The Key to Evangelism in the 21st Century
Recovering an Ancient, Biblical Approach for Post-Christendom
By David Mathis
Abstract: In "Workers for Your Joy,” by David Mathis, a class at Reformed Theological Seminary, led by Steve Childers, learns that "hospitality" is crucial for 21st-century evangelism, especially in the West. This excerpt from Mathis’s latest book underscores hospitality's growing importance in a post-Christian society, highlighting it as an ancient, biblical strategy gaining renewed relevance for engaging with contemporary secularism.
The twelve of us sat in silence on the edge of our seats. You could have heard a pin drop.
Three of us had pilgrimaged from Minnesota to muggy Orlando and its stifling August humidity for a weeklong intensive course on evangelism with Steve Childers. Fortunately, Reformed Theological Seminary is as air-conditioned as it is Reformed.
With only a dozen students on board for five 9-hour days with one of the country’s top church-planting strategists, it was a rich week, to say the least. During these precious hours, the Beijing Olympics were playing second fiddle to learning about the advance of the gospel around the world and in personal conversation.
Time and again Childers had thrown us curveballs. He knew how to keep us on our toes. But now he had us nothing short of captivated.
“You know what the key to evangelism in the twenty-first century will be, don’t you?”
Childers wasn’t talking about the Global South but about the Western Hemisphere—and America in particular. I’m sure he could see on our faces how eager we were for his answer. Wow, the key, we were thinking. This is huge.
He paused and smiled his memorable world-evangelism grin. He waited. Still waiting. Still paused. Still nothing. Hold it—hold it. I was almost ready to burst with, “Just c’mon already!”
Finally he lifted the curtain. “Hospitality.”
Then another long pause to let it sink it.
Hospitality and Post-Christendom
In an increasingly post-Christian society, the importance of hospitality as an evangelistic asset has been growing in recent years. Increasingly, the most strategic turf on which to engage the unbelieving with the good news of Jesus may be the turf of our own yards and homes.
When people don’t gather in droves for stadium crusades, or tarry long enough on the sidewalk to hear a gospel presentation, or look up from their phones, or take out their earbuds, what will you do? Where will you interact with the unbelieving about the realities that matter most?
Invite them to dinner.
For several of us in Childers’s class, the lights went on after his semidramatic revelation. Biblical texts on hospitality came springing to mind. He wasn’t making this up; he was reading the Scriptures.
This wasn’t an innovative strategy but ancient, even if it was beginning to feel newly relevant. A biblical theme we’d previously assumed to be marginal, perhaps even antiquated, was emerging again as a significant avenue for evangelism in secular times.
Reference: Workers for Joy: The Call of Christ on Christian Leaders, by David Mathis, Chapter 12, Love for Strangers and the Great Commission.
Recommended Reading:
Mathis, David. Workers for Your Joy: The Call of Christ on Christian Leaders. Crossway Publisher, 2022. (352 pages)