Vampires, Alpha and Contextual Evangelism

This little video is doing the rounds in the UK at the moment,



It is very funny, but I must admit had me cringing a few times as well.  Mainly because it shows clearly how the Alpha course looks for a particular stratum of British society.  So why then is the Aplpha course so succesful if it is so easily lampooned?  Well the simple answer is that it doesn't look like that for everyone.  Many people have come to faith in Jesus through the Alpha course or something similar, just as many people will find the whole concept cringeworthy and unspeakably tragic.  Our Western society is now so stratified and fragmented that what will work well for one group of people will be a downright turn off for another group.

Those of us with an interest in sharing the gospel need to take note.  Mass evangelism assumes that everyone we meet has the same concerns and recognises the same cultural markers.  Mass evangelism no longer has a place in our western multicultural world, in our fragmented and disconnected society.  Instead we need to treat everyone as we find them and learn their lingo fast.  We do still need Alpha courses, but we also need other ways of reaching people, otherwise our churches will just fill with the type of person that likes Alpha and cannot conceive of another way of sharing the gospel.  Alpha may work wonders for vampires, but what about the werewolves, goblins and pixies?

Let me know what you think,  :-)