Designed for Good
Posted by tom | Jul 12, 2008
How do you [James Choung] hope this tool will change the way Christians themselves think of evangelism?
I hope we will move from decision-oriented presentations to ones that have more to say about transformation. As we were developing the Big Story, we wanted a diagram that wouldn't just be binary — in or out — but would represent the journey that all of us are on.
We also wanted to move from an exclusive focus on the afterlife to the mission-life. Immediately after Jesus' invitation, "Follow me," he added, "I will make you fishers of men." From the outset, he gave his disciples a mission. Without the mission in our gospel presentations, we do people a grave disservice. We imply that they can be Christians without being on a God-given mission to love others in his name. And that's just not true. In Jesus' summation, we are all called to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. In Micah's version, we are called to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. We need to allow the reign of God to continue to grow in us and around us.
That's not to say that life after death isn't important. But it's not the whole story. It's the final chapter, but there are still many chapters to be lived out.
-- From Four Laws to Four Circles, a Christian Vision Project Interview of James Choung.
Comment: when InterVarsity Press (IVP) recently published James Choung's True Story (alongside the booklet Based on a True Story), I knew the Biblical story approach to conversational evangelism had expanded from the academic sphere of campus ministry to popular usage. Nothing new here, as a matter of fact, all of life is to be lived in the context of the Biblical story, with evangelism flowing from and as part of kingdom life (Note: You might remember my essay Indwelling the Biblical Story: A Philosophy of Education in Theory and Practice). If you're teaching on evangelism, I'd encourage you to go to IVP's True Story page for various downloads of helpful resources. Also check out True Story, written short chapters focused on evangelistic conversation ... may this resource be a blessing to the larger Body of Christ.
