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Evangelism is not a dirty word
The marks of true evangelism are kindness and companionship, says Tim Dakin
CMS was founded in the same year that laughing gas was first used on humans. The gas was used as a recreational drug during the ‘ether frolics’ of the 19th century as well as knocking you out for the dentist.
Many would say the missionary movement exported Christianity as another kind of anaesthetic – to dull the locals while they swallowed the bitter pill of Empire.
We still share a vision with those controversial missionaries of history: to proclaim hope for all peoples and places in Christ
But the early missionaries saw their task as proclaiming hope for all people and places in Christ. Born out of Revival in England, fed by the heroic sensibilities of the Romantic movement, sensing new connections to the world through the burgeoning Empire, they shared a passionate vision.
A sermon by the Baptist missionary William Carey captures their enthusiasm: “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” The breed of person offering for this ‘overseas’ evangelism is legendary – impossible people doing impossible things.
Today we may write off their efforts as imposing a Western view of God, or worse, being puppets of the Empire-builders. We may prefer an approach to mission (if we like it at all) that protects local identities and promotes indigenous voices.
But evangelism, properly understood, is not a dirty word. We still share a vision with those impossible, controversial missionaries of history: to proclaim hope for all peoples and places in Christ.
Of course, we are painfully aware of our own starting point, particularly in the West. We must never lose sight of the truth that what I see as ‘the other side of the world’ is somebody else’s doorstep, and vice versa. We must respect each other’s local stories of life and faith, and be mindful of the cultural lenses through which we all view the world.
Belief is not
imposed, it is discovered
For we all do wear a set of cultural lenses that affects how we see things. This is no bad thing, just a simple fact. To look through those lenses with the eyes of faith is the truest kind of evangelism. For it is then we can discover together the ultimate significance of Jesus in my world and in yours. You want to follow Jesus because you can see he makes a difference in your reality, not just in mine. Belief is not imposed, it is discovered.
Evangelism is not proselytism. The spirit of proselytism is coercion. The spirit of evangelism is kindness. Coercive evangelism may impose a way of life, but a person’s fundamental view of reality may not change. Evangelism in the spirit of kindness is about sharing (that is, receiving as well as giving) Christ’s love on other people’s terms, across frontiers, in the depths of their identity and context.
Picasso once said of tradition, “It’s about having a baby, not wearing your father’s hat.” So it is with evangelism. It gives life to the next generation, it doesn’t just dress them up in the clothes of the forefathers.
Evangelism shares some similarities with midwifery. My wife Sally trained as a midwife and tells me it’s about enabling the birth process not forcing it. So evangelism is about encouraging, through kindness and companionship, a new life to emerge.
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