Evangelistic Fragment Five: Faithful and Distinctive

(The fifth of an as yet undetermined number of thoughtlets on evangelism that have dribbled out of my brain, down my arm and through the keyboard.   Mainly because I'm preparing to teach an MA module on evangelism.)

The previous fragment spoke of evangelism in three modes: being doing and saying.  All three modes depend upon the maintenance of a distinctive identity, distinctive practices and a distinctive message.  No distinctiveness, no news. 
Please note though that being distinctive does not imply being separatist or disengaged.

Please note also that our distinctiveness consists in Christlikeness and is a by-product of faithfulness (the first calling of witnesses) and should never be about mere oddity.

Please note finally that faithfulness has three reference points: first and foremost we are to be faithful to the embodied purposes of God expressed in the person of Jesus; secondly, we are to be faithful to the original purposes of God enacted in creation; thirdly we are to be faithful to the ultimate purposes of God envisaged in the dream of the end.  In other words our faithfulness is to be christological, creational and eschatological.