I was thinking about evangelism a bit this evening, as I sat in a conversation (on an unrelated matter). Just what is evangelism? Can we “master it”? How do we know when we are “doing it”? Often I am afraid that we (I) have the view that evangelism is about memorizing Biblical passages (for the more we have memorized, the less we have to be Procrustean* in our use of them), being unafraid to approach complete strangers, and the like. For that reason, it can be easy to say to ourselves: “I don’t have the gift of evangelism. I think I’ll just invite someone to speak to the pastor about that.”
But in reality, the Bible tells us that life is full of many wonderful opportunities to tell others of the good news of the gospel. The Apostle Peter, who was a man of very poor words and lived with his foot in his mouth before Pentecost (see for example Mark 8:32; Mark 9:5) calls us to live out the gospel in our daily lives, providing opportunity with our actions for words to find fertile ground - “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (1 Peter 2:12)

Then I came across this post by Rev. Phil Ryken on the Reformation 21 (run by my friend and dear teacher Derek Thomas) and I was floored. Did you ever think that the ministry of Christ Church, or your own witness, could be so severely impaired by something as trivial as how much of a tip you left at a restaurant, or how you responded to food that was brought to you? What about how you wait in line at the dry cleaners? Or at the airport? On one level I think we all understand our theology that reminds us that God is omniscient and sees all things. Yet at the same time, I think we ignore the fact that others see a great deal as well.
Something to think about this week.

*Procustean: using an artificial standard with no flexibility. It comes from the ancient Greek myth of Procrusteus, who has a bed of a certain size. He would capture travelers and make them fit the bed - either by stretching the short or cutting short the tall.