Truth@Life:
Conversational Evangelism
www.MeeknessAndTruth.org
Colossians 4: 4~6
Colossians 4: 4~6
PRAY for yourself
Pray for God to give you the Wisdom and Strength
to be good witness
PRAY for the Opportunity
Pray for open door to share the gospel with other as you
approach work and spend the day there.
PRAY for your co-workers
Pray for your Boss, clients, customer, friends,
colleagues, family members – asking God to move
in their lives
Problems In Witnessing
In A Post-Christian World
(An Overview)
Intro: Witnessing today is more difficult…
I.
Our Changing World and Its Impact on Christians
II.
Understanding Post-Modern Influences and Why Our Christian Foundations Are Being Eroded
Away.
III.
The Implications of Post-Modern Thought On Our Witness to Others
IV.
Things to keep in mind in our witness to post-moderns
The Challenges of Evangelism Today
Problems Doing Evangelism in the World
We Live in
“It is hard to proclaim the forgiveness of
sins to people who believe that, since
morality is relative, they have no sins to
forgive.”
Gene Veith, Postmodern Times, p.16
There is an intolerance towards
those who say there is a bridge
they must cross!
Problems in Witnessing Today?
Challenges in Evangelism Today!
Video Clip
Obstacles to Evangelism Today
The World we Live In
• Rejection of moral absolutes
• The skepticism of our society
• An indifference towards
truth or rejection of truth
Signs of Trouble Have
Surfaced Even In The
East
Signs of Trouble Have
Surfaced Even In The East
“ Many students don't think that there is a
standard of right and wrong. Rather, they
believe that this is up to the individual. This
means they do hold a standard of right and
wrong themselves, but they feel that each
person's standard of right and wrong differs
from the other.”
“Personally, I feel stuck as to how to proceed
on with the conversation. It's like saying that
this food is nice for me but may not be nice for
you. They relegate the standard of right and
wrong to personal preference.”
Signs of Trouble Have Surfaced
Even In The East
“I find that I'm shaken. Not in terms of my faith
but in terms of how to answer such questions.”
- Former Student, East Asia School of Theology
Our Problems In Evangelism
Are Just the Tip Of the Iceberg
Our Problems in Evangelism Are
Symptoms…Of An Even Greater Problem!
“As we approach the twenty-first century,
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to
recognize that our entire culture is in
trouble. We are staring down the barrel of a
loaded gun and we can no longer afford to
act like it is loaded with blanks.”
J. P. Moreland, Love Your God with All Your
Mind, p.21
A.
1.
Evidence of the World’s
Impact On Christians
Some Christians are losing their moral compass and
embracing moral relativism
“53% of those who call themselves evangelical
Christians believe that there are no absolutes.”
Yet 88% of evangelicals believe that “The Bible is the
written word of God and it totally accurate in all it
teaches.”
George Barna, The Barna Report: What Americans
Believe (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1991), pp. 83-85
Evidence of the World’s
Impact On Christians
1.
Some Christians are losing their moral compass and embracing moral
relativism.
2.
Some of our leaders struggle with establishing a
biblical worldview framework in their teaching
–
Just half of all Protestant Senior Pastors (51%) meet the criteria for
having a biblical worldview (2004).
“The
criteria are believing that God is the all-knowing and allpowerful creator of the universe who still rules it today; that Jesus
Christ never sinned; that Satan is real; that salvation is received
through faith in Christ, not by good deeds; that every follower of
Christ has a responsibility to share their faith with non-believers;
that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches; that absolute moral
truth exists; and that absolute moral truth is described in the Bible.”
http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=1
77
Evidence of the World’s
Impact On Christians
1.
2.
Christian lay people are losing their moral compass.
Some Christian leaders themselves struggle with establishing a biblical
Worldview.
3.
