Edited by author 07-01-2005 11:01 PM
Dwight,

Thanks for your provocative thoughts concerning the Bridge illustration. We need new models, both conceptual and graphic, to explain Christ's work. I'm convinced that the best “methods” for evangelism have yet to be developed. As evangelicals, we are habituated on a linear-sequential-logical model of evangelism that is often incomplete and perceived as irrelevant.

I have been on staff with The Navigators for almost 25 years now. Some time ago, a pastor friend and I developed a version of the bridge illustration (One Verse Evangelism) that has been translated into almost 15 languages and is in use throughout the world. I am ambivalent about the illustration I helped develop. It has limited utility. Some people present the illustration graciously as a gift, others wield it as a spiritual bludgeon. I don't think the problem is with the illustration, it is with the heart of the person sharing.

You assert that the Bridge illustration has been "mishandled." I agree. But think of the logic of your argument. If something is misused, does that make the object the problem? Obviously, the problem is in the person or the style in which the truth is communicated. We can all cite instances where a good thing has been misused. Church is a great example. The church is not a bad thing just because others have ill-defined it.

Does the Bridge illustration suggest, "that Christ bridges over the chaos?" I guess I don't see that anywhere in the illustration. In other words, the issue of chaos is just absent. It's not so much that the illustration glosses over chaos, it's just that it focuses on the personality of Jesus (if presented properly), not on the context he redeems from. That may seem like a subtle difference, but I think it's important. It almost seems as if you are reading something into the illustration that is not there.

I do like your idea of merging the Bridge with Psalm 23. One of the things I am thinking through is communicating Christ through non-evangelistic passages, especially the Old Testament. I think we can explain the work of Christ through many passages that do not overtly describe who Jesus is. That may be a discussion for another time.

Thanks for invigorating the conversation about evangelism. May your words and thoughts sharpen each of us to become better communicators of the one who calms troubled waters.

Randy D. Raysbrook
RRaysbrook@adelphia.net