Dating Advice
Last week I attended a seminar to hear Eddie Gibbs speak (he is one of the leading thinkers/researchers on the “state of the Church”). He made on offhanded remark that struck me upside my head…here is the gist of his thoughts (with a few of my own thrown in the mix)…
Apparently the church (Christian people) haven’t really thought their evangelism tactics through…what if we approached dating the same way we have approached evangelism?
Maybe we would start in the mall…begin walking around looking for a potential life-long mate…and when you find someone that looks intriguing, walk up to them and ask them to decide (in the next 30 seconds) if they are willing to marry and live with you for the rest of their life. (Probably you would get a lot of “no’s,” a few “I don’t think so’s,” and maybe even one well deserved slap on the face.)
The problem is…this is the how we often think of evangelism…a “cold call” that challenges someone to make a decision to follow Christ for the rest of their lives (and by the way…can you make that commitment right now?) The church has done this for years…not only with “street” evangelism…but even with our “in church” altar calls. (Now, don’t hear me wrong, I think there is a place for a call to surrender/commitment.) But often we expect new attendees, and new acquaintances to jump at the chance of making a life altering decision on the spot…and the fact is…most people will not.
So here is our challenge; to evangelize through relationships… How? By making relationships with people that need Jesus and invest in their lives…let them see Jesus at work in your life and maybe then they would be interested in saying “yes” to your invitation. But first bring them into your life and let them see how a relationship with Jesus actually works. (Come to think of it…I think this is how Jesus worked…he put a bunch of fishermen and tax collectors together and invested into their lives…and as they got to know him…they made life-long commitments to follow him.)
Invest and Invite
