Eventgelsim

I am becoming increasingly wary of using events as forms of evangelism. Actually as of right now I think "evangelism events" might be down right wrong. This is happening for a couple of reasons:

1. Practically, it takes up so much time and energy that they often drain energy and time from people to do real evangelism (building relationships with people; and physically showing them Christ's love)
2. It's not the Kingdom building that Christ emulated

The first is really just that if we spend too much time focused on planning and structuring events, and just move from one event to another to another, we will, eventually, be ineffective because we'll stop knowing people outside the church. This is a part of what Jaime and I experienced in our last Church. It spoke of building relationships, but the people were never allowed to take the time to build them. People were given a three-four week window to get to know an "un-Churched" friend and get them to an event. If they didn't come to one or two events it was because they weren't interested and it was time to drop them and move to another "friend."

What sort of time table does God give His people? Often hundreds or thousands of years!! How long did Jesus walk with the 12, and even at the end of Jesus' life they still ran away! But did Christ run away from them because of that? No, when He was raised from the dead, He went right back to them!

Events often take so much time and energy that we can't or don't allow ourselves the freedom to build relationships with people. To keep going back to them even when they've said "no thanks." To let them know that we love them, period. The love I'm developing for my friends right now, is regardless of what they believe. I would love them to come to Christ, and I am bold in my faith as I talk to them, but they know they don't have to be Christians or even "Christ-like" for me to spend time with them and be their friend. This is a new experience for me, and I really feel like God is blessing me! Not only does it give them the freedom to be who they are, it also gives me the freedom to be who I am.

My main problem is that Christ didn't wait for people to come to Him. He went walking all around the place. He went to Zacheus'. He went to Simon the Leper's house. He went to where the people were. There was no real "event" as we think of them. The closest thing I can think of is the feeding of the five thousand which was spontaneous. When Jesus sends out his disciples in Matthew 10 they're to go into peoples homes and talk to them that way. So for Jesus, the good news of the Kingdom of God is relational focused in their homes and not primarily our homes. It's outward focused.

I guess, the main problem I have with events right now is that it takes the Great Commission that Jesus gave to us to "go" and turns it into a Great Invitation to them to "come." This is what really makes me wary of events. Maybe we should change our focus from inviting them to come and instead accept the commandment to go.

I'm re-reading this and it sounds like, I've got it all figured out, and have been doing just what I've been talking about all along. But really this is the Holy Spirit convicting me of my sin, and me wanting to share that with others, but not really knowing how to say it! I would love some feedback on this, any criticisms or concerns especially.