An example gospel presentation to someone who is shy/insecure

In previous posts I’ve been considering how we should present the gospel to postmoderns. I’ve argued that asking questions and listening is an important first step to try to understand what drives/motivates people. When we understand their idols we can present the gospel in a way which exposes the inadequacies of those idols.

Here's an example of what I might say to someone who seems shy and in need of approval from others. I might talk of how we were made to be in an exciting relationship with God but, because we are all selfish and self-seeking, God has withdrawn Himself from us. Yet that need for a relationship with God is still there, albeit now corrupted. As a result we end up insecure and yearning for acceptance but look for it from people instead of from God. Thus we are always worried about what people think of us or say about us. We need their approval. We need them to like us. We need to know we're 'ok'. That deep need is in all of us. But because we're all messed up we don't get the acceptance we crave. What little we get doesn't satisfy our need. We're still worried about what people think of us the next day. This is because we're trying to satisfy what we were made for with something that wasn't made to satisfy that need. The problem is because we've rejected God, we deserve His punishment, yet, because God loves us, He sent His Son Jesus who was perfect in every way, yet was killed for our rebellion against Him, so that God could be both just and merciful. Now you can have lasting acceptance with God, through faith in Christ Jesus. He will never reject you. Even in your darkest day, He will always accept you. After all he died for you for that very purpose. Man will never give you the ultimate acceptance and affirmation you long for because it requires them to be good to you and you to earn it. People make unreliable and crummy gods and, even if you do a great job some days, there's no guarantee you get the acceptance you think you deserve or desire. Even if the people from whom you seek acceptance are just and give “credit where its due”, what if you mess up? It’s a constant struggle hoping you’ll be accepted. It’s a form of slavery. To God, all our sin, including things that nobody else sees such as worrying about what people think of us, is adultery. And God is a God of justice. He has to do what is right. Justice has to be done. He has to punish sin. Yet He is also a God of perfect love. That is why Jesus bore the punishment we deserve, so that God’s justice is satisfied and He can have mercy on us. God is the only one who is truly good and loving, the only one would did all the perfect hard work for you and died for you so that you could be accepted for ever. Why would you reject that? Why worry about whether people accept you when you could rest in the perfect, unquestioning, unfailing love and acceptance of the God who never forgets about you or gets angry with you and who only ever works for your ultimate good?

Too much evangelism either glosses over the problem of sin or focuses on outward behaviour. Jesus said that it is what comes out of our hearts that defiles us thus the aim is to go after the motivations of their hearts not their external behaviour. Make sense?

The Gospel for Postmoderns?

(Yeah, I know it's been a long while since I wrote something. :-)

If you go back a few decades in most western cultures, there was a time when most people knew something about God and His law. They may not have believed upon Jesus Christ but nevertheless they would tend towards the view that there is a God and would have known something of the Ten Commandments. In that context you could preach the gospel by reminding people of God's law and getting them to see they had broken it. You could then explain how Jesus had perfectly kept God's law and had been crucified for their sins. You could then urge them to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, assuring them that their sins will be forgiven and that they will be saved from eternal damnation (hell). Of course all was not rosy in the church garden, a decline had already begun in the 19th century with the advent of enlightenment thinking which claimed that science had all the answers and that man didn't need God or religion any more. Nevertheless, basic knowledge of the bible was widespread and the gospel could be presented this way.

Today it can no longer be assumed that people have even the most basic bible knowledge. In fact, western culture now seems to generate people who are predisposed to be opposed to Christianity - despite knowing very little about it. The irony is that, at the same time, the enlightenment thinking that led to the decline of traditional western Christianity is increasingly being rejected. God is no longer "dead", contra-Freidrich Nietzsche. Powerful arguments against aggressive opponents of Christianity such as Richard Dawkins are beginning to be raised from non-Christian philosophers. Soon Dawkins and his ilk will be 'dead'. (Unfortunately much of the church, as ever behind the times, doesn't see this so they're still expending their efforts vainly trying to counter Dawkins, disprove evolution and so on. In effect, relying on science instead of the Gospel.)

Though spirituality is good again, the 'god' that now 'reigns' in people's minds is manifold. At the centre, of course, is 'me'. What matters most are my feelings, my wants, my needs and my rights. Materialism, fame, self-gratification and wanton sex are the gods we worship. Just add in a bit of Oprah or some self-help pop-psychology with a hint of eastern mysticism to complete the mix. Relativism and pragmatism (what works for me) is the order of the day. Now spirituality is fine. Just as long as you don't make any exclusive claims of course. So is that it? After thousands of years on the earth, is that the pinacle of man's ability to answer the most fundamental questions like why are we here? or what happens when we die? Seems so!

So just how do we present the gospel in this context? How do we present the gospel in a way which engages with people? In a way which is relevant to the culture? The old ways just don't work. How do we engage with people in a way which isn't going to result in them immediately switching off? I say we need to listen to people, without confronting them, to understand two things:
- why they think Christianity has nothing to say to them, and
- what matters to them.

Increasingly with postmoderns, in understanding why they have dismissed Christianity, we find that the reason given isn't because they think science has disproved Christianity. Rather, they will have fundamental intellectual and philosophical reasons why they have dismissed it. Often, we'll find that what they have dismissed is not the gospel but religion. Religion teaches that we must do good works in order for good to accept us. But the gospel teaches that God accepts us, therefore good works will follow. Religion in effect puts God in your debt, he owes you, whereas, in the gospel, we owe God everything. As a result it is vital to spend time explaining the difference between the gospel and religion.

I hope to explore these issues further and suggest some example ways in which the gospel can be presented to postmoderns in subsequent posts.