What is Direct Evangelization? & Relational Evangelization? Let’s start with “direct evangelization.”
Some of the most wonderful words in the scriptures (and this goes back to my desired trip with St. Gabriel to Pentecost), are when Jesus tells his disciples prior to the Ascension, “behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”[1] The Greek word there for “power” is dynamis and it’s where we get the word “dynamite” in English.
Two solid biblical definitions of dynamis, drawn from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, are the power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, and the power to work miracles.[2] Breaking this down, we can see that the thing that is received when we are clothed with power is a someone, the Holy Spirit! The power residing by virtue of the nature of the thing, in this case the Holy Spirit, is the infinite and amazing power of God, and so it makes sense that this word, dynamis, is also used to describe the power to work miracles as well. Such power flows from the nature of God, who “alone works wonders”; and we live in, minister in, and access God, by our faith.
Disciples of Jesus Christ have been clothed with power! This is a huge part of what it is to be a Christian: to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. One of the most treasured revelations God has poured out on the Church in these days of The New Evangelization, is a refreshing reminder that all the baptized are called to be Spirit-filled evangelizers everywhere they go! Living life full of the Holy Spirit, which is indeed a daily life of devotion, self-awareness, humility, good habits, and most of all, discipline, leads us to cultivate a Holy Spirit rhythm in our lives. It is a daily rhythm that allows for a supernaturally-natural overflow of our relationship with God into our relationship with others — in such a way that we can’t help but share the good news with disciple and non-disciple alike, the latter of course being the most in need of it.
This is where “direct evangelization” comes in. As we live life in a devotional relationship with God, the Holy Spirit loves to lead us on adventures. What does heaven on earth in a person look like? Well, Jesus of course! What is a Christian? An anointed son or daughter of God who is being conformed to the image of Jesus,[3] who truly re-presents Him to the world! As St. Paul said, “yet I live no longer but Christ is living in me!”[4]
So, wherever you go, be ready! When you walk into the grocery shop, the Holy Spirit may very well tap your heart and draw your attention to someone he wants you to go to, say hello, and ask if they’d like prayer. Even though it might sound crazy, you feel in your heart Jesus wanted you to come and talk to them. These are direct evangelization experiences that I love to refer to as “Holy Spirit Adventures.”
If you really want to have some fun, set aside an extra half hour when you go out on errands or on a trip. One thing I love to do when I travel by airplane is to look at my watch and tell the Lord, “okay the next hour is mission time — I’m ready, Lord.” Then I’ll take an hour and walk around the airport and engage in conversation with whomever I sense the Holy Spirit is prompting my heart to approach. One of my favorite experiences in the airport was setting up a couple of signs with my friend and we had a “free healing prayer station” through which the Lord poured out awesome blessings! Sure, we got some funny looks, but we also had people come who the Lord brought to tears with his overwhelming love for them. I’ll take 100 funny looks for every one person that I’m able to witness Jesus to!
Not long ago, while in a grocery store, I talked with a woman who had a foot injury. She was polite, yet when I asked her if I could pray for her foot and that I’d seen Jesus heal people, she shut it down right away, announcing she was in a rush. I kindly said, “I totally understand, God bless you, have a great day!” Though she shut down the opportunity for prayer, she didn’t shut down her kindness and seemed truly appreciative of the gesture of me asking God to bless her.
As I walked away I began to praise God! We’ve got to praise him for the grace to take risks, no matter how the risk turns out! I’m glad Jesus gave me the guts to go for it and to release His love on someone to whom He sent me! And, who knows how it’ll turn out! I love when people are wide open to Jesus and open to coming to Church; yet the folks who aren’t interested, so long as I have loved them well in my interaction with them, I believe that in some way I’ve done my part in delivering God’s love … and that love is never given in vain.
And then, you keep praying for the people you’ve attempted to share the Lord with! Hopefully, there are way too many to remember and you end up praying something along these lines, “Lord, thank you for all the lives you’ve let me try to touch with the power of your Gospel. I ask you to please bring them to life in Christ for your glory!”
