As a teenager, I asked out a cute girl. She took one look at me, said, “No thanks,” and gave me a Bible instead.
And there, reading alone, God converted me reading through the Gospel of Mark.
You want a philosophy for evangelism? You don’t need gimmicks and games. Get people into the Bible and watch God work.
Years later, I was “candidating” for the lead pastorate at University Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In a public Q&A session, a member of the congregation asked, “What’s your plan to reach the community?”
Imbedded in that question lies a whole host of assumptions about what evangelism is, who does it, and even about how it’s to be done. Truth is, I didn’t have a great answer ready to go, so I responded, “Tell me what you’re doing now.”
She highlighted a program that goes into an under-served, low-income housing complex, a community event during a motorcycle rally, a food pantry, and a community “helps” ministry. At one level, it sounded pretty impressive. But you could tell from her response that she didn’t feel it was especially effective.
I
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