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Most Christians have a passing familiarity with the major holidays and notable dates in other religions’ calendars—Jewish holidays like Hanukkah are well-known, as is the Islamic observance of Ramadan. Similarly, most Christians have at least a basic knowledge of those religions’ basic beliefs.

But how much do you know about what Buddhists believe? Do you know how the claims of Buddhism compare and contrast with Christianity’s?

February is a fitting time to learn more about Buddhist beliefs, since it’s when many Buddhists celebrate Parinirvana Day, the day that, they believe, Buddha died and achieved complete Nirvana. A good place to start is an article on the basic beliefs of Buddhism from Campus Life, which also identifies points of similarity and difference between Buddhism and Christianity. A short article at Answers to Tough Questions explains how Buddhist beliefs differ from Christianity.

If you’re interested in further reading, J. Isamu Yamamoto has written a more in-depth article on how Christians should understand and respond to Buddhism in North America (and the article points out that there are different branches within the umbrella of Buddhism, so Christians who’ve studied up on one branch shouldn’t assume they know everything there is to know). Christianity Today has a short discussion of theological issues within Tibetan Buddhism, and an accompanying collection of articles for additional reading. And of course, you can’t beat Wikipedia for sheer volume of information about Buddhist history and beliefs.

So this month, as Buddhists around the world commemorate Buddha’s life and death, take some time to read up on Buddhist beliefs, and consider how you might share your faith with a Buddhist friend or neighbor.

Today’s devotional, from Delve Into Jesus, calls to mind a vigorous discussion about street evangelism we had late last year. Delve Into Jesus’ Michael Lane asks us to be open to whatever form of evangelism God calls us to—even if it’s a manner of witnessing that we think annoying or ineffective. Here’s the devotional’s closing challenge:

Each of us has unique needs, a unique background and a unique personality. Thus, the method of witnessing which will be the most effective is unique to each individual. You may find televangelism pointless because it would never have been effective in leading you to the Lord, but many thousands have been touched by television ministry, even if you are not among them. As an unbeliever, you may never have responded to that young pastor inviting you to attend service. But I did.

….The moment when an act of witness captures the attention of an unbeliever is a mysterious and sacred act between God and his creation. It defies all of our projections and predictions about what ought to be effective….

How is the Spirit asking you and your congregation to witness? Is it perhaps a little unconventional? Would it seem to require extraordinary faith and courage? Understand that when God places a desire in our heart to serve Him, it never comes without the necessary strength and courage. Follow the calling of the Spirit boldly with the knowledge that someone very special and unique is waiting for you to proclaim the Gospel in your own special and unique way.

Read the full devotional at Delve into Jesus.

Let’s set aside the specific issue of street preaching (which you can discuss here if you want) and ponder the devotional’s central question: how is God calling you to be a Christian witness?

Has God ever called you to share the Gospel in an unconventional or uncomfortable way? What was the result, both for you and for the people you witnessed to?

A recent report from Mission Network News focused on the Urbana ’09 conference, which wrapped up last week. The article contains a few blurbs from Jim Tebbe, the Urbana director, on their approach to social justice during this conference:

The question is, are Christians focused more on these issues — helping the victims emotionally and physically — rather than sharing the Gospel? Director of Urbana 09, Jim Tebbe, says, “There is a high consciousness of issues of justice and what Jesus has to say about this. How do we as Christians live this out? That is really important. We will be emphasizing evangelism and reaching out with the proclamation of the Gospel at the same time, just as strongly how we as Christians live that out.”
[...]
“Students respond to social justice issues and move from that to hearing the Gospel, rather than hearing the Gospel and moving to social justice.”

Tebbe says as young people get involved in these issues, they begin asking questions of those their serving, such as, “What does Jesus say about that? Would you like to know more about this Jesus who speaks to this? Let me introduce you to him.”

Read the whole article, Social Justice vs Gospel – Is it a battle at Urbana, over at MMN.

College students are acutely concerned with social justice issues, even to the extent that Tebbe says that students respond to social justice first then to the Gospel. It seems almost contrary to what I remember learning about how to do evangelism growing up in church (convert and then find a way to serve through the Church).

How would you respond to Tebbe’s quotation that “Students respond to social justice issues and move from that to hearing the Gospel”? Any other thoughts on social justice and Christianity?

Here’s a listing of all the MNN’s reports on Urbana.

Evangelism—sharing our faith in Jesus with people who don’t know the Gospel—is at the core of the Christian faith. There exist countless ministries, organizations, and publications aimed at introducing people to the Gospel, or at encouraging individual Christians to do so. Yet it’s my impression that the idea of witnessing to others is a daunting one for most Christians.

Do you actively and consciously share your faith with others? What part does witnessing play in your everyday spiritual life? And what does your witness usually look like—is it a traditional verbal presentation of the basics points of your faith? Do you try to witness with actions but not words? Something in between?

How often do you share your faith with others, and how do you tend to do so?

Share your thoughts!

I recently heard an interesting statement from a pastor regarding charitable giving. He explained that he only supported explicitly Christian ministries and charities with his charitable giving—no public radio, no Red Cross, and presumably no Girl Scout cookies.

