I Hate Witnessing. 

This is the title of a book, written by Dick Innes, that I read for an evangelism course I took in seminary. His premise is that people hate witnessing the same way the Japanese hate Godzilla – it’s loud, ugly, in your face, and ready to tear down your favorite shopping mall. 

The term, “evangelism,” has come to mean little more than “turn-or-burn,” “Jesus loves you as long as you do what He says,” and “repeat after me,” and while these things may be partially true, they do not reflect the heart of a loving Father that would send His only Son to rescue the lost. Our views on evangelism will affect how we deal with people so it’s important we view it correctly. 

Is evangelism a closet activity? Safe prayers for co-workers conducted in our bedrooms? 

Is evangelism a debate the Christian is expected to win?

Is evangelism a church event where we invite all our friends?

What exactly is evangelism? And how can we as Seattleites truly engage the world around us with our faith?

Pastor James Harleman is returning to the teaching pulpit Wednesday, March 11th at 6:30pm to engage this issue.  

For those that missed the last Single Serving event, the audio is in, and it’s a great tie-in to our current topic. Last month we talked about putting our sins to death, which is the start of evangelism, putting our lives in a place where God can speak to us and use us. If you missed out, check out the audio here.

I hesitate to quote the 1998 Godzilla movie (if there are a few fans out there, I am sorry.. so sorry), but Dr. Niko Tatopoulos was on to something:

“This thing is much too big to be some lost dinosaur.“ 

Evangelism is much too important to dwell in the Church’s past. Jesus is alive and well in our 21st century world, and He is smashing down cities of idols and false gods all the time.

I desire my words to be just as destructive to the lies believed by co-workers, friends, and family, though I can do without the radioactive breath…