Diving In
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
Today’s Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1-9 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
When I was studying for my MDIV and living on campus at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, I was at a birthday pool party for one of Seamus’s class mates (or something). I really didn’t know anyone, and so being the introvert that I am and having a head full of thinking about my workload and ministry, I was enjoying my hamburger and minding my own business.
But then this guy, also with a kid at the party, comes and starts talking to me. He knew that we were from the seminary. And he straight up asked me why I believe in Jesus. He was not confrontational about it. He was genuinely curious.
A lot of different factors entered into how I responded to this guy. Northern California is technically an unreached area, meaning less than 2% believe in Jesus. Mill Valley, where the seminary was at back then (they later moved to Ontario in SoCal and rebranded as Gateway Seminary), may have been even less, like 1%.
I also happened to be taking a class on evangelism at that time, where we talked a lot about contextualization. I was influenced a lot by a book called Just Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybels. Of course, he would later fall from grace because of sexual misconduct, but that doesn’t negate the principle of meeting people where they are.
Furthermore, at the time, a lot of people were rethinking what it meant to be a “church.” There was a movement to think of “church” in much more non-institutional forms—in living rooms, coffee shops, etc.
All that to say, this guys basically asked me to share the gospel with him, and I understood that God had opened the door for that conversation, so I couldn’t just say, “Sorry, maybe some other time.” And despite everything that I was learning, I had absolutely no idea how to proceed or what to say.
And so I stumbled and mumbled through an explanation of the gospel, but I was trying really hard not to use any “churchy” words like “sin.” And at a certain point, I stopped and just apologized to the guy (I have a tendency to apologize too much), and I said, “Sorry. I’m trying to avoid using ‘churchy’ words so that you can understand, but it’s harder than I thought.”
And he goes, “It’s OK. I’m from the South. I used to go to church. Go ahead and use ‘churchy’ words.” But by that time, I was just flustered, and even my “churchy” words were confused and unfocused.
Here’s what I learned from that (I’m sure there should be more!). First, that guy was probably just hungering and thirsting for Christ. Living in a Godless place like Mill Valley had left him spiritually depleted and empty, and, probably, he just wanted some Christian fellowship—Christian words with some Christian passion.
Second, if I am sharing the gospel with someone, maybe it’s OK to use key “churchy” words. If the person doesn’t understand certain words, that provides an opportunity for further discussion.
Third, it may be easy and pretty straightforward to learn and practice a presentation of the gospel message. But, really, the propositions of the gospel message is not the gospel, per se. The gospel is Christ in me through faith. The transformation of my life because of the truth of the gospel is the real message of the gospel.
And if there were a fourth lesson, it may be that I should have taken the opportunity to ask the guy out for coffee or something and maybe build a relationship with the dude. Random evangelism is good and fine. But relational evangelism should lead to relationship and discipleship through modeling.
Father, Your gospel is power, bringing salvation to all who believe. But the good news is You, Lord. You are the power that is active in my life through the Holy Spirit. Too often, I try to present words before I try to present You in me. May Your gospel fill me with the power of life, and may that speak Your gospel to all who ask. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
