| Original Message |
Jerry Clarkson (no login)
Posted Jan 7, 2004 11:13 PM
Dodge City Family of Friends is a recently developing congregation in southwest Kansas with less than four years of history. Consequently the majority of the congregation are recent Friends of Christ with only very few being long time Christians and a few being not yet Christian. We have been ministering with this congregation for the past 1˝ years since our return to the USA from Bolivia.
During the summer months we have focused on developing the purpose and future plan of the congregation. For the past two weeks we have begun to develop various aspects of that purpose, the first being evangelism. Therefore your questions intrigue me as we have been addressing the same issues. Here are some of our conclusions, some congregational and some personal.
1. How would you explain what evangelism is to a nonbeliever?
As a world society in general we tend to have many preconceived concepts or misconceptions about evangelism. Evangelism is not a crusade or a special event, not door to door or distributing tracts on the street corner. Those may be limited forms of evangelism but may contribute to our misconceptions about evangelism. One member of our congregation stated that she did not care for “evangelism” because she associated the term with an evangelist that was only out to raise money for his church projects or personal pockets. “In-your-face” evangelism is not necessarily effective.
Evangelism is simply sharing good news. In this sense we can be evangelical about our paycheck, a new baby, a new car, or a new house. We have found a new life of peace with God, joy through all circumstances, and hope for future life. This new life we want to share exuberantly because it has eternal meaning for us (not because we feel obligated to fulfill a requirement of our religion).
2. How would you explain what evangelism is to someone who is already a Christian but not a theologian?
At DCFF we have been looking at the stories of our own lives and the needs and concerns that we had in our life that are now replaced by peace and joy. We have noted that we had similar needs and concerns and that our friends, neighbors, and co-workers also have these concerns. We are beginning to share our story and experience with other in the hope that they will also experience peace and joy in a personal friendship with Jesus.
3. In presenting Friends faith and practice, is it more important to emphasize the central role of Christ and then introduce issues of ethics and discipleship at a later point, or do you find that the ethical and social concerns are a more effective introduction to Friends' Christian faith? If the answer is "it depends," what does it depend on?
Jesus did not commission us to evangelize but to disciple. Evangelism is only the first step of discipleship. In this first step Jesus did not even expect his disciples to follow him because of their excellent morality and social concern. He called them from where they were at to follow him into discipleship. Ethical and social concerns are integral parts of discipleship that grow out of one’s friendship with Christ rather than develop ones relationship to Christ.
I hope that these comments are helpful to you. We have neither history nor comment related to question #4. Blessings to you as you investigate these issues and carry on in God’s ministry
Jerry Clarkson, Pastor
Dodge City Family of Friends
Dodge City, Kansas
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