When I was in college, I was the point person for the Atlanta Street evangelism team. I was the guy who got us there, coordinated with the ministry we partnered with, recruited folks to the team, trained them in the ways of street evangelism. I spent many a long night on the bad side of Peachtree Street talking to people about Jesus.
Those days are a distant memory.
Levi and I went to the training meeting Friday night in preparation for State Patty’s Day, the student-proclaimed drink-a-thon that has become a State College Penn State tradition. We were prepared to walk around, initiate conversation, steer the conversation to talk about Jesus, and share the gospel.
In 2 hours, we had 0 conversations. Forget conversions–ZERO conversations. It was cold, and no one was stopping to talk on the street. I felt like a phony, like a cheesy used-car salesman walking up to folks who were not talking to me and trying to get them to talk about Jesus.
Don’t get me wrong: evangelism isn’t lame. I am.
It’s safe to say that street evangelism isn’t my favorite. But here’s the catch: This is my town. If I’m not walking around talking about Jesus, who is? Are you? Who’s going to tell the people who are pretty serious about not coming to your church (or mine) about the hope that they can find in Jesus? Are we to be content with sending in our pledge-drive $$ to keep KLOVE and the Christian TV station on the air in the hopes that they tune in and give their hearts to Jesus?
No, I don’t think so.
This is my town. I love the people who live here–the college students who are only passing through, those who are drunk and disorderly, the obnoxiously loud, the studious ones who truly know where the library is, the sporty ones who live for IM softball/hoops/flag football, the girls wearing the PSU uniform (long NorthFace quilted parka, skinny jeans, uggs, scarf)…I want them to know the Good News–God does love them. And so do I.
So Saturday night didn’t go as well as Levi and I had hoped. I felt like I let him down in the process. Cheryle Touchton and some of the other folks who were out talking about Jesus had 53 people pray with them, asking Jesus to be their savior. That’s a pretty big deal. Now we get to follow up with them. That’s vital.
But instead of beating myself up over the flop that was Saturday night, I’m coming away with a renewed sense of what could be. I don’t know if I’ll ever love to be downtown talking to strangers about spiritual life. But there are lots of folks in this town that I love who would enjoy the opportunity to sit down over a cup of coffee and talk about faith.
The key is for me to invite them. After all, this is my town. And they are my friends.
Totally off topic, but here’s a pic of me and my new hiking buddy. Anybody want to head up Mt Nittany with us? We cruised over to Annabelle’s school for a craft show tonight. Good times in Happy Valley abound.
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