Evangelism is not just about undertaking certain efforts to communicate a message to others. It profoundly affects the way we see ourselves, and ourselves in relation to other human beings.
Evangelism teaches the Christian that he is the sole agent of "truth," called by God to put down every other religion or belief, that he is God's "ambassador" on earth.
Is this really a healthy and humble way for a human being to view himself?
I remember those first conversations with A., thinking in utter amazement to myself: This Muslim has more understanding of God in his baby finger than I have in my whole being.
It threw me... at the time I really did think that I was the expert on God because I was the Christian, the messenger of truth. ha ha. get a life.
Showing posts with label evangelism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label evangelism. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Other Religions
Does God really want the whole world to be Christian?
Then why did he make us so varied?
Whole people groups will begin, live, and die without ever hearing about Christianity; they will practice the ways of their ancestors.
There is too much variety on the earth to think that God intended us to be so homogeneous...
What does he want from me as a Christian? Does he really want me to evangelize everyone?
Everybody who is not a "Christian" is going to hell? Of course not.
What if God thinks that everyone is needed, as they are?
Maybe he views us all the same. No difference.
Or he has different ways of grouping people together- not by race, or country, or religion, but maybe he just sees groups like "the humble" or "the oppressed" or "the rich" or "the proud."
There are a lot of things in the Bible that, I think, seem to point to the idea that being a Christian doesn't guarantee us right standing with God, and not being a Christian doesn't disqualify us either.
Ex. lots of verses talk about how God will judge each person, according to what they do.
Jesus' teachings in the gospels of how the people who were the most religious, or performed the most miraculous signs, will be rejected by God.
Jesus' rejection of the religious establishment of his day.
Lots of examples thru old testament of people outside Judaeism gaining God's approval (Rahab).
But if this is really true, then the Gospel Message as we know it is profoundly undermined. Our Gospel is that Christ died to redeem all from the dire consequences of our sin, and that through Christ, and Christ alone, we can be saved and reconciled to God. If people of other religions (or none) who've heard or haven't heard of Christ, can still go to heaven- doesn't this undermine the very core and vital claims of Christianity as we know it?
But I don't quite believe this Gospel, as I know it now. Perhaps we've oversimplified things. Boiling everything down to those Romans Road verses... the Gospel in a nutshell: Got Jesus? You're in. Muslim? Hindu? Buddhist? You're out.
To be honest, when I think of my father- and mother-in-law (Arab Muslims), I don't feel any anxiety over their eternal salvation, and I don't think that I'm somehow better off than they are.
"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
...and the world will live as one"
"... that they may be one as we are one."
"He's got the whole world in his hands..."
Then why did he make us so varied?
Whole people groups will begin, live, and die without ever hearing about Christianity; they will practice the ways of their ancestors.
There is too much variety on the earth to think that God intended us to be so homogeneous...
What does he want from me as a Christian? Does he really want me to evangelize everyone?
Everybody who is not a "Christian" is going to hell? Of course not.
What if God thinks that everyone is needed, as they are?
Maybe he views us all the same. No difference.
Or he has different ways of grouping people together- not by race, or country, or religion, but maybe he just sees groups like "the humble" or "the oppressed" or "the rich" or "the proud."
There are a lot of things in the Bible that, I think, seem to point to the idea that being a Christian doesn't guarantee us right standing with God, and not being a Christian doesn't disqualify us either.
Ex. lots of verses talk about how God will judge each person, according to what they do.
Jesus' teachings in the gospels of how the people who were the most religious, or performed the most miraculous signs, will be rejected by God.
Jesus' rejection of the religious establishment of his day.
Lots of examples thru old testament of people outside Judaeism gaining God's approval (Rahab).
But if this is really true, then the Gospel Message as we know it is profoundly undermined. Our Gospel is that Christ died to redeem all from the dire consequences of our sin, and that through Christ, and Christ alone, we can be saved and reconciled to God. If people of other religions (or none) who've heard or haven't heard of Christ, can still go to heaven- doesn't this undermine the very core and vital claims of Christianity as we know it?
But I don't quite believe this Gospel, as I know it now. Perhaps we've oversimplified things. Boiling everything down to those Romans Road verses... the Gospel in a nutshell: Got Jesus? You're in. Muslim? Hindu? Buddhist? You're out.
To be honest, when I think of my father- and mother-in-law (Arab Muslims), I don't feel any anxiety over their eternal salvation, and I don't think that I'm somehow better off than they are.
"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
...and the world will live as one"
"... that they may be one as we are one."
"He's got the whole world in his hands..."
Evangelism
"Evangelism": the deeply ingrained mantra that in all of my conversations/interactions/relationships with others, I had to have this ulterior motive: bringing them to Christ.
It crippled my ability to connect with other human beings, to just honestly connect.
It crippled my ability to connect with other human beings, to just honestly connect.
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