Evangelism. The scary E word.

God has been teaching me a lot about evangelism over the past few years. Today my conclusion is that it's simply being genuine in friendship and relationship without a 5 point process to selling Jesus. Just love people - in that they will encounter Jesus.

Every Friday night my school and I go into downtown Christchurch to practice the big "E" word. If you came across us in the city square you might see some playing football (soccer) with international students, others playing music and drawing a rhythm-loving crowd, some doing sidewalk chalk with kids, and dispersed throughout this scene are our students having conversations with whoever God brings across their path. No one has a "Roman road" laminated card in their pocket in case they need to reference how to lead someone to Jesus. It's love and kindness displayed in all sorts of creative ways.

Lots of questions are raised in this environment. Some are in regard to people being baffled at why a group of young people would simply want to hang out and care for others. Our own students often get into theological conversations that cause them to have to go back to the Bible and seek out answers to better understand their faith. Some people who don't believe in Jesus start to question their own views of God.

But what would you do in this scenario... Our group of fun-loving drummers are drawing a big crowd. The local Evangelist who has brought his loud speaker and "How to find Jesus" diagrams is also drawn to this group with the intent of converting some. As he knows we also are followers of Christ, he starts to find his way to the front and take center-stage hoping to launch into a sermon. In and throughout the crowd are YWAM students meeting people and engaging them in genuine conversation. If you are one of these drummers what do you do when the Evangelist asks to preach?