Self-Evangelism

"In engaging in the task of evangelizing others, the church itself is constantly being evangelized. Its own members cannot present the gospel to others without themselves continually facing the promises, claims and challenges of the gospel afresh. The gospel is good news even after it has been heard a thousand times. It never becomes mere platitudes from history. When the church addresses itself at the same time it addresses others, its approach is more believable and winsome."

- ChurchNext by Eddie Gibbs

Among evangelical Christians, evangelism is and should be an important ministry. Whether we view evangelism as being more appropriate in the context of relationships or conversations with strangers, there is no denying that we are to proclaim the good news of Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection as Christians. However, when we talk of evangelism we almost exclusively talk about proclaiming the good news to other people. Why? Every time we proclaim Christ's death and resurrection we must listen as we are speaking. Not only that, we should proclaim Christ's death and resurrection even when nobody else is listening because we need to hear the good news afresh just as much as anyone else.

Gibbs believes, and I would agree, that if we treat ourselves as much a target of evangelism as we treat other people, our message will truly be sincere. Jesus is God Incarnate. He is God who has taken on the form a human being and worn humanity's sin while hanging on the cross. If we think we are not implicated in the life of our neighbor we our kidding ourselves. If Jesus was implicated in our sin then surely we can find it within ourselves to be humble enough to consider ourselves implicated in the good, the bad, and the ugliness of our neighbor's life. We are in this together. Thus, before you walk out of the door in the morning with the intention of proclaiming the message of the gospel to someone else, please, I implore you, proclaim it first to yourself.

A "Going Down" Mindset

"Christianity is a "going down" kind of religion before it is a "going up" kind of religion. In communicating this message we do not attract people as though they were customers, but we address them as fellow sinners, confessing together that we have only one answer to our common need. Unless and until we are prepared to die to self, we will never be in a position to live for Christ."

- ChurchNext by Eddie Gibbs

In continuing to think about what it means for a congregation of people to be 'church' within a community I was struck by this quote from one Fuller Seminary's own professors. I think what Dr. Gibbs writes here is profound because he doesn't write that Christianity is a "going down" kind of religion. He writes that it is a "going down" religion before it is a "going up religion." The church is not a community of people seeking to be self-sacrificial as an end in itself. The church is a community of people seeking to be self-sacrificial if need be in order to participate in the coming reign of Christ.

The Incarnation, God taking on the form of a human being in Christ, and the crucifixion, Christ's death on the cross, were "going down" kinds of events. However, God did not take on the form of a human being to understand us better and to be able to empathize with our problems. God took on the form of a human being to save humanity! However, It was not through Christ's death on the cross that we are saved. It was through the power of the resurrection that we are saved. The conquering lamb was slain and yet lives to bring judgment and justice to the world.

Thus, as we we seek to live as church in our communities we are called to be a witness to the conquering lamb who was slain. We are called to be a witness to the death and resurrection of Christ, God incarnate; and in doing so, we must be prepared to witness to this truth to whatever end. We must be prepared to give up everything, to even be tortured and killed, or "we will never be in a position to live for Christ," as Gibbs writes. We must be prepared to be a "going down" kind of community in order to meet Christ in his "going up."