Microsoft Promotes Evangelism
If this is something new to you then you
are likely to be surprised as much as I was when I heard this. However, before you get too excited, please read
on. Like other biblical terms the word “evangelist” has been hijacked to
describe a secular activity. Here is a
description of this kind of role from Wikipedia:
“A [technology] evangelist promotes the use of a particular product or technology through talks, articles, blogging, user demonstrations, recorded demonstrations, or the creation of sample projects. The word evangelism is taken from the context of religious evangelism due to the similarity of relaying
information about a particularset of beliefs with the intention of converting the recipient.”
So how do you feel about the use of the
word being adapted in this way.
Personally, I am wondering whether it could prove positive. The “E-word” began to become unpopular in
many churches at the start of the 1980s.
For this reason, the last major Billy Graham Mission in the UK was
called Mission England avoiding terms
like evangelism, crusade or campaign.
Could the term now become rehabilitated by its use in a secular context?
The word, evangelist, simply means someone who has good news to share. It is not the word that is the problem but
the image. Take this cartoon, for
example, which I use in order to help people articulate negative feelings about
evangelism (I own the rights to the cartoon).
Certain TV evangelists have also helped to create a poor and unhelpful
image of what evangelism is really about.
My opinion is that if something labelled evangelism does not come across
as good news then it cannot be evangelism.
The secular word has been misusing the
term evangelical for some time, in my
opinion. They have used it to describe
someone who is passionate about something, so perhaps they would have done
better to have said, evangelistic. Again, sadly, the term evangelical has sometimes been used negatively as defining a rather
extreme and unattractive kind of Christian.
For me, and evangelical is someone whose faith has the good news or
gospel at its heart, and who has particular respect for scripture. 19th
Century evangelicals were world-changers campaigning against slavery and
promoting much social good. They were
not aggressive bigots.
While I am happy for biblical terms to
be used appropriately in a secular context, and am excited by the use of evangelist by Microsoft, I don’t wish to
give away the use of these words within a Christian context. I want to see them recovered correctly. Perhaps what we need to do is to take a hard
look at who we are, what we believe, how we live and what we say and ask, “Is
all of this GOOD News?” But the adjective, good,
should be from the perspective of those observing or hearing us, rather than
how we define ourselves.
Last year I began running a programme
entitled “Friendship Evangelism”. An
introduction to the programme is one of our free online seminars (webinars) and
it is also available as a one-day course for churches. The aim is to encourage ordinary Christians
to be good news and confidently and lovingly seek to help those they care about
to come to know Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour. Please note that we are running the introductory
online seminar again later this month.
Whether or not you are comfortable about sharing your faith the opportunity
to watch this on your computer could prove a valuable investment of 45 minutes.
If the term evangelist is not to be lost to the world we need many more
ordinary Christians who can become comfortable sharing the good news in gentle
and winsome ways. Do you need to become
one of these? If so, please sign up for
the free webinar. Or you might be a
church leader with people who are less than confident in sharing their faith;
then you too should find this webinar helpful
For praise and prayer this week
We thank God for his blessing at the burial
and subsequent Thanksgiving Service
for the life of John Bradley, a former trustee and long-term supporter of
Rural Mission Solutions. John was a
greatly loved Methodist Minister with a heart of the wider church. He wrote his own “last words” which were read
at the Thanksgiving Service. Do please
read them.
Over recent months I have lost three
former colleagues who have gone to be with the Lord. Please remember those closest to them at this
time.
This Saturday, 9th January,
members of Yelvertoft Congregational Church meet to reflect on the implications
from my plan to retire as their Minister later this year. Join me in thanking God for this church and
its work in the village and surrounding area.
Pray for wisdom.
Please pray for Doreen (my wife) as she
undergoes further tests this weekend to discover the cause for chronic gastric
problems.
Please pray for the work on Obambo,
Kenya and for Nigel Lindsay who will be travelling to there on 13th
January. The loss of my colleague,
Monica Cook, is keenly felt both in Kenya and in the UK Friends of Obambo team.
Give thanks for continued prayer and
financial support for the Children’s Department of Sunrise Ministries and put
your prayers behind finding a competent person with a heart for rural ministry
to head up this work.
Give thanks for the completion of important
work required for Action for Christ.
This took up much time during December and we now await an important
communication from a government department.
Once this has been received, the trustees of AFC (which includes me)
will start to take prayerful steps regarding the future of that rural ministry.
Tuesday 12th January I will
take a school assembly followed by regular ministry at HMP Gartree.
Saturday 16th January “Get
Messy” (Messy Church) at Yelvertoft with an all-age service on the following
day.
Give thanks for the encouragement from
those who attended the online seminars in 2015.
These were held on Saturday morning and we are experimenting to find the
day and time most suitable for those who could benefit from these
webinars. Please pray as these need to
be scheduled throughout 2016.
Thank you for your friendship,
fellowship and support.
Barry
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