Chapter 3 - Total Church

Evangelism, why is that such an intimidating word for Christians? On page 54 they state their convictions about evangelism, "Our conviction is that Christians are called to a duel fidelity - fidelity to the core content of the gospel accompanied by fidelity to the primary context of a believing community". For years I have witnessed the success of lifestyle evangelism when there is a willingness to present the gospel as the opportunity presents itself. Most "lifestyle evangelism" never gets to the point of presentation but when there is a willingness there is often success at some level. I also like the idea of moving people along in their search rather than thinking an all or nothing approach is the only measure of success. We look for fertile fields and realize our responsibility to sow and wait and reap. The thing I like most about this chapter is the introduction of another method of lifestyle evangelism, community lifestyle evangelism. There is no doubt that the number one barrier to evangelism is the perception of the church as outdated. Certainly then our first obstacle to overcome is that perception and introduction to community is vital. I also realized as I read this chapter that community groups creates a gospel path. They will know that you are my disciples by your love is the path Jesus laid out for the church to present the gospel to the world. When Jesus said "go and teach" he certainly intended the use of words, but also the demonstration of the power and that power is not only the miraculous, but is especially the unbelievable. People loving in community is unbelievable! On page 57, I placed asterisks and exclamation points next to the comments about Paul from I Thessalonians 2:8. On page 59 the writers comment that in their experience "people are often attracted to the Christian community before they are attracted to the gospel." The writer goes on to say that the issue then becomes, how to introduce people to the Christian community more than how to introduce them to the gospel. The emphasis of course must be that Christian community is not the Sunday morning service, but actually community in action. They also say that too often we are trying to answer questions people are not asking yet.
The 3 strands of evangelism are helpful in keeping us mindful of our task, building relationships, sharing the gospel and introducing people to community. I like it that they don't make it legalistic, but rather present it as something to keep in mind and not to force in any particular order. I also like the gifting comparisons on page 62 so that no one has to step out of their gifting to feel useful.
Gospel intentionality is an imperative in the concept of kingdom growth. Adding people is not the goal, but adding solidly converted, heart and life changed people is. Also on page 64 I found myself challenged by the statement that "we often assume we need to organize something." Then he follows with the sentence, "But there are plenty of opportunities we can join, attend, visit, or participate." He also states, "All of this requires people who are proactively committed to speaking the gospel to unbelievers." That is the key ingredient that I would love to awaken in the hearts of our own community. On page 65 he says, "The communities to which we introduce people must be communities in which "Godtalk" is normal. This means talking about what we are reading in the Bible, praying together whenever we share needs, delighting together in the gospel, and sharing our spiritual struggles, not only with Christians, but with unbelievers." All this is powerful stuff when it becomes the normal environment of Christian community. I also like how they state that even with all this they work hard at not making their times together appear strange by explaining things and making the unbeliever feel as comfortable as possible.
I am challenged to ask, 'What can we do to make this happen?' 'How can we transform ourselves into kingdom ambassadors?' 'Where are the opportunities to invade the gates of Hell?' 'Are our community meetings representing the gospel well?'