Intentional, Appropriate, Relevant
Revelant evangelism doesn't mean compromising our message.
Lt. Colonel Ralph Bukiewicz
From the beginning, The Salvation Army has grasped the need to combine service and evangelism. Our founder William Booth once asked, "What is the use of preaching the gospel to men whose whole attention is concentrated upon a mad, desperate struggle to keep themselves alive?"
From the beginning, The Salvation Army has grasped the need to combine service and evangelism. Our founder William Booth once asked, "What is the use of preaching the gospel to men whose whole attention is concentrated upon a mad, desperate struggle to keep themselves alive?"
For such people, words alone do not suffice. But how do we faithfully combine the mandates to evangelize and serve? I believe that evangelism through service should always have at least three elements:
First, it should be intentional. As the church becomes more socially conscious, we must create opportunities for believers to serve others. We cannot simply assume any "random act of kindness" will result in meaningful ministry. But when we approach every effort with a spirit of expectation, believing that we are partnering with God to both change circumstances and transform lives, amazing things happen.
We need to be open to having our schedules divinely interrupted.
Being intentional begins with simple prayers for God to show us opportunities where we can go deeper by investing more of ourselves in the lives of those who once were nameless, faceless strangers.
Second, it should be appropriate. If evangelism through service reflects the grace, sacrifice and unconditional love of Christ, then our methods must be suitable to the setting and the recipients' needs.
Once we identify the immediate needs of those we serve, careful attention to their physical needs is important if we want to offer effective service. However, once this is underway, we can't ignore their spiritual needs, even if the setting doesn't allow for traditional means of evangelism.
Being appropriate may drive us to a new level of creative thinking where outdated outreach techniques are changed into more effective models of engagement. Change is never easy, but it is essential to reach those who have been inoculated to the gospel by more traditional methods of outreach.
Third, it should be relevant. The hurting world just outside our church doors might accept our help but may resist our message because skepticism, hurt, or pride has built barriers. Therefore, just as our service is directed toward specific needs, our message and purpose ought to be relevant.
J.I. Packer warned that, "Our business is to present the Christian faith clothed in modern terms, not to propagate modern thought clothed in Christian terms."
Relevant evangelism doesn't mean compromising our values or marketing our message. It means that we find a way to clearly communicate the Good News through applicable words, compassionate actions, Christ-like attitudes, and persistent creativity. It also requires us to get our hands dirty and have our hearts broken. We need to be open to having our schedules divinely interrupted.
—Lt. Colonel Ralph Bukiewicz Divisional Commander, The Salvation Army, Metropolitan Division, Chicago, Illinois
1 comment:
Dear Lt. Colonel Bukiewicz,
As one Chicago area Polock to another let me first congratulate you for getting your article published in the Leadership Journal! I'm especially impressed with your ideas on appropriate, relevant evangelism.
I'm a little bit older than you so I can still remember going to traditional corps open-air meetings back in the 50s and 60s. To put it bluntly they weren't nearly at all as relevant or effective in a post-industrial society as they once were in the very early days of the Army. It had by then become a Sunday night tradition and it seems to me that that's why we were still doing them.
The key word here is "traditional" as I believe that they could still be effective for the Army and the Kingdom of God if someone would figure out a way to do them in something other than the old "traditional" way. Recently I read in the new book that's out on William's Booth funeral that in 1912 a newspaper in England (it might have been the London Times, I'm not sure)had already stated that open-air meetings were largely ineffective then and were mainly done for the benefit of the organization---not to save souls as they weren't attracting anyone outside of the Army!
I also have to admit that I still love seeing Army bands on the march in England on YOU TUBE. However, I also notice that except for places like Regent Hall in the West End of London hardly anyone is out on the streets the bands are marching on and even then there is no preaching or even singing just bands playing music very few people outside of the Army might understand. This makes very little sense to me. I guess sometimes traditions are just so entwined in a group that they're hard to break until some one actually breaks them. Then of course all of the old-timers start coming out of the woodwork with dire predictions about the sky falling and the end of the movement.
Other cases in point might be the S.A. Bonnet which after two or three decades of non-use now looks ridiculous and everyone wonders why it took the Army so long to see that rest of the world only saw it as both bizarre and funny-looking! The same can be said for nuns and the traditional garb and habits they use to wear that made them look like penguins and/or Batman's mama. Yet some old time Catholics are still upset about it.
Anyway your article is certainly relevant and appropriate for today and leaves one with much food for thought!
Daryl Lach
USA Central
P.S. Btw, having heard something about your own amazing story growing up in Milwaukee I'd sure like to write an article on you for Priority Magazine someday!
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