How to Evangelize Today

Currently at the height of my summer job, it has become extremely apparent to me that living as a Christian Catholic in our modern world is not the usual. It is challenging to be constantly surrounded by people with different worldviews and lifestyles, and stand alone in your own beliefs. As challenging and as isolating as this may be, I believe this stand offers us a unique opportunity.

The world needs Jesus.

The world desperately needs Him. And while He no longer physically walks across the earth, we as His followers have not only the capability and duty, but the chance of sharing Him with others. The world needs evangelization, the spread of the good news of the Gospel. And the world needs evangelizers. That’s where you and I come in. I believe that “evangelization” can sometimes seem like a big, impractical word, or we simply reserve the idea for mission trips in faraway lands. While that is undoubtedly a necessary part of evangelization, we do not always need to go far to evangelize. You may only need to go as far as your work, your school, the cashier at the grocery store, the family at the park, or your own dinner table. You know exactly what situation or people in your life need to know of the good news of Jesus and His love. The work of evangelization is upon us, and because of this, I think it is invaluable that we recognize these three fundamental truths of evangelization.

1. Evangelization is all about witness.

Maybe as you read this, you’re becoming worried. Maybe you don’t feel confident explaining the truths of the faith, defending Church teaching, or engaging others in conversation about hard topics. That is ok. Sometimes I’d rather hide under the table than get into a heated discussion. Apologetics, the defense of the faith, and intellectual argumentation are all extremely important, and are in fact how some people are brought into the light of the truth of the faith. But this isn’t to say that you need a master’s degree in theology in order to evangelize. In fact, I would argue that for most of our evangelizing audience today, lecturing about the faith would actually serve as more of a turn-off than a draw toward the faith. Most people don’t want to be “talked at” or taught, especially if you encounter them in a non-religious environment like work or your neighborhood. So rather than teaching them, try witnessing. A witness is someone who proclaims Jesus simply by how they live their life. Maybe that means you proclaim Jesus through your joy, your smiles in the morning, your lack of complaining, your attentiveness to the needs of others, and your encouraging and upbuilding language and attitude. Or maybe you witness to Jesus by not attending those parties on the weekends, not engaging in those certain conversations, not watching those popular shows, not using particular language, and being honest and hardworking. Maybe you witness simply by going to Church on Sundays, praying before your meals, and being open about being a follower of Christ. No Ph.D. required. There are many ways to witness, and the effects are innumerable. Nothing is more attractive and catches people’s attention and curiosity than a person who gets their joy and peace from living for Jesus Christ. It might not seem that people notice, but they will notice your joy, and that will be something they want. As Pope Paul VI so eloquently said:

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“Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are first witnesses.” (Evangelii Nuntiandi 41)

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2. Jesus is both the model and goal of evangelization.

Jesus was the first and greatest evangelizer. He evangelized through His words, His actions, and His signs. If we want to evangelize well, we must learn from Him. Most likely, we will not be able to evangelize through curing the sick and raising the dead. However, we can evangelize by modeling our actions and attitudes off Christ. When facing that obnoxious co-worker, rude customer, stubborn family member, or argumentative friend, we can ask ourselves “How would Jesus act in this situation toward this person?” This is the ultimate WWJD or “What would Jesus do?” moment. And good luck, because this won’t always be easy. This won’t always make us “liked” or popular. After all, Jesus Christ who was goodness Himself was so unpopular He was crucified! If we want to evangelize well, we must be alright with being different. We must also remember that, while Christ is the model of evangelization, He is also the goal. At the end of day, what we want is that those to whom we evangelize will not only meet Jesus Christ, but will ultimately be in communion, in intimacy with Him (Catechesis Tradendae 5). When we evangelize, we evangelize for Jesus. We do not want to form followers of ourselves, but followers of Jesus. C.S. Lewis once said: “Don’t shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him.” Yes, we want to attract people to us because of the joy and authenticity in our lives. But let us never lose sight of the fact that that joy is not our own, but has been given to us by another. It has been given to us by Jesus. And in our evangelization we must make it clear that only He, and not us, can produce that.

3. Evangelization is the duty of all the faithful.

Evangelization is not only done from the pulpit in a sermon. It is not only proclaimed in the theology classroom. As we mentioned earlier, it is not only reserved to your annual mission trip. Evangelization belongs everywhere to everyone. Priests and religious have specific obligations to evangelize, but the role of the laity in bringing the good news of Jesus Christ into their everyday life, cannot be emphasized enough. Faithful youth have the capability to evangelize to their peers in an extremely influential way. You are never too young to evangelize. The witness and model of a friend to a friend is of utmost importance. The role of the family in evangelization is also extremely important. Parents have an obligation to transmit the Gospel to their children, and children can be formational to the faith life of their parents as well.

We have received a great calling. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) The world needs Jesus, and so the world needs us to bring Him to others. We are called to this task and given this opportunity. Let us begin.