Evangelism: Tips on Sharing Your Faith in 2008

Christians are no longer a significant part of discussions (public and private) about faith.

At least, they are no longer a significant part of the discussion when it comes to those who don’t have a previous indoctrination into Christianity.

Times have changed since Billy Sunday preached gymnastic sermons in wet-dog humid, ad hoc circus tents. That’s not good or bad it’s just reality. When Billy preached he was talking for the most part either to Christians or to those intimately associated with Christianity who accepted many of the basic tenets.

He also preached in a medium (tent revivals) that was familiar to his audience.

Today the accepted mediums for the message are different and the audience is likely to contain those who do not accept the basic tenets of Christianity.

If you are a Christian and you wish to share your faith—either online or off—you better not only realize times have changed but adapt so you can at least participate in the discourse. Here are some tips to help you communicate clearly with those who do not accept your faith:

Use Neutral Language not “Christianese”

To the non-Christian Ezekiel and Nostradamus are both psychics. To treat Ezekiel as he ought to “automatically” have more authority than quatrain boy makes no rational sense to a non-Christian.

What you call “a word of knowledge” is simply telepathy to non-Christians.

When referencing dates the era is either “BCE” meaning “before current era” or “CE” meaning “current era.” Drop the use of “BC” and “AD”.

Make sure when you write a blog post intended for a partially secular audience you stay away from terms only having meaning to Christians.

Accept Reality

While my non-believing friends will balk at this—they believe you have to deny reality to have faith at all—I am speaking about more current realities.

People are having sex. All the time. At younger ages. The majority of spouses have affairs.

The scientific method works and there isn’t a cabal of evil scientists promoting “Darwinism” while hiding the truth of “intelligent design.” (And while I’m pointing out ID, let me make clear that ID is a religious belief, not a scientific theory.)

Stop Crying Persecution or Religious Bigotry

At least in the US Christianity is flourishing and is not under attack. Are there isolated times when a Christian is discriminated against simply for their beliefs? Sure. Is it common or widespread? Nope.

Stop Moderating Comments

January 22, 2008 marks the first anniversary of this blog which is mostly about religion. I regularly visit other blogs and comment on their religious posts as well.

In the last year, after hundreds of personal comments I have yet to have one non-Christian blog delete a comment. Christian blogs have deleted my comments on many occasions—too many to count.

Instead of deleting a comment, why not take the time to demonstrate why the commenter is wrong? God’s shoulders are big enough to handle criticism, right?

I suspect many Christians delete post comments because they are afraid their Christian brothers and sisters will see them and be offended. If that’s the case then maybe all you are willing to write for are other Christians and you have no interest in reaching out to non-Christians through the things you say on your blog or forum.

If that’s the case fine, but you don’t need to read this post.

Don’t Fake Expertise

Just because you heard Ken Ham (a liar who ought to know better) tell you something about evolution doesn’t mean you’re an expert. If you are going to write a post attacking or correcting something—whether it is evolution or Bible teaching—don’t claim expertise unless you really do know what you are talking about.

Hang Out at Non-Christian Places

Whether online or off, if you want to have serious discussions about faith with unbelievers then you need to go where they hang. If your faith can’t stand the scrutiny it will find in non-Christian forums, blogs, etc. then maybe your faith is not well justified in your own mind.

Don’t Appeal to the Bible for Proof

The Bible is only the “standard” for Christians. By definition a non-Christian does not accept the Bible as fact.

Define Your Terms

When we say “miracle” in the technical sense we usually mean that natural laws have been suspended.

When two window washers fall 43 stories and one of them is killed and the other has relatively minor injuries it is not a miracle. If they found him unharmed, mysteriously floating 6 inches off the pavement that would be a miracle.

When we say “miracle” in casual conversation we usually mean a “surprising coincidence” or “surprising outcome.”

So say that. Say it was a surprising coincidence.

If you are going to talk about evolution, then define what you mean by “kind” (as in “according to their kind.”)

Too many words used in Christian evangelism have no definite meaning making it impossible to discuss them.

Read, Reason and Reply

If you actually take time to discuss your faith with non-believers you will have strong emotional responses. Your faith is important to you and those who question it or your God are going to, at times, strike a nerve. Before you respond to them take time to read what they have said, think through your reasons for your faith and then reply.

Own Your Faith

Whether you like it or not there are many things in the Bible that make almost everyone uneasy. God ordered genocide. God never called Israel to stop foreign slave trading. There are hundreds of unexplained inconsistencies in the Bible.

Most Christians just ignore those things. It ruins their witness to informed non-Christians.

If you are going to share your faith you need to make sure to accept the Bible says some pretty tough things. You need to be able to say “I know that makes God sound creepy and I don’t have an answer, but I have these reasons for maintaining my faith…”

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Art here.

Tags: Billy Sunday, Christian, Christianity, Evangelism, Evolution, God, ID, Intelligent Design, Jesus, Ken Ham, Sharing Your Faith