There is this person I know. Lets call this person Bob. Bob is Christian. Bob clearly loves Jesus. Is Bob being ridiculous or is Bob just getting it Right? Here's the story.
Bob goes around school telling a whole ton of people that Jesus loves them. Bob will tell girls that are hurt, boys that are hurt, or just he will just tell people that Jesus is the answer to their problems. He'll write notes to people saying that everything will be okay because Jesus is there. Its pretty extreme. Bob has a reputation for being crazy. People in school say Bob is crazy.
Does this work?
The evangelism that I witnessed has never been anything like this. It has always been a slow time consuming relationship that relies on a lot of time and energy. Usually it takes people a lot of time to comprehend this concept of Jesus dieing for our sins. That's what I prefer.
Bob isn't afraid to be the outcast, neither was Jesus.
But what Bob does, does that work in this day and age?
Bob isn't afraid to get rejected and made fun of. Jesus was kicked out of towns and taunted for what he preached. He was even killed for what he claimed.
In my life I have never witnessed Bob-style evangelism work. Myself, my family, and my closest friends all spent a lot of time talking to someone about Christianity. We weren't told Jesus loves us and then automatically we decided we wanted to follow. It was a time consuming process.
But Jesus calls us to be outcasts. He calls us to be different and not like anyone else. I'll be honest I don't like the Bob style of Evangelism.
1) I think its ineffective. I believe its going to give Christians a bad rep if they are running around saying Jesus loves you.
2) I'll be honest I don't want all of Perkiomen Valley to hate me..
But! there is the but I feel that Jesus was more of a Bob kind of person? Maybe not? Maybe in a different way?
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6 comments:
Haha, I wish i could be more like bob!! and your equation of what bob does to what jesus did is a good one, bob seems like a radical, so was Jesus
but Jesus was the son of God...
bob is not
bob seems pretty ineffective though
ya know what i mean?
I don't like Bob style evangelism. I think living radically is telling a close friend of yours about Jesus and not being ashamed.
You only have to say it once, and then hopefully they get to experience your life (which is hopefully one reflecting Christ.)
Granted, if you just run around throwing seeds everywhere, occasionally a small tree will sprout up.
I would recommend starting a carefully planned garden. You try your best to give your seeds enough room so they aren't suffocated. You then give them just about the right amount of water and in time you can bet you will get more to grow that way... even if you don't get to experience the growth yourself...
I guess the whole point is this: are you out to prove you're a Christian by doing things you KNOW will get you rejected or are you out to spread the love of Christ? The most effective ministries I've ever seen are built on friendship & trust. You can't start with Jesus loves you if people don't know or trust you. It's that simple.
Also, we're in a war for ppl's hearts here and wars aren't won by rushing into the middle of a battle without a plan. I think we have to be really smart about how we minister to others so we don't push them away before they can get to know Jesus.
Evan, great question!
Here's a few for you...
Does God ever call people to be Bob's?
Are you open for God to put you in a Bob size predicament or are you convinced He would never want to use you in that way?
Have you talked to a Bob, who was a Bob, that trained a lot of people to be a Bob, and I'm sure is still a Bob in some capacity? I'd bet you'd get a free lunch out of the deal!
Keep wrestling! Careful though, you could end up with a limp!
Though bob may be ineffective, and inefficient he is similar to Jesus, and isn't that what we strive to do, be more similar to our Savior, I personally don't know if that is the way God wants us to spread his word, so i guess you'll have to go to him for that. my request is, don't write off bob to quickly, you may be surprised.
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