| I was a teenage fundamentalist
I went to 2 fundy schools (PCC & TTU) and graduated from one. Along the way I had a great deal of exposure to "evangelism" done the fundy way. It was not a pretty sight. I even took a (required) 2 credit hour course on evangelism.
Mostly it was a hard close style sales pitch. The gospel was a product that you could (heck you were encouraged to) "repackage" based on an individuals "needs". Several of the lectures were actully structured like a sales seminar. 1) getting in the door~Do you have product people want to buy? 2) the set up~ what do they need? 3) the pitch~ did you explain it in a way that sounds apealing? 4) the close~ Don't you see how Jesus meets your needs? see point #2. 5) objections~ How to get back to #4 again as soon as possible.
All very hard to take. We actually had sales books such as Zig Zigler on the reading list for the class. It was not evangelism so much as recruitment.
In keeping with the spirit of the OP I will close with one positive thing. The did make it a practice to set aside some time every week to actually speak to non-christians about the gospel.
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Kevin Rogers
Sovereign Community Church, PCA
Moncton NB
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