Ed Stetzer, Missiologist and Research Team Director at the North American Mission Board, has just posted an article on The Resurgence about the interplay between evangelism and postmodern culture. As someone with a heart for evangelism and exploring how to best present the Gospel to people in our postmodern culture this article has been very insightful. Ed Stetzer does the research and presents the facts, even the surprising ones, behind culture today then tracks back to how we can use the facts to reach people there they are at. I remember seeing Dr. Stetzer speak at the Reform and Resurge Conference last year where he said something to the effect of, “As Christians we need to seek out the questions that our culture is asking to which Jesus is the correct answer.” What he meant by this is that by examining culture we can gain insight into where people’s hearts and minds are. Then, once we find out what people care about we can show them how Jesus answers their deepest and most important questions. One example of this are the results of the surveys he has done (which are presented in his article) which show that while people do wonder about eternity, even more people wonder about meaning and purpose. As a result we can do street evangelism by asking people, “Do you long for a deeper purpose in life?” rather than, “If you were to die today…” This is not to say that asking about death and eternity is wrong but that it is not as important to people as finding more meaning.
post modern evangelism with Ed Stetzer Wednesday, Mar 28 2007
boston and Christianity and culture and evangelism and influence and pastor and Religion and theology 8:42 am
Good thought. I’m preaching a sermon this Sunday with the very long title: “The Problem of Relevance: What does a man who lived 2,000 years ago have to do with me?”
The answer does not start with eternal life. Instead, I talk about how Jesus makes my life bearable (come to me, you who are weary, and I will give you rest), Jesus makes my life meaningful (I have to that they might have life, and have it to the full; To me to live is Christ…), and Jesus makes my life eternal (to live is Christ, and to die is gain, etc.)
Hi Brother Bob,
That sounds great. I think that you have really hit the nail on the head with meeting people where they are at, living hard and meaningless lives. By showing that Jesus makes life bearable, meaningful, and eternal you are both reaching the unbelievers on their turf and encouraging believers to see the value of their lives because of Jesus. Also, using those three main points you can direct those who are Christians in your church as to how they can approach their friends who are not following Jesus. This sounds like a great sermon and I would love to hear it. Are your sermons available online?
-Mark