When I read this article it challenged me in several ways.
1. In today's society the word "evangelism" brings many negative thoughts to people. Burke mentions that people often think churches are trying to use evangelism to bring them to Christ only through their church. And I had to stop and think. How true is that? Probably more than we realize. It is easy to have that mindset. But why? Most often, I believe it is for selfish reasons. We want our church to grow no matter the cost. After all, most of us feel that we have the truth. But, realistically, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. We forget and so easily think that baptisms are the only think that counts. But, as he mentions, "connection with Jesus" is what counts. Maybe that should be our new evangelism movement.
2. My personal/spiritual life can often stagnate because I do too many things I think are good things. Being a pastor or not, we all hopefully feel called to serve the Lord. But, in the midst of that, if we are not careful we will just run ourselves dry. Where did I go wrong? Why do I have no motivation? Why is life so confusing? And actually it all comes back to the connection with God. We may think we are connected, but we are not. And if we go for any length of time, we will soon feel the separation and loneliness. This article challenged me to go every hour to connect with God. I hope you see the need to.
3. I believe our connection with God will flow out of us into others. We all struggle with the question on how to reach non-believers, Atheists, who ever it may be. And a result we spend too much time on strategies and concepts. However, lives are never changed by strategies or concepts. Lives are changed by relationships. People love and trust relationships. And when you have a relationship with them (and with God) you will have a greater impact than you realize. Don't get me wrong. Strategies are good, but relationships come from God himself and will have greater impacts on you and others.
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