Missional evangelism

Wow. I can’t believe its 2007. I can’t believe I’ll be turning 27 later this year. Makes me feel old…

But looking back on 2006, I have to say it was the best year of my life. The primary reason I say that is because my understanding of what the Gospel is has been transformed. Starting in September 2005, I began a journey, kicked off by a mentor telling me how “Today is the best time ever to be a Christian” (I didn’t understand what the heck he meant at the time) and introducing me to several authors. This theological journey of sorts has continued to this day and continues into deeper and deeper waters. The worldview I now have is significantly different from what I had two years ago. I love Jesus so much more. I now understand his Kingdom to be so much more real and tangible and at hand. I have so much more hope for what God is doing on this earth. I am so much more excited to be part of his family, his Body. Read the rest of this entry »

God is just rocking my evangelistic world. How have we gotten things so off for so long? I think most people who are anxious about evangelism are so because they’ve never been equipped with a way to share the gospel that really makes it great news. In the past, I think I was resigned to the reality that though I knew the gospel was so much more than the bridge diagram, I would just have to be patient and hope people saw the real mmmph of the gospel in the way I lived and in deeper conversations we’d get into. I had no way to summarize the gospel that included God’s designs on healing this whole world (with us as a key part in that plan) rather than just an individualistic ticket into heaven, sin exchange summary.

The idea that we don’t have to first convince people that they are sinners, but rather just establish together that we live in one messed up world (a much easier thing) is so freeing. And that the key hook isn’t just a ticket into heaven, but a role in a worldwide revolution to heal this messed-up world, that’s so much easier to sell. What have we been doing all this time starting off the “good news” with a message of condemnation (”you are a sinner”)? That’s not good news, its bad news! (And its not news, deep down, most people know they’re sinners anyway.) But the message that God is about fixing this broken world and that he wants our company in fixing it, and thinks we can be of use to him in fixing it - that’s good news. Read the rest of this entry »

Some of my immediate neighbors in the Permsup community are the drug dealing ring here. A number of these young men and a couple women hang out in front of the community every day and night. In my first year here, I used to hang out with them a fair amount, especially this one kid Gaeng. But in the last few months, it has been a rare occasion that I’ve stopped and chatted with this group. This has been somewhat intentional, in order to focus my energies on the family oriented group that includes Ratchai, Komsorn, YaiGao, etc. in which we already have well-established relationships and significant inroads for ministry. But I think its been partly in avoidance also. This group can be much crasser and the sobriety quotient is much lower. Its just less comfortable to hang out with this crew.

But a couple weeks ago, with my good friend James visiting, they called us over, and we stayed longer than I normally would. And…I felt so comfortable with them. Its funny, like you have to get over that activation energy, and then bam! it flows. Once past that first facade, I felt there was a definite spirit of openness and seeking among these young men. (I think I used to write them off as too drunk to remember anything I would say to them.) There’s about 4 or 5 core men that are always there that I’m familiar with (Bperk, Bpet, Joe, Lek), but then there’s others who are transient in and out. The second time we hung out with them a couple days later, it was actually one of the new guys, Black, who asked me right away, “So, Dave, I’ve been wondering, why is it that you, a foreigner, live in the slum of all places?” A perfect entry to share the gospel! These are the moments I live for. And I feel much more confident now than I did a year ago in terms of sharing the holistic missional wholeness of the gospel and contextualize it as going beyond Buddhism rather than in direct conflict with it. I feel armed now! I can articulate why the gospel is such good news. Read the rest of this entry »