It's not that I don't think "street evangelism" is a negative thing. I believe that many are called to such a ministry and that we all need to be aware of instances where the Holy Spirit is leading us to speak to a perfect stranger about Jesus. The exercise of asking our youth to share Jesus was also a positive experience, because some really productive conversations occurred, and the youth were great at not offending people (our group made sure to ask people right off the bat if they had a few free minutes to chat, and we didn't hide the fact that we wanted to share about Jesus). It's just that, well, it's a very unnatural thing for me to do. Sometimes I wonder why God called me to be a pastor, given my great dislike of talking with people!
The experience has had me mulling over in my mind how we should lead youth to be missionaries where God has placed them, and how we can walk alongside them as they learn to share the good news of Christ's redeeming love and work on the cross with others. Lisa Borden shares about an experience she had while sitting in her hair dresser's chair, and her decision to listen rather than dive right into "sharing the good news" with her:
Sitting in those strangely intimate hair times, when someone you hardly know is hovering near and running their fingers through your hair, I used to listen to her as she chattered on. "You have a beautiful blue aura," she would tell me. "You know, blue means that..." I can't quite remember what blue means but you get the idea. Beyond the color observations, she would talk about her conclusions on the meaning of life, the problem of evil, the reason she didn't drink, the way people behave.
As a well-schooled believer in Christ, I used to feel this knee-jerk reaction welling up inside me to correct my friend. Her beliefs were, according to me, way out in space and she just needed to be told what's what; to be set straight.
But as I sat there under my lovely plastic poncho, I felt the Lord telling me to be quiet. My clear impression was that I was to listen and hush my mouth. "Fight the urge to be in the right. Listen and love this person."
Time after time, I listened and one day I heard something very deep and vulnerable. My friend was desperate to have a baby and she was deeply distressed to have recently miscarried once again. This was heart-talk. Woman to woman, soul to soul. I told her about the miscarriage I suffered before my 4 kids were born. I sat with her in the pain of it all.
A couple of days later I dropped by with a card. In it I told her that I would be praying for her to have a baby. I would be praying in Jesus' name to have this desire of her heart fulfilled. She cried. And she pinned my card to her office wall.
A year later I snuggled her baby and we giggled together at the beauty of her daughter. Then I moved away from Europe. I have no idea how she is today.
This is what I know: If I had come on strong with my beliefs my friend would likely never have shared the deep hurt of her heart with me. And I would not have had the chance to grieve with her and then tell her of my faith in Jesus' power to bring her a baby. I would not have had the opportunity to see my card pinned to her wall, or to smile knowingly as I held her daughter.
I don't know if my friend has chosen to follow Christ, but I do know that she knows that Jesus is loving and powerful and able to hear prayers and answer them. I guess I leave her choice in his hands.
I'm glad our youth (and I!) had the chance to be faithful and share Christ with others, not knowing how the listener would respond. I also hope that we can teach youth to be loving listeners who aren't afraid to let the Spirit work and allow him to have control of the conversation rather than blurt out our spiel without listening. It's something I need to learn in my own life.
