The E-Word Reclaimed: A Good Message & a Good Path – Brad Jersak

A Brief Glossary of Terms Used: 

“Deconstruct” — to question our inherited constructs or assumptions about God. 

“Colonize” — to take control over, occupy, and exploit another land and its people.

“Decolonize” — to restore freedom of belief by removing control from the equation.

“Proselytize” — to recruit or try to convert someone from one religion to another.

“Evangelize” — to share the Good News.

Evangelism Despoiled 

As a former Evangelical Christian, the process I experienced in shedding that identity is sometimes called ‘deconstruction.’  Decades later, I’ve become acutely aware of pet catchwords that make fellow “ex-vangelicals” cringe.  

For example, casually drop the trigger word “evangelism” into a conversation. Watch for the facial tick that signals immediate revulsion. Not that those who’ve left evangelism behind are any less aggressive when sharing their opinions and trying to convert others to their points of view, but evangelism became a loaded term, weighed down with embarrassing stories of pressurized proselytism and cultural colonialism. For some of us, the intense demand that we convert others whose eternal destiny was our responsibility was a crushing burden. Our fear-driven gospel required a marketing plan that included bait-and-switch enticements to recruit new members to fill the pews where we learned the pyramid scheme: your purpose is to recruit and mobilize an ever-expanding army of evangelists to “win the lost.” Our life goal was to proclaim the gospel and persuade new prospects to “pray the prayer.”

I realize that a great many of “Evangelicals” are still convinced that this model represents the Great Commission (hence the name). But for those who have moved on, a bad taste remains in their mouths—too many negative and even traumatic associations. The history of colonizing missionaries and door-to-door spiritual salespeople has made Evangelism an E-Word, a profanity even to faithful disciples. 

And yet… I can’t unsee how sharing the gospel was central to Jesus’ ministry and to the mission of his apostolic emissaries. Have we misunderstood and misinterpreted Jesus somehow? Is there some truth to evangelism that the faithful should retrieve?

Evangelism Redeemed

I recently spent a day with Chris Harper, an Indigenous Christian leader who knows all too well the perils of missionary endeavors. He can recount the history of how his people were stolen from their homes as children, stripped of their spirituality and culture, and abused in Canada’s notorious ‘Residential Schools’—all while being indoctrinated by white European priests in the name of Christendom. It was disastrous, a literal genocide. 

And yet here was Chris—fully Indigenous, fully Christian—sharing a beautiful gospel without dropping the E-word. It was so simple. I feel that he gave me the language I needed:

“We have a good message, and we invite others to a good path.”

That’s it! No indoctrination, no control—instead, a good message with an invitation to a good path. So…

What is the Good Message worth sharing? 

What is the Good Path worth inviting others to?  

The Good Message, as Chris shared it, is that we have a Creator who loves all people and all of creation, who made us to live in harmony with each other and with “all our relations” (the rivers and trees, the fish and animals and birds). And where that harmony has been disrupted, the Creator sent Jesus (whose name is translated literally as “Creator-sets-free”) to restore and reconcile all things to peace with God, ourselves, each other, and the whole of creation. Is that a good message? It sounds beautiful to me! And it’s a message I wouldn’t be embarrassed to share.

The Good Path, as Chris shared, is the Way of Peace and Reconciliation, where Jesus invited us to walk together hand-in-hand and where Chris invited us to walk with him, side-by-side. Is that a good path? It sounds good to me! And it’s a path I wouldn’t cringe to invite others to. 

In that model, “conversion” isn’t about indoctrination or recruitment or colonizing. It’s an invitation to experience God’s love, joy, peace, hope, and freedom—the healing of our hearts as we join Jesus and each other on his Good Path. It’s our welcome to Jesus’ new way of being.  If there’s a conversion involved, it’s not about switching teams. It’s a transformation we experience as we internalize the Creator’s gift of restoration and wholeness. There’s no “sign up or else” ultimatum. Instead, we can ask, “Would you like to taste and see this goodness we’ve encountered?” And to those who are curious, we share our story: “Here’s how Creator-sets-free found me and what that’s meant in my life and relationships.” 

Who knows? Those who hear your Good Story might even join you on Jesus’ good path. (And no need to use the E-word).  

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