Much is now being said about evangelism; but before we get effective evangelism, we have to get effective evangelists. Evangelism is useless unless it is the work of one devoted to God, willing and glad to suffer all things for God, penetrated by the attractiveness of God. New machinery, adaptations and adjustments, are not the first need... but more devoted, adoring, sacrificial souls.
Interpretation
Effective evangelism requires dedicated individuals and deeper devotion to God over mere techniques.
Evelyn Underhill's quote emphasizes that the true essence of evangelism lies not in the methods or technologies employed but in the devotion and commitment of those who carry out the work. In order to communicate spiritual truths effectively, one must first cultivate a deep relationship with God, embodying qualities of devotion and sacrifice that resonate with others. This focus on personal commitment over technique highlights the importance of genuine faith in the act of sharing religious beliefs.
In practice
To inspire a group of church leaders at a seminar about effective outreach.
Nothing in all nature is so lovely and so vigorous, so perfectly at home in its environment, as a fish in the sea. Its surroundings give to it a beauty, quality, and power which are not its own. We take it out, and at once a poor, limp dull thing, fit for nothing, is gasping away its life. So the soul, sunk in God, living the life of prayer, is supported, filled, transformed in beauty, by a vitality and a power which are not its own.
As the beautiful does not exist for the artist and poet alone—though these can find in it more poignant depths of meaning than other men—so the world of Reality exists for all; and all may participate in it, unite with it, according to their measure and to the strength and purity of their desire.
God is always coming to you in the Sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive Him there with gratitude in that sacrament.
Spiritual reading is a regular, essential part of the life of prayer, and particularly is it the support of adoring prayer.
As the genuine religious impulse becomes dominant, adoration more and more takes charge. 'I come to seek God because I need Him', may be an adequate formula for prayer. 'I come to adore His splendour, and fling myself and all that I have at His feet', is the only possible formula for worship.
I have an idea heaven will be both absolutely happy and absolutely dark, to protect us from the blaze of God.
I don't think any of us can speak frankly about pain until we are no longer enduring it.
We don't need legitimacy. We exist. Therefore we are legitimate.
I know that it is a hopeless undertaking to debate about fundamental value judgements. For instance, if someone approves, as a goal, the extirpation of the human race from the earth, one cannot refute such a viewpoint on rational grounds. But if there is agreement on certain goals and values, one can argue rationally about the means by which these objectives may be obtained.
But the Emperor has nothing at all on!
Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.
We believe that civilization has been created under the pressure of the exigencies of life at the cost of satisfaction of the instincts.
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