Swing Dance Evangelism

About a month ago in the Training Center we did an awesome study on evangelism and I definitely left feeling very convicted about how I was lacking some of the proactive measures needed in order to make disciples. One of the chapters that we read talked about being involved in normal activities of life in order to place oneself in the opportunity of sharing the gospel. The book mentioned ideal scenarios like joining a sports team, a bowling league, and the like, in order to put oneself in a normal and comfortable environment with non-believers. As a result, about a week later when some friends told me they were going to go do one of my favorite pastimes, I quickly agreed to go with them . . . I agreed to go swing dancing. It is something I enjoy doing, it isn’t damaging to my own walk with the Lord, and it is full of pagans; in just the last two times of going, I’ve had a couple of great chances to share the gospel.

Tonight was an awesome opportunity. I had purposefully worn my “Supernatural Transformation” shirt and a gal named Lisa ended up commenting on the meaning of the shirt. I had a chance to tell her that it was implying the verse from Romans 12:1-2 about being like Jesus and not conforming to the standards of the world. Lisa asked if it represented any sect of religion or philosophy, and I had a chance to tell her that it was just straight from the Bible. Knowing that I would simply be dancing to a four minute song, I quickly began a follow-up conversation. I asked her, “So Lisa, do you go to church anywhere?” To which she replied “No.” “Oh, well what do you believe,” I said. She mentioned about her studies with “religion” and “philosophy,” and I asked her what she had been studying recently. She said, “I’ve recently been doing some research into Eastern religions.” She said that she wanted to know what faith was correct. I asked her how she was raised and she said that she had been baptized in the Catholic church but her dad had stopped liking the church when they switched to English services as opposed to the Latin service. She also said that they had been hurt by the church. I asked her if she believed in heaven and hell. She didn’t really agree with them and she believes that all people are “pretty good,” to which I applied, “how good would someone have to be to get to heaven?” She replied by saying, “that is a great question!” I wanted to know more about her standard of good and whether people are born being good, so I probed a little deeper. She definitely thought that people were born good to which I responded, “what baffles my mind is when I think of little kids who are never taught how to lie, cheat, or steal, but they just do it naturally. “That is a really great point,” she said. After finishing the song, I thanked her and told her that it was a pleasure talking with her. If I had to do it over again, the one thing that I would leave her with is the truth that Christ came to save sinners from their sin, and he did it by living a perfect life, dying on a cross, and rising again. Though the only reference I made to Christ was in the beginning when I was telling her about the meaning of my shirt, I still know that God will use the conversation in whatever way he desires. Well, I look forward to the many more opportunities that God will give me to proclaim the gospel as I do more East Coast, Charleston, or Lindy-Hop Swing.