Everyday Evangelists

While I have been looking for a new job/ministry, I have taken some time to focus on putting some of my thoughts on evangelism and personal ministry down on paper (at least the virtual equivalent of paper!) This first post is just an introduction to the first article, which I'll post in 3-4 parts. I would love your feedback either here or on my facebook wall! Enjoy:

Everyday Evangelists
By Bryan Buchleiter

Summer is just around the corner and already the BBQ’s are blazing, the sidewalks are sizzling and mowers are churning. Sitting in my study looking out the front window, I notice something I have not seen in about 7 months – people. People who have been holed up in well lit indoor spaces surviving the short days and cold nights of winter, eager for some sort of personal interaction with anyone and everyone who is willing to take the time to stop and talk, eat or play with the kids.

Not only are the social muscles aching from a winter of apathy, but for many believers, the evangelism muscles are begging to be stretched. Youth mission trips, week long camps and special outings all mark the hot-bed of the peak evangelism season in America – second perhaps only to the emotional swell that comes around the holidays. This is the time of year where people are out, engaged and ready to relate. This is the opportunity meet them where they are with the Love of God. This is what the evangelism class during the spring semester has prepared faithful churchgoers for, this is why you stocked up on gospel tracks, this is why you memorized the four spiritual laws, this…is usually where, despite your best intentions, your outreach efforts come to a screeching halt.

One of two things usually happens: our schedules get in the way or we get in our own way. We remember that summer back in 1989 when laid out the Roman Road for a high school buddy, and never spoke to each other again. We remember standing on a Chicago street corner having tracks thrown back in our face (and then blown across Michigan Avenue to the chorus of a dozen honking cabbies). We also remember the neighbor we have known for several years now but never broken any spiritual barriers, or the co-worker that invites us out the lake every weekend and comes back Monday with the hangover to prove what a “good-time” he had.

In short our lives are a web of a message without relationships and relationships without a message. There is a cycle here that is the evangelistic equivalent of a typhoon surging through our mental landscape. The good news is that our early detection system is intact. We know what is on the horizon we can be ready for what lies ahead. Our aim is to be intentional in our relationships for the sake of the gospel.

Evangelism Defined: again.
If you are looking for a definition of evangelism you need not look too far. There is no shortage of texts on the subject at every level of interest, for everyone from the seminarian to the newest believer. For the sake of discussion, however, I’m going to use the following definition: Evangelism at its heart is a process in which an individual with a passion for something persuasively communicates that passion to another person. While such a simple definition might shatter some preconceived thoughts that evangelism is a heady activity for the well training theocrat, (I didn’t even have to look up any words to spell when I wrote it!), its practicality and application are anything but simple. It takes a myriad of assumptions to translate that definition into the life of an individual believer. Are believers consistently passionate about their faith? Do they know how to communicate what they are passionate about? Do they have relationships with people that need to hear it? And the list goes on and on.

In an effort to apply this basic definition of evangelism and address these assumptions, we need to light a fire in our souls. Once the fire is burning H.O.T., consider the following:

Heart
+ Opportunity
+ Tools
Impact

Granted, formulas for the process of evangelism are almost as common as definitions, but my prayer is that by exploring these three concepts we can see evangelism as not only theoretically simple, but also it in a practical context.

Next Post: "Heart"