No Bible Thumping 'round Here!

The always readable Andy Crouch has a great article in Christianity Today called The Violence of Evangelism. It begins:

Let the record show that, like right-thinking people everywhere, we have been alarmed by recent rumors of people being "beaten over the head with the Bible." We do not endorse, condone, or tolerate the use of the Bible as a blunt instrument. We are shocked at the thought of unwilling converts cowering in Christian churches all over the land, in fear of further beatings-about-the-head by their proselytizing Christian neighbors. These assaults must stop at once.

Crouch is being funny, of course. The problem, when it comes to evangelism, is elsewhere:

If evangelical Protestants ever did beat people over the head with their Bibles, that era has long since passed. A commitment to evangelism, indeed, has taken many in exactly the opposite direction, to the creation of entire church environments designed with excruciating attention to the needs and tastes of irreligious people. At some of America's most evangelistically active churches, you would be hard put to find a Bible to thump. Surely no one is worried about being beaten over the head with a PowerPoint slide, though I suppose one of those projectors could hurt.

There's plenty to think about in this article, and Andy Crouch is always able to strike to the core of the issue at hand, so go and read the whole thing if you know what's good for you!