Staying open to the Holy Spirit’s promptings is key for allowing direct evangelization experiences to happen. Being aware of who we are in Christ, that yes indeed we’re seated in heavenly places in Christ[5] and that something greater than this world enters into the situations you enter. It’s a regular occasion that people will say to me in public, “you’re so kind” or “I like your spirit” or “I like your energy” and what’s going on is that the Holy Spirit is manifesting God’s presence through my cooperative disposition (when I’m not being aloof). In order to do this consistently, we need to keep cultivating the human virtues.
Folks don’t always recognize it as God’s presence, but they notice something. When this happens, I’ll explain to them, “oh that’s all Jesus, would you like some?” Sure, I’ve had a few “no thanks” or “I’m good” but I’ve also had plenty of “yes!’” which leads to a proclamation of the Gospel and invitation to faith in Christ, or renewed faith in Christ if they are a disciple already. This is just one example of direct evangelization, that flows out of remembering what is our identity in Christ.[6] It lets us know that it is totally normal for the love of the kingdom of heaven to pour through us … which indeed has the ability to crash into this world in a way that makes others take notice!
Another form of direct evangelization is without that spiritual prompting — where you just intentionally take the step to start a conversation. Without perhaps any special sense from the Holy Spirit, you just say, hey, I might as well engage this person; evangelization is part of my life and as long as I approach with love, there’s no reason not to seek to engage in the Lord’s mission of bringing his love to souls. Looking at it that way, we are realizing that we have a treasure that we carry in earthen vessels[7] and that it is an act of love, and so pleasing to God, when we imitate God’s generosity and go ahead and seek to share the most precious treasure anyone could ever have.
Cultivating a loving, kind, welcoming disposition is what I would recommend to people getting into direct evangelization. Keeping some “ammo” in your pocket, like extra rosaries, miraculous medals, and crucifixes, is always a great idea; also having some key principles and go-to methods in mind to serve as touch points if we feel adrift in the interaction at any point. Like listen, befriend, proclaim & invite; like offering prayer, your testimony, and “One Good Reason”. Yet, we know that the Holy Spirit is the agent of evangelization so have no fear of letting him lead and going with the spontaneous prompts He gives you.
When it comes to relational evangelization, I recall a wonderful man of God (Bishop Michael Byrnes) once saying “the oldest form of evangelization is friendship.” That’s the idea with relational evangelization, that you form a bond with someone, be willing to journey with them, offer them fellowship and friendship in Christ.
We experience in our various personalities and temperaments different capacities for the quantity and quality of friendships that we’re able to maintain. With relational evangelization, it’s being open to accompany someone in their faith journey, as a friendly acquaintance at the least. Oftentimes, the relationship is already in place; and at some point, an invitation to a conversation about faith can occur. Other times, you meet someone in a direct evangelization experience, and you exchange Facebook information (for example) and maintain contact — checking-in on them, and conversing with them.
While I love the Holy Spirit Adventures of direct evangelization experiences, there’s a symphonic richness in relational evangelization, because ties go deeper in a relationship. It takes guts to be vulnerable, to enter into a conversation about faith; and then it takes patience to accompany the person. If you can’t accompany the person, for whatever reason, it is good to connect them with someone else who can.
While the friendship component may not always be there as much as we’d like, engaging with a person you have a relationship with represents Jesus very well, I believe. It’s like how God is with us — He draws us to Himself most effectively when we are in an intimate relationship with Him. A friendship. So it comes down to love. It’s an act of love to share the Gospel, and a relational bond is fertile soil to plant, water and harvest, in the co-labor of love with God that is evangelization.
[1] Luke 24:49.
[2] Accessed from the Blue Letter Bible web site.
[3] Romans 8:29.
[4] Galatians 2:20.
[5] Ephesians 2:6.
[6] Ephesians 2:6; John 14:23.
[7] 2 Corinthians 4:7.