PMS Evangelism?
Our Senior Pastor, Brian Jones, challenged us this morning to take our lives from success to significance.
We spend more than half of our adult lives working at a job, but do we make a difference in the relationships we maintain at work? We can be a person of significance by sharing our faith in our actions and in our words (when presented with an opportunity).
Well we learned that Brian is not the best at designing acrostics and when you see this one you will know why! The memory model for evangelism he had for us was interesting – PMS evangelism – taken from Colossians 4:2-5.
2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3And pray for
us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim
the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim
it clearly, as I should. 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make
the most of every opportunity.
P – Pray – taken from verse 2, “Devote yourselves to prayer”
M – Model – taken from verse 5, “Be wise in the way you ACT toward outsiders”
S – Share – taken from verse 4, “Pray that I may proclaim it clearly”
I think the process Brian talked about this morning is key. Praying and modeling is just as important as the sharing. It reminds me of a post I read recently by Steve Levitt, author of Freakonomics:
I’m not religious. I don’t think much about God, except when I am in a pinch and
need some special favors. I have no particular reason to think he’ll deliver,
but I sometimes take a shot anyway. Other than that, I’m just not that
interested in God.
Hopefully there are Christians in Steve’s life that are praying, modeling and sharing in such a way to draw him closer to God and not push him away. A close friend of mine has been searching as well, he recently posted:
It seems that I am searching for authentic Christianity, one that has an
evangelical hermeneutic combined with a postmodern ethic. I want certainty
without judgementalism, love without relativism and wonder without ignorance.
Hopefully I can continue to be used by God to move others around me further down the path toward Christ. How will God use you? Who is in your circle of influence?
Frank,
Great post! I feel like our church and the efforts of our staff each week are creating an environment that would be “friendly” to Steve Levitt (and hundreds just like him)!
We are always examples or models even though we may not want to be.
Jesus being the model we should follow.
I think our sharing exhibits more concern for others and we convey more wisdom if we are praying and reading the Bible.
And our modeling is more effective if we are serving God and not ourselves.
A simple formula but why is it so hard to follow some times?
Ells
Yes, it is much more difficult to practice then it is to write about. Hopefully we can all do a better job and reach more people that are disconnected from God.