Too many Christians are, as they say, “seldom right but never in doubt.” They may have a commanding appearance, but their mudslinging stump-speech testimonies don’t win many people to Christ. “The American cultural proclivity to reject authority and put down opponents,” says Elliot Clarke, “has bled into the church, staining all our attempts to win …
Salespersons or Tour Guides?
A change of paradigm might serve to improve the effectiveness of our witness. Instead of Gospel salespersons we might better think of ourselves as spiritual “Tour Guides.” It’s not like we’re selling anything and trying to profit from it, anyway. Right? Our job is to share what we’ve found and tell people where they can …
The Invitation
"Christianity isn’t a guilt-ridden religion; instead it’s the only effective way to get rid of our guilt. Guilting ourselves into sharing our faith––or into any other spiritual practice for that matter––is not sustainable. Shouldn’t our efforts to influence people toward God be more like inviting them into a cool river on a sweltering summer day?" …
A Little Humility Goes a Long Way
Most of our friends and acquaintances in Golden Gate Park have street names – Monkey, Four-Twenty, Felony, Chaos, Animal, and the like. One day I was talking to “Sheriff,” a twenty-something park dweller with a bright red Mohawk – it looked to me like he’d cut it himself, with neither mirror nor particularly sharp scissors. …
Baby Steps
It’s not only unnecessary; it’s counterproductive when we turn the fireman’s hose of spiritual verbiage on people who just need to sip the Water of Life. Of course, we want to bring people all the way to a radical conversion on the spot, and there’s nothing better when that happens. But when that doesn’t occur, …
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