One of our faithful readers is a guy with a fascinating ministry in Chicago. His mission field revolves around an open mic bar downtown that holds regular poetry readings and as such has developed its own poetic culture of thinkers and street philosophers. It’s a kind of modern day Areopagus where they brought Paul when he was discussing the gospel in the marketplace in Athens. The Areopagus was a place where “all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas” (Acts 17:21) Well our fellow reader has chosen this as a place where he can, as a poet himself, develop relationships with these people and give witness to Christ.
In a recent newsletter he described an encounter with two guys he labeled as a “Pacifist” and a “Brawler” just to keep them apart. As he described these men and their beliefs based on past experiences with Christianity, it was evident that they were quite knowledgeable about religion and the church. This is something I find true when we let people talk about what they know about God instead of just making them listen to what we know. We always find out they know more than we realized. In this instance he mentioned that the Pacifist and the Brawler disagreed on many things, “but they were united in their opposition to the church, both feeling the church had a history of abusing power and oppressing people.” Well who can argue with that? My friend went on to point out that in both of these things, the church was missing something central to the teachings of Jesus about letting God have vengeance and turning the other cheek.
This is just another indication of how we need to listen before we talk – and listen to connect and agree, not disagree. This is how we can build bridges into the world instead of erecting walls around us.
Later on our friend wrote, “I’m not smart enough to make them see the truth, or clever enough to explain it so they can understand. They need God to open their eyes and draw them to Himself.” Is it ever anything else?
John Fischer The Catch 
For many Christians, sharing the Gospel is like telling a joke poorly. They tell it so poorly, in fact, that the audience doesn’t get the joke. Making a valiant attempt to explain the joke further only renders it less funny with every attempt. The words are all there and everybody gets it, but the humor is already gone.
I’m not trying to say that the Good News of Jesus Christ is a joke, or even that it’s funny. Only that if it were, there aren’t enough skilled comedians among us to make people laugh. It’s too bad because people need to laugh, and humor is all about timing and delivery. The Gospel is very much about timing and delivery too.
Sometimes the best way to learn how to tell a joke is to be around funny people. Spend time with the guy who always has people in stitches. Copy his delivery and mimic his timing. Explaining jokes more thoroughly is not going get you a gig. Making people laugh will.
Another thing is for certain; it’s really hard to tell a joke you don’t understand yourself. If it didn’t make you laugh, it probably isn’t going to come across that well when you pass it along. That’s why good comedians are the ones who always seem to be laughing about something. They see life differently than the rest of us and then they help us to see it.
Love is the humor in the Gospel. It often gets lost among all the good explanations. Sharing the Gospel without communicating love is like telling a great joke and blowing the punch line.
John, here is a video link of another Chicago area slam poet who is a friend of mine. My partner filmed this piece at a “Jesus Poetry Slam” event we held in collaboration with Campus Crusade for Christ at University of Nebraska – Lincoln on April 7th. It was a mix-martial metaphorical train ride for the gypsy hopeful and black ice at 90 for armchair koolaid skeptics. The students reacted very well to Marty’s poetry and passion. We hope that he spoke for some of them. I know you will enjoy this too because you obviously appreciate the power of poetry to speak for the heart. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phz1lj_8j98 -Phil