Evangelism
What a loaded word. For some it brings a feeling of intense fear/embarrassment, for others there is a sense of guilt surrounding it, and still for others a sense of pain or simply annoyance.
The whole thing is really just sharing our faith with those we know and love... Seems simple enough.
Shouldn't evangelism be something we are as opposed to something we do? Our entire lives should be emanating the light of Christ. Shouldn't we simply live lives that clearly illustrate the Gospel of Christ rather than memorizing cheesy slogans/diagrams and handing out condemning tracts on street corners whenever we schedule it into our week/month/year?
One of the women from the church I work at said:
"It's like we build it up to a whole huge thing and we get so scared of messing something up or not knowing something that it gets to the point where we're so terrified of the idea of discussing faith that we avoid it all together..."
I think there's a lot of validity in that statement... We don't need to deliver a certain number of truths or a specific doctrine in a clear organized manner to be sharing Christ's love with someone...
Doesn't a simple act of service speak louder? How about a genuine conversation that contains no trace of condemnation or judgment? How about allowing the passion you have for Christ's work in this world to find its place in your regular interactions throughout the day, rather than awkwardly trying to fit cheesy cliches and loaded questions into those interactions...
Now at the same time I don't want to encourage sitting around doing nothing... I've heard that message... "Preach the Gospel, use words when necessary!" And in some ways that's exactly what I'm musing about here, but I'm fearful (because it has been the case in my own experience) that clinging too tightly to this can become an excuse for laziness and timidity.
I can't always find that balance, and definitely can't find that for you...
Maybe you are that taxi driver who asks every person who enters their cab if they know Jesus Christ, not because you are filling a quota, but because you are so legitimately excited about Christ's work in your life that you can't help but let that enter the conversation...
Or maybe you are the mom who won't let your kids friends sleep over at the house on a Saturday night unless the kids join in going to church the next morning because "as for you and your house you will serve the Lord"
Or maybe you are that college student who visits the same pizza place week after week and as you get to know the guy who works the counter at the same time every week you begin to share more and more of each others lives...
Either way, the Glory of God is not something we can suppress, smother, or snuff out... We must allow our lives to speak of His wonders and make His name known in this world.
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im glad you like m83.
ReplyDeleteand i'm glad you're thinking the thoughts you're posting on here. these are awesome ideas and i think you're onto something really good.
i've begun to think that the glory of God is super evident in this world and we ought to embody that, definitely, but we also should spend a lot of energy simply pointing it out to people... pointing out the wonders of Him and His creation that are already here. thanks for posting your thoughts.
With all due respect, I could not pass this up since you have made your manifesto public. I wish I could share your religious enthusiasm. But, I'm afraid it is not healthy for us to continue to believe in the stories and beliefs of the ancients. Despite the evidential issues, these Judeo-Christian-Islamic faiths that have developed over the millennia are extremely sexist in conception, practice, and outlook. Continued self-fulfilling explanations for the veracity of this made up faith provides a hollow feel good (like when we play Santa Claus), but distracts us from really understanding ourselves, our morality, and our place in the world. Faith is actually very easy, it provides a simple man-made explanation for existence and distracts us from truth. If there is a God, I believe She would be annoyed by how backward we search for Her and how little we trust ourselves to seek Her. Remember the Good Book is a compilation of selected after-the-fact writings that were debated and compiled a few centuries still later and not made public until some dude named Henry the VIII. And the original evangelization of Europe was not all that beautiful of a thing. This anthropomorphic faith is backwards and blissful nostalgic thinking. Don't accept what others believe, determine what you believe. I believe this is our life's work, opus dei. Peace. - Hartnett
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