There was a rather surprising attack on evangelicalism in the Church of England the other week from one of its own clergy, that included a swipe at Thy Kingdom Come, the extraordinarily successful archbishops' prayer campaign. It is, according to Angela Tilby, another sign of how the rot has set in and evangelicals are taking over the whole show.
She has been ably answered elsewhere. But purely as a matter of fact, Thy Kingdom Come is not associated with any of the Church's multitude of tribes. It's actually been designed so that everyone from the yells-bells-and-smells, more-Catholic-than-the-pope brigade to the light-bulb-changing, happiest of happy clappers can take part.
But she was right in one thing: it's about prayer for conversions. Unashamedly, it assumes that Christians have something to offer that is worth having. This is, in whatever way you want to put it, a particular relationship with Jesus. So if we're involved in this we'll pray that other people will have that too, and we'll do our best not just to pray but to be part of offering it to them. Here you are, we'll say: I might not be terribly good at theology and answering your questions, any more than I'd be any good at cooking the sort of meal you'd get at a posh restaurant, but I have a spare invitation here and I'd be glad if you'd sit down at the table with me.
Most of us, if we're honest, are pretty much repelled by the high-pressure, hard-sell tactics of some evangelicals. One high-profile mega-church pastor, Paul Scanlon, caused something of a furore when he said on Instagram, 'Christians and non-Christians agree on one thing...we both dislike evangelism. 'You don't have to evangelise anyone, just love accept and serve people,' he continued. There was an inevitable reaction, though someone who can grow a church to more than 2,000 people deserves a hearing, at least.
Though even to point out that figure raises questions. Is it just a numbers game? That's the sort of thing that really gets non-evangelicals riled up, and no wonder. Every human being is uniquely complex, precious and wonderful. We are not numbers, potential notches on an evangelist's Bible. Anyone with a grain of insight recoils from seeing non-Christians as targets – potential customers or clients, who can be attracted by the right kind of offer made in the right way.
Take that approach and evangelicals are no better than a trained sales force, out to maximise revenue.
The trouble is that non-evangelicals let their queasiness about the bathwater of high-pressure evangelicalism drive them to throw out the baby of precious souls, too. What drives evangelicals – and does not really drive liberals or Anglo-Catholics – is a sense of confidence. They know they have something worth sharing. Because evangelicals are fallen human beings, this desire to convert can get corrupted – it can be a means of propping up a fragile spiritual ego, of scoring points (talk about 'winning' souls can be quite revealing) – but at their best, evangelicals want to introduce people to a Jesus they know and love.
That's why Thy Kingdom Come is such an inspired concept. It is not about results, particularly, in terms of increased head counts, though that might well happen. It is about prayer, and prayer is most of all about leaving it to God. And while God's Kingdom coming certainly includes conversions, it is not limited to personal conversion: it is about the conversion of the world, from what it is to what it ought to be.
Let's face it, evangelism can be driven by unworthy motives. Fear, for one thing – fear of that line on the membership graph sloping ever more steeply downwards, for instance. But the only motivation that's worth anything is this: that the gospel is Good News, and that we are called to share it.
Thy Kingdom Come is a 10-day period of prayer between May 10 and 20 (Ascension to Pentecost), adopted by many churches and denominations in the UK and around the world. For more details about resources and events, click here.
Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
