Campus Crusade has placed a high priority on evangelistic EXPOSURES because there used to be a linear relationship between exposures and decisions for Christ. Post-modernity/Gen-Y/Gen-Me/Millenials have disrupted that linear relationship.
Evangelism pre-2000 (I'm approximating here) assumed evangelistic engagement came along with exposure.
Yet on the ground today I can spend thousands of dollars and time generating un-engaging exposures (read campus newspaper and flyers). My evangelistic statistics could look amazing yet show little fruit.
The new evangelistic landscape will be engagement. At some point the exposure bubble will finally burst and a whole new set of tools, presentations, and success criteria will emerge. There have been glimpses of this trend already: Soularium developed by CCC and The Four Cirlces by Intervarsity. Both uniquely emphasize engagement over exposure.
I brainstormed three other elements of evangelistic engagement:
1. Listening instead of shouting
2. Bite-sized chunks of the Gospel over the whole enchilada.
3. Mixed media tools and presentations--start offline and online, end offline or online
What do you see as you look out into the evangelistic landscape in your context?
here's a video of the four cirlces in action:
