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Wednesday, April 27, 2005

7. We must communicate in a clear, caring, compelling, and compassionate manner.
An effective evangelist must have a commitment to intercession and waiting upon God. The exercise of these spiritual disciplines will attune our spirits to the initiatives of God and enable us to communicate with relevance and compassion. One practical approach is to regularly pray the Lord's Prayer with our neighbors, family, and friends in mind. Prayer is part of our being partners with God in the whole process of making him known. We demonstrate our sensitivity by random acts of kindness and by showing a genuine interest in the concerns, hopes, and questions of others. Jesus repeatedly used the circumstances of his current situation to convey what he wanted to communicate.
The evangelist shares the message with sensitivity and patience, yet with a sense of urgency that conveys the importance of the message. Such urgency implies a countercultural stance, for the prevailing attitude is that spirituality is a private and peripheral matter. For the Christian, however, "What do you think of Christ?" is a question with life-transforming implications and eternal consequences. Religion without conviction is shallow and worldly. Religion without compassion is rigid and inhumane. Conviction without compassion is harsh. Compassion without conviction is spineless.

Labels: mission, reinventing evangelism