Saturday, October 11, 1997

Christianity is by its very nature evangelistic

By MICHAEL O'CONNOR

Abilene Reporter-News

A letter writer to Christianity Today complains of efforts on the parts of evangelical Christians to convert Jews.

The writer, who says he is a former Christian who converted, apparently forgot that what he used to consider the New Testament contains works by a former Jew who converted to Christianity - someone who was absolutely convinced that the only hope for his Israelite brethren was to come to understand that Jesus was indeed the prophesied Messiah.

We live in an age where many voices proclaim that Christians should keep their mouths shut about their faith. If they want to hold to Christian tenets, the voices say, fine. But religious faith is a personal matter and no one should try to "force" his or her beliefs on another.

Of course, if what we mean by "force" is the proclamation of a government that all its minions will become Christians, then we shouldn't force our ideas on any one. If by force we are talking about a king who gets it in his head that he is the defender of the faith and therefore he should take his armies to another country, subjugate it and make its citizens swear loyalty to his religion, then we should force our ideas on others.

But many Christians truly believe the gospel, which has from its inception declared that the only hope of salvation for the world is through Jesus, so the voices will just have to keep complaining.

Christianity is by its very nature evangelistic. Its founder admonished his followers to go out and make other followers. Its most well known advocate was never shy about proclaiming his faith and urging his flocks to do the same.

The reason the voices urge our silence, I suspect, is because we have been obnoxious about our faith and failed to live up to what it requires of us.

We have sought power not servanthood, pursued hate rather than love, insisted on being ministered to instead of ministering.

We have heard the sermons and shouted our amens and gone back to our lives as though the preacher's only purpose was to entertain us, not bring us to life-changing commitment. We have denounced the sin in others while nurturing the sin in us.

With such a track record, few can marvel that the voices ask us to shut up.

But what would happen if we gave our lives in sacrifice the way our founder did? Is it possible that if the proclaimers saw us loving one another the way Christ did and engaging the world with a message that was backed up by our lives, then maybe, just maybe, the voices would quit asking for our silence and instead ask us about the hope that lies within us?

Michael O'Connor is Online Editor for the Reporter-News and is an ordained United Methodist minister. He can be reached at Box 30, Abilene, TX, 79604 or by e-mail at oconnorm@abinews.com.