He explained that there wasn’t anything wrong or immoral about those non-Christian organizations and charities. But he felt that the Great Commission obligated him to put his finite funds toward organizations that actively furthered the spread of the Gospel. Other charities might do valuable work, but they were a lower priority than evangelistic organizations. (And since there’s never going to be a shortage of evangelism needs or Christian organizations in need of help, that essentially means never supporting a non-Christian charity at all.)

This was a personal decision for him, and he didn’t try to argue that it was a rule for all Christians. But he clearly felt that this was a natural implication of the Great Commission in the modern world.

What do you think about that? Do you give higher (or sole) priority in your giving to evangelistic ministries?

When some people evangelize, they do so with tracts. Tracts, for those that don’t know, are short Gospel presentations in a little booklet. They usually have some sort of eye-catching cover or are centered around a particular theme. Every single one that I’ve seen includes a “Sinner’s Prayer” that the reader can read aloud in order to become a Christian.

We’ve probably all heard stories of well-meaning Christians leaving tracts as tips at restaurants, or giving children tracts instead of candy during Halloween. And if you’ve spent any time in a major city, you’ve probably seen a tract or two “left” in a bathroom. I’d have to imagine that most of these tract distribution methods are ineffective (I’m willing to be proven wrong). However, a tract in the hands of someone who can explain what it means seems like it has potential to me.

What about you, do you think that Tracts are an effective evangelism tools?

Share your thoughts!

At the Youth Specialties blog, Adam McClane discusses the tension between evangelism and discipleship in churches and youth ministry.

He writes that youth pastors are often caught between the stated and unstated goals of the church. The written vision of a church is often focused on evangelism. However, individual church members typically understand the vision to be one of discipleship.

While both excellent visions for a church, these two points of focus can create tension in everyday youth ministry. Youth workers need to stress both evangelism and discipleship equally, but sometimes the two appear to be mutually exclusive. As Adam puts it:

Maybe this is jaded, but it’s been my experience. As much as we’d like to be an equal, complimentary balance between evangelism and discipleship, it always plays out that one wins….

Think about the youth programs you’ve been involved with, either as student or worker. Have any of them handled that tension well?

What about in your personal life? How do you make sure you’re making enough time for both nurturing your personal faith and actively inviting others into God’s kingdom? Do you ever feel a tension between discipleship and evangelism?

Today, a couple of quick updates from the COMIX35 ministry! COMIX35 is a Christian comics ministry that publishes and distributes evangelistic comics around the world. They also do a lot to identify and recruit promising comic artists from within the Christian community.

They’ve got updates on two comics contests that they’re running:

• They’ve launched the Christian Comics Competition for U.S. Prison Inmates as a way of identifying talented Christian artists in the US prison system. The first phase of the competition asks prison chaplains to recommend inmates who “exhibit exceptional talent in the areas of drawing and storytelling.” The three candidates who make it to the end of the contest will help produce a short comic for inmates and at-risk youth.
• The deadline for the Manga Messiah video competition has been extended to March 4 to give all “amateur and professional video producers, YouTubers, and GodTubers around the world” a chance to get their entries in. The competition webpage has full details on the contest, as well as free music tracks you can use with your video.

Take a look at these contests, and while you’re there, get to know COMIX35′s unique comics evangelism ministry!

What comes first—evangelism or discipleship? It’s commonly thought that discipleship is a one-time process that Christians must go through after they’ve accepted Christ but before they start sharing the Gospel with others. Is discipleship like taking a class in school—you do your homework, graduate, and are then free to move on to the “real” Christian life?

In an article at Lausanne World Pulse, Kumar Abraham argues that this approach isn’t necessarily the best (or most Biblical) way to understand discipleship. Rather than seeing evangelism and discipleship as two separate activities, we should consider them two closely integrated facets of the Christian life:

But which comes first—evangelism or discipleship? Some argue that without doing evangelism, discipleship is impossible. Some say it is only a disciple of Christ who can evangelise. Others may ask why we should even separate the two. [...]

The Bible teaches the integration of evangelism and discipleship. “We proclaim (announcing the gospel publicly) him, admonishing (warn believers) and teaching (the word) everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). While evangelizing, we disciple; while discipling new believers, we encourage them to share the gospel.

There are many more articles about discipleship and evangelism in the World Pulse archives.

Yesterday we pointed out a number of resources to help Christians learn more about Islam. Today we’ve got a few more, starting with a series of short Introduction to Islam videos from People of the Book. Here’s the first video:

Be sure to watch part 2 and part 3 if you found that useful.

The above videos, and the resources we noted yesterday, focus primarily on introducing the basic teachings and tenets of Islam. But if you’re looking for a more thorough analysis comparing Islam’s teachings to those of Christianity, Faith Facts has an exhaustive comparison of the two faiths. If you’ve ever wondered exactly how Christianity and Islam differ, or if those differences are theologically important, that’s a good place to start.

And last but not least, Into Thy Word has an excellent summary of Muslims beliefs, as well as some concrete ideas for effectively sharing the Gospel and showing Christlike love to Muslims. This essay, by Patrick Cate, also addresses many of the more cultural questions about Islam and the Arab world that have cropped up since September 11, 2001—questions about Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism, and Western biases against and misconceptions about Muslims.