Articles
A Hairy Perspective on Evangelism
I would like for us to engage in a thought experiment. A thought experiment is a process of imagining a hypothetical situation, and then thinking its logical conclusions (“Schrodinger’s Cat” is a famous example of such an experiment). By thinking our way through “What if” scenarios we can often gain insights into related real-life situations that perhaps weren’t as clear as before.
Let’s consider what would happen if we underwent a vow in the area of evangelism. A vow is a solemn promise to fulfill an obligation or to complete a particular task. For example, in the case of marriage vows men and women make a solemn promise before God to remain married “until death do us part”. Vows are common in the scriptures, and often required accomplishing certain tasks or refusing to do certain things for the duration of the vow. For example, those under the Nazarite Vow would refrain from cutting their hair, consuming grape products, or touching dead bodies (Numbers 6). Under the Law of Moses, vows were binding upon those who swore them (Num. 30.3), and Solomon reflected this seriousness in Eccl. 5.5: “It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.”
Before we reveal the hypothetical vow and consider its implications, we must first examine its context. Following His resurrection, Jesus instructed the apostles to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mk. 16.15) and to “make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28.19). Following the establishment of the church at Pentecost all Christians took up the work of spreading the gospel: “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness” (Acts 4.29). Even when doggedly pursued by Jewish persecutors Christians continued in these efforts: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” (Acts 8.4). Christians like Stephen, Philip (who weren’t apostles, by the way), Aquila, Priscilla, and others spread the gospel message. God was with them, and through them, the church “multiplied” in number (Acts 9.31).
The scriptures are clear: all Christians must tell the good news of Christ’s kingdom: “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” (2 Cor. 5.20a). We must spread the Gospel individually, passionately, and in spite of difficulty. We must do it, and not to “get the numbers up” or to “keep the doors open” (two sadder reasons for evangelism I know not of), but to please God! “but though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” (1 Th. 2.2-4)
The responsibility to share the gospel message is first and foremost an individual one. Many of us have convinced ourselves that growth (or even stasis) as a congregation demonstrates that we are each meeting our responsibility to share the gospel. If local attendance starts to fall, the blame is often laid solely at the feet of that congregation’s leadership. Others seem to be hoping that diligent service in other areas of their spiritual life will cover for minimal (or non-existent) evangelistic efforts! Too long we have ignored the clear and repeated call to share the gospel on an individual level. But we forget, we get sidetracked, or we simply busy ourselves to the point of squeezing personal evangelism out of our consciousness. Simply put we don’t think about it.
The vow we will consider is designed to motivate us to set evangelism as “frontlets for (our) eyes” and make our evangelistic efforts (or lack thereof) as plain as a “five-o’clock shadow”, so to speak.
The Thought Experiment
Suppose we were to make the following (rash and so therefore hypothetical) vow:
“I will shave or cut my hair only when I have shared the Gospel with someone.”
Imagine yourself at that moment: one morning, freshly shaven and holding your razor aloft like a battle saber, you boldly declare that you would not wield it again until you have shared the good news of Jesus. Unlike other resolutions (like the ones we make in January), this time you are serious. No matter how long the hair grows, you are resolved to refrain from trimming/shaving/etc. until you have shared the good news of Christ from that point forward.
Sounds simple, right? But what would happen if we were to make this resolution, as worded, our iron-clad vow to evangelize? I must stress that this scenario is hypothetical. However, thinking through this hypothetical scenario allows us to consider some compelling questions from an unusual but hopefully memorable perspective.
If we vowed to live the rest of our lives shaving/trimming our hair only after sharing the gospel:
- How long would we wait before approaching our friends, neighbors, acquaintances, coworkers, etc., and seeking an opportunity to share the good news of the Kingdom?
If we were to wait as long as we do in the “real world”, wouldn’t the mirror soon reflect the effects of our procrastination?
- What if we didn’t know how to share the gospel, or even where to start?
How long would we let our hair grow before we sought guidance?
- What if we shared the gospel with just one person?
Imagine the joy and relief this would generate! It would be nothing less than a victory for Christ and a reason to be joyful before the Lord. But what would happen if we stopped there? Our vow wasn’t a one-time-only thing: we are bound for life! What would you look like in 6 weeks after sharing the gospel? 6 months? 6 years?
- What if we forgot, or got sidetracked, or got busy?
Would our hair forget to grow when we forgot to evangelize
- Would we refuse to spread the gospel and let ourselves become unkempt?
Ragged? Shameful?
- What if our employer noticed the change and brought it up? Unless we chose to break the vow, we would either have to take steps to be able to shave (which would mean diligently evangelizing our associations) or look for some way to groom ourselves and seek to be presentable in spite of unchecked hair growth! Would we honor our obligations toward our careers before those toward God?
- What if we chose to groom our hair rather than evangelize?
After all, this seems to be a valid workaround, doesn’t it? If we brush/part/braid it just the right way, we get to keep our vow and not have to be inconvenienced by spreading the good news of Jesus Christ!
Would God be pleased with how well we groomed the proof of our refusal to share the gospel?
- When it came right down to it, would you need to invest in razors or combs?
Conclusion
While the above scenario is hypothetical, the call for all Christians to spread the gospel to a lost and dying world is very real. The rubber of our affirmations concerning the need to evangelize MUST contact the road of this world around us! If not, brethren, all our preaching, teaching and “AMEN” s concerning saving the lost are so much lukewarm water (Rev. 3.16).
For me, the answers to the above scenario were sobering to consider.
What about you? Would you need a razor or a comb?
