Bryan Stone’s book, Evangelism After Pluralism: The Ethics of Christian Witness, has been in my pile of books to read for quite some time. Thankfully, I picked it up this week and am beginning to work my way through it. I’m only just a couple of chapters in at the moment but have already discovered what I think is a most refreshing understanding of the task of evangelism. Stone writes…
I argue that rather than an attempt to secure converts, the task of evangelism is instead to bear faithful witness to the good news as the people of God in a particular context and in such a way that it can be taken seriously and imagined as an authentic possibility for one’s life and for the world. To evangelize is to bear witness to beauty, so that the logic of evangelism is the logic of faithfulness, witness, exemplification, and embodiment rather than the logic of production, competition, or winning. (p. 17)
Since I’m just getting started with Stone’s book, I don’t want to speculate too much about what he wrote here as I’m fairly confident he is going to flesh it out a bit more throughout his book. However, there are a couple of things in his understanding of the task of evangelism that stick out to me. First is evangelism’s duty of not just securing converts. I’m not sure I’ve ever liked the word “convert.” Most likely it’s because of the image that comes to my mind when I hear this word. I link it to coercive and manipulative type tactics to get someone to say “yes” just for the sake of a number. I’m sure there are many who don’t see the word this way, but that’s the image that comes to my mind.
Unfortunately, I fear that when many think of evangelism, both Christians and non-Christians, what they only envision is the winning of souls. What counts is those that cross the line and follow Jesus. In no way am I negating the glorious decision one makes to follow Christ. Paul’s desire for the Israelites was that they may be saved (Romans 10:1). I hope that’s our prayer for those around us. However, I feel that what Stone is hinting at here is that when you make evangelism only about “securing converts,” you lean towards the exploitation of others and therefore, treat them as projects in which you no longer “love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Second, when Stone writes that “to evangelize is to bear witness to beauty,” something seems to leap in my soul. I think the reason why this is so for me is because I have not often thought of the gospel as something that is beautiful. Or at least I have not used such vernacular. But the truth is that the gospel is beautiful. It’s the story of all stories. I am reminded of the words of Blaise Pascal when he wrote that we should “make religion attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is.” At the very core of our being, we really do want the gospel to be true because it’s that beautiful of a story. And of course, it is true!
Let me quickly wrap up this short post by sharing just a few things. First, I consider the sharing of the gospel as of primary importance to the world around us. Once again, it’s the story of all stories. Second, I continue to want to learn what it means to converse the gospel with others. Growing in evangelism is important to me. Finally, I think we (myself included), based upon what I have seen and what I hear from others, are going to have to relearn some things in regards to the task of evangelism. This is why I am excited about reading Stone’s book. Am I going to agree with everything? Probably not? But is it going to push me to becoming more like Jesus in my practice of evangelism? I definitely think it will!
Just so you will know, there will be further reflections in the weeks ahead concerning Stone’s Evangelism After Pluralism. If you’ve read it, I would like to hear your thoughts. If you haven’t read, pick up a copy and feel free to chime in to the potential discussion.
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