When I am driving my car at night I don’t have to stick my head out of the window and yell (I’VE GOT MY LIGHTS ON!!). Other people see your lights. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.

Here is a bonus food for thought question. If Noah was a “preacher of rightousness” and the ark saved all that it was intended to save, how was he a preacher of rightousness?

There’s a CS Lewis quote that touches on what you mention (I can’t remember the book it’s from). He says that he recognizes that the “Jesus loves you” approach does, in fact, reach many people… but it didn’t reach him, and he isn’t any good at taking that approach with other people. That’s the insight that I think is missing for a lot of well-intentioned people: that not everyone is starting in the same place, or has the same concerns or blocks, and therefore there’s no one-size-fits-all way to teach them about Christ.

Frankly, the “evangelism” that got me started was simply interacting with people whom I truly respected, living lives that I admired, and learning that they were Christians. That was a powerful witness, all the more so because they never tried to convert me! But they were ready to talk to me when I was ready to start the conversation – not leaping to quote Bible verses at me, but meeting me where I was and genuinely caring about what I needed to work through, at my pace.

Well, since I joined the church and perhaps in part because of my whining about apologetics, but probably because God moves, All Saints’ taught a 12 week course on apologetics. Hurray right? Well, yes and no. The class was very difficult for all but a few. It caused great frustration for Christians who really cared and hoped to find ways to convince lost family members and friends but found the material too philosophical. They learned a little but no one else (40 people in class) found anything exciting in the material. Sigh.

Many believe that people don’t come to faith by reason. Unbelievers are hostile to Jesus and only God can change their hearts. OK, this is probably true, but God uses our reason in the process. At least that was my experience. My heart could never accept what my reason rejected.

Yet, I have to admit that far more people have come to faith without reason. They come through relationships, kindness, because they hit bottom and call out to the God who is there, through spiritual experience of God’s presence and (much as I hate to admit) through simply hearing or reading scripture. In reluctant acceptance that this is true I attended an evangelism seminar last Saturday. I did this because I tremble at the thought of evangelism (apologetic argument, yes – evangelism, shudder). So, I kicked myself out of my comfort zone and went. The program is called “Sharing Jesus Without Fear” and is based entirely on the work of the Spirit (not us) in reaching the person. We ask the right questions (the best being “If what you believe is wrong, would you want to know?”) – next we have the person read the relevant Bible scriptures that present the message, then we ask closing questions to see if the person is ready to repent, believe and surrender to Christ as Lord. We are supposed to look for situations where “God is working” and get out of the way and let Him. We will know if God is working by the response of the person we share with. It has nothing to do with how well we make the case it is only about the Holy Spirit working in the unbeliever. To my great surprise, I found the seminar moving, exciting and effective. Here is a very short video promo
http://www.anglicantv.org/blog/index.cfm/2007/5/9/Treasure-Coast-Hospices

Although I can’t imagine that this approach would have ever worked with me, my approach (logic and reason) fails with many. I have reluctantly learned to be open-minded about the power of scripture. The evangelical Christians you met are out there and I admire them (now). God clearly tells us to “go” and share the Good News. When we don’t, we are willfully disobedient. I want to be obedient – but I often find excuses. Much work to do here.

On another note, I have thought about why, like you, I was once “disgusted and offended” by tracks, and scripture and even hearing Jesus’ name. In fact it took me about a year to get over a remnant of this in Bible study. I was great, with talking about God, even the Holy Spirit, I loved theology, but when some talked about their “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” or said “thank you Jesus” during prayer — I squirmed a little bit. Crazy huh? I had accepted the whole deal about Jesus, physical resurrection, atonement, God incarnate – so why react like this? I think that before faith, I was indeed hostile to God and found Jesus in particular a scandal and stumbling block. I blamed it on college parties making fun of Ernest Angley, but I now think it was the darkened condition of my soul. Even after seeing the Light and accepting the Truth, it took some time to really get the Jesus thing. Now I look to Jesus as my master and my God. But the development of this relationship took time and is ongoing. N. T. Wright’s “Simply Christian” helped me love God the Son. Now I feel wonder and gratitude when someone says “Jesus Christ.” This is growth I guess and, God willing, the Holy Spirit will continue to renew me and draw me even closer to my savior.

(This is another longish comment – sorry.)