
The issue that hurts the church and its message the most is the church. I have run into countless people that, I believe, would love God, but have abandoned even trying because of bad past experiences with the church that leaves them feeling manipulated, or even worse, abused. Much of the evangelism that I face is the undoing of false perceptions of the church that people carry around with them for years. Most of the time I deflect questions about the church and try to stick to the person and work of Jesus. I have thought about the conversation that Jesus had with the Samaritan woman(Jn 4) where He undoes a false perception of God and His people(church) before He gets to the "good news." Typical training in evangelism has to do with applying key concepts of the Gospel to peoples lives so that they see their own sin, His sacrifice, and forgiveness. But many times those are not the questions people are asking. I find myself going backwards and answering peoples questions that matter most so they can see the goodness of Jesus. I struggle loving the church. I am a leader in it, yet I struggle looking around at how "we" are doing. Before I get too critical I need to only look at my own life and sweet repentance begins. I like how Philip Yancey states that we are all Pharisees in recovery.
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