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I might begin with a question. What do you get when you cross a Jehovah’s Witness with a Presbyterian? Answer: someone who will ring doorbells but then, when someone answers, doesn’t know what to say!

Well, it is always good to be able to laugh at ourselves, maybe especially when it comes to the E word. In our denomination, we have always said that evangelism is central, but, in general, we haven’t done much about it since by and large, we have historically relied either on folks finding us more or less on their own, or we have relied on biological growth to people our pews. That is, the biology of Presbyterian families begetting baby Presbyterians who grow up and then repeat the process. Statistics show that part of the problem in our denomination is that those grown-up, post-college aged Presbyterians haven’t always come back. Their absence would be somewhat easier to stomach if they had actually united with another church, even in another denomination, but many have simply become a statistic in that great amorphous category that the church growth experts label “The Un-churched.” To mimic the old public service commercial:

“It’s 11:00 on Sunday morning. Do you know where your children are?” Those of us who remain are left spinning out strategies to reverse denominational
membership declines, of which we have a zillion marketing strategies, truckloads of promotional materials, and enough guilt to last a lifetime. The story goes that the ever- popular 19^th century American urban revivalist. Dwight L. Moody was once called to task by a rather staid and stuffy Presbyterian layman. “Mr. Moody. why do you have to use so much emotion to win converts during your revivals?” Moody’s response: “I admit my methods are not perfect, but I do like my way of doing it better than your way of NOT doing it.”

The story is also told of a Presbyterian minister in San Antonio who was eating at a restaurant, when a stranger pulled up a chair to his table and asked, “Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” So. the minister, quick on his feet. decided he would save the man some time, and he said “Hey, I am a Christian. In fact, I’m born again; I’m washed in the blood. I’m spirit-filled.” Well, across the face of the man who had pulled up the chair came a smile of disappointment. He stood up and was about to leave, when the minister added. “In fact, I’m a Presbyterian pastor.” With that, the man sat back down and began to witness in earnest.

Rebecca Pippert, a popular author in Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship circles wrote a little book. Out of the Salt Shaker that was a standard small group study text on evangelism when I was in college, playing on the verse “you are the salt of the earth.”. She tells about the time she was in her car at a traffic light. As the light turned green another car sped by and its occupant threw something into her car that struck her on the cheek. It didn’t hurt, but a little rattled, she pulled over and discovered that it was a gospel tract. She later reported that she was the victim of torpedo evangelism.

I suppose, whether the word “torpedo” or some other military analogy is used, that style of aggressive evangelism or some, what we might consider, anti-intellectual variation, is what turns many of us off. I have been on the receiving end of that approach, and it is not a happy place to be. It comes across to me as less amazing grace and more a way to earn points with God for the one who is doing the witnessing.

Admittedly, the E word is a problem. It can conjure images of high pressure tactics, buttonholing, judgment and condemnation, pre-packaged formulas and emotional techniques that seem to be out of sync with the spirit of the Gospel and certainly out of character with the Presbyterian penchant for intellectualizing the faith. Yet, perhaps, about the only thing worse is to do nothing at all.

So, what’s it going to be? Polls indicate that about 60% of Americans say they attend worship services regularly, but the sad reality is that only about one half of that figure actually do so. Six million or so Americans say they are Presbyterians, yet when you go to add up all the numbers on all the membership rolls of all the American Presbyterian denominations, including ours with about 2.5 million, you get something less than four million Presbyterians of various stripes actually on church rolls. Year after year, in poll after poll, as many as 95% of Americans affirm belief in God and a sizeable majority of that figure say that they believe Jesus is the Son of God. Yet, they stay away from church. For sure, there are a few who have had a bad experience, but most would say they just got out of the habit and drifted away without even so much as a “goodbye.”

The E word is the proverbial “monkey on the back” of Presbyterians. Is “evangelism” good news for us, or is it bad news?

Without a doubt, evangelism can mean many different things to different people. I believe at the heart of the E word is a simple strategy that every one of us can practice, one technique that is about as basic as it comes when we face the terror of the E word.

In the gospel text for today, we met Andrew, the apostle who presents us with one model for the practice of evangelism. Apparently, Andrew had always been a religious man; before this glimpse of him we have in John I, he had been a disciple of John the Baptist, a hell, fire, and brimstone preacher if there ever was one! But one day, Andrew met Jesus, and he was never the same again. Three times Andrew walks onto the stage of the Gospel of John: first, when he introduced his brother Simon to Jesus here in chapter one; next, in chapter 6 of John when he introduced the boy with the loaves and the fish to Jesus; and then, third in John 12, when he introduced some devout Greeks to Jesus. It would seem that Andrew was always introducing people to the Lord. Other than that, we don’t know much about Andrew; what we do know for sure is that he was very good at introducing people to Jesus.

Now that’s one way of doing the E word. Like Andrew, practice the evangelism of introducing others to Christ, saying, simply, in the words that Jesus said, “Come and see!” If Jesus truly lives among us, then this is the most likely place where others will come to meet him, where we can bring others, as Andrew did, and introduce them to this one whom we call the Christ.

The question of evangelism is not whether our church should grow. Of course our church should grow. To say otherwise would be contrary to the Gospel. This is what Christians are supposed to be about. But evangelism is not growth for the sake of bigger churches or bigger egos or bigger budgets or bigger programs. Evangelism is our imperative, but we shouldn’t confuse this imperative with marketing since the gospel is not a marketable commodity to which we can assign a cost/benefit ratio. Nor should we confuse this imperative with a false sense that somehow we have become responsible for saving someone else.

