Connect09

Tim Challies highlighted the following steps to witnessing, drawn from the upcoming book “Jesus the Evangelist” by Richard Phillips -

1. Care about people
2. Cross barriers
3. Connect with people
4. Communicate the gospel

Challies suggests that #2 is a challenge for him, and I think it is for most of us. The temptation is to remain in the comfortable Christian ghetto. After all, it’s our community, we speak the language, we know the people, we feel good there. But we need to move outside that if we are to evangelise.

Part of the problem, a big part, is that we struggle to find the line between being in the world and of the world. Actually, everyone has a different idea of where that line is. Some Christians have a real problem with any alcoholic consumption. They would be scandalised to see how much socialising at our church takes place in the pub across the street. They’d say “Sure, you have to get into the community, you have to cross barriers, but going to the pub, having a beer - that’s compromise. You’ve gone too far.”

To be fair, this attitude toward alcohol is rarer and rarer in Christian circles. But it’s interesting to look at other taboos. There’s a Texas hold’em comp at the local pub - $20 entry, and a prize to the winner at the end of the night. Sounds like a good way to meet people. But a lot of Christians, even in my “edgy” ;-) neck of the woods would be troubled by that.

Join a local sporting club and you will be taken out of your comfort zone in all sorts of ways. Hey, you can come train jiu jitsu and kick boxing with me, and meet some amateur and pro fighters. You may find that interesting. (haha - most of them are really good guys)

What other “taboos” are there? What other barriers do we fear to cross? In my observation, the gospel generally propogates along social networks. If, as a church, we are not connecting with people “outside”, we will not see much evangelism happening.

Hi Craig

One “taboo” I recently came across is the whole Harry Potter/fantasy genre one. A friend of mine has written a holiday kids club program based on or around Harry Potter. When this was mentioned to other Christians last week, they were not overly impressed that he was using Harry Potter as a base for evangelism, what with its references to witchcraft and magic.

To be honest, I have loved reading Harry Potter and seeing the movies and don’t see the references to magic, etc a challenge to my faith or making me “cross the line” by getting involved in magic or anything like that, but clearly other Christians still don’t want to have anything to do with Harry Potter or books or media that have magic or something similar in them (Not sure what they do about Lord of the Rings with its many Christian themes AND magic.....)

Anyway, just thought I’d throw this into the mix.

Cheers

Lisa

What other taboos are there?

My thoughts are:
* alternative medicine
* herbal medicine
* meditation
* people with strong feminist views
* burning incense in your home
* having candles in your home to create atmosphere (with no religious implications)

I’m sure there’s lots more.

* meditation

Depends on what you mean. We are to meditate on God’s word “day and night” (Psalm 1).

But if you mean that there is no problem. If you mean sitting in the lotus position, muttering “ohm” while trying to get in touch with nirvana, well…

* people with strong feminist views

Many elements of feminism are incompatable with Christian teaching. But I have several Christian friends who call themselves “feminists” whilst still upholding biblical patriarchy.

* burning incense in your home

Hi Craig. I think in all of my suggestions I was in part referring to the fear that when we see non-believers participating in these activities we are fearful to befriend them in case their ways might rub off on us. So these taboos are barriers to us in sharing the gospel.

But now to be more personal in my response.

Meditation:
I sometimes am attracted by people who have meditation weekends. I will not participate in an “ohm” - cum - chanting session. But I do crave moments of quietness which I don’t get very often in this fast paced world. Yes I can meditate on God’s Word - but I take that to mean “think about it, chew it over, digest it, come to a conclusion”. But even in Bible reading I don’t always get a quietness. Hence I like the idea of finding a moment specifically set aside for meditation/quietness.

Feminism:
There is a lot of debate about what this means in practice. I am mostly all for women being treated as equals, being allowed to contribute to society, being treated with respect, free from physical and emotional abuse, allowed to be individuals and not be demeaned as lowly status, chained to the sink type of gals.

Burning incense:
I have only in recent years started to enjoy the experience of incense in the home. Usually to cover other musty smells. My problem is often when I want to restock my cupboard with more I seem to have to enter a “new-age” shop to find it. Maybe you’ll tell me I can get it at Woolworths.

Thanks for chatting.  :-)

Yes, you can buy incese at Woolworths

ha ha!

I’ll have to add it to the shopping list next time my husband does the grocery shop!  ;-)

[...... and I should be painting one of the rooms in our house instead of procrastinating here.]

Got some painting done. Thankful I didn’t fall off the ladder or scaffolding in middle of room whilst trying to paint ceiling.

I wonder Craig how people best share their faith with non-believers? Sometimes there are no “events” to bring friends to at church.

One strategy I heard a friend share, that blew me away, is really so simple. This friend said that sometimes after building a rapport with a non-Christian she will invite her friend to read the bible with her.

No joinining a bible study group. No coming to church. Just friend to friend, let’s read parts of the bible together. This seems to be the least threatening way to share one’s faith.