Reimagining Evangelism

Believers in Jesus Christ have been given the precious gift of eternal life and I think we all want to share that gift with others; however, here in America the Gospel has been so twisted and distorted most unbelievers have developed a substantial defense against any Christian thought and some are flat out hostile toward what we consider Good News.  The word evangelism feels outdated and conjures up images of big tent revivals and door-to-door salesmen style preaching that simply doesn’t work in our modern world.  Many Christians have come to the conclusion that sharing their faith is not something they are called to do in an overt fashion and instead have resigned themselves to simply letting God’s light shine through their daily activities without ever calling any attention to the Bible or our Savior’s work on the Cross.

I don’t believe there’s any question that God wants us to share our faith at every opportunity and by that I don’t mean stopping everyone on the street and reciting scripture.  Opportunity is the key word.  God places opportunities in front of us from time to time.  Unbelievers close to us hear God’s calling and become open to His message during certain times in their life and if we are keeping our eyes open and our sensibilities tuned to this kind of situation, we should be ready to minister to them in a meaningful way.

In Rick Richardson’s book “Reimagining Evangelism” we discover a new approach to faith sharing.  This new approach is designed to fit nicely into our modern culture and moves an unbeliever toward God voluntarily rather than by coercion. In the old style evangelism we were taught more or less a sales tactic that involved a pitch and hard sell path toward closing the deal.  Richardson’s new paradigm pulls us away from this sales model and turns us into travel guides.  Rather than dwelling on judgment day, we focus on traveling through life with God on your side.  Instead of focusing on who’s in and who’s out, we look at who’s traveling toward God and who’s traveling away from God.

I see this technique as a chance to allow unbelievers to seek out the Cross rather than holding it up as an obvious missed opportunity they have foolishly neglected.   People today want to find their own way and “Reimagining Evangelism” allows that kind of discovery with gentle guidance in just the right measure.

Richardson does a great job defining his process in several different scenarios and offers all the detail you’ll need to adapt this well thought out new style of faith sharing.  You’ll come away from this read with a new perspective and an open mind toward your ability to minister to those in need around you.

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