Consistency of Life

Rebecca Pippert, in her must-read book Out of the Saltshaker, tells the following funny story.

"When I worked with college students, I gave many evangelistic dorm talks. I remember one in which a skeptical but seeking student asked me, 'What does it mean to be a Christian?'

A Christian student who really desired the other student to understand replied, 'It means you have to be washed in the blood of the Lamb.' The fist student paled and looked confused. The Christian continued, 'That way you will be sanctified and redeemed.'

Another student, seeking to help his Christian brother, said, 'And the fellowship is so neat. Praise the Lord! Your really get into the Word and get such a blessing.'

By the end of the evening, it was clear from the skeptic student's face that he felt Christians came from another planet!"

Have you ever been in a similar situation or realized that you left the hearer of your testimony with more confusion than ever about Jesus? I know that I have!

In thinking through evangelism, I think that consistency of life is an essential element. What do I mean? After reading Pippert's book in college, I realized that I was a very different person with my believing friends than with my unbelieving friends. I used different vocabulary ("Christianeze"), talked about different topics and even behaved differently. I felt much more comfortable with my Christian friends because they were more like me, and I know that my discomfort around non-Christians often showed.

Out of the Saltshaker challenged me to begin working toward a consistency in the way I lived. In my Christian settings, I had taken on a somewhat fake personality in order to fit in and be fully accepted or even admired. In the secular world, I wasn't interacting in a winsome way or even speaking in a way that an unchurched person could understand. I needed (and need) work!

I began working to eradicate "Christianeze" from my every day speech. Don't get me wrong, words like redemption, justification, holiness, etc have their own power. They have very specific descriptive definitions that help to describe God and His work. I just started trying to follow with a simple definition if I used them. With my unbelieving friends, I started working my faith into conversation. It is the biggest part of me after all! When everybody talked about their weekend in class, I made sure to tell about going to church or what I learned there. I prayed that God would use these little seeds to give opportunities for deeper conversations. Rebecca Pippert says, "Truth is truth, and its appeal is universal. Of course, we need to speak truth in ways that are relevant and arouse the curiosity of our audience, but in most instances we should be able to tell both groups the same stories or experiences or thoughts. We should not assume that our unchurched friends will not be interested in our spiritual side."

In church, I also tried to recognize when I wasn't being genuine. I've gone to church all my life, so much of the Christian culture is second nature to me, but I realized that I was doing some things to impress instead of out of obedience to God.

As I've been praying, thinking and writing about evangelism in the last week, I realize that I've slipped a little in my consistency of life. I'm going to work on some of these areas again, because my heart's desire is to please God and introduce others to Him.

In the next post, I've got some inspiring people to tell you about and a tremendous link to share. Join me again on Wednesday!