A recent Bible Study led to a discussion on asking for signs from God. How do we know it’s a sign from God? What do we say to those who need to “see to believe?” It turned into a discussion about “the lost” and “the non-believers” and how we as Christians prove God’s existence to “them”.
Only recently have I felt our church making an effort to tear down that invisible wall around our group of believers and really make our community more than an afterthought. Evangelism tends to be something we make about “us and them” and appears in events like we’re doing this weekend which, while effective, is just an event.
We as Christians continue on with our defensive bubble, asking those around us to come in and hear what we have to say, or with this idea that we have something to prove. We make Christianity more about religion than about relationships.
Christianity is not exclusive. It isn’t something we do. It is something we are. I believe the self-inflicted bubble has contributed more to the angst against believers than anything else. Where is the humility in being set apart? We take that so literally that we seclude ourselves. Or, in a thinly veiled attempt at evangelism, we try to convince this “them” that we have something “they” should want.
It is not our job to prove anything. It is our job to serve those in need. It is our job to serve those not in need. The Holy Spirit does the tugging.
Please, do not take this to mean that I’m against sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ or that I’m encouraging a strictly passive approach to sharing (or not sharing) the Gospel. I believe wholeheartedly in the Great Commission. I just feel like we tend to look at it more as a job or an obligation than a heartfelt desire to expand the Kingdom. We put such emphasis on telling people about Jesus, that we completely skip over the first step of building a relationship and meeting the needs of people.
If we truly want to make a difference, there is no convincing to be done. There is only serving.
2 replies on “More on “The Bubble””
good post. i agree wholeheartedly. the challenge for me is *being* the change myself so that *i* begin to model this among my friends…
Also, I had a question. I am looking to upgrade my digital camera to something with more manual controls… I am getting more into digital photography and my point and shoot just isn’t cutting it anymore. Have you researched this or have any recommendations?
Bingo. Great insight Lance. I read a book