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 Overcoming the Obstacles to EvangelismIntegrate evangelism into every hour of the week, so that Christ is carried into people's lives, into our work, play, and socializing.
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Evangelism is everything we do to make faith in Christ an option. It includes sharing the good word and doing the good deed. But sometimes our words and deeds do not touch the hearts of those we seek to reach. Sometimes obstacles we don't understand hinder our evangelistic efforts. Some time ago we invited a couple to our home for dinner. He's a member of our church; she isn't. They accepted, but she was so anxious about coming to our home, both because we were white (and they were black) and because we were "religious," that she called several times to change the arrangements. Finally she phoned the afternoon of our engagement and told my wife, Esther, "Don't have a dinner, just a snack. We'll have eaten." So Esther complied and prepared finger food. They arrived together, but he had come straight from work; he did not know his wife had made the change and had not eaten dinner. Naturally, he finished several plates of finger food and dessert. Nonetheless, we enjoyed a pleasant evening together. As they were leaving, this woman turned to Esther and said, "Next time we'll come for dinner. I won't be afraid." Differences in race, culture, education, habits, and social customs had become obstacles between us. That evening, we cleared away a few. Many things hinder evangelism. Often, our secular, materialistic, individualistic culture gets in the way. Sometimes it's our own insensitivity to other people and subcultures that obstructs the Good News. Fortunately, some Christians are doing brilliant cultural analysis to alert us to such hindrances and suggest how we might overcome them. Yet there are other obstacles still, stumbling blocks more subtle that we often miss. In my ministry, I've run into them, as have most pastors. Below are listed a few our congregation has had to address. For each obstacle, let me explain how we try to make straight and smooth the way for evangelism. Obstacle 1: Lack of TrustEsther and I live in the inner city of Washington, D.C., on the border of a poor neighborhood. Many people here are trapped. Seldom do people leave the ghetto to shop, play, or do business. Consequently, they don't believe that suburbanites, who commute each day into the city but then leave in the evening, understand them. Nor would they trust anyone who would try to minister to them who didn't share their life. Consequently, when we came to the inner city, we decided to live in a row house in the neighborhood where the church building stands. We relate to our neighbors daily. I'm known as "Rev" in my community, and whether people are churchgoers or not, I spend time with them—sometimes by simply passing the time of day. A while back, one of my neighbors died while I was out of town. The family of the deceased asked if I would conduct the funeral. Even though I wasn't going to be back for five days, they chose to wait for my return. Why? Because I lived in the neighborhood and they knew me. In the family's words, I was "the only pastor that Dad knew." |             | |||||||||||||||||||
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