Justin Welby: What we talk about when we talk about evangelism

The story goes that when the British explorer Joseph Banks landed in North Queensland in 1770, he saw a kangaroo for the first time. Puzzled to know what this animal was, he pointed to the animal and asked a local man. "I don't understand you," replied the man, which in his Aboriginal mother tongue of Guugu Yimithirr is just one word: "Kangaroo."

For years it was popularly believed that to call these animals 'kangaroos' was based on a profound and embarrassing misunderstanding.

Evangelism is such a word. For Christians, it's the name for an activity that some love and others hate – it's a passion for some and an embarrassment for others. For non-Christians, it's a word that can send them running to the hills, feeling they are in danger of having something 'done' to them. (I wonder which of these descriptions fits you – and what you've experienced in the name of evangelism to make you feel this way?) Keep reading

See also
Justin Welby on evangelism: 'Prayer has to be our first priority'
use words