11th Hour Evangelism (part II)

ELEVENTH-HOUR ASPECTS AND APPLICATION

“… and about the eleventh hour he went and found others standing… “
ASPECT #1: “The Eleventh-hour group had been standing in the same marketplace as the previous four groups. The eleventh hour was not disconnected from the previous four groups. They were an essential part of the equation.

ELEVENTH-HOUR APPLICATION: The church must recognize that despite ideological bias, deviant behavior, or gross character flaw, every individual is first and foremost an image of God. One of the problems with our past forms of evangelism is that we see non-Christians as “sinners” first, rather than as unique and infinitely special images of God. While the church recognizes itself as God’s children, it fails to see the large portions of humanity as God’s creations. Good-intended Christians often look down on those unable to break addictive habits, those engaged in deviant actions, or those with ideological or gender preferences other than their own. We rarely see the pain of an individual’s past story over the moral misbehavior of the moment. Our banner-waving animosity toward certain groups of humanity specifically, and even intentionally, strips them of their “image of God” heritage. This is a gross failure. To see any one of God’s images with disgust, disdain or hatred is to actually view them through satanic lenses. It is the Devil that hates humanity, and by taking any such attitude, regardless of whatever ideological, moral or character flaws any person may have, is to partner with his agenda.

The eleventh-hour evangelism method is not to condone “sinful” behavior, but to understand it tactically as a strategy against individuals and ultimately humanity. It is recognizing the difference between identity and actions. Ideology, religion, or even claimed sexual preference does not determine one’s identity. It merely helps to affect one’s actions. Everyone is made in the image of God. But actions produce consequences often harmful to the individual, the generations, and the society, stripping away at the soul and spirit, often through the destruction of the body. By compassionately acknowledging how particular actions, and specifically their consequence, play out on humanity shifts the church’s reaction to “sins” from moral superiority to concern for the wellbeing of humanity. The church’s focus in this Eleventh hour should be the evidential damage caused to those made in God’s image, not merely the moral damage caused by sinners. A recent Barna poll showed the number one concern among modern evangelicals was the need for stronger moral value in America. But until the church recognizes why God established certain moral or dogmatic boundaries, it is merely driving a deeper wedge between itself and the eleventh-hour society. Because that is not how the landowner engaged…

“…and he said to them, ‘why have you been standing here idle all day long?’”
ASPECT #2: Eleventh-hour conversation began with selfless, inquisitive interaction. The beginning of the eleventh-hour dialogue began with a question motivated not out of control, but out of concern: ‘why are you still here? What is it about this message that hasn’t drawn you yet?’ The modern church holds numerous summits and roundtables in search of the best tactics to “win” or “entertain” people into its doors. From multimedia presentations, to outside fairs and festivals and even extreme sports expositions, the church attempts to bring in the disinterested masses, only to “bait and switch” attendees into hearing about what they are missing. Instead, the church should be asking society: “what are we missing?”

ELEVENTH-HOUR APPLICATION: The church must shift its evangelistic approach from speaking – to listening and acting. Instead of preaching at “the lost,” the church must engage God’s image first. It must meet the eleventh-hour group at their point of need; first finding out what those needs are and then partnering with them to see those needs addressed. Because of the church’s apparent disconnect with this eleventh-hour society, it should not be surprised that the first dialogue of needs may not be soul level. But the eleventh-hour group is looking for alleviation to situations that are, by default (and by intent), harming the soul. Through self-centered, pleasure-first methodologies and advertising, isolative technologies, and impersonal ideologies, the eleventh-hour populous has erected powerful self-sufficient barricades choking out the value and need of the soul. But in doing so, it is decimating the body and the mind. Currently over 36 million Americans suffer from some form of mental disorder or fear, 25 percent of the populous has some form of venereal disease, one in four women has been raped or molested, cancer and diabetes rack humanity, addiction in a myriad of forms is a staple of society, and poverty and indebtedness plague multi-millions.

Our eleventh-hour society is looking for those who can address issues such as these. How can we be so sure? They are flocking en masse to the false saviors of pharmacology, entertainment, government, and co-opted mysticism. Because of the church’s growing pharisaical nature, the eleventh-hour group may not currently want anything to do with the Christian’s God. But they are desperate to rid themselves of the consequences of our Godless society. Our relativistic society propagates its actions through the subjective mantra “I can do anything I want.” But it loathes the damaging objective consequence it cannot control. And it will go anywhere it can to get relief without judgmentalism. Which leads to the next aspect:

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