Speaking of Jesus: the ART of not-evangelism
By Carl Medearis
Reading this book by Carl Medearis is like sitting around with one of the wise and experienced veterans of ministry. As they talk you realize that you wish you had pen and paper with you so you can write some of this down. They have wisdom and they have great stories that illustrate that wisdom. So much connects and helps you understand things you’ve been thinking about or brings clarity to things you’ve been struggling with. And sometimes they say things that make you think, “Um, that seems a little too far of a stretch.” Parts of the book made me say “Yes! Thank you.” Other parts, far fewer, made me say “huh?” But the good parts are so worth it – jewels.
There are so many people I know I wish would read this book. I often get frustrated at what people consider “doing evangelism”. Often it’s more about methods and even trickery rather than about the Gospel or Jesus. Carl Medearis wants to challenge us about what we are sharing and wants to get us back to the main message.
For Carl that main message is Jesus. Not Christianity, a religion, but Jesus, the person. He wants to get Jesus followers out of our “holy Huddles” (“rabbit holes” – John White) and out into the world where we will be comfortable being in any circle of people and being willing to talk about this Jesus that we have given our lives to (see chapter 12 for where he likes to prepare his sermons! Talk about getting out of the Saltshaker!). It’s a great message.
For me he gives a great illustration that gets us to the point in chapter 4. He compares Christians as a bunch of people standing inside a circle, the circle of Christianity, and we are calling out to those on the outside, trying to get them to listen to us. Most walk away, they just don’t know us or care to know us. Some listen and maybe even respond to the message of Jesus. But then, for those few who respond, we start giving them the rules of “being a Christian” and they lose interest. We preach our religion as much as about the person of Jesus. The religion can turn people off, the person of Jesus is interesting and exciting. So preach Jesus.
There is so much more in this book. It is thought stimulating and I think so many of us will be better witnesses if we read this book, talk about this book, and start sharing Jesus.
