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Relational Evangelism Road Trip: Use Your Freedom of Speech to Speak up for Christianity
By chris | May 16, 2008
” So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.” (2 Corinthians 5: 16)
Christianity is very relevant for today, but there are people and organizations that are organized to minimize the influence of Christianity in your community. How organized are you to advocate your faith and values in the public square?
When I was in college there was a distinct minority of people who were actively engaged in trying to debunk the Christian faith. They were called “professors” (Romans 1:22).
At work, people can make you feel you are in the minority when you tell them you believe in the Bible and trust Jesus for salvation.
Media entities work hard to politicize the great moral issues of our day. These groups represent “gate keepers” who want to slow Christianity down. They work hard to appear they are in the majority, but they are not.
Don’t let people intimidate you into silence. We hear a lot of people making noise in the news about how badly they want to protect our First Amendment rights. We are not used to talking this way in church, but the First Amendment actually protects your right to share the gospel with people in the United States.
The First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Christian communications professor Dr Quentin Schultze teaches (in this book) that the First Amendment’s constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech, the press, and the right to assemble is really centered on the freedom of religion (and religious speech), not just the press as is often assumed these days, thus showing that in America religion and communication have long been linked in the United States.
Stand firm in your rights, people may try to imply you are not allowed to speak about faith in school, or in public venues. But they are wrong. Christian ideas belong in the public forum as much as any other ideas. You have as much right to the “free exercise” of your religion and “freedom of speech” as anyone else in America. Speak freely about Jesus!
I believe we need Christians being “salt and light” in their communities by speaking to the moral and spiritual issue of our day in the public square. You don’t need to be a great political speaker to make a difference, just tell people what the Bible teaches.
Go ahead and weigh-in with biblical truth on the important life issue topics at school, work and in public places. Make sure people know you are speaking to spiritual and moral issues. When you do, you will find people will be interested in the truth of the gospel. Be ready to answer questions people may have about Christianity.
Focus Groups Continue
If you are following my blog posts and/or my Facebook you know I am on a road trip doing research for a client about how Christians in various churches think about relational evangelism and a resource they are developing.
This evening I have a break here in Harrisburg, PA. I am leading a focus group for my client in the morning and then heading back to OKC in the afternoon ending the second leg of my three-legged trip. I will be back out to Stillwater OK, DFW and Orlando next week. For now I am looking forward to going home to Edmond to rest and see the family.
One of my favorite tools for learning about people is the focus group. A focus group is a group of 6-10 people who meet together for an hour (or two, no more than that please) to discuss a focused topic. There is an objective moderator who guides the conversation along the topic, without taking the lead or lecturing on the subject.
The conversation is recorded (audio or video) for summarizing, reporting and showing the sponsors of the research what participant said. I have used focus groups to test programming, try new products and get an insider’s perspective from people. Imagine a group of people in your town who don’t go to church talking in a focus group about why they don’t go. You will be surprised what they say, I promise! Focus groups are a quick and fun way to get useful research.
A few tips for designing a focus group.
- Get an objective person to lead the discussion. Someone who doesn’t have an agenda to get people to say what you want to hear.
- Only bring people who fit the exact description of the people you want to reach into the group. Use a screening interview questionnaire to identify the people.
- Outside the church membership, pay the participants for their time (Usually $50 each). Don’t worry this won’t jade them. They will be more committed to speak up in the group if they are getting paid.
- Assure participants you will only use their comments in your research. Help them know they will not be contacted about their comments. Limit the people who see or hear the recordings. Don’t distribute the participants personal information.
- Alert people they are being recorded and allow people who don’t want to participate an opportunity to leave if they don’t want to be recorded. Get people to sign a release giving permission to record and use their comments.
- Develop 10-15 questions to guide the moderator in leading conversation along the areas where you want to focus discussion. Only the moderator needs to see the questionnaire. You don’t have to be too rigid with keeping them on the exact path. You want free flowing discussion. You just don’t want a focus group that lacks focus!
- On major projects, use a professional focus group facility for your groups. They are designed with a one-way mirror on one wall with an observation area for people sponsoring the research. If the sponsors are in the observation room, they will learn a lot more than if they just read a report.
- It is fun and easy to do focus groups. If you are good at conversation, you’ll be a natural. You need to train yourself to include all the participants and stay on tract. Read, Focus Group Research Handbook by Holly Edmunds
Topics: Evangelism |