If you were to google “Trends in Christianity” you would see a variety of tendencies. Trends will arise in the church’s relationship with culture, trends within the church, and trends within the culture. Trends will come and go like all trends do these days.The culture is constantly changing and we can see the evidence of this by how many iPhones Apple has released. The first iPhone came out in June 2007, and a new iPhone has been released every year since then. Even when the first iPhone came out, it was the phone to have. But since the passing of Steve Jobs, the other companies caught up and some are more innovative than Apple right now.
The point: trends will come and go in life. In the American Church, we have seen trends in contemporary music, missional living, gospel-centeredness, church planting, and discipleship. While these are good trends, there is one trend I pray and hope will come back to focus in the church: evangelism. Why does evangelism need to be the next trend? Well, when was the last time you shared your faith with a lost person? When was the last time you led someone to faith in Christ? When was the last time someone you knew was baptized?
No one likes talking about evangelism today because no one is doing it. The Holy Spirit convicts us to share Jesus, but we don’t like the conviction. We like what Jesus does for us, but not enough to tell others about Him. If Jesus is who we say He is, then why are we quiet? Why does evangelism scare us? Jesus lived a life without sin, died on the cross as an innocent man, was buried in a tomb, rose to live again on the third day, ascended to the Father, and is coming back in judgment. It is Jesus who saved us from our sins. It is Jesus who put us in a right relationship with God. It is Jesus who gives us a new identity. Yet, we struggle to tell others about Him!?!
A better question to ask is not how are we not telling people about Jesus, but why are we not telling people about Jesus? The how tells us what we are to do, the why tells us the reason we do it. So why would we tell someone about Jesus? We tell others about Jesus because only Jesus can save sinners from their sins, sinners must reject Jesus or receive Jesus in repentance and faith, and sinners will not be able to receive Jesus unless someone tells them the gospel. This is why we tell people about Jesus, but do you believe these truths to be true? If you believe them to be true, is your life an accurate reflection of it? To believe something is to practice it. If you are not practicing it, then do you truly believe these truths?
It is my prayer the next trend in American Christianity will be evangelism. Not only do I hope to see more discussion about it, but people practicing evangelism in their life.
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