I, geekrevThe closest you want to get to looking inside the mind of Shawn Coons.

I’m in Nashville, TN for the PC(USA) Evangelism Conference and I feel like I’ve stepped into an alternate world - or several of them.

World #1 - All by myself

I’m staying in a room by myself for five nights and I’m definitely not use to being alone anymore.  It’s nice but it’s also weird and kind of lonely. I used to spend plenty of nights alone in front of the TV or computer - and I loved it! But now I’m a husband and father. As much as I wish I had more time to myself on a regular basis, I don’t want it at the expense of not being with Carrie and Ben.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to enjoy and make use of this time to myself, but it’s not the party it once would have been.

World #2 - The Resort

I’m staying on-site at the conference, which is being held at the The Gaylord Opryland Resort. The resort has almost 3,000 hotel rooms and three atriums that cover nine acres of gardens, river deltas and waterfalls. Basically this is on par with any of the major Las Vegas resorts. In other words, it’s decadent. So while I know I’ll enjoy the experience of being here and seeing this cool place, I’m not sure it’s a good choice for a church conference. Aren’t we endorsing this monstrosity of consumerism by patronizing it?

World #3 - Evangelism?

I’m at a conference for evangelism. Evangelism is for Baptists, right? Am I trading my Green Party, progressive Presbyterian credentials for Bible tracts and the sinner’s prayer? No. It’s time to move beyond the evangelism equals conversion crap. Evangelism is about communicating the good news of Jesus Christ, and I believe that most Presbyterian churches today are not communicating effectively with large segments of the population. Worship is the heart of the church and worship is where the church reaches the most people, but we communicate the gospel through worship in the same manner we have for at least a generation.

I started attending a Presbyterian church regularly in high school. In that time I’ve been a part of seven Presbyterian churches and their worship services were all basically the same. Seven congregations, in different parts of the country, over a span of twenty years. Think of how much has changed in twenty years in terms of how we communicate and interact. Think of how little worship has changed. This is why I am here. The gospel doesn’t change but how we communicate it needs to.

The other reason I’m here is because I’m trying to figure out why progressive Christians don’t want to talk about Jesus, and how to change that. We’re all into love your enemy, care for the poor, stop AIDS, and give peace a chance. But to hear how little some progressive Christians talk about Jesus, it makes me wonder why the bother with the church? If being a Christian is simply about joining the right causes then I want to drop out of the church and just join the causes, because it’d make things a lot easier.

So, here I am for the next five days. Straddling worlds, being alone, surrounded by decadence and becoming an evangelist.