Levels of Evangelism

In my lifetime, I have experienced a fair amount of different views on evangelism. Because of this, I have determined that we can lump all of these views into 5 different categories... because I definitely have ALL of the experience needed to do that.

Here are the 5 broad levels of evangelism that I've come up with:
1) Don't like evangelists, don't like the idea... at ALL! Don't push your views on me, bro. 
2) They are annoying, but as long as they don't talk to me... What-Eves.
3) I can agree with the idea, but only as long as you don't hurt anybody's feelings. 
4) Yeah, I'm all for evangelism!... *continues to do nothing* 
5) It's not just an action, it's a way of life.

Level 1... FIGHT!
I'm kidding about the "fight" part, but not really. I have seen people go up in arms over not letting others push their view on them. People in this level see people who evangelize as close-minded, ignorant, and most likely unintelligent because they don't know how to be tactful with people. Rude! You should NEVER push your views on someone! When someone is preaching the gospel: it's GO TIME! Not on your turf!

Level 2
You see those people who preach the gospel as an annoyance, awkward, and uncomfortable. It's just weird when they come up and ask you, "Have you been washed by the blood of the lamb?" Actually... if they are asking you that, I would agree in the awkwardness. "But seriously," you say "what's with these people? They go around as if they have something important to share with people, but don't they know that I just don't care? Whatever, it doesn't matter. They can go talk to other people, I'll just ignore them if they come up to me. Annoying buggers..."

Level 3
Actually, these people have something important to share, but they should be polite about it... "ear-ticklers" if you will. Sometimes saying that Jesus is the ONLY way can offend people. Why can't they just water down the gospel so that it's easy for people to accept it and then we can work out doctrine and differences later? I mean, all Jesus wants are fans, not followers, right? So let's just be nice and easy with everybody.


Level 4
Evangelism is great. I'm all for it! Yeah you go ahead and do that. I'm going to sit back and enjoy the show because that's the pastor's job, not mine. I mean, sure, I will "shine His light" through my actions. I'll live the gospel everyday, and use words when necessary.
The people who take this view, I would say, aren't completely getting the point of being a Christian. Living the gospel is GREAT! I think we should all do it, but this is the way I view it: Who am I to assume that the Spirit of God, Who lives in ME, cannot use my words as well as my actions to share His love? This leads me to...


Level 5
Not only will you live the gospel, but you will actively share it with those who you daily are in contact with. Your words are nothing without your actions, and thus it IS important to live like level 4 people may, but one must marry these two things together. I have seen people who legitimately live out Level 5 in their daily lives taking to heart the idea that not sharing the greatest gift of all is indeed committing one of the greatest acts of hatred of all time. These people understand the gravity of the gift they have been given and because of it want to share with people constantly, and most of the time they are some of the most compassionate people you will ever meet.

I pray that God will make all people who call themselves Christians or Christ-Followers understand completely what they have been given to pass it on to those who still are in dire need, but yet don't know it.

From Watercress to Dinosaurs to....

As any college student will tell you, the subject of dinosaurs is most definitely a commonly discussed topic. Well, here's a general synopsis of a real conversation that happened to be on this subject my sophomore year.

As a group of us were gathered in the hall around the time we would normally gather around 11pm (early in the evening), the subject of cancer was brought up. We were talking about how everything nowadays is said to cause cancer in some way, shape or form. Then one of my friends asked if there was anything that actually didn't cause cancer. Funnily enough, one of my friends suggested that watercress not only does not cause cancer, but could prevent cancer. *Side Note* I believe that the speculation on whether or not this is true is still in debate *End Side Note*. I asked what exactly watercress tasted like, because I have experienced my share of sunburn in my lifetime and would most assuredly NOT like to get skin cancer. The reply was simple: grass. Everyone started joking about how nasty that is, but I interjected that it didn't taste that bad. Laughing ensued, and then came the comment that changed the subject randomly:

Next thing we'll know, we'll see Daryn (that's me) crouched out in the Thunderdome (the grassy area outside our dorm) eating grass in the middle of the night, and he'll scamper away like an animal when he's spotted.

Again, laughing ensued as well as my greatest impression of an animal eating grass. Well, that soon turned into my velociraptor impression which then immediately turned the topic of conversation to: Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park. As any of my friends will gladly tell you, one of my greatest fears is that the premise of this story will actually come true and we'll all get killed by velociraptors (we all know T-Rexes... T-Rexen... T-Rexi... whatever! We all know that they are the least of our problems, cause all we have to do is freeze! But seriously if someone starts clapping their hands like the cha-cha slide, you're going down). ANYWAY, terrifying as it is, I have done quite the great deal of research pertaining said subject, such as: Will tall grass become more prominent? Do raptors spawn tall grass, like Zerg spawn creep? Are raptors afraid of fire? Can deadbolts be unlocked by these "clevah gals"? Does tall grass follow raptors?

