What is Gospel Improv?

Post date: Oct 19, 2018 5:1:57 PM

MOVED TO TEAMS

Intro: What is Gospel Improv?

Years ago I had a seminary class where the professor challenged us to be able to share the gospel from any book of the Bible. At the time the "Romans Road" was a popular way to explain the gospel, but he said that the gospel was implicit in all the scriptures. The great themes of creation, fall, redemption, consummation, etc. were part of the larger story and it all pointed to the work of Christ. Many have sought out those great themes, ably captured them in doctrinal statements and even summarized them diagrammatically in various ways. As helpful as this is, I think we need something a little different in an evangelistic encounter.

I've often described Gospel Improv as a method of looking for and then expressing the gospel. It seeks out the dynamics of the gospel as they play out in our experiences, and especially in our desires. It "connects the dots" to see how the gospel is relevant, not only in a scripture passage but also anywhere spiritually significant things come up.

I think the doctrine that guides us best in evangelistically significant encounters is the doctrine of the incarnation. Jesus showing up. Jesus coming alongside us, relating to us, hearing us, understanding us, loving us. By his Spirit, these encounters are now more diverse than they were in the days when he walked the earth. Some still experience him directly, but we often experience him through his scriptures, in our prayers, in our risks of obedience, in our worship, through his body -- other believers, and even through his image in non-believers or in the general revelation of culture, history, or the natural world.

If you look at it this way, Gospel Improv is about trying to understand encounters with Jesus. Here is an overview:

We start with the situation we are in. We begin by identifying a tension. How do we experience this tension? What feelings describe it?

Next, we analyze the tension in terms of desire. A tension always has at least two sides. We want to identify the side that God is prompting, as well as the side that is retreating from him.

On the God side, we identify longings for good that draw us towards God, "intuitions of transcendence," etc. This is a spark that grows into the kind of love that God wants us to have for him. If you look at it this way, our desires are the most important thing about us.

The other side of the tension is the part of us wants something besides God. We can see it in operation when we end up "stuck" in ways of being that are selfish, broken, self-destructive, and base.

This tension between the things of God and brokenness drives toward resolution. Spiritual tensions make us vulnerable and incomplete because by their nature they require a relationship with God. As hard as it is, it is a state of openness in which we are able to see Jesus as good news.

Here is the mysterious part: Jesus comes alongside those who need him. A single longing might be all Jesus needs to establish a relationship. We see this all the time in the gospels where people respond hardly knowing anything at all about Jesus, except that he is there for them with love and strength.

On the other side of this encounter is our response. Traditionally we talk about this as faith and obedience (or missionality). Here, we want to express it in terms of motivators -- how does the Spirit enable us to receive grace?; how does the Spirit empower us to serve? These responses can be just as specific and transformative as those longings before the encounter.

Gospel Improv is a method, but also a skill. With practice, we get good at spotting tensions, seeing the drivers behind the tension, and seeing where a person may need to encounter Jesus. It becomes a way to contextualize the gospel to different situations and different people. This is somewhat different than a similar skill of sharing a gospel outline: there the evangelist has to be good at transitioning from the situation to a gospel outline that uses images or metaphors that may be hard to relate to the situation.

A Proxe Station Exercise in Gospel Improv

The following exercise uses Gospel Improv for the final panel of the proxe station.

Proxe station evangelism can look a lot like those seemingly random encounters Jesus had with people in the New Testament. They focus in on a single theme, a single longing, in the hope that Jesus will show up there for that student because of that issue. The participant becomes aware of their longing and connects the dots to Jesus. Different proxes are going to be helpful for different people -- we can't always identify the particular tension that is going to resonate with a person. Gospel Improv is a great way to understand and express what is going on spiritually in the proxe, contextualizing the gospel to a particular person and situation.

It is also a great way to prepare for leading a proxe. In this exercise, proxe leaders will fill in their own experience and desires (we suggest doing it together with the team that will be working at the proxe). This will help you come alongside those who are experiencing it for the first time and will help prompt you as you explain the gospel. By doing this, we personalize the proxe, and contextualize the gospel to the issues the proxe raises.

To start, you will need a bunch of post-it notes (3 inch square is a good size) and a fairly thick dark pen, as well as panel 4 of the proxe with the "empty" Two Worlds drawing on it (the drawing that looks like this: ") + (" ).

Fill out post-it notes to place in each of these positions on panel 4. Try to capture your desires and feelings with brief thoughtful phrases. If you can, match your words to the wording or theme of the proxe to help participants see how it relates.

Position #1. Desire for God and his ways In response to any of the first three panels, write down ways in which your own heart is stirred with longing for more. On the note, express it as longing (hope, wish, dream, desire) for a good thing (God, his world, his ways or intentions for the way things are supposed to be). Examples: “Long for Hope on my Res” or “I dream of renewal for my tribe” Position #2. Caught in broken ways Again, prompted by the proxe panels and scripture verses, write notes about how you feel or have felt caught up in the broken world. Sometimes we are trapped as victims, sometimes we just settle for or go along with broken ways passively, sometimes we see evil or destructive motivations in ourselves. Examples: “Beaten Down” or “just want to survive, even if I have to leave” Position #3. Feeling the tension This is where we feel torn between both #1 and #2. How do you experience tension in this proxe? Help each other distinguish between #2 and #3: #2 can be painful, but in #3 we are torn because we have a sense of God’s better way. This is the key experience or angsty feeling that drives the whole proxe. Express a feeling about an experience. Often negative feelings can actually capture such a tension (guilt, anger, frustration, shame, etc.). Examples: “so angry – they should have helped”, “hurt, want to believe I’m worth more than that.” Position #4. Jesus shows up / comes alongside While we don’t usually fill in post-it notes about how and when Jesus showed up for us at our point of need (either the first time we turned to him or any other time since), it is helpful to keep these in mind in case it seems appropriate to share some parts of our testimonies during conversations. Position #5. Empowered to follow As you respond to Jesus’ love and strength on the other side of the cross, what new life of faith and mission do you experience? What does Jesus enable you to receive, what does he empower or motivate you to do? We are all works in progress – a life of faith is not about perfection -- but try to briefly capture where Jesus has brought you (often these resolve experiences in #3). Examples: “forgiving that white principal” or “emboldened to help when people feel lost.” Here is a contextualized depiction of the gospel using the image of heart in the Time proxe: Here is an example of panel 4 filled out with some notes that capture the experience of the proxe (feel free to use these, but your own words and experiences are best):