The term “evangelism” derives from the greek word evangel – “good news.” So it’s rather odd how so much evangelism appears to be about “selling” Jesus and hoping that you can convince the unsaved heathen to “buy” into salvation. This was the way I had been taught during Vacation Bible School classes at the First Baptist Church of Fire and Brimstone. Pass out Chick tracts, recite the canned “how to get saved” speech, get them to say the sinner’s prayer. Above all, close the deal. They may die at any time and their souls would be lost to eternal damnation if I didn’t “make the sell.” At eight years old I was a cross between Billy Graham and Willy Loman.

Whenever I began to seriously read the Gospels, though, I noticed something strange. People constantly flocked to Jesus despite the fact that he never passed out a single tract. He would walk up to people and say “Follow me” and the next thing you know they're giving up their lives to follow him around the countryside. How does he do it, I’d ask my parents and church leaders. “Well,” they’d say as they pondered the question (obviously for the first time), “He is, well, you know, Jesus.”

That answer always seemed to be a cop out. But then one day I was reading these opening lines to Augustine’s Confessions and it hit me:

"Great art thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is thy power, and infinite is thy wisdom." And man desires to praise thee, for he is a part of thy creation; he bears his mortality about with him and carries the evidence of his sin and the proof that thou dost resist the proud. Still he desires to praise thee, this man who is only a small part of thy creation. Thou hast prompted him, that he should delight to praise thee, for thou hast made us for thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee.

The people responded to Jesus the way they did because he is, well, you know, God. He is what our hearts have always been seeking. When we come face to face with him we may accept or reject him. But we can’t not know him. Calvin claimed that there is an awareness or sense of God (sensus divinitatis) implanted in all people by nature. The context of this universally distributed belief being rather minimal: there is a God, He is the Creator, and that He ought to be worshipped.* Philosopher Alvin Plantinga interprets this as being more akin to a disposition to form a religious belief. Not surprisingly, when people came face to face with their Creator they were inspired to follow him and to boldly proclaim the gospel.

How different our situation is today. Some Christians (particularly new ones that are still enthused by their budding faith) are still eager and willing to “share Christ.” Others have a more difficult time. I suspect that the average Christians hesitancy to “witness”, though, has little to do with timidity or lack of courage. After all, many a believer would have no problem explaining why they support a particular political position, yet become tongue-tied when the topic turns to religion or (gasp) Jesus himself.

I suspect that much of the fault lies with our misunderstanding of “faith.” In our age, the term has become almost synonymous with an irrational (or at least nonrational) acceptance of beliefs for which we lack evidence. When we Christians accept such an idea it’s no wonder that the nonbelievers don’t feel the need to take us seriously!

But our faith isn’t a matter of embracing fideism. The “good news” isn’t about a religious belief but about a person. The heart of the gospel isn’t about accepting certain doctrines, as important as they may be, but in submitting to a person, the fully divine, fully human being we call Christ. And while the nonbeliever may not have experiential knowledge, they do have an inherent disposition to recognize Him. That is the common religious foundation we share with them.

Our evangelistic mission, therefore, is simply to share with others the “good news” that they too can know what we know. Sometimes this will require us “sharing our faith” by telling others about our own experiences. Other times it can mean removing the “worldview underbrush” that prevents them from seeing clearly what they, by disposition, can and should know. Most times, though, it will simply mean living as if we really believed that the gospel truly is good news for believers right here, right now, and not just in the hereafter.

While I believe some forms of evangelism are ineffective if not downright counterproductive, I don’t want to presume to say how God can or cannot spread the “good news.” It is quite possible that He could use such methods as prayer cards or religious tracts to bring the lost to salvation and redemption. In fact, I believe that it’s even possible that he might be able to use evangelical Christians to further the work of his Kingdom. Not likely, perhaps, but possible. The Lord can, after all, work miracles.