Why I'm Not Apologizing for Evangelism

So nobody really likes the “e” word: evangelism. If you’re not a Christian, it’s what annoys you about Christians. If you are a Christian, it’s one of those things you don’t really want to do…and you sort of feel guilty about how little you want to do it.

But at UNC right now we’re on the brink of incredible things happening in evangelism. And this past weekend at our leadership retreat, Adam, a student leader in our ministry, shared a story of a conversation that illustrates why we’re not apologizing for that.

Adam’s been hanging out with a friend who’s very artistic, very spiritual, and not a Jesus-follower for a couple years now. I’ll call her Sarah. Last semester, they had a conversation that went something like this:

Adam: “If you had some sort of knowledge that would unlock the whole art world, if you could give me some insight that would help me to really get art the way that you do, you would give it to me, right?”

Sarah: “Yeah! If I could make you be artistic I would!”

Adam: “That’s kind of how I feel about my relationship with Jesus. It’s the thing that I think makes this whole life make sense. And I wouldn’t really be your friend if I didn’t at least tell you that’s what I thought and share that with you.”

Yeah, that’s pretty much what it’s like. So hear me out—I know that there’s times and ways that evangelism has been done poorly, stupidly, and obnoxiously. I know that there’s lots of different people with different ideas about what works for them.

But this whole Christianity thing claims to have a story that unlocks the mysteries of life: like why we’re here, why is the world a mess (please say a prayer for folks in Haiti today), why we love stories of redemption, forgiveness, overcoming, transformation, grace, hope and mercy, and if there’s any real hope for any of those stories that we love to become reality in our lives.

It’s not an opinion. It’s not personal preference. It’s either right or it’s wrong. And if it’s right, it’s better than getting in on Google on the ground floor. And that’s worth talking about. That’s why I’m not apologizing for evangelism.


And if you're a Christian and you're not doing it...maybe it's time to re-think why.