Evangelizing the Celtic Barbarians

Evangelizism has a throat clenching, conservative sound to it sometimes. Efforts that include knocking door-to-door or holding a revival in a tent on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I am not apposed to this kind of evangelism, but what if we spent more time living in the culture we are hoping to evangelize then expecting them to come to us?

St. Patrick and his efforts to evangelize the barbarians of the 4th and 5th Century give great insight to a modern approach. Patrick was kidnapped by the Celts and made a slave. He learned their language and culture which gave him an opportunity to turn his captivity into prostilization, into relationship. After being the catalyst to many conversions, Patrick began a movement to set up monasteries all over the country. His monasteries were placed in the middle of the town and open to all, not a closed place for quiet monks.

A lifestyle of worship includes evangelism. Making time to involve ourselves in the culture of those who don't know the One True God is necessary if they are to be reached. It requires a strong faith in the one evangelizing and an open mind to think from a non-churchy point of view. The label "barbarian" may be a bit strong for our day.

How about "normal" people?

Field Trip with Praise

I currently direct a praise band with 15 members named Monumental Praise. It is a fun, dedicated group who is finding its way to the current praise music scene. We only took a year to refresh the bands' repertoire, which used music from 1970. Now we use praise music from the SongDiscovery CD's for instance and secular selections for the offering when desired. In the last year, it was also important that we learned to "read from the same page" by placing ourselves in the current worship atmosphere; listening to Christian radio, reading articles and taking field trips.
Each member of the band knows how to check the next Sunday's set by using http://www.planningcenteronline.com/, a new site for church music groups. Most of the instrumentalists choose to get their music from the site before rehearsal, transpose it (if I specify) on the http://www.ccli.com/ web site and meet us all on Wednesday night.
This Sunday, we will go on a "Once a Month Together" field trip to enjoy another praise band in their natural habitat. Each month, we worship with another church community in order to see the band from another angle, gather ideas, listen to a different sermon and see how the rest of the Church is doing it. We get great ideas and meet other musicians and volunteers. We will usually grab dinner if the trip is on a Saturday night or breakfast this week.
It is important to me that my volunteers see other approaches to their musical task. It is important that we encourage the Church beyond our own walls. And it is important the praise band worship together without an instrument or mic in their hands.

Thinking about post-modern

I come from a "modern" lifestyle, according to Dan Kimball. But that doesn't mean I should only think like a modern, lead worship or disciple like a modern. I can not change who I am in this respect but like Solomon, I can ask for wisdom when leading beyond the modern mindset into the post-modern reality.
"Post-modern" thinking is a cultural, American (possibly world) reality. Like modern, it “labels” people who did not grow up learning about the Gospel of Jesus or move within a Christian value system. Post-moderns are not limited to a generation. They are the people around us, who we work with and who our children go to school with. And they are very likely the people wandering into your church to vote, attend Boy Scout meetings or a funeral of a co-worker.
If everything we do is decorated "modern" how will the post-moderns glean any connection to us... or ultimately, to who God is?