“If the devil’s in the details, where the hell are you?”
These words echoed over the mic at the first ever Portland State Poetry Slam competition. Billed as “Come spit your best Jesus poem: anything goes,” this outreach had incredible potential to fail. It also had the potential to engage an audience that was far from Christ.
Slam Poetry, otherwise known as spoken-word poetry, is gaining recognition across the U.S. and Portland is a hotbed of spoken word artists. Because of the context of the urban, liberal campus of Portland State, we recognized the need to listen first and speak second when it comes to evangelism. People have religious baggage here and are much more likely to engage in a conversation about the claims of Christ if they feel valued.
It was in the desire to engage this reality where the crazy idea of a Poetry Slam was born. Students would be given a platform to present their own poetry based around the theme of Jesus. In the midst of the competition our featured poet, Phil Long (sacrificialpoet.com) would present a compilation of poems, where he shares the Gospel and invites people to respond to the claims of Christ. And although poetry is a lucrative career, a cash prize helps a bit for motivating aspiring poets.
Much like other major outreaches, we blitzed the campuses with advertising, and mobilized our small group of involved students. The result was a room of about a hundred people (large event for PSU) and an environment that was the most engaging and authentic that I’ve ever seen. Student after student poured out their frustrations, hopes and perspectives about Jesus. Phil presented the Gospel in a way that was authentic and engaging. His personality and art diffused any tension that might have been in the room.
There are things we’d change about the night and we know every campus is different, but the environment and tone of the night has built trust and ongoing relationships with students that would never darken the door of a Cru meeting. I highly recommend that you consider this event for your context.
Our prayer is that we did a great job of reflecting God’s heart for people as well as balancing the need to listen in our proclamation of the Gospel. If you’d like more information about this event do not hesitate to ask. Phil is looking forward to seeing this type of event take place on campuses all across the country and will start booking events for this spring.
Matt McComas
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