Gardening
I read an interesting article on evangelism this week. I think we need a paradigm shift. Only 1% of Christians have ever had the joy of leading someone to Christ. Why? I think it traces back to the wrong mindset. We've used the wrong metaphor for sharing our faith. And the wrong metaphors create the wrong mindsets and result in false guilt or false expectations.
Spencer Burke shares an interesting paradigm in his article "Swords into Plowshares." He makes a distinction between military and agricultural approaches to evangelism. "Warriors take territory by force; gardeners faithfully till and water the soil. While warriors are busy attacking, gardeners plant and fertilize."
We get too focused on end-results instead of finding joy on the front-end--planting seeds and watering. It's amazing how many times in recent weeks I've come back to the agricultural metaphors. They are process-oriented not result-oriented. I've never "made a seed." All I can do is plant seeds and water them. God is the one who makes things grow--it takes all the pressure off of me.
I don't "create" opportunties. All I can do is "recognize" opportunities. But I've got to be looking for them. It all comes back to the reticular activating system. If we're looking for opportunities to share our faith we'll find them everyday. It may be as simple as a kind word or smile. It may be sharing my story. It may be praying silently or verbally for someone. One way or the other I'm called to "represent." I'm always "on duty." And when the opportunity presents itself I plant seeds and trust the Holy Spirit.
I spent 90 minutes with someone today who is in what I would call "seeking mode." They are earnestly seeking God and I believe that God rewards that. My primary job is to listen and trust the Holy Spirit to work in people's hearts. I think the prayer I pray more than any other prayer is "help me help people." When that is our motivation we can't go wrong. I'm not trying to manipulate anyone. I'm not even trying to "convert" anyone. I'm trying to help them discover what I've discovered.
I've been so much more proactive about sharing my faith lately. I think that is the byproduct of a few things. The better we're doing spiritually the more we want to give what we have. It becomes more natural. Evangelism is the natural overflow of what God is doing in our hearts. I don't think that means we have to be doing great spiritually to share our faith. I think that sometimes the greatest time to share our faith is when we're going through a tough time. I think evangelism from weakness can be pretty powerful!
Spencer Burke shares an interesting paradigm in his article "Swords into Plowshares." He makes a distinction between military and agricultural approaches to evangelism. "Warriors take territory by force; gardeners faithfully till and water the soil. While warriors are busy attacking, gardeners plant and fertilize."
We get too focused on end-results instead of finding joy on the front-end--planting seeds and watering. It's amazing how many times in recent weeks I've come back to the agricultural metaphors. They are process-oriented not result-oriented. I've never "made a seed." All I can do is plant seeds and water them. God is the one who makes things grow--it takes all the pressure off of me.
I don't "create" opportunties. All I can do is "recognize" opportunities. But I've got to be looking for them. It all comes back to the reticular activating system. If we're looking for opportunities to share our faith we'll find them everyday. It may be as simple as a kind word or smile. It may be sharing my story. It may be praying silently or verbally for someone. One way or the other I'm called to "represent." I'm always "on duty." And when the opportunity presents itself I plant seeds and trust the Holy Spirit.
I spent 90 minutes with someone today who is in what I would call "seeking mode." They are earnestly seeking God and I believe that God rewards that. My primary job is to listen and trust the Holy Spirit to work in people's hearts. I think the prayer I pray more than any other prayer is "help me help people." When that is our motivation we can't go wrong. I'm not trying to manipulate anyone. I'm not even trying to "convert" anyone. I'm trying to help them discover what I've discovered.
I've been so much more proactive about sharing my faith lately. I think that is the byproduct of a few things. The better we're doing spiritually the more we want to give what we have. It becomes more natural. Evangelism is the natural overflow of what God is doing in our hearts. I don't think that means we have to be doing great spiritually to share our faith. I think that sometimes the greatest time to share our faith is when we're going through a tough time. I think evangelism from weakness can be pretty powerful!
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