Yes, all serious questions that I needed answered. The point is, this conversation was going great places in our preparedness against the eventual dinosaur invasion that would surely come if we attempted to recreate this dreadfully realistic portrayal of dinosaurs under control. We decided that no matter where someone was, tall grass could strike at ANY TIME! Running in the street: RAPTOR ATTACK! Walking in the woods: DEFINITE RAPTOR ATTACK! Snowboarding: RAPTOR ATTACK! You ALWAYS have to be on the look out for flying tall-grass. This ain't no Pokémon that you can just run away from or make faint. No, this is not an opportunity to use a Masterball (let's be honest, the only Pokémon worth catching with a Masterball was Electebuzz... *shakes head back an forth*). When you see tall grass creeping towards you, you RUN! Not like it would matter much anyway, unless you're in a kitchen that is chromed out, you're done for!

Then the conversation took a turn for the worst possible topic ever. That's right, I'm not just talking about a dinosaur invasion and the likelihood of survival with all our advanced weaponry anymore... We moved into the realm of zombie dinosaurs. Just imagine that... not only have they been remade from frog DNA and whatnot, but we somehow spliced the genes perfectly WRONG to make them a horde of zombies! Terrible TERRIBLE consequences. This is quite literally the point where we all just agreed on one possible outcome: Nuke 'em. That's it and that's all. We left the conversation there, stomachs hurting from the terrible laughter that continued on and on throughout. Though, I will say, I remained quite serious throughout due to my absolute dread that this could actually all happen one day...

I mean, look at the news. That NC State professor just found living DNA within a dinosaur fossil. It's just one or two simple steps until the eventual zombie dinosaur apocalypse. I'll be darned if I'm not prepared! They're afraid of fire, that much I can be sure of!

Sharpening Tools

Proverbs 27:17 NASB

Iron sharpens iron, 

So one man sharpens another.

I woke up with this verse on my mind today. This is a great verse for multiple reasons: 


1) It tells us that we are to build each other into the person God wants us to be by honing each other's skills (sharpening them, if I may). A great example of this can be found in 1 Samuel 25 specifically in verses 18-33 where Abigail rebukes David in probably the gentlest way I've ever seen. Her heart behind it was to sharpen David to become the man of God that he is meant to be, not just to save her own skin from David and all his men. 

2) This verse also tells us sparks are going to fly. When iron sharpens iron, there are going to be sparks. It's not going to always be the greatest feeling in the world when a brother or sister comes up and says that they have noticed something that we can improve upon (no matter how gently it comes). Yes, we have the opportunities to be humble before both our peers and God; however, we may not always see it as an opportunity to do so. I can tell you from personal experience that getting sharpened isn't always the most fun thing in the world, but I never have regretted it in the long run. And yes, maybe it has taken me a couple weeks to accept rebuke or reproof, but the Lord has always given me a great way to look at it in the end.


3) It tells us HOW we need to sharpen each other. This one literally just came to me. When a good blacksmith sharpens some metal, he doesn't take chips out, he smooths a piece to the desired sharpness. If he takes a chip out, it would take more effort to correct his mistake and smooth out everything else to the proper sharpness.


With this last part said, I have to work on things. I understand that I'm here to sharpen others and lay down my life to make them the person God wants them to be. I also understand that there are going to be some sparks when we hit "burrs" if you will; however, I am very bad at sharpening properly. Too often do I take chips out of people looking to refine them immediately rather than taking my time and humbly submitting my thoughts and observations; and more than that, trusting that the Lord will work in their hearts to change them. I need to be more like Abigail and reprove someone so graciously that it would not seen like reproof at all from an outsider instead of looking to do things my way.


So, in closing, I'd just like to apologize if you have experienced my critical heart come out and try to chip at you instead of the loving sharpening the way that God intended. I'd also like to challenge you to be a proper brother or sister and sharpen your brothers and sisters in a humble way that shows that you want them to become the man or woman that God intends them to be.

Words

Words... People say actions speak louder than words, but then how does that explain that the pen mightier than the sword?

Do not worry, I definitely think that what people actually do outweighs what they say they'll do. However, it makes me think of how we can't take a lot of people seriously (myself definitely not excluded) when they say something.

