Presence Over Persuasion (Telling the Story of God VII)

Let us remember that evangelism—telling the story of God and inviting others into it—is always about presence, whether it’s in a lifelong relationship or with an Uber driver. It’s about how we are with the person in front of us and how we make present the Reign of God. At the heart of evangelism is hospitality, which means listening and storytelling (and, if we’re lucky, good food).

As a teenager, I took a course in evangelism. In retrospect, I think I was taught less about hospitably and more about how to “sell” Jesus—to always be on the lookout for an angle through which I could introduce him into a conversation, then make a pitch and seal the deal. A few men taught me the process and once a week we went to a local mall under the auspices of doing surveys so that we could begin a conversation about heaven and hell and the need to trust Jesus.

There was something bold and exciting about intentionally sharing Jesus. But there was also something lost for me in the process. My primary filter for strangers became “potential convert” rather than “human being made in the image of God.” Doing the so-called surveys messed with my brain. I wasn’t introducing Jesus, I was selling a commodity and trying to scare people with the threat of hell so that they would listen.

To be clear, the men who taught me were kind, and I experienced love and care from them. I don’t impugn their motives, but I can impugn my own. I don’t know that I fulfilled the New Testament command to tell the good news “with gentleness and respect.” I don’t know that I was respecting the person in front of me.

Evangelism, for me, became more of a task to do and a sign that I was being a good Christian. On the other hand, if I didn’t “do” evangelism, I felt guilty. As part of my training, I was also taught apologetics—arguments for defending Scripture and explaining why Jesus and Christianity are true. We need this sort of thoughtful training. After all, Jesus often explains the Scripture, as he does in Luke 24. At the same time, apologetics can easily become a gambit toward mere knowledge or argumentation, which can crowd out the harder work of being present in the love of God for another person. What matters most is our posture and how we are with people; this is the only thing that creates space to explain Scripture or anything else. In that context, evangelism and apologetics can take their proper place, as invitations to the feast of God’s grace. In the words of the old adage, often attributed to St. Francis, “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use your words.”[1]

We live in a culture where what is needed are God-experience and God-encounter. Moving forward, evangelism is going to be less and less about convincing people about anything, and more and more about a compelling story that creates encounter, revealing who God is. Where evangelism is about persuasion, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit causes “hearts to burn” when they encounter the truth and reality of Jesus.[2]

To hear the story of good news, our family, friends, faith community, neighbors and people of peace need a consistent experience of generosity. They need to have an experience that bypasses their brain (where, again, they may think they already know the story, even if they don’t) and helps them experience God. This is what helps any of us to truly listen. Jesus created space for people to encounter God so that they could hear the story of God.[3] It’s true that sometimes moments for telling the story of God come out of nowhere, but more often they are moments born of long seasons of kindness and care and hospitality.

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[1] As with so many famous quotes, the actual quote, from the source material, differs from the popular usage. St. Francis is not found using these words, though he did say, “It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.” Qtd. in “Preach the Gospel at All Times” by Jamie Arpin-Ricci. http://www.jamiearpinricci.com/2009/06/preach-the-gospel-at-all-times/ [September 18, 2017]

[2] Luke 24:32.

[3] This, after all, is part of why Jesus healed people. He manifested life because of his great compassion and also so that people could experience the heart of God. Of course, the crowds paid attention to Jesus in a different way when they saw the healing work of God.