1/10 Representing the norm, a pastor said to me, “My leaders measure my success by how many baptisms I get, and the method I’m required to use is an evangelistic series in which I or a hired evangelist will quote strings of Bible verses to convince people that we have the truth.”
2/10 He continued, “Each year I do one of these evangelistic events hoping against hope that people will come night after night for 4 weeks and that at least a few people will get baptized. Year after year fewer people come and if I baptize a church member’s children, I’m lucky.”
3/10 Going on, he said, “But almost never do I have actual unbelievers show up for these events, and on the rare occasion that any do show up, they don’t stick it out for all the meetings and get baptized. It feels futile and I feel like a failure.”
4/10 Here is part of the problem: The church is using a 19th century evangelistic approach for a 21st century audience. We are speaking a cultural language few people understand and answering questions few are asking. Allow me to explain.
5/10 The church is still using an evangelistic approach that was developed for a Christian audience that assumed the Bible to be an authoritative source of knowledge. “The Bible says...” carried persuasive power and nearly every “convert” came from another denomination.
6/10 But to evangelize our current secular, post-modern, biblically-illiterate culture by saying, “The Bible says... Therefore you ought…” lands on many ears with the same impotence as, “Jane Austen says… Therefore you ought…”
7/10 We no longer live in a culture for which changes in belief and behavior can be effectively prompted by imposing a sense of obligation to an “ancient book” that has assumed authority. For the vast majority of the current population, “The Bible says…” carries no weight.
8/10 The evangelistic equation must be reversed. Acceptance & social integration must precede intellectual adherence & lifestyle compliance. “Believe, behave, belong” must be replaced with “belong, believe, behave.” Love must be demonstrably indiscriminate and authentically felt.
9/10 We must access the head through the heart. Empathy is the new authority. Existential meaning is the new door of access. Demonstrated love is the new evangelistic power. I say “new” only in the sense that we’ve lost touch with the “old” way Jesus evangelized.
10/10 I’m not trying to criticize what we’re doing. Really, I’m not. I’m simply trying to describe our present cultural reality & thus prompt innovation, creativity, & new approaches that will actually capture the attention of the actual people that now exist. Sorry if it hurts.
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