My wife and I have had this ongoing discussion about evangelism. We both feel like the models we have been trained in are inadequate in light of the new testament and the current mileau we live in. We are beginning to think that any model that defines evangelism as winning converts - whether confrontational, relational or Alpha-ational - is misguided!! Now don't get me wrong - I'm not against conversion and I think people who do not follow Christ need conversion.

Part of the reconstruction that is flowing out of our deconstruction is connected to a re-thinking of what the gospel itself is. In N.T. Wright's book "What Paul Really Said," (Tom is now a Bishop in the Church of England by the way - kudos to the Anglicans!!) he argues that when Paul uses the gospel he is not using the term to label a set of propositions that explain how a person finds forgiveness or transformation. The gospel (good news) is a message about God/Jesus. It is the good news that Jesus is King. It is the good news that because we have a new king, evil, sin, death, etc. have been defeated. In the Roman world someone "good newsed" (evangelized) when they announced a new emperor. In Isaiah, a bearer of good news is one who announces that YHWH reigns (ala the old praise chorus - "Our God Reigns"). Putting these two metaphors together points to how Paul (and I think Jesus - think of Mark 1 as he announces the gospel of the Kingdom) uses the term gospel.

Of course, the fact that Jesus is King means we can be forgiven and it means we can be transformed - but these things fall within the larger purview of God's redemptive plan to bring all of creation back under his loving and gracious reign.

So, what about evangelism? My initial thoughts are that evangelism happens everytime we exhibt the truth that Jesus is King by word and deed. This does not exclude chatting with a friend over coffee about King Jesus - but it does mean that evangelism has something much larger in view than only this.

Check out "What Paul Really Said". Peace.