I had the opportunity to go to the Super Duper Delicious Winona Variety Show on February 21st and had a great time. The nineteen “acts” shared their wonderful talents and exhibited the passion each person felt for gift they had to share. I also enjoyed the C+ Choir and their melodic (or un-melodic) renderings of rock ballads. I walked away reflecting on the night and what I learned from it and I wanted to share how the night challenged me.

I came away from the evening with the strong feeling that the Super Duper Delicious Winona Variety Show was exactly the type of event or community that Christianity should be. In fact, I think that the spirit of the show and how it was done could teach many Christians a new framework for thinking about evangelism, (sharing the good news, or in other words, sharing our understanding of God, the world and our faith).

First, the variety show exhibited the type of event/community that I think Christianity should be because it was an experience of support, encouragement and enjoyment. Everyone there came to see other people from the community share their passion and gifts. There didn’t need to be homogeneity, but rather the diversity of gifts was a celebration of the different ways that everyone is gifted. It is the same type of community someone should experience when they gather with Christians.

Just as those in the variety show were diverse in their interests but unified in sharing their passion, so should Christians be diverse in their lives, but unified in their shared faith in Christ. We, as Christians, often are good at focusing and highlighting our differences rather than focusing on our shared faith. I wonder how the atmosphere of the variety show might have been different if it were all about trying to show whose passion and talent was the best, and should be the right way to perform and share a talent. Simplified: I wonder how much different the variety show would have been as a competition rather than the celebration it was?

Second, the structure of the event can help us as Christians reframe our understanding of evangelism. Because the variety show was a celebration and a sharing of an individual’s talent and passion, it did something profound. It didn’t matter that I really am not a fan of country music or that I cannot dance at all. When someone sang a country song I was able to celebrate because I saw it was coming from their heart and helped make them who they are, and the same was true of the hip-hop dance act. I could appreciate each act even if I think the world would be better without country music. (I am kidding of course, but really I am not a fan).

What would happen if this was how Christians shared their faith? What if we as Christians shared our faith by living it out and demonstrating to people how our faith in Christ causes us to be who we are? Would individuals be able to appreciate who we are even if they didn’t have the same faith understanding? Would individuals be more open to God because it wasn’t about proving how Christianity is the “right” faith and way to think, and more about demonstrating how our lives were changed through our faith? I have to admit this: I left the variety show wishing I knew how to dance to hip-hop and so did my oldest son. What if that is what evangelism is supposed to be like: sharing our passion for Christ in the way we live out our lives and interact with others in such a way that people leave wishing they knew more about Christ and had that same passion.

I went to the variety show expecting to be entertained and I was entertained, but I also left changed and challenged. For this, I thank everyone who participated in the variety show, but also I thank all those who planned and helped put on the variety show. Winona is a better community because of people like all of you.