Evangelism, what's that all about anyway?

Andy Hawthorne paid a visit to college this morning, he shouted at us in chapel. Whenever I've heard him he gets a bit shouty, a bit red in the face and this morning he must have piled on the pressure a bit because in the middle of his spiel he got a nose bleed. There is a passionate man, actually shedding blood for the sake of the gospel!

He was talking about evangelism, well he would, that's what he does, what he's known for and what he's successful at. For anyone who doesn't know, Andy Hawthorne is the director of the Message Trust, which does all sorts of things for young people in Manchester. Very cool.

He may shout a bit too much but I did like Andy, a very down-to-earth kinda guy, with amazing commitment and who's vision has made a real difference in many kids lives.

It made me think about preaching. I think I've come to realise that I don't like the preaching job I've got (not that it's a job - it would be nice to get paid for it but I can't see that happening!), what happens is that I go to churches full of old ladies and one or two old gentlemen and I try to encourage, challenge, bring vision and excitement for God, and they all tell me it's been a wonderful service and they really liked the hymns I picked. I'm obviously not communicating very well with them.

There are people I think I could communicate with really well (and not have to shout at them) but where on earth do you find a crowd of 20-30-something non-christians who are willing to listen to a crackpot bible-basher? I can hardly stand up in the middle of starbucks and start preaching!

For me the issue is not really how to communicate well, but where to go? "Go to the people" they say ("they" being Christian experts on mission of course) but where are the people? mostly in places where they don't want to be disturbed. I'm pretty sure that Christian mission won't be effective unless it can use the media and usual channels of entertainment and information to promote itself. That means taking media (old and new) and technology seriously and not just thinking that because we have powerpoint in our church we're 'hip and with it'.

These random thoughts were brought to you by the letter 'j' and the number 5. Thank you for listening.