A challenge to all followers of Jesus

There's one Christian author who challenges me every time I read his work, no matter what it is. The man is Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship. I came across the following in one of his books,The Body. See if these points resonate with you--

The verb tense of the commissioning of the disciples in Matthew’s gospel allows us to render Jesus’ words literally, "as you are going, make disciples." As you go. That means evangelism should flow naturally out of the context of our everyday lives. It's not a set of formulas, techniques, or memorized scenarios. It can't be put in a box. Evangelism is a consequence of holy living, of our own personal passion for Christ, and naturally flows out of the healthy life of the church.

Expressions Christians have used for decades, like "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life," no longer necessarily connect. Christians understand them, but few others can relate. For example, proclaiming that "the Bible says..." commanded respect in the 1930s and 1940s, even in the 1960s -- when 65 percent of all Americans believed the Bible to be literally true. Today only 32 percent believe the Bible is true. The majority find it an interesting collection of ancient legends and stories, but they don't believe it. So if you say, "the Bible says," only one out of three Americans is even ready to listen.

To evangelize today we must address the human condition at its point of felt need - conscience, guilt, dealing with others, finding a purpose for staying alive. Talking about the abundant life or life everlasting or Bible promises often just won't do it.

The secular person’s existential mind-set precludes his or her understanding us. We are in much the same situation as the first-century church, needing to educate in order to witness. So we must be familiar enough with the prevailing worldview to look for points of contact and discern points of disagreement. Before we tell them what the Bible says, we may have to tell them why they should believe the Bible (there is a great case to be made).

Each of us must see ourselves as ministers of the gospel. Also, we must be willing to be uncomfortable. Living in a post-Christian culture means that our Christian faith will be ridiculed and that we will be regarded as strange. That can be costly. But obedience often is. If we love the approval of Christ more than the approval of our peers, we will be willing to be perceived as odd now and then. Finally, we must learn how to support and encourage one another. We must equip one another with Christian perspectives on critical issues. And we need to exchange information. What Christians must do in a post-Christian age can be likened to the way the underground operated in Europe during the Nazi occupation in World War II. The underground had its own elaborate network of signals, method of communication, maps, charts, and its own command structure. The parallel is a bit extreme, perhaps, but useful as Christians determine how they will network with one another in a culture hostile to the open expression of Christian truth.