Let me just go to where this thought comes from for me real quick. In Genesis 27 Isaac blesses Jacob unknowingly. Jacob is a deceitful man, or "surplanter" as his name actually means (we'll get to that later), and disguises himself as his elder brother Esau to get Esau's birthright. So then after Isaac blesses Jacob with his words, Jacob quickly ducks out of there before Esau comes in. Just in time, too, because Esau comes in right after Jacob leaves and says to his father that he's ready to receive his blessing. Isaac at first was confused, and then they both realize what went down, and Esau is pretty upset to say the least. So with all that said, it's verse 33 that stood out to me after Isaac realizes what happens, he says this:

Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.” (NKJV, emphasis added)

"...indeed he shall be blessed." What do these last words mean? Couldn't Isaac just say something like, "Jacob, you sneaky mole-rat! Since you have tricked me, you get CURSED, not blessed!" And then give Esau his rightful blessing? That's what we think of nowadays right? He could just take back what he said, and *BLAM* all is back to where it should be. Well, it didn't work like that back in the day, so why does it sometimes work like that now?

I would say that in today's culture, words are cheapened into watered-down versions of themselves. Some people throw words around like skittles (let's just make one thing clear though: I by no means condone the throwing of skittles. You should eat them) and don't take the merit of the words into account. Many people (myself included) do not think before they speak. This may be caused by simple every-day boneheadedness, an escalation of temperament, or because people don't recognize the value of the words they are saying. The first two causes happen because of human nature. There are ways to help with these two things, but that is a whole other subject that I shall not touch on at this time. As for the third cause, that is what I am most interested in.

Many people, I believe and have recognized, are desensitized to the meaning of a lot of words. Take the word "awesome" for example. A lot of people say "AWESOME!" as just an exclamation of joy or simply to describe something they think is the cooliest. The original definition of this word was, "inspiring awe; showing or characterized by awe" and then the slang meaning is "very impressive." I don't know about you guys, but I see a definite downgrade in the slang definition as compared to the original. A friend of mine showed this hilarious video to me about the difference between "like" and "love," and I cannot think of a better video that fits with this topic. *Side Note* You should check out their other videos because they are pretty good.

I'm not trying to convict those who say "AWESOME!" all the time or those who joke around sometimes and can be serious at other times. The point here is to just get people thinking about words. Here's one little nugget that has kept me thinking: God SPOKE the world into motion, so what do words mean to me if they mean that much and carry that much power with Him?

The WAR

Recently, a dear sister and I started an encouragement war with each other. Let me first explain the events leading up to it before I go into the event itself. We were talking online and I had said something very obscure that no one usually would have understood, yet she did and replied something along the lines of "Holllllla!"

Have you ever had a moment were you realize in the little things how much you appreciate a brother or sister in Christ? Well, I had one of those moments just then and expressed it to her and thanked her for being my little sister. The next lines are where the battle started: 
She replied, "No, thank you!"
I said, "Haha, You can't 'thank you' battle ME!"
*Where it all went down* Her: "Oh it has been broughten"
Two words: Oh. Snap.
Hence, the battle had begun. 

So, we started out with random pictures of "thank yous" and whatnot. It was quite fun trying to find obscure pictures and then make our own pictures to send each other. After a day or two of this, however, we realized that this battle would benefit us both better if it were actually turned towards others as well. This is where the battle turned into a WAR. 

We decided that we were going to encourage others, and the people that we encouraged would count as "points" and whoever had the most points by the end of the week would be the winner. Of course, from the beginning, we both realized the benefit that we would be giving others with our encouragement. Hebrews 3:13 in that NASB states, "But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." and Hebrews 10:24-25 in the NIV states, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Yes, we both realized that we would be encouraging our brothers and sisters on to good works and to glorify the Lord more. However, what we didn't realize was how encouraging it was going to be encouraging others. When you think of ways to encourage a brother or sister, you think of why that person actually is important to you. You start thinking of the ways that person is laboring for the Kingdom and you start realizing just how much you've seen them grow over the weeks, months or years that you've known them. So the blessing turns two-fold; both you and the person you are encouraging ultimately get encouraged! As I once heard from a fantastic laborer for God, Tom Short, "If you want to be encouraged, go encourage others! Don't just sit there waiting for others to encourage you!"

That week was a week of glorifying God that I relish in my learning in growth! I realized just how blessed I am to be surrounded by the brothers and sisters around me who are continually growing and laboring for Christ. When we came together to tally up the numbers, yes, one of us did have 2 more "points" than the other. However, the reality was that we both won truly, and that ultimately the Lord was glorified in our competition.

The war is not over, though. When you realize as it's stated in both 2 Corinthians 10 and Ephesians 6 that we aren't making war against flesh and blood but against the devil and his ploys, that is when you realize how great a need it is to encourage your brothers and sisters to continue on in perseverance and in the light of the Lord. Maybe this is just the push you needed to go and encourage others, or just what you needed to hear. Maybe it's not. Either way, I pray that the Lord would bless you and keep you!