I was doing some reading the other day (and by reading I mean surfing the blogosphere) and came across the following blog entry from a guy named Steve Timmis.

If you ever want to make other Christians feel guilty, get them to listen to a talk on evangelism. For the majority of us, evangelism is a bit like base jumping—sounds like a great idea, but most of us don’t actually have the guts for it. Whilst it might be true that only a relatively few people are gifted evangelists, all of us can make a significant contribution to the evangelism process. What we need to do is change evangelism from “me doing the gospel thing with my mates” to “us doing the gospel thing with my (soon to be our) mates.” It’s a simple transition, but it makes a world of difference.

Make Evangelism Communal

In that context, I then introduce my friend who’s not a Christian to my brothers and sisters (a.k.a. church). My friend gets to see us hang out, laugh and cry, forgive and serve. He sees the gospel in action and he hears the gospel as we apply it to one another. Evangelism is going on all the time, and all I’ve done is bring my friend into a context where he’s going to be exposed to the gospel. Evangelism done this way changes it from being a big scary monster that makes us want to run and hide into a cute little puppy that we all want to hug.

Great article. Okay, except for the “cute little puppy” part at the end. That was a bit much. But Steve makes a great point.

Many of us are intimidated by evangelism because we envision Billy Graham standing on a street corner or on a platform in a stadium as opposed to a group of neighbors standing around a grill. There are a few of us who are called to stand on street corners and in stadiums to proclaim the wonders of the gospel at the top of our lungs. For the majority of us, we are called to something very different. Not to a different message, but to a different method.

Each one of us does “stuff” during the week. For some it is running. For others it is painting. Some might have an affection for or a heightened appreciation of fine coffees while others among us may passionately pursue the perfect grilled fillet. Here is the point. Evangelism is taking the stuff we are into (our God-given passions and desires) and seeking to glorify God by walking with others in pursuit of these passions.

If that is the point, then here is the twist. Sit down, this may be a shocker. It is okay to pursue our passions and desires with non-believers. Who came up with the idea that it is okay to wall ourselves off in Christian ghettos and pursue our passions only with other Christians? I mean, we have Christian bookstores, Christian coffee shops, Christian running clubs, Christian knitting clubs, Christian underwater basket weaving clubs. Okay, I made that last one up, but you get the idea. It is no wonder that statistics show the longer one is a believer, the fewer non-christians they are in relationship with. How can we win or influence a world from whom we are in constant flight?

So what do we do? We simply do what we are already doing. We run, we paint, we drink fine coffee, we pursue culinary perfection at our grills.... WITH NON-BELIEVERS. Don't know any non-christians? Try this, walk next door to your neighbor's house, gently raise your fist to the front door, and knock.