For each of us, getting comfortable with the E word is our own commitment to grow into who God created us to be, thereby continuing the redeeming and restorative and reconciling activity of Jesus.

I read about a t-shirt that someone wore to church. It had a cartoon drawing of black and white spotted dogs sitting in a congregation, listening to a spotted preacher-dog who was saying, “No! No! Bad Dog!” The title of the t-shirt was “Hellfire and Dalmatians.” On the one hand, there are words and demeanors and theologies that rightly turn us off when it comes to evangelism; on the other hand, it is easy for us to hide behind satire and caricature. Whatever would be our disgruntlement with the E word, it does not give us license to “throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Rather than imposing the gospel on others, we can expose them to the Good News simply by introducing them to the particular body of Christ that lives right here.

To return to my opening analogy of Presbyterians and Jehovah’s Witnesses, Presbyterians not only know how to ring doorbells but we also have lots to say about the gospel. and a lot of what we have to say is very different from what other people in other churches are saying. In fact, Presbyterians are highly articulate, well-versed in the teachings of Jesus, and committed to making the world a better place for all of God’s children.

What do you think about being an Andrew, this one who acted as a kind of middle man, introducing others to Jesus as you might introduce two of your friends who don’t already know one another?

If you are willing to be like Andrew, here are some simple steps to consider:

First, pray that God would guide you to whom you should introduce, the ones who will be most receptive to your invitation. Theologically, prayer is a very important reminder that none of us ultimately does any asking; we only follow through with what the Holy Spirit has already initiated and then prompted us to do. Pray that the spirit will give each of us the spirit of gentleness and respect for the other.

Secondly, don’t be satisfied with offering a general invitation, like “I’d love to have you come to my church for a visit.” That’s like saying, “let’s do lunch sometime.” You’ll probably get a courteous, “sounds great,” but nothing will ever come of it. Instead, make your invitation specific, to a particular service or a particular event. Like World Communion Sunday next week, a fine time for others to observe our sense of unity with other Christians, or our bring a friend Sunday the following week or what better time to introduce someone to this congregation than on Wednesday night, October 1 5,when we gather in small groups to put all the pieces of the visioning puzzle together for everyone to see and talk about together. To catch a glimpse of a congregation with a future orientation — what a great introduction that could be for someone looking to belong to something bigger than themselves.

Third, be aware that an invitation to “come and see” will often have deep meaning in a time of profound need or crisis. The fact that attendance in religious services spiked upward all across the nation after 9-11 is one example of this. But there are more everyday examples. Scott Peck begins his book, The Road Less Traveled by writing, “Life is difficult.” You know it is. I know it. It is for everybody. How deeply life’s difficulties are felt vary in time and space, but grief and loss and hardship are the glue that bind all of humanity together. A sensitive awareness of the bad news in the someone else’s life can open a door for sharing the good news of our God who knows hurt and responds with a heart of love.

Fourth, like Andrew did, invite others to “come and see” with you. Pick them up. Meet them outside at their car. Meet them at the door. Sit beside them. I think it is one of the great copouts of our time in the church when we make the assumption that people want to be left alone, that we should let them take the initiative, that they need “space.” While that might be true in some cases, it mostly serves as an excuse for us because we have over-reacted to the stereotypes of pushy soul-savers and a plastic, sentimentalized Jesus, which we rightly reject. I think that people appreciate friends and companions who walk along beside them. They will be more inclined to come here if they don’t feel that they will get lost in a sea of unfamiliar faces or feel odd participating in a strange routine.

Fifth, be persistent and be patient. I’ll admit, this is the hardest one for me. We certainly don’t want to be obnoxious in our inviting, but neither do we want to give it less than our best effort. When people start offering their excuses for not coming to church, because I have heard so many reasons over the years, I often find myself explaining to them what they are trying to say, which is more of a counseling technique than it is a style of evangelism! It is a gray, ambiguous area to me as to our role in applying guilt to someone who readily admits they should be here but has just fallen out of the habit. But the bottom line is that if we really believe that a relationship with God and the Church is a good thing. then we shouldn’t be selfish about inviting others to come share in that good relationship. The last thing I would hope we would feel would be a sense of discouragement or despair. Sometimes, inviting is all we can do. Trust that the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

I guess it was several months ago, when various public officials were under intense financial scrutiny that the Knoxville newspaper reported on some disagreements or conflict within the School Board of the Knox County School system. I think it was the case that a plan was underway to bring in a consultant whose job it would be to foster a sense of “team play”’ and to help individuals iron out differences. One of the board members was quoted in the newspaper as complaining that this time with the consultant would be akin to sitting around a campfire and singing Kum Ba Yah. Now, I think what he was saying was that he didn’t want to be a part of anything “touchy-feely,” a baring of raw emotions, as it were.

I don’t know what became of him or what became of that consultation, but I did wonder why Kum Ba Yah had been put in such an unfavorable light. To me, it speaks to a theology of hope, that indeed the Lord will come by here, that the Lord hears and moves and speaks and responds to us and to others, sometimes in a language that is not even our own

So, let us be thankful for the good news that crosses cultural, ethnic, national, and even personal barriers.

As we sing and invite the Lord to come by here, let us also consider how we can invite others to come by here.. . and see!

Copyright © 2003 - 2007 Stanley Marc Sherrod All Rights Reserved