Evangelism

In class last night we got into a discussion about evangelism. Does our church evangelize? Do we do it enough? What kinds of activities can be called evangelism?

The word evangelism comes from the Greek word euangelion.
It originally meant a reward for good news given to the messenger and has the same origin as the word "angel." In fact, if I look at euangelion, I can easily see something that I would translate as "true (eu) angel."

So what is it? We often narrowly define it as the process of going out and convincing other people to come to God -- to believe in God.

Can there be a wider definition? I wonder if the verse which tells us to "Go forth and make disciples" is a good definition. I think that in this work -- in this service to God -- we absolutely need to be working in partnership with God. We can certainly go forth without him, but I have a feeling that we cannot make ANYONE a disciple. Essential ingredient = God.

So, if we are to evangelize, and if we must have God with us to do it, then maybe evangelism is just pointing to God. "Look! See God?"

How do we do that?

Have I told this story? At closing of the last men's Emmaus walk, one of the new community members said that he wanted to go into the world and act so much like Jesus that no one would recognize him -- that instead of seeing him, they would see Jesus.

I loved that analogy, and maybe that's what evangelism is. Maybe we truly evangelize when we act so much like Jesus, that we are not recognizable -- that what the person in front of us sees is Jesus.

Can our Thursday night service to the homeless and marginal be evangelism? Yes, absolutely. It will be if we act so much like Jesus that they can see him. We evangelize when we feed hungry people, when we our words in worship are God's words, when we sing with such enthusiasm that those listening can hear true angels. We evangelize when we listen to the people in the room, when we see them for the person God intended them to be, when we lift their concerns to God in prayer.

We evangelize when we point to God for someone and say, "Look." There is a real blessing when we don't have to point at all -- when God is so obvious in what we are doing that no one could miss him.

And when that happens, we will find that we see God, too. Being a blessing can result in being blessed.