Recently I was asked what I knew about evangelistic treasure hunts. Not much was the answer. I'd read a couple of blogs here and there, but for those completely new to it, here's a short video of practitioners from the States:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRpoKhu0kaI]
Here's what I like...
1. They want to "take it to the streets".
2. They believe in the universal love of God and want to express it.
3. They see people as "treasure."
4. They want to care for whole people, not just save souls.
5. They want to be sensitive to the Spirit's work in mission.
I affirm all these values. But for these very reasons I want to question the practice of treasure hunting- and I mean genuinely to "question" it. I'm a newcomer to this and in no position to dismiss it. But here are some initial thoughts that explore the foundations of the church's mission. If this starts a dialogue about it, then good and I'm more than willing to be educated about these things... But I wonder whether treasure hunting in practice ends up undermining all the positives listed above.
1. They want to "take it to the streets".
I'm all for taking the gospel to the streets (see links at the bottom of this post). But that's the issue: what exactly are we taking to the streets? What is the mission of the church? Put it another way: For what purpose is the church sent into the world?
(Notice that this question is different to "What are all the things the body of Christ gets up to, week by week?" The church is involved in many activities, but asking why it has been sent into the world is a significantly different question.)
My expanded thoughts on the church's mission can be found here and here but for now let me draw your attention to 2 Corinthians 4 and 5 and especially...
We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. (2 Cor 4:5)
Essentially, the mission of the church is not "service" in the abstract, with proclamation fitting underneath (see diagram). And it's not "service" on one hand and "proclamation" on the other (the context in 2 Cor. 4-5 makes that clear). Mission is proclamation - setting forth the truth plainly (v2), with "service" fitting underneath.
Proclamation is the umbrella activity - everything else fits explicitly under the preaching of Christ as Lord. If this is the case then the footing on which you engage the world matters. And the footing ought to be proclamation.
In 1 Corinthians 1-2, Paul is adamant that preaching the weak-looking cross is the way forward. He contrasts it with the demands of the Greeks (for wisdom) and the Jews (for miracles) and he insists that preaching is how we engage.
In the past I've taken flak when arguing against "wisdom-first" mission (i.e. evidentialist apologetics). Now, in the interests of offending all people equally, let me argue against "power-first" mission too. As we'll see, I'm not against wisdom or power in the cruciform sense - but I think there's an explicit order and a context for these things...
2. They believe in the universal love of God and want to express it.
This is a brilliant value to hold. The trouble is the practice of treasure hunting looks like it undermines that value. One of the distinctive features of treasure hunting is going after the few and passing by the many. The beauty of open air is that it's the one form of evangelism that seeks to be as indiscriminate as God's own evangelistic purpose. He has placed us where we are so that all people might find him (Acts 17:26-27). Therefore a way of evangelism (i.e. open air) that seeks to reach a locality as a locality is a wonderful reflection of God's universal love. If you want to reflect God's universal love, I'd recommend open air over treasure hunting which is unnecessarily particular.
3. They see people as "treasure."
This is nice, and a great reflection of the true meaning of Matthew 13:44-46 - we are the treasure and we need to be found. Of course the other word - "hunt" - is not so nice. But maybe the hunted don't mind?
My reservation here is something that also applies to open air, but I think the whole set-up of treasure hunts amplifies the danger: non-Christians are not marks to hit, or scalps to win. We're not interested in "gaining converts" but in offering Christ. If you ask me, the writing up of targets sets up the whole enterprise in a questionable way. Far better to speak from a fullness than to need responses. It's not about you achieving your witnessing goals, but about you emptying yourself for your hearers. There seems a very great danger of commodifying your listeners with treasure hunts.
4. They want to care for whole people, not just save souls.
Full disclosure - I'm not from charismatic circles. The churches I grew up in were as dogmatically anti-charismatic as they were anti-liberal. For years I thought evangelicals were defined by what we didn't believe in: we weren't liberal and we weren't charo's. That's my background. And yet, very often when I'm doing open air evangelism I've ended up praying for someone in need - whether for physical or emotional healing or for God to come through in some situation or other. I don't consider myself "gifted" to heal in any charismatic sense, but I've prayed for it often enough. Everyone street evangelist I know ends up praying for people - for healings, for "breakthroughs" in personal situations, for whatever. You can't offer Christ without talking to people in need, and you can't be a Christian without wanting to help those people.
I love that treasure hunters pray for folks on the streets - I do it too. But I have great reservations about encountering folk in order to tick off clues, and about leading with 'power', when Paul tells me to lead with the word of the cross (see points 1 and 5).
5. They want to be sensitive to the Spirit's work in mission.
This is wonderful. The prayerful preparation involved in Treasure Hunting is great. May we all learn from it. Also cultivating a moment-by-moment dependence on the Spirit's leading throughout our evangelism is priceless. "Spirit, help me... Open his/her eyes" is my constant prayer in open air work. But let's ask: what is the work of the Spirit?
I fear that too often we make an equation between the Spirit and what Enlightenment people think of as "the supernatural". Since modern people (Christians included it seems) have booted God "upstairs", we consider this world as a "natural" realm of cause and effect. But then Christians come along and say "Yes, but there's also another realm over and above called "the supernatural" and it's all about un-natural, unexpected stuff happening." And so essentially Christians agree with the naturalists about the basic structure of reality, we just insist that cause and effect aint all there is - there's also freaky stuff.
What will evangelism look like then? Well, we'll want to introduce unbelievers to this other realm. And so "the miraculous" seems a perfectly appropriate way in. Trouble is, the Spirit is not so much the Spirit of "the supernatural", He's the Spirit of Christ. The way the realm of the Spirit breaks into this world is in the Anointed One. Heaven meets earth in Jesus and every meeting we try to arrange between unbelievers and God needs to reflect that.
In 1 Corinthians 1 Paul has rejected the tactic of giving "Jews" the "miraculous signs" they demand. He thinks that will undermine his message. Nonetheless in chapter 2 he says he wants his evangelism to demonstrate the Spirit's power (v4). Ok great. What form will that demonstration take? It's not in wise and persuasive words and it's not in miraculous "powers". It's in preaching the cross (2:2). There the Spirit shines His light with almighty power (1:18). There is the meeting of heaven and earth. And Paul says, it's very possible to distract non-Christians from that centre. It's very possible to empty the cross of its power (1:17).
Lest we ever do that, let's determine to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He is the whole focus of the Spirit's work. Let us then, as Spirit-filled, Spirit-dependent witnesses, make Christ and His work our focus. That is truly Spirit-ual evangelism.
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Here are some older posts on how I try to share Christ publicly...
First Contact Evangelism Seminar
Open Air Preaching with Wesley and Whitefield
Open Air Preaching
Open Air Ideas
Open Air Doesn't Have To Be Flashy
