Legacy

Communicating to the Common Man

By Karl Priest

[This article first appeared in Creation Matters (Vol. 6, No. 4) the newsletter of the Creation Research Society and then in the January 2002 edition of the of the Kanawha Creation Science Group newsletter.]

As creationists, how can we expand our outreach of proclaiming the creation message to more people?

I use the term “Common Man” to describe the huge majority of people in our society. For the sake of the discussion of creationism versus evolutionism it excludes the scientists, theologians, and other members of the intelligentsia although there are time s when the strategies I refer to will lead one into dialogue with this small group.

People who fall into the “Common Man” group are men and women with little or no college work, or men and women with college degrees in fields other than science. The question is, “How do we witness to them without getting them to attend a creation seminar? Attendance at a creation seminar is wonderful, but it usually comes after the seeds are ssown in their minds.

The key is to proceed as you would if you want to be an active witness for Christ as Savior. Some say the best witness is to live a Christ-like life in front of people so they hunger for what you have. That idea is not wrong, but it is not enough. For example, I have an unsaved friend who appears as Christ-like as most born again Christians. The only way an unsaved person could tell him from a Christian is to stake out his home and see that he does not attend church. So a Christian has to have some way to express that Christ is in his life. That concept can be expanded to include proclaiming Christ as Creator.

To communicate to the “Common Man” one must understand the basics, be available, set up opportunities and then let the Lord guide what happens. There will be some stumbling at first. For example, I wear novelty T-shirts whenever possible. Once I walked into a post office with the AiG platypus shirt and the clerk, who was very knowledgeable on evolution, pretty much intellectually whipped me because I was not well grounded in the basics of what the shirt presented.

Although no one will ever reach perfection—there will be success to varying degrees. I have a bumper sticker that says, “Fish Don’t Walk and Jesus Lives”. At a garage, another patron noticed the sticker and tried to argue in favor of evolution using the so-called walking fish. That time, thanks to a little study, I was knowlegable enough to hold my own with him.

Recently I had a dozer operator do some work on my rural road and I worked along beside him doing the shovel and grunt work. When we reached where my truck was parked it was time for a break. He asked me about my vanity plate (Bug Man) which opened a long discussion about the amazing insects. It was easy to glide into informing that the public schools are brain-washing children with evolutionism. Best of all, I was able to witness for the Creator of insects. It was a natural conversation—no brow beating—and several times I keyed off his expressions of awe as I described some great things about insects that were very commonly seen (even there with us as we spoke).

It doesn’t have to be a T-shirt or bumper sticker. I have a couple of insect decals on my windshield. Last Fall the windshield was cracked from a rock flung by a passing semi. The fellow who replaced the windshield asked about the decals and another conversation developed, while he worked, which was very similar to that of the dozer operator.

It doesn’t have to be a long conversation. Once I went to Lowes wearing another T-shirt and the check-out lady just had to read it (This shirt is of a man telling a monkey the things the man is capable of which the monkey isn’t.). Once again, though briefly, I had the opportunity to tell her the public schools were teaching that we came from an apelike ancestor. She, like the vast majority of people, have a gut feeling that evolution is wrong, but they just don’t realize that their children are being indoctrinated.

It doesn’t take a Ken Ham or Henry Morris to do all of the work. I am a bumbling dummy who just makes himself available. Anyone can wear a button, cap, or something with some kind of slogan or simply a picture of a particular animal. When a “Common Man” comments about it, the conversation easily can be used by the Lord in ways that will amaze you.

It’s a good idea to keep a set of tracts handy and leave one with the person when the conversation is over.

These strategies (of which I did not originate) work for those Christians who take the great commission seriously and it is easy for creationists to incorporate them into a creation ministry that can effect a large amount of people—the “Common Man”.