For some the content of their Christian faith is losing
its structure
•
72% of born again Christians believe they “personally have a
responsibility to tell other people their religious beliefs”
Born Again Christians, 2000, George Barna, Barna Web-site
Yet only 2 out of every 10 born again Christians (19 percent) knew
the meaning of the Great Commission.
Half correctly described the content of John 3:16, and 6 out of 10
knew the meaning of the term “the gospel.”
George Barna, Evangelism that Works, 1995, p.37
A Misunderstanding Of
What is Involved in Biblical Faith
“About one out of four (26%)
born again Christians believe
that it doesn’t matter what
faith you follow because they
all teach the same lessons.”
Born Again Christians, 2000, George
Barna, Barna Web-site
Student, University of
Texas at Austin
What is her
misunderstanding
concerning Biblical Faith?
Christianity is Based on a Historical Event
“And if Christ has not been raised, our
preaching is useless and so is your faith.”
I Corinthians 15:14 (NIV)
* Biblical faith must have an object to
be valid.
Evidence of the World’s
Impact On Christians
1.
2.
3.
4.
Christian lay people are losing their moral compass.
Some Christian leaders themselves struggle with
establishing a biblical Worldview.
For some the content of their Christian faith is losing its
structure
Some Christians are becoming less certain of their
beliefs and more reluctant to share the good news.
B. Negative repercussions on church
growth
B.
Negative repercussions on
church growth
“How is it possible for a person to be an
active member of an evangelical church for
twenty or thirty years and still know next to
nothing about the history and theology of the
Christian religion, the methods and tools
required for serious Bible study, and the skills
and information necessary to preach and
defend Christianity in a post-Christian,
neopagan culture?”
J.P. Moreland, Love Your God With All Your Mind, p.188
Implications For The Church
"When a majority of Christian adults…as well as
three out of four born again teens proudly cast their
vote for moral relativism, the Church is in trouble.
Continuing to preach more sermons, teach more
Sunday school classes and enroll more people in
Bible study groups won't solve the problem since
most of these people don't accept the basis of the
principles being taught in those venues. The failure
to address this issue at its root, and to do so quickly
and persuasively, will undermine the strength of the
church for at least another generation, and probably
longer."
George Barna, The Barna Update: "Americans Are Most Likely to
Base Truth on Feelings" from Feb 12, 2002
How Did the Church Fall Into This Crisis?
“When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do.”
Psalm 11:3
A World View Shift
“…a major cause of our current crisis
consists of a world view shift from a
Judeo-Christian
understanding
of
reality to a post-Christian one.”
- J. P. Moreland, Love Your God with All Your Mind,
p.21
The Tsunami of Post-Modernism
II. Understanding Post-Modern Influences…and
Why Our Christian Foundations Are Being
Eroded Away.
A. Understanding the three main periods of
the history of western thought (PreModern, Modern, and Post-Modern)
Historical Development of Western World Views
Changing Beliefs Concerning God
1st Century
17th Century
Pre-modern
19th Century
19th-20th Century
20th Century
Modern
Late 21st Century
Postmodern
Thomas Oden first suggested
that the modern age lasted 200
years < 1789- 1989 >
To understand
the modern
period we need
to understand the
pre-modern
period.
To understand
the post-modern
period we need
to understand the
modern period.
Historical Development of Western World Views
Changing Beliefs - Theism
1st Century
17th Century
Pre-modern
THEISM
THEISM
GOD
COSMOS
19th Century
19th-20th Century
Modern
20th Century
Late 21st Century
Postmodern
Historical Development of Western World Views
Changing Beliefs - Deism
1st Century
17th Century
Pre-modern
THEISM
THEISM
GOD
Deism
GOD
COSMOS
COSMOS
19th Century
19th-20th Century
Modern
20th Century
Late 21st Century
Postmodern
Historical Development of Western World Views
Changing Beliefs - Atheism
1st Century
17th Century
19th Century
Pre-modern
Modern
THEISM
THEISM
GOD
19th-20th Century
NATURALISM
GOD
COSMOS
COSMOS
GOD
COSMOS
.
