"It would seem that if the church is faithfully living the true story, the evangelistic dialogue will be initiated not by the church but by the one who senses the presence of a new reality and wants to inquire about its secret."
Lesslie Newbigin hits an interesting point in his view of evangelism. His idea is that evangelism should ideally be initiated by others, not the church. In a sense, our lifestyle and mission should spark opportunities that ask for us to speak. I like this idea, but I wonder how realistic it is in our world. Will people ask? One of my favorite stories is in Acts is when Peter goes to the temple and heals the beggar by the gate. In the NLT, 3:12 says, "Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd...". His actions had begged for more from the crowd. His intentions that day were perhaps not to do what he did, but he was certainly prepared to do what he did.
To me this is what evangelism looks like in the way Lesslie is talking about. Initiative is not absent, but it is set up first by our actions.
So what does it mean to be sent? What does evangelism look like when we simply speak before we act/love/care/know the people we are speaking to? Is there a time in the evangelist's life when he/she needs to take initiative?
To paraphrase/maybe I'm saying it correctly/butcher a quote attributed to John Wesley, "Set yourself on fire and people will come miles away to watch you burn."May this be true of my evangelism. May my passion and love for God overflow to all that I encounter and may the grace of God be so evident that other's are attracted to hear more about His Kingdom.
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