The urgency of the task vs slower relational evangelism
This is part of a series of posts on effective entry strategies in the modern American landscape. I am writing this series as a work in progress, not as an answer that I have found. In some instances, I may not even agree with myself, but I have found that writing out thoughts helps me arrive at answers that I do agree with, both Biblically and personally. I would love constructive feedback so we can grow together to better engage lost people with the Gospel. To follow this conversation, be sure to subscribe to this blog. You can click here to view all blog posts in this series.
Let me give you a practical story.
There is a man in my neighborhood who lives a few blocks down. I recognize him because of his dog and because I know about his alternative lifestyle from a mutual friend. I have often prayed that God would open the door for a spiritual conversation with him. At one point I was on a prayer walk and he was working on his landscaping. We stopped and had a great casual to meaningful conversation. Before I tell you what happened next, let me tell you what it felt like my “options” were at that point in the conversation.
Option 1: Ask a spiritual question/make a spiritual statement with the hopes that I could share the Gospel with him in a nutshell form and with the prayer that he would be a spiritual seeker.
Option 2: Let the conversation end pleasantly and pray for further opportunities to go deeper.
Which would you choose?
I’ve got issues with both.
For option 1, practically, my issue is that I have seen SO many times that a spiritual question ends the conversation quickly and leads to people avoiding you in the future.
For option 2, (the option I chose), my issue is that I have not had another conversation with him in at least 8 months.
So then it feels like I’m actually choosing:
Option 1: Attempt a spiritual conversation that will burn all bridges.
Option 2: Wait an indefinite period of time, and possibly never have another conversation.
And yes, God is in charge of this man’s story. It’s not my responsibility to save him. But are these the two options God wants me to have?
Ironically, we can actually make ourselves feel pretty good about either option…
Option 1: “Well, I was faithful to share, the rest is up to God.”
Option 2: “That was a great conversation and I am excited to see what God does with it.”
Or we can feel pretty bad about either option…
Option 1. “Well, that didn’t work at all. Why do I even try to bring up spiritual things?”
Option 2. “Why didn’t I go further with that conversation? I may never talk to him again.”
So maybe this is more a study of my psyche than anything else. But as I have trained and talked with others I don’t think I am alone. But before you judge me, consider how you approach spiritual conversations. What am I missing? Where am I correct?
Personally, as I have considered this conundrum while typing it, two questions hit me:
Have I prayed for this man regularly? (No.)
Have I gone on enough prayer walks to run into him again? (Not really.)
So two practical takeaways are: 1) Pray more. 2) Go on more prayer walks to at least create an opportunity to run into him again.
But one of the biggest challenges in all of this conversation is … let’s save that for next week.
Check back next week or subscribe to read what I see as one of the biggest challenges we face in engaging lost people in America today.
