The two books I’ve been reading have something notable in common. The first one is Charles Spurgeon’s “The Soul Winner” from back in the 19th century. And the others is “When Faith is Forbidden” by the Voice of the Martyr’s radio host Todd Nettleton. The notable similarity of these two books is that each argue that Christians should make a great commitment to evangelism, prioritizing it above all else. They might not precisely say that, but that is my feeling of their goal.
Critiques of Spurgeon and Voice of the Martyrs are not likely to be well received, but critique I shall; mildly, I intend. While there is no doubt that Christians are called to evangelism, the task shouldn’t be an additional level of Christianity. That is, the profound change is from unbelief to belief, from non-Christian to Christian. Going from Christian to full-time evangelist is not a greater level of achievement and status.
As I read these books along with my church, (I’m teaching Spurgeon in Sunday School, and we just had Voice of the Martyrs visit us) I realize that at least part of their message isn’t very applicable to us. Many of our members are retirement age. And most of the congregation has responsibilities and obligations that they could not just dispense with and go spread the gospel full-time. Some are called to full-time evangelism; most are not.
What I want to advocate is part-time evangelism. If you think that this is step backwards, I argue that it is indeed a step forward, for the reality is that most Christians do little to no evangelism. Rather than putting pressure on Christians to give up everything to move to a foreign country or to send more money to a ministry, I want to promote “evangelism where you are.” This is why the work of Francis Schaeffer (hosting travelers at L’Abri) and that of Rosaria Butterfield (expanding our role in hospitality as “the Gospel comes with a house key”) are more effective to changing how we live day to day and how we live wherever we are.
If all Christians were evangelizing part-time, it would be a great improvement in our efforts. What we need is creative and applicable ways to evangelize “where you are.” That may be hospitality in your house with neighbors, or activities at your church or with your church members. We host about 250 hikers a year at our ministry to the Appalachian Trail called “Sola Appalachian Christian Retreat.” Another church near us has a medical mission where they keep donated wheelchairs and crutches and all sorts of equipment in a garage for the use of those in community who need such items. These are just some ways or reaching out.
How do you do evangelism where you are? What creative and applicable ways do you know of? Please comment on this blog with those ideas; it may help others find a way to evangelize when they didn’t know it was possible. It can help someone realize that “you, yes you, can evangelize where you are.”