How’s Evangelism Supposed to Look?

The other day, I got reacquainted with a quote I’d stumbled onto online that deeply resonated with me as much as the first time I’d read it. “I’m the one who loves to write, but hates to speak. I’m the one who loves silence, but dies without music.” (Connie Cernik, TheMindsJournal)
 
It got me thinking… I’m also the one who loves people, but is unsocial. The one who has a huge heart for evangelism, but dislikes forwardness. What a conundrum!

 
Or is it?

Of all the quotes I most favor, they almost all have to do with being quiet and/or reflecting God’s love in gentler ways. Such as St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” And although this isn’t necessarily spiritual, I can relate to this quote most attributed to Jean-Pierre de Florian, “To live happily live hidden.”
 
I also live by a scripture I’ve yet to hear a sermon on, that I have framed beside my front door. A reminder every time I go out into the world: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, mind your own business, and work with your own hands.” (I Thessalonians 4:11)
 

But I also embrace Romans 10:17: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” which I believe emphasizes our need to read and know God’s word. I’m not convinced, though, it means necessarily in an exact auditory sense. Does not God speak to us most often in the still small voice within us, even as we read scripture?

 

For some reason, my exposure to evangelism once led me to believe that using your spiritual authority in Christ against the principalities of darkness implies you must be loud, that you have to sound authoritative. Or to love others means you should knock on all your neighbors’ doors and invite them to church, and if you don’t do that, well, maybe you don’t love God enough… or something along those lines. Maybe I’m alone in my thinking, or just a loner. Because when I heard someone suggest that recently, my thoughts ran this old familiar gamut in my head: Oh, I don’t want to do that—What’s wrong with me? I love God—why am I questioning if I love God? —I’m kind to people… Except…

 

What if you’re a quiet type, wired to reflect and ponder, to consider things before you speak or do— or if you speak or do? Because I think the most accepted form of evangelism has had this type of person tripped up, scared away, or made to even sweat bullets.

 

It’s not an excuse. I’ve gone through missionary training, had worked and served as a full-time evangelist for many years all over the world. I’d learned how to start a conversation and keep it rolling. Yet, that part was never natural or easy for me, and for that reason it was exhausting. I’m more of a deep thinker and observer. Which is why I eventually turned to other avenues with which to spread the Gospel. Because that’s what evangelism means: spreading the Gospel, and that by personal witness. Not all of us are called to be evangelists, that is, operate in the office of an evangelist, but I believe we are to personally witness. So, what is personal witness supposed to look like when it’s, well, personal?

 

I think in a lot of ways, by the church and perhaps culturally, we’ve adapted to believing that evangelism means vocalism… it means outward zealousness. Maybe we’ve been fashioned by our society to be extroverts, and if you aren’t an extrovert, you need to be fixed. Except, introverts aren’t broken. We’re just wired differently, and it’s by God that we view things in other ways than maybe those who thrive on the more social aspects.

 

So all the people who love to connect with others and thrive by that opportunity jump at the chance. That’s cool. You have prospects. But I strongly believe there’re far more true quiet ones out there than is accepted, many more than just little ole me. I also believe those who’re introverted are, by and large, ignored or misdirected in the church. Which is why I have a need to readdress the subject from time to time. Because if you’re like me, you might feel a little lost when it comes to evangelism, or even just plugging in. But it’s possible! You can be zealous, devoted, and have a compassionate heart yet a quieter, albeit unconventional approach. And powerful things can happen when “two or three” are gathered (Matthew 18:20). What a relief for those who shy away from crowds, that “community" doesn’t have to mean “fifty”.

 

Someone once told me that if going door-to-door inviting people to church makes you uncomfortable, then you need to ask the Lord to remove the rebellious nature in you. That kind of guilting used to throw me for a loop. I didn’t understand it, because I dedicated my life to ministry, and sacrificed, sometimes greatly, for others. Yeah, I’m a bit of a nonconformist and an asocial one to boot. But I know the difference between being open and flexible for the Holy Spirit to correct the things in me that need to change and recognizing when a specific implied approach doesn’t work for everybody.

 

The Good News is meant to be shared—and, Oh, if we have the love of the Lord, don’t we want to share it! —but how do we share it? How’s it supposed to look? Why is there even an “a supposed to” application? When God has created us each differently, why would evangelism have to look the same for everybody? God is Creator. Just look at the natural world, the species of birds alone, and tell me it’s all the same, and we’re all to function the same, like little robots. Even the way birds interact and forage with other birds is vastly different.

 

When a mentor asked me for another example of what evangelism might look like for a quiet type, I complied. Other than the obvious “writing” and the online platform that can host a whole variety of creative outreach outlets, I shared just a fraction. And I post these examples from time to time. Beautifully loving and compassionate ways the Gospel can be spread by the more reflective ones out there. For instance, and for the sake of this blog post, I know a long-distance trucker, and in her free time she paints little rocks (very giftedly, I might add) and then leaves them, along with an encouraging and scripture-based message, to instill hope and share the Gospel. She prays over each rock and the lives of the hands that would receive them. Her little painted rocks she’s left at every one of her truck stops and more all over the nation. That is sweet evangelism, not to mention dedication.

 

I admit that my provision of examples leans on the more creatively inclined individuals, since that’s what I’m most exposed to, as that’s who I mostly know. We hide and create, then occasionally pop up for air, and share what we’ve been working on. But no matter who you are or what you do, you can make opportunities extended from where you are, reflecting how God speaks to and through you.

 

To those who God has gifted with eloquent words—or basic words that drive important messages verbally—or you’re great at networking with people. It’s a great gift if you have it. It’s just not everybody’s gift. We strive to speak the truth in love, but how we speak varies. How we love differs.

 

Evangelism is a condition of the heart not of the mouth. So take courage, quiet one. Express, love, share… do as the Lord inspires the one and only you.

 

~Ephesians 4:11-16: “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (NIV)