Simple obedience

[Soulfyre]

Often I forget that sharing my faith--proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ--is not simply a Divine prerogative (although it is that), it is a Divine command. And in the same manner as the old crusty joke about the drill sergeant saying, "And when I say, 'Jump!', the only response I want out of you is 'How far, Sir?'....ON YOUR WAY UP!", we are to proclaim the gospel WHILE we are going. Jesus the Messiah, our Savior and Lord, never questioned whether we were to go, or whether we were to tell others the his good news. One was commanded, the other assumed. Yet what a different commander. Not the drill sergeant, whose primary purpose in boot camp was to make a "man" out of you no matter how much pain (of your own) was required. Our Lord and Master took all our pain on himself, suffering death on the cross, to remove the burden or our sin. And he was raised to new life to become the First Born among many brothers and sisters. How can we but be humbled...honored...HIGHLY motivated (literally, motivated from on high by the Holy Spirit)...to proclaim his good news?

This simple obedience should not seem a hardship. In fact, it should embarass us to think of it in that manner. It should be our dearest joy. Let's use this area not only to share ways in which we can effectively share the good news of Jesus Christ with others, but as an opportunity to encourage one another to do so.

Matthew (soulfyre)

[melinky]

Spreading the gospel of Christ is indeed an awesome responsibility and, I believe, one that must be handled with care. Although I have been a believer in Christ all of my life, I have only been a practicing Christian for about three and a half years. I went to church on and off again throughout my childhood life, attending Disciples of Christ, Baptist, Assembly of God and a non-denominational church. I quit going to church when I was 18 and didn't go back, except for weddings and christenings until I was 43.

The main thing that kept me away was my firm belief that I didn't need a church to worship God and that religion was a "personal thing." I'm sure you've all heard that one before! However, there were other things that kept me away. I remember at one church feeling that most of the people were overly apathetic, sitting around, doing nothing, while awaiting God to provide for them. I now recognize that there are times in lives when that is all one can do, but I was immature, highly idealistic and obviously not sensitive to the needs of others.

Then there were televangelists, I found them to be downright embarrassing and felt they were hypocrites steeling from the poor, like my great-grandmother, so they could live in mansions and drive around in limousines. I saw my great-grandmother, who lived on a very small fixed-income sending in her money to a televangelist and I thought that this was just wrong. I can now see that television church was her only church and she was obeying God by lovingly tithing to her church. While l still have trouble with some televangelists, I can now recognize that television ministries do bring people closer to God and can be the difference between a person finding salvation in Jesus Christ, or living their life without purpose.

If I had to give one reason for staying away from what I termed organized religion, it would be the "bible-thumpers". The in-your-face, you-must-be-saved, bible-thumpers. I always felt these people were condemning me and that they felt they were better than me, you know, the whole holier-than-thou thing. I felt they were looking down on me, the sinner, from their lofty perches of righteousness.

I think that, generally speaking, non-Christians clam up at the mention of God or Jesus. They get that rolling-eyed, here-it-comes look on their faces and might as well stick their fingers in their ears and sing, "I'm not listening, I'm not listening." However, since most of these people are descent human beings, they grin and bear the Jesus talk and once the bible-thumper has left the room, they compare the mental notes they've been taking about the reality-check the 'thumper should take. I have tuned out and been turned off by more well-meaning Christians than I can count.

The thing that finally brought me truly to Christ, was seeing one of my coworkers actually living out her faith. While she never pointed out how Christ was missing in my life, she never hesitated to attribute the good things in her life to Him. She and her husband began having bible study in their home for some of the children in the neighborhood who had never set foot in a church. She was, and still is, very active in aiding the needy in her area through the St. Vincent de Paul Society. She never preached to me about the changes I needed to make in my life, she simply lead by example. For me, her actions spoke much more loudly than her words.

One of my favorite quotes of all times comes from St. Francis of Assissi who said: “Preach the gospel always. Use words if necessary.”<br>
I believe that people respond in different ways to the Word of God. Some need to be told through words and scripture of God's grace and Jesus' gift of salvation; while others, like me, need people to testify more loudly through their actions than through their words. I suppose it's like fishing, some fish like worms and some like crickets, if you want to catch a fish, you have to know what kind of bait to throw out.

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”<br>~Matt. 4:19, NIV

[fairbank]

Soulfyre and Melinky,
Well put, as always. I so appreciate your contributions, particularly Melinky in this instance with her emphasis on the need for loving action as an evangelistic tool. Most non-Christians will never read a Bible, but they will read us. Someone once asked my first pastor/mentor what his favorite translation of the bible was. His response? "My father's life. The way he loved his family and reached out to help strangers was the most convincing translation of the bible I have ever read."
There is another angle I wish to discuss and solicit input from my wise siblings in Christ...when evangelism and apologetics meet. We tend to think of evangelism as lovingly sharing our faith with the lost via proclamation of the truth, which it is. But what about evangelism as a response to an attack? Particularly in this season we have seen further boldness by foes of the faith to remove Christ from Christmas, and even remove Christmas from public attention. The parade of lights in Denver began as a local church celebration of Christmas, but this year the church which founded the parade long ago was denied participation because they wanted to sing Christmas carrols while riding atop a float sporting a shocking banner. Brace yourself: It was to say "Merry Christmas." Meanwhile, gay and lesbian native american groups were a part of the parade, and were honored as "holy people."
Some groups have such convoluted thinking that oxymoronic statements are now commonplace. This week one group proclaimed, "The problem with Christmas is the inclusion of Christians."
Where does evangelism fit in the face of such attacks? Is apologetics inherently evangelistic? After healing a cripple, Peter was brought before the Sanhedrin and asked "By what power, or by what name did you do this?" Acts 4:8 then states, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them..." I believe this is extremely important. When called upon to defend his faith, the Holy Spirit was the first to act, perhaps a fulfillment of a prophecy in Luke 12:11-12.
We see later in Acts 4 that in addition to this "inspiration" there is also "accusation" in verses 10, 11, and 19. That is to say the "accused became the accuser." Peter turned the tables on the sanhedrin (it would seem) because the defense of a Christian world-view often involves exposing the deficiencies of an alternative world-view.
Finally, we also see "proclamation" in Acts 4, in verses 10-12 and 20. This is what we normally associate with evangelism. The question I would like to pose for discussion is this: When our beliefs are under attack, are "inspiration" and "accusation" normative precursors to "proclamation?" If so, what particularly does "inspiration" look or feel like?