I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care.
2. Have compassion for me. Don’t condemn me because my life is a mess.
3. Ask permission to tell me about God; don’t push him on me...find out about my world before you expect me to be interested about yours.
4. Use words I can understand.
5. Have a sense of humor. I want a faith that can be enjoyed not endured.
6. Don’t focus on your church. Labels don’t mean much to me. I’m looking for people who live like they really love God.
7. Don’t just tell me about your faith; show me your faith by serving others in love.
8. Take your time. Don’t tell me everything at once. Give me time to let God work in my life.
9. Tell me how God can make a difference in my daily life, not just in church on Sunday.
10. Make Jesus real to me. Show me how to know him...and chances are I’ll want to know him, too.
There is a wonderful motto that many have adopted as a mission statement which says, “To Know Christ and To Make Him Known.” The above list provides a practical strategy for doing just that, without acting like a street evangelist. We do not argue or scare people into the kingdom of God. We make Christ known by loving them, and listening is one of the greatest gifts of love anyone can offer. Yelling at folks is not Anglican but evangelistening is and we need to be more deliberate in fulfilling that part of our calling. As St. Francis put it, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
