The year was 1970, and I was in Dallas as one of Baylor’s student representatives to the Cotton Bowl. (Baylor always sent representatives to the Cotton Bowl, but up to that time, never a football team!) We were given rooms in the old Adolphus Hotel where it just so happened that the Campus Crusade for Christ organization was holding its annual meeting. With my schedule I was never able to attend one of their meetings, but as it turned out their meetings spilled over onto the rest of the hotel. What I mean by that is that every time I rode up or down in an elevator, every time I stuck my head in the coffee shop or convenience store in the hotel, someone proudly wearing their Campus Crusade for Christ nametag, would approach me and ask me if I knew the four spiritual laws of Christ. I would always smile and say, “Yes. I am a Christian. I go to Baylor, for goodness sake!” They would usually then go on to someone else. Over the few days I grew irritated at their intrusions into my life and became leery of every elevator trip or coffee shop excursion.
That experience, along with others such as evangelists preaching hellfire and brimstone sermons seeking to scare the hell out of me, or people showing up on my doorstep asking me if I were really saved, made me question evangelism during my young adult years. Perhaps that is what has happened with the church-at-large, and it could be the reason why so many mainline churches are in decline.
Years later I visited China and re-examined the life of the mother saint of all Baptist missionaries, Lottie Moon. In China I marveled at her ability to come and live alongside the Chinese, befriending them with her care and kindness, and then explaining why she had come. I had heard some of the same stories from the saintly old gentlemen, M.O. Cheek and Buford Nichols, who were some of the last missionaries in China before the Communists expelled them. On my visit to China I discovered that the models employed by Moon, Cheek, Nichols and others had taken hold. I met an old pastor by the name of Ming, who at that time was probably over ninety-years-old. He told me that he had preached through several revolutions, and in the last one he was taken from his home and family and placed on a commune where he was given instructions not to say one word about Jesus or Christianity. I remember Pastor Ming smiling a large, toothy grin when he said, “It was there that I did my best witnessing.” Seeing the question mark on my face he went on, “I couldn’t talk about Jesus; I just tried diligently to live like Jesus.” It must have worked, because the style of evangelism of Ming and other Chinese ministers birthed a Christian movement in China that is still sweeping that country today.
I am so taken with that model of evangelism, but it seems that I am constantly needing to remember one thing more about their ministries. That is, all of these folks were intentional about bringing Christ to people. While they did it in quiet, subtle ways, these men and women were diligent in thinking about effective ways to express God’s love. We in the 21st century church need the same kind of impetus.
One of the things Griff and I have noticed about University Baptist Church, and even on occasion have expressed, is that University Baptist is one of the best-kept secrets in Baton Rouge. I think a large part of that is derived from a thoughtfulness and sensitivity about imposing on people and from a wish to respect people’s privacies, and those are good and noble things. However, I can’t help but wonder whether Christ might be challenging us to become more intentional about sharing what we know to be true. I’m not talking here about going out and hammering people with the four spiritual laws, but rather praying for a holy boldness to look for and even create opportunities to have meaningful conversations about faith with people we know to be honestly searching.
Today, why don’t you set aside part of your prayer time to ask God to direct you to someone who is a sincere seeker. This could very well be someone you already know, but maybe it is someone you don’t. Whatever, ask God to give you wisdom, insight and creative courage to engage in a conversation about faith and University when the opportunity presents itself. This kind of evangelism doesn’t result in huge crowds, but it does build the church, one person at a time. I happen to think that is why Jesus said, “As you go. . .”
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