Okay I was going to save this for What Wizards Taught Me but it requires further exploration than space would otherwise allow.
I truly haven’t ever given Evangelism much thought in the past. I genuinely had no opinion on it either way.
But I do now thanks to Jason’s post on the subject.
Funnily enough, this came up the Friday before when a friend and I went out to the British Museum and then had dinner in Covent Garden.
On the walk home, just behind Trafalgar Square, we encountered a Jesus Bus with the converted all wearing matching branded T-shirts and handing out pamphlets.
As my dinner companion tried to sidestep them, she made the comment that “they’re probably not going to have much luck in London.”
The response I gave was “I suppose that’s not really the point. London is Babylon. That’s why they’re here.” Then I went on to joke “and besides… They’ll have more luck here than in Tehran.”
Naturally, I was being glib but it turns out I was accidentally also accurate.
It’s not the point. Sharing something important is the point. Which I like. So I gave it some thought and -surprise, surprise- tried to locate it in an historical context.
Looking at some of the reactions to Jason’s post around the internets, notwithstanding some individual experiences, I wonder if people maybe take Evangelism a bit too personally.
Because people take sales too personally.
And so perhaps a sales analogy will be helpful.
It’s an unavoidable economic reality when selling in a non-contextual environment (like beside a bus one Friday evening in central London) that you have to speak to a lot of people before you find even a single warm lead. There is no underlying implication if someone tries to sell you something. It’s not personal… Sales by its nature means you have to kiss a lot of frogs.
Now, if someone is trying to sell you something they are passionate about, well then… The risk of miscommunication is that much greater.
If someone evangelizes up in your grill, don’t take it personally. Should you be interested in what they have to say, then listen for a while and thank them.
If not, just politely brush past them and remember that evangelism is actually a five thousand year old human tradition. You have just been party to an ancient spiritual custom.
It’s all part of the soup, yeah?
Couldn’t have put it more succinctly myself sir!
And this is why the magical blogosphere rocks: Ongoing learning… Which you yourself mentioned the other day, actually.
I’ve been watching all this evangelism roll over the cabal, and it’s interesting to see the variety of reactions (say, for instance, the difference between Fras POS and RO…that’s been fun to read, haha.) Yours is nicely measured. There is a wide range of attitudes behind the evangelizing I’ve encountered; some are genuinely trying to be helpful, and some are d-bags who make it clear that they think your lifestyle is weak-sauce in comparison to the Holiness of their own. No sense in getting riled up about it, I suppose. Good Post!
Frater AIT´s last blog ..The Traditional Understanding of the Elements
Then I suppose I shall take lonely comfort in my consistency; I have issues with the sales and advertising industries as well.
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