SOCIETY
Late 21st Century
Postmodern
ATHEISM
Deism
20th Century
Changing Beliefs - Atheism
1st Century
17th Century
19th Century
Pre-modern
Modern
THEISM
THEISM
GOD
19th-20th Century
NATURALISM
Nihilism
GOD
GOD
COSMOS
COSMOS
COSMOS
SOCIETY
Late 21st Century
Postmodern
ATHEISM
Deism
20th Century
Historical Development of Western World Views
Changing Beliefs - Atheism
1st Century
17th Century
19th Century
Pre-modern
GOD
20th Century
Modern
THEISM
THEISM
19th-20th Century
Postmodern
ATHEISM
Deism
NATURALISM
Nihilism
GOD
COSMOS
COSMOS
EXISTENTIALISM
GOD
COSMOS
SOCIETY
Late 21st Century
1).
Modernism developed the way it did partly
because of some of the philosophical ideas
from Europe (Hume and Kant).
• If what we can know comes only from our
sense, and God is outside our senses, we
cannot know God.
• The Bible became merely a guide for
ethical and spiritual growth.
Historical Development of Western World Views
Changing Beliefs - Pluralism
1st Century
17th Century
19th Century
Pre-modern
THEISM
Theism
GOD
Deism
GOD
Naturalism
19th-20th Century
20th Century
Late 21st Century
Modern
Postmodern
ATHEISM
PLURALISM
Nihilism
GOD
Existentialism
Fill in the blank
Postmodernism
Weak Theism
New Age:
Pantheism,
Monism
COSMOS
COSMOS
COSMOS
SOCIETY
Bottom line: “What
works for you.”
II. Understanding Post-Modern Influences…
A.
Understanding the three main periods of the history of western
thought (Pre-Modern, Modern, and Post-Modern)
B. Understanding the Post-Modern Period
* Two Main Characteristics
1.
Pluralism
2.
Post-Modernism
Religious Pluralism
Is the belief that all religions are true.
(They all have a part of the truth)
C. Understanding Post-Modernism and
its impact
*
What is Postmodernism?
“Postmodernism is thus an eclectic construct, shrouded in
deconstructionalistic and post-structuralistic verbiage, based on the
hermeneutics of suspicion and an epistemology of uncertainty that
leads to the three defining features of postmodernity as a cultural
mood--ie. The incredulity of meta-narratives, the propagation of
reality as a social construct and the emergence of hyper-reality as a
postmodern phenomenon.”
As such, postmodernism is a sad commentary of man’s desperate
search for meaning; a vain championing of an ideological abstraction
which promotes an ideological arbitrariness – a reasoning without
reason in the face of human arrogance and absurdity, which
ultimately ushers one towards fideism at best and nihilism at worst.”
(Rev. Edmund Chan )
III. The Implications of Post-Modern
Thought On Our Witness to Others
A.
How it impacts others:
 They feel free to create or construct
“knowledge's” and “realities.”
This Explains Why
Many Are Questioning The
Biblical Story of Jesus
The Da Vinci Code
The Lost Gospel of Judas
The Lost Tomb of Christ
The Implications of Post-Modern
Thought On Our Witness to Others
*
How it impacts others:
 They believe that our belief that Jesus is the
way, the truth, and the life is just one of the
narratives among other narratives in the world
that are equally as valid.
 Their pluralistic mindset gives them no
internal motivation to hear about Jesus.
 They don’t think through their beliefs very
carefully.
*
Beliefs are separated from Truth
Challenges to Evangelism In a
Post-Modern World
I.
Our Changing World and Its Impact on Christians
II.
Understanding Post-Modern Influences and Why Our Christian
Foundations Are Being Eroded Away.
III.
The Implications of Post-Modern Thought On Our Witness to Others
IV. Things To Keep In Mind In Our Witness To
Post-Moderns?
IV.
Things To Keep In Mind In Our Witness
To Post-Moderns
Some Important Keys?
We need to better understand the
times or culture in which we live.
(1 Chron 12:32).
IV.
Things To Keep In Mind In Our Witness
To Post-Moderns
Some Important Key?
Remember that…
A. Our convictions about Christ can
come across as arrogant to some.
*
Speak to them like one beggar to
another…
Remember that…
B. Our belief in truth and absolutes goes against
the post-modern grain.
*
Work out issues with people on their
own time table.
*
Don’t be afraid to admit when you
don’t know the answer to question your
friends raise.
Remember that…
C.
In order to speak to this
postmodern generation we need
to intentionally communicate by
the appropriate use of questions,
illustrations, and stories.
The Importance of Questions and Stories
“Two major characteristics of postmodernism are
of particular importance to us in evangelism: (1)
the emphasis on questioning and (2) the
displacement of propositional truth in favor of
stories. If we are to be effective within this
postmodern culture, then, our evangelism must
involve the appropriate use of questions and
stories.”
Nick Pollard’s book, Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult,
p. 70
Remember that…
D.
Helping people to think through their beliefs
critically has limitations in the culture in
which we live.
*
Therefore we cannot give an
overdose of argumentation in
explaining the Christian faith.
We Are To Love God With All Of Our Mind
“Love The Lord Your God With
All Your Heart and With All Your
Soul and With All Your Mind.”
Matt. 22:37
A Caution In Using Reason And Evidence
“…there is just enough of the modern
worldview left so that reason still has a point
of entry. But we have to use this knowledge
wisely. We cannot give an overdose of
argumentation.”
Ravi Zacharias, “An Ancient Message, Through Modern Means To the
Postmodern Mind” in Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns, p.
27
Remember that…
D.
Helping people to think through their beliefs
critically has limitations in the culture in
which we live.
*
We must be careful how
we build head bridges with others.
Head Bridge Questions
That Are Apologetic Lite!
If you were coming to the end of your
life, and you met Jesus and other great
religious leaders, and each suggested a
different path, who’s advice should you
take.
Wouldn’t you take the advice of
someone who’s been to the other side
and come back to tell us about it?
Head Bridge Questions
That Are Apologetic Lite!
Has anyone ever explained to you the difference
between Christianity and all other religions? I can explain
the difference using two words, Do versus Done!
All the religions in the world say you have to
do something (Do)
Christianity says, there is nothing you can do to
earn your salvation, it has already been done.
All you have to do is accept the gift that God
has proved and invite Christ to some into your
life, forgive you of your sins, and change you
from the inside out (Phil. 2:13)
Remember that…
“People are more
heart
creatures than
head
creatures.”
M&T Trainer, Rev. Dave Montoya, “Dealing With Both Minds and Hearts: Answering the
Questions Behind the Questions,” located on Meekness web-site
Remember that…
“People care how little you know until they know
how much you care.”
Remember that…
E.
To have a greater impact on others
don’t underestimate the witness of the
Christian community and the
emphasis on the spiritual.
Remember that…
F.
Don’t forget to witness to others in the
power of the of the Holy Spirit (Acts
1:8; Jn. 6:65) .
Remember we are just the instrument!
“God chose the weak things of the world
to shame the strong.”
1Corinthians 1:27b (NIV)
Remember that…
G.
Don’t forget to rely on the power of
prayer! (Js. 5:16)) .
Challenges to Evangelism In a
Post-Modern World
(An Overview)
Intro: Witnessing today is more difficult…
I.
Our Changing World and Its Impact on Christians
II.
Understanding Post-Modern Influences and Why Our Christian
Foundations Are Being Eroded Away
III.
The Implications of Post-Modern Thought On Our Witness to
Others
IV.
Things to keep in mind in our witness to post-moderns
Evangelism in a Postmodern World
www.meeknessandtruth.org