Rethinking (lower case “e”) Evangelism

I know I’m not the only one who bristles at the idea or even mention of evangelism.

For me it conjures up images of the minister whose church I visited in high school that told us listening to rap music would send us to hell.

Or another minister whose church I visited that said, when I asked him about their views on homosexuality in church, that they hated the sin but not the sinner.

Capital E evangelism brings up these visions and memories of separating us from others- and from “should-ing” others.

So much of the beginning of my journey into this has been motivated by this desire to be able to counter argue those types of people. Because I see them weaponizing scripture and the church and it makes me furious.

But this past weekend something else dawned on me… I’m not that interested in the weaponization anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still VERY bothered by it. But I’m no longer interested in engaging in that kind of spiritual warfare. It’s the kind of fight that no one seems to win. And if I’m being honest… it’s not very loving either. Which is what I want to give to people.

I want people to feel welcomed by church and to know there is a place where they are loved just as they are.

This is my BIG reason for doing all of this.

Yesterday marked exactly one year since I registered for the “Here I Am” program and I learned about my spiritual gifts. I’ll attach my scores and explanations here:

Notice something funny? Evangelism was my lowest score. One of my highest was preaching and prophecy- speaking truth to power. Hospitality, craftmanship… those things seemed natural to me. I love to welcome all in and I love making things. It caught me off guard for prophecy to be so high but it’s something that my minister said didn’t catch him off guard at all. But in going through this Here I Am process, which you can learn more about here through the podcast season I did on it (and below), I reached a new space. A new ability to not just talk about my views but to really feel empowered to do it more and to feel qualified to do so.

And through this process I have reached a sense of calm- of peace. I still sometimes fall into wanting to engage in spiritual warfare but I also have realized… there’s just no real point. People aren’t won over by a concise and crystal clear argument. They’re won over by being loved. That’s not to say I won’t still engage in calling out hatefulness or harm… but perhaps I can do so in a more meaningful way. One in which I can show others that God loves everyone. Even the ones I think are hard to love. Even…. me. Even you.

Lower case e evangelism is about love.