Evangelism is something many contemporary Christians would rather avoid. The word itself is fraught with a whole host of negative associations, from major political issues like colonization, all the way down to the alternately cheesy and terrifying fear-of-eternal-damnation-based tracts passed out on street corners, to a pushy know-it-all/holier-than-thou posture that we’d love to distance ourselves from. At the same time, scripture makes it pretty clear that engaging in evangelism is a core aspect of the Christian life.
So where does that leave us? Should lay people leave it to “professional Christians” to evangelize? Or are there ways that the faithful witness of the people in the pews can be used by the Holy Spirit to differentiate, in a necessary way, from that of the clergy’s? What might we take from Luther’s concept of “the priesthood of all believers” when it comes to evangelism? And with all of this in mind, can we expand our definition of evangelism to include deeper, more relational forms, and what might that look like?
Luther Seminary professor Andrew Root gets at some of this (and much more) in his book, Evangelism in an Age of Despair. In which, he looks at the lives of famous Christians from Gregory of Nyssa and his sister, Macrina, to Martin Luther, to Blaise Pascal, and more, to consider what evangelism looked like in their lives. Root writes that “Evangelism has become shrouded in immanence, or stuck in the tangible, because [it] is assumed to be a tool to gain things that can be counted.” Not all churches are counting the same things, but Root reminds us we’re all counting something. The problem is, that while there has to be a practical side of evangelism, it can’t be at the expense of the transcendent. Root argues that the way we can actually get at both of these sides of evangelism in a meaningful way is by joining people in their sorrow, the first step in the process of consolation.
This might sound like a bit of a bummer compared to the more common, tangible, strategic, (and ultimately futile) ways of thinking about evangelism, but it only sounds that way until you or someone you love is the one in need of consolation, then it sounds like the only thing worth doing. It’s also the best guard against the temptation to use evangelism as a means of control. Root writes, “To turn to consolation as the shape of evangelism is to let go of all seeking for control and instead to embrace encounter.” Embracing encounter with the other, whether that is God or your neighbor, or God through your neighbor, is a way of releasing control, a way of opening yourself up to the unexpected.
Throughout Root’s book, he weaves a related fictional narrative about a woman named Renate and people she comes in contact with through her churchgoing co-worker Mary Ann. At one point in the narrative, a high school friend of Renate’s, Cynthia, whom she reconnects with at her father’s funeral that the church helps organize at the local VFW, has a miscarriage. She sinks into herself and into depression, but occasionally mentions something about a church and a VFW to her desperate husband. He calls the church that he thinks might be the one that she’s talking about and leaves a frantic message, asking if they are, and if so, if they can help.
A group of three women from the church go over a few hours later, and just sit with Cynthia, and listen to her. Then they promise to come back the next day, and help with household chores and sit with her some more. This is an example of consolation as evangelism done by everyday disciples. They don’t come and start throwing platitudes around, they just embrace encounter. They can’t guarantee anything, they’re not in control of what happens, they’re just showing up in faith to love this woman and join in her sorrow.
And in doing so, they nudge open the window to the possibility of further encounter with Christ. Not through any instrumentalization of evangelism, but through the act of accompanying another through their sorrows and inviting them not to turn away from them, but to journey into them and see what they find there. If the stories Root relays in his book prove themselves even slightly mappable, what they find may very well be the living Christ.
