February 5, 2006

February 5, 2006

In this morning’s epistle, St. Paul writes to the church in Corinth these words;

“I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.”

For the Jew, he becomes a Jew. For the Gentile, he becomes a Gentile. This flexibility, this ability to meet the other person where they are in their spiritual life, and avoid the temptation to drag them to where we think they should be, is the Christian ideal when it comes to evangelism. Unfortunately, that’s often not what happens in the world today.

There’s a story about a man walking across a bridge one day. He saw another man standing on the edge, about to jump off. He immediately ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.

The first man said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

"Like what?"

"Well ... are you religious or atheist?"

"Religious."

"Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?"

"Christian."

"Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

"Protestant."

"Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

"Baptist."

"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

"Baptist Church of God."

"Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God."

"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"

To which the first man said, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off the bridge.

What an sad witness such an attitude offers the world of what it means to be a Christian! What is even more sad is that often this same approach is how some Christians respond to those who are not Christian.

We are facing a new world today. The way we understood Christianity during to 50s and 60s will simply not do today. Since the 70s, many people have simply dropped out of the church. Their children, and their grandchildren, have no idea of what the bible or Christianity is all about, except what they see on the TV. At least two generations are unchurched today. The majority of Europeans have no connection to any organized religion. We live in a different world, a world that requires new approaches to evangelism, the ways in which we proclaim to the world the Good News of Jesus Christ.

When looking for new ways to witness to others, Paul’s words give us some good guidance. Our response to those who do not know Jesus must be more flexible. For the weak, we appear weak; to the strong, we are strong.

Loren Meade of the Alban Institute has looked more closely into the difficulties in our approach to modern day evangelism.

In one of his presentations, “The Once and Future Church”, Mead breaks down the history of Christendom into three eras; the Apostolic, the Christian, and the Emerging. He identifies three different environments in which each era existed. During the Apostolic era, the environment was hostile to the message of the Gospel. During the Christian era (which lasted through most of the 20th century), the environment was primarily Christian, as that was the dominant world view. In the Emerging era, the external environment is, at best, ambiguous to the message.

Some of us have witnessed this shift from the Christian to the Emerging era in our own lifetime. Here's just a few of the indicators;

In the Christian era, all of society was understood to be religious. In the Emerging era, society is often not religious at all.

In the Christian era, most public institutions were permeated with religious values. In the Emerging era, most public activities have no reference to religion.

In the Christian era, most people were expected to be members of a church. It was almost considered un-American not to be. In the Emerging era, church is for religious people, not ordinary people.

In the Christian era, religion was very public. In the Emerging era, religion is private, irrelevant, or optional.

In the Christian era, almost everyone is acquainted with the biblical story. In the Emerging era, few people know anything about the bible.

I think much of the Church is in denial of this reality. The energy seems to be drawn towards trying to recapture the glory days; to turn back the clock. In the meantime, God has continued to work in the world, but not always in the same ways as the Church has perceived the movement of God in the past.

The apostolic mission of the Church has to be rethought; no longer can the mission of the Church be primary. It has to give way to the mission of God, which can often be discovered outside the traditional boundaries of what we understand to be "church" or "religion."

Our mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ is hindered when we understand that to mean we are taking something out into the world that does not already exist; that our message is the most important one. That blocks our ability to see what God might already be doing in the life of someone else. When we insist on others accepting our understanding of God, and use the bible as a weapon to beat them into submission, we turn them away from Christ with our arrogant manner.

The world has changed. Today, we are called to meet people where they are in their spiritual life, and not drag them to where we think they should be. We listen to their story, offer our story, and look for the places that God's story intersects them both.

This doesn't dismiss the need for a catechumenate process, continuing education, amendment of life and spiritual disciplines. Those are elements that will gradually become meaningful to a person who is nurtured into developing a relationship with Jesus Christ. To demand it all from the beginning is blocking the way into the kingdom for others. It seems to me this is the error that Jesus saw within the Pharisees. Are we doomed to continue to make the same mistakes over and over again?

So how do we do evangelism today? There’s a saying in the Cursillo movement that might be good for us to keep in mind. Make a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Christ. We begin our witness through our actions; being a real friend to someone else in their time of need. Through our lives, we testify that we are different, that Christ has made a difference in us. Eventually, if we have been a good friend, the other person will ask about this difference. That is our opportunity to tell them about how your relationship with God has transformed your life. Make a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Christ.