Here is a third installment in my discussion of Robert Putnam and David Campbell’s American Grace. The first two blogs in this series were posted on August 8th and 22nd. This book, based on a remarkably extensive study of Americans’ views about religion, deserves careful consideration by Christians concerned with spreading the gospel in a polarized and pluralistic world such as ours.
In my August 8th blog, I began to discuss Robert Putnam and David Campbell’s book American Grace, emphasizing their thesis that America is more pluralist and polarized than ever. The religious Americans are more religious than ever and the irreligious ones are more committed to their non-belief than ever.
Someone asked me my opinion about an article on CNN’s home page. You can read it all here: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/24/my-take-why-evangelicals-should-stop-evangelizing-2/
It’s by Carl Medearis, who believes we can have better relationships with Muslims if we stop trying to convert them and simply invite them to be “apprentices of Jesus.”
If you care about proclaiming the gospel in a secularized, gospel-hostile culture, you should know some of the lines of reasoning of Lesslie Newbigin. A long term missionary to India, Newbigin returned to his home country of England and found it to be just as “lost” as the mission field in which he had served.
The task of evangelism often includes telling our individual story along with the larger gospel story. Weaving the two together makes for a powerful articulation of God’s gracious work through all times and his specific salvific work in an individual heart – namely, yours.
In the previous blog I wrote that the paradox of evangelism is that when we remember that evangelism is impossible, we are more likely to evangelize!
Here’s the reverse of that paradox: If we think evangelism is supposed to be easy, we’re more likely to quit.
There is a paradox about evangelism. Actually there are several but I’ll only mention one here. It starts with the realization that evangelism is impossible. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). Jesus also said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
An important aspect of thoughtful faith and faithful thinking in our world is knowing and understanding the way others think. The men of Issachar were said to have had “understanding of the times” (see I Chron. 12:32) and we should follow suit. If we’re going to communicate our faith to others we should interpret cultural trends and artifacts to see what people believe, where their affections lie, and in what “gods” they trust.
During a recent study of the book of Acts, I was struck with the recurring emphasis on the irrepressibility of the gospel. Several commentators pointed out that Luke weaves in several “summary statements” that help the reader step back from the drama and see an overarching theme.
One of the purposes of this blog is to help Christians proclaim the gospel well. From time to time I hope to post a question someone has posed and my response. Here’s my first attempt at this.
Question: How do you go about resolving the tension between, on the one hand, having a “dialogue” approach to evangelism and viewing it as a process, and, on the other hand, wanting to get the whole gospel into the conversation? I find that if I don’t get the whole gospel outline into the conversation, I feel guilty and anxious afterwards, because what if a) I don’t get another chance to talk to this person, or b) they don’t get another chance to hear the gospel? E.g. they get hit by a car next week (I realize that’s a bit of a cliche but you get the picture).