shared a story<\/a> about a subway ride to work during which the conductor asked everyone to smile and be more friendly to the strangers we encounter every day. Well, today I\u2019ve got another subway story, this one having to do with evangelization.<\/p>\nIt started when a man stepped onto the train and asked for everyone\u2019s attention. When you\u2019re jammed into a subway early in the morning, this kind of greeting usually results in sighs of exasperation\u2014mine included. But this time was different.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the gist of what this man had to say: \u201cI\u2019m not here to ask for money so relax. I\u2019m just here to share a bit of news. I was originally at the L train station but it wasn\u2019t running so I made my way over here. On the way, I kept telling people I passed that the L train wasn\u2019t running, but they all just ignored me. Another passerby asked me why I was telling everybody about the train when they were ignoring me. I told him that I\u2019m just responsible for passing on the message. What other people choose to do with it is up to them. But spreading the message is on me. So let me tell you this message this morning. God loves you. We need to look out for each other and be our brother\u2019s keeper. Let kids and the elderly have a seat on the train. Consider what God wants you to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he got off the train. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve heard many a preacher on New York subways. They often adopt scolding tones or yell about repentance and sin. They hammer you over the head with the message that you have to accept Jesus, but I often find they do it in such a way that it\u2019s more likely to drive people away from Jesus.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, you have this man who got people\u2019s attention, then started with a story and point that were non-religious and that most people could understand and relate to. He met people where they were at, not from some lofty religious height that morning commuters might automatically shut out. Finally, he brought God into his message in a positive, loving way\u2014asking people to perform some concrete action and give a little thought to what God wants from them. And then he left.<\/p>\n
It was the first time I remember liking a \u201csubway preacher\u201d and I wonder if his approach was more effective than most of the people who do this. It was a \u201csoft sell,\u201d so to speak. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say that the message of repentance isn\u2019t important, but when you\u2019re standing on a crowded subway early in the morning, you\u2019re already a little aggravated. Some stranger coming in and yelling that you\u2019re a sinner is likely to just make you more aggravated. But when a man comes in speaking confidently yet humbly that God loves you, that message might linger. It might be one of those scattered seeds that falls on fertile ground and slowly takes root over time. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s an approach that The Christophers have been using successfully for 70 years by highlighting the concept, \u201cIt\u2019s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.\u201d And it\u2019s an approach all of us should remember if we\u2019re given opportunities to share our faith. Start with, \u201cGod loves you,\u201d and let Him lead you from there.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few months ago on this blog, I shared a story about a subway ride to work during which the conductor asked everyone to smile and be more friendly to the strangers we encounter every day. Well, today I\u2019ve got another subway story, this one having to do with evangelization. It started when a man […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":488,"featured_media":6334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,32],"tags":[111,34,107,106],"class_list":["post-6333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","category-prayer","tag-inspiration","tag-joy","tag-leadership","tag-prayer"],"yoast_head":"\n
What a Subway Ride Taught Me About Evangelization<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A few months ago on this blog, I shared a story about a subway ride to work during which the conductor asked everyone to smile and be more friendly to the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What a Subway Ride Taught Me About Evangelization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A few months ago on this blog, I shared a story about a subway ride to work during which the conductor asked everyone to smile and be more friendly to the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christopher Closeup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-19T14:33:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/121\/2015\/05\/SubwayMap.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2003\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Rossi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tony Rossi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/\",\"name\":\"What a Subway Ride Taught Me About Evangelization\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-19T14:33:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-19T14:33:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#\/schema\/person\/9215d33862959dfe2334a97a802ebf1d\"},\"description\":\"A few months ago on this blog, I shared a story about a subway ride to work during which the conductor asked everyone to smile and be more friendly to the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What a Subway Ride Taught Me About Evangelization\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/\",\"name\":\"Christopher Closeup\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#\/schema\/person\/9215d33862959dfe2334a97a802ebf1d\",\"name\":\"Tony Rossi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef58b23d79989facf5779819377620d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef58b23d79989facf5779819377620d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tony Rossi\"},\"description\":\"After graduating from St. John's University in New York with degrees in Communications and English, Tony Rossi found a job at the Catholic media organization, The Christophers, that allowed him to indulge his interest in religion, media, and pop culture. He served as The Christophers' TV producer for 11 years, and is currently the host and producer of the organization's radio show\/podcast Christopher Closeup, writer and editor of their syndicated Light One Candle column, and producer\/scriptwriter of the annual Christopher Awards ceremony.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/author\/tonyrossi\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What a Subway Ride Taught Me About Evangelization","description":"A few months ago on this blog, I shared a story about a subway ride to work during which the conductor asked everyone to smile and be more friendly to the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What a Subway Ride Taught Me About Evangelization","og_description":"A few months ago on this blog, I shared a story about a subway ride to work during which the conductor asked everyone to smile and be more friendly to the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/","og_site_name":"Christopher Closeup","article_published_time":"2015-05-19T14:33:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1800,"height":2003,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/121\/2015\/05\/SubwayMap.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tony Rossi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tony Rossi","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/","name":"What a Subway Ride Taught Me About Evangelization","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-05-19T14:33:11+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-19T14:33:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#\/schema\/person\/9215d33862959dfe2334a97a802ebf1d"},"description":"A few months ago on this blog, I shared a story about a subway ride to work during which the conductor asked everyone to smile and be more friendly to the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/2015\/05\/what-a-subway-ride-taught-me-about-evangelization\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What a Subway Ride Taught Me About Evangelization"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/","name":"Christopher Closeup","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#\/schema\/person\/9215d33862959dfe2334a97a802ebf1d","name":"Tony Rossi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef58b23d79989facf5779819377620d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef58b23d79989facf5779819377620d3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tony Rossi"},"description":"After graduating from St. John's University in New York with degrees in Communications and English, Tony Rossi found a job at the Catholic media organization, The Christophers, that allowed him to indulge his interest in religion, media, and pop culture. He served as The Christophers' TV producer for 11 years, and is currently the host and producer of the organization's radio show\/podcast Christopher Closeup, writer and editor of their syndicated Light One Candle column, and producer\/scriptwriter of the annual Christopher Awards ceremony.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/author\/tonyrossi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/488"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"SubwayMap\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/121\/2015\/05\/SubwayMap.jpg\")
<\/a>A few months ago on this blog, I shared a story<\/a> about a subway ride to work during which the conductor asked everyone to smile and be more friendly to the strangers we encounter every day. Well, today I\u2019ve got another subway story, this one having to do with evangelization.<\/p>\n