Jesus Christ Is No Hypocrite

We do not always do a good job of this. One of the women in our focus groups was brought to a megachurch. Barbara watched everyone sway to the rock band as the worship leader asked people who wanted to convert to put up their right hand. From the front row, she glanced back at a couple thousand people doing what to her was Nazi salute. Without an explanation that raising a hand in church is a sign of surrender and worship, it makes sense that a first-time visitor could think they had ended up in a Hitler Youth Rally.

We asked the guys in Austin if they would go to church if an evangelical friend invited them. Some said no. But one man said, “I like knowing the different churches. I’m not really a religious person, but… I would probably go.” Another said, “As long as you come to mosque the next weekend, how about that?” Just because some people have not been to church in a long time—if ever—does not mean that they are all unwilling to go. Some apparently just need to be asked by a Christian who takes the time to get to know them before asking them.

Classic evangelism in the era of Christendom asked, “If you died tonight, would you go to heaven?” There are all kinds of assumptions in that question. Like they know who God is and they know what sin is. In this era of rampant biblical illiteracy, we have to do a lot of teaching before we can do a lot of inviting to salvation. We have to tell them who Jesus is and what sin is before we tell them to turn from sin and trust in him. One women from our Boston focus group explained her experience this way, “Then there’s other people that I’ve encountered that have tried to force the Word down my throat and tell me that I’m going to go to hell.”

As I think hard about this situation I have reached three conclusions. One, we assume way too much. The average person outside the church does not have and should not be expected to have much if any accurate Bible knowledge. It is unreasonable, unfair, and unkind to assume much. We make those outside the church feel defensive, as if they should know more about our faith than we know about other religions out there in the world.

Two, we listen way too little. One of my hopes for this project is that it puts the voice of those outside the church in the ears of those inside the church. It is easy to treat people as if they are contestants in a spiritual quiz bowl rather than image bearers made and loved by God. People have all kinds of fantastic questions and well-reasoned doubts. Christians often answer questions no one is asking because they talk without listening.

Three, we push way too fast. To saddle up to someone with little history in the church or background in Scripture and ask if they want to accept Jesus right now or go to hell forever can feel like bank robber evangelism. It is like we put the gun to their head and demand they convert right now or God will blow their brains out. Why are we surprised when people bristle in response and accuse us of being unloving? God is a loving Father and He listens to us, explains things to us, and is patient with us. It is wrong to bring His good news in a bad way.