conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

the class: expressing anxiety

Evangelism: n. People being invited to tell their story and other people sitting down long enough to listen and see God’s holy hand in another individual’s life. Stories are the rock upon which Christianity is founded. Evangelism is as much about listening as it is about preaching. The Word became flesh not to dictate creedal statements but to listen…to ask and answer the question “Where is God?”

To some, I imagine, the definition of evangelism to the right will seem fluffy. Some may prefer the more traditional notions of "preaching 'em into the Kingdom." I don't know if any of you who read this blog are those people. But if you are, take a breath and see what's actually at work in this definition of evangelism.

The Word does become flesh. This is a traditional Johannine (In the beginning was the Word...) statement of the reality of Christ Jesus. It is also a personal statement. People are encouraged to speak of faith, of their lives, and the person listening, when the other is done telling their story, is then encouraged to interpret/proclaim the presence of God in the story that was shared. There is no judgment, no moralizing, but simply saying "I see God there."

I think this is an excellent mirror of how Christ called many. This is a way to "meet people where they are." This is a way to proclaim God in the world. This is a way to speak of all the things that make Christianity Christianity. That being said, this is also non-threatening, invitational, and gracious.

It is founded on listening. We are encouraged to allow the stories of others to speak within our own community of faith if we begin to understand evangelism as this kind of invitation. So often, I fear, we think of evangelism as coercive, "getting people to think like us." Or as defensive, some kind of litmus test, "Do they think like us?" This definition of evangelism, however, is relational.

This is only one of the things that we spoke of yesterday in our first day of class. I'm taking a class on leading congregational change. It's interesting...challenging. The theme for the day, intended or not, was about listening, about crafting relationships in congregations. This is not the same as "inviting people into our community." Entering into relationship, listening to stories, proclaiming God, changes everyone in the process. The community is never a possession of the present when listening to the stories of others and finding God there is the principle goal. Such a community is in a state of constant growth and change. And it invites those changes.

The challenge for leadership then is to assist in navigating those changes, bringing some kind of coherence to the relationships without falling into the trap of stagnation. So often, in our attempts to create community, we created stagnant cliques. Small groups, prayer circles, and even the Vestry/Church Council can become cliques if we are not careful. We can cease listening to one another, to visitors. We can fail to create opportunities for people to enter new relationships with one another.

This is only one of the ideas we engaged yesterday. It's a good class and discusses pastoral leadership in ways I can understand. This is rare. So often leadership studies are so theoretical as to be useless to me. This is much more practical (You have six months to get a new person into relationship with those in the congregation, for example. Arbitrary? Maybe. But it's a start.). Of course this also means that I am constantly comparing my own performance with the ideal. And that makes me nuts. Some day I may learn how to avoid that pitfall. Yesterday was not that day. We'll see what happens today. I'll let you know.

From Taize: O Christ, however fragile our human condition may be, you call each of us to start out afresh on a way of the Gospel; even if we know you very little.

Posted by tripp at January 15, 2008 05:56 AM