bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Tuesday, June 17, 2003 ::

Evangelism is a four-letter word
I've been soliciting comments about the draft introduction to the revision of my book E-vangelism: Sharing the Gospel in Cyberspace, and frankly I'm disappointed in, but not surprised by, the lack of interest among the Christian blogging community. Evangelism doesn't seem to be a topic of much discussion among Christian bloggers. There are exceptions, of course. Fred Peatross addresses evangelism in his post of a table from The Emerging Church. Todd Hunter broaches the subject, quite thoughtfully, from time to time. And Dean Peters, a former Orthodox Christian, engages folks from that tribe on the subject of evangelism from time to time.

But usually, we keep quiet about evangelism. It's almost as if it's a dirty word. I know we've gotten a lot of things wrong in the past. And maybe it's a word we should purge from our lexicon. Does it really conjure images of forced conversion? Does it smack too much of pulpit-pounding, firebrand, backwoods preachers? Or is it the door-to-door "witnessing" that comes to mind? When you hear evangelism, do you envision Elmer Gantry? Josh McDowell? The Four Spiritual Laws? Or (dare I say it?) modernism?

After all the troubles I had with the first edition of E-vangelism, I've seriously questioned whether to even attempt a second edition. I've been struggling with it for more than a year. I've been struggling with writing about it for five months. I've been wondering whether a market exists for this book. (Which is not always the best reason to write a book, I know.) I don't know whether a sizable market exists. But I still believe in evangelism. That is, I believe in it as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary -- that is, the ism (or carrying out in practice) of the root word "evangel," which means "1. The ‘good news’ of redemption to the world through Jesus Christ; the religious teaching contained in the New Testament; the Christian religion."

Jesus left his disciples with two "greats." One is the Great Commandment: Love one another. The other is the Great Commission: go, and make disciples. When I think of evangelism, I think of the two greats. When I think of "e-vangelism," I think of the two greats in the virtual mission field God has given us. I see the Internet as part of God's unfolding creation. I see it as a place where we can live out those two greats. I wish to communicate these insights to others. But maybe they're not insights at all. Maybe I just have a flair for stating the obvious.

Anyway, if you're going to comment on this post, would you do me a favor and peruse the link to my draft intro in the post below? And then get back to me, either by email or with a comment on this blog? I know that many of you read books. So I really want to know what you people think. Am I wasting my time here? Is this a book you would read? Is this a book that is needed? Any input? In the words of Dr. Evil: Throw me a bone! Thanks.

Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.
... C. T. Studd (1860-1931)
(From Christian Quotation of the Day)

:: Andrew 08:34 + ::
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