By Brandon Smith
The ministry I serve, the Christian Campus House at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, does not necessarily operate under what I would call a “written budget.” This mostly is because we rarely have money with which to budget. And while I am only half joking, my serious half supposes one of the biggest line items, if we did have a written budget, would be “food.”
College students like to eat. A lot. And we like to feed them. We place such an emphasis on food in our ministry, not because we are gluttons, but because something sacred happens as bread is broken. Barriers are destroyed. People are connected. Lives are shared. Goodness and mercy are experienced.
It was no surprise the title of Arron Chambers”s latest book, Eats with Sinners, caught my attention. Upon its release, I grabbed a copy and, if you”ll pardon the pun, devoured it. I knew instantly the ideas within its pages needed to be shared with our students.
So we devoted this past spring semester to studying the Scriptures in regards to evangelism and used Eats with Sinners as a key resource. We drew each topic from the chapters of the book, cleverly labeled as “ingredients” necessary to effectively share our faith. The majority of our small group Bible studies dove into the principles of evangelism on a deeper level. We even invited Chambers to come for a few days and speak to our students and area church leaders. For 15 weeks, we slept, breathed, and um . . . ate Eats with Sinners. Here are a few things we learned during the course of our meal.
The Value of the Gospel
The night I introduced evangelism and Eats with Sinners as our topic for the semester, I posed a question: What “methods” of evangelism are you aware of? Handing out tracts, going door-to-door, and sidewalk preaching were answers I anticipated. However, I didn”t expect students to answer my question with another question: “What is evangelism?” It became clear we needed to start at the beginning.
Chambers defines evangelism as “an intentional relationship through which someone is introduced to Jesus Christ.” There are many reasons evangelism does not happen in our own lives as it ought: fear of rejection, laziness, or ignorance. However, these “excuses” can easily be overcome. Something deeper exists; it comes down to value.
A friend named Vic said, “We share what we value.” With this in mind, I read and reread the parables in Matthew 13 and wondered if I really thought the gospel of the kingdom of God was as valuable as Jesus taught. I had rarely shared it with nonbelievers. If I had the cure for cancer, wouldn”t I share it with those stricken by the disease? Similarly, if I truly believed the gospel could offer life, wouldn”t I share it with those who are dying?
Perhaps we don”t value others valuing the gospel as we ought. After experiencing the presence of Jesus in his own life, the apostle Andrew quickly found his brother, Peter, and shared the good news of the Messiah (see John 1:35-42). Aren”t you glad Andrew valued the gospel and his brother enough to share it with him? Just imagine what our New Testament, and all of history, would look like if Peter had not heard and responded to the gospel.
People Are Everywhere
One of the biggest excuses from longtime Christians with regard to evangelism is, “I don”t know any non-Christians!” This is a valid, albeit, weak concern. As a minister, I spend most days with people who are already doing their best to follow Jesus. I have learned I must seek relationships with non-Christians. This sounds daunting, but it”s really quite easy.
For example, do you get your morning coffee from the same barista at the same coffee shop every day? I do. His name is Lance. I”ve learned, through the course of building a relationship with him, that he once was involved in a campus ministry but has sharp disagreements with the politics of most Christians. Thus, he walked away from his faith.
Do you have a banker? A hairdresser? A favorite server at a restaurant? You see these people regularly. While sharing a meal with them might not be feasible, building a relationship can be.
There is a key to finding these relationships. Jesus says, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest” (John 4:35, English Standard Version). Did you catch it? Jesus instructs us to lift up our eyes. We think these relationships are hard to find, but the truth is we are too busy walking through life with our eyes on the ground, on ourselves, or on our cell phones to see the fields are indeed white for harvest.
It”s All About Relationship
Eats with Sinners won”t give you the answers to every objection to the faith an unbeliever might raise, or magic words to compel every person to surrender his or her life to Christ. But the book does offer the ingredients necessary to build healthy relationships with non-Christians in the hopes of earning the opportunity to share the gospel.
When our students began developing relationships with non-Christians using the ingredients of integrity, grace, urgency, and humility, we began to see widespread evangelism occur in our ministry.
For us, the litmus test for a real relationship with an unbeliever is this: if you arrive at the point in your relationship where you share the gospel and your friend rejects Jesus, but you make plans to meet again next week, you have built a healthy relationship. If your friend rejects the gospel and you have no desire to see him or her again, that person is not your friend; they are your project.
Car salesmen and telemarketers feign real relationships with their prospective buyers, hoping to make a sale. The buyer is their project. Say the right things, invoke the right emotions, tinker with this, adjust that, and presto! You have a sale.
Nobody wants to feel as though they are someone”s project. Our students are trying to find the balance between a relationship that is authentic, while also being intentional about sharing the gospel. Too often we find ourselves either in a relationship going nowhere close to the gospel or in a relationship where someone is devalued and reduced to a notch on the ole evangelism belt.
Sin Is Messy
Anytime you invest this heavily in the life of another sinner, you will get dirt on your hands. Jesus built relationships with sinners all the time and was constantly knee-deep in the mess of their lives. For example, Jesus spoke with a woman caught in the act of adultery. If she was caught in the act, chances are she was naked and ashamed as she stood before the crowd in her sin (John 8:1-11). Messy.
Our students are also experiencing the mess. Cathy recently reconnected with a girl she went to high school with. They have shared meals together and spent time playing board games. As the relationship has developed, Cathy has learned her friend is struggling with her sexual attraction to other women. Emily”s friend, meanwhile, is quite curious about Jesus but is trying to fill the void in her life by getting drunk on the weekends. And my friend has dismissed Jesus because he disagrees with the politics of most conservative Christians.
Life is messy. But as Jesus goes before us and enters into the mess, he beckons us to follow. Quite simply, how else can we fulfill the Great Commission if we do not engage with sinners in need of a Savior?
It Takes Time
I believe there is a reason Jesus talks about evangelism in terms of “seasons” instead of “hours.” Effective evangelism takes time. Jesus says “the harvest is plentiful” (Luke 10:2). Harvests don”t come about overnight. It takes months of hard work, dedication, perseverance, and prayer for the crops to be ready.
The same is true for evangelism. It may take a month”s worth of meals together before your friend is ready to respond to the gospel. The students in our ministry are actively eating with sinners and sharing their faith, but we have yet to see (as of this writing) these relationships yield new followers of Christ.
But it”s coming. I know it is. Just like your favorite dessert at the end of the meal, you know it finally will arrive. And when it does, it”s going to be very sweet.
Brandon Smith is campus minister with the Christian Campus House at Northwest Missouri State University.
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