Not evangelism as usual
Not evangelism as usual
Photo: “Invite people to learn to follow Jesus with us.” In St Columba’s shrine on the Isle of Iona
Rethinking how we share faith in the face of a ‘Quiet Revival’
by James Butler,
Like many others I’ve been interested in phenomena named in the Quiet Revival research from the Bible Society about a new openness to faith. Alongside this I keep speaking to Christians who tell me about people turning up out of the blue at their churches and gatherings to ask about Christianity and faith.
There has clearly been quite a bit of excitement about this, and many have suggested that this points to the importance of evangelism at this time. However, I think we need to pay attention and reflect carefully. So much of the focus on evangelism in churches has been about getting people to a place where they can share with others about their faith.
Over the past 20 or so years there has been a shift in evangelism, in response to the culture, moving away from apologetics and working with reason, towards approaches which are more conversational and relational.
People have talked about ‘relational evangelism’ and Alpha has been a prime example of the conversational approach, based as it is, around a meal.
I wonder, however, whether the Quiet Revival phenomena identified in the Bible Society report, and experienced by churches up and down the UK, that people are actively asking question and wanting to explore faith, suggests that we might need to make another shift in how we understand evangelism.
The previous shift moved from helping people to defend the faith in the face of vocal opposition, to encouraging people to think about faith questions and foster conversations. However, if people are coming to churches, open and seeking, then we may need a different response.
Lamorna Ash’s book Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever hints at this. It is not so much the new, or familiar which is appealing to a new generation of seekers, but the mystical, unfamiliar and ancient which is drawing people in. There seems to be a growing instinct that modern life does not bring all that people need, and an instinct that church might have something to offer.
In contrast to some of the encouragement in the face of this ‘Quiet Revival’ to keep doing what we’re doing around sharing faith, I think we might need a little more thought and reflection.
There has been much emphasis in churches across the country around projects and processes to reverse church decline, and yet these ‘Quiet Revival’ phenomena we are seeing do not have a clear connection to any such project.
If mission, as described by John V Taylor and many since him, is “finding out what God is doing and doing it with him,” I think it would be worth approaching this new season with a posture of openness, listening attentively and asking whether a different response is needed. God may have things to teach us, and there are likely to be things we can learn from those who are turning up to our churches.
It is worth asking what we might do if someone turned up to our church asking about the Christian faith.
My sense is there are a group of Christians who are very keen to tell them “the answers” and another group of Christians who want to emphasise listening to “where people are at”.
But I think we all need to acknowledge that in many ways we are in uncharted territory, while at the same time called to do what Christians throughout history have naturally done. We need to be ready to “account for the hope that is in us” (1 Peter 3.15), and invite people to learn to follow Jesus with us.
Eugene Peterson used to say that the best gift we can offer people is to teach them to pray. I also have found the opportunity to read the gospels with those seeking has been powerful, not so we can tell them what it means, but so they can encounter Jesus themselves.
What does seem clear is that rather than have a ‘plan’, we first of all need to open ourselves up to what God is going, welcome and listen to those who are turning up, and find ways to invite them into the life of our Christian communities and the journey we are all on seeking to follow Jesus.
