Years ago I read the following in Real Hope in Chicago, Wayne Gordon's great book on urban church work...and it has stayed with me. It supports from a different angle the previous blog entry's call for fresh, contextualized ways to talk about the Gospel.
Before long I realized that "get saved" evangelism was designed for suburban folk. It had little meaning in an urban context. The needs of people in the city are not the same as those of people in the suburbs, where material and social needs are met and where people can be more easily motivated by feelings of guilt. People in teh city are not encumbered with feelings of guilt. Their deepest feelings are of hopelessness.
If the Christ of the suburbs is the Christ of forgiveness, the Christ of the city is the Christ of hope. Ultimately, of course, Jesus offers both, but recognizing difference in perceived needs plays an importnat role in forming strategies for evangelism. (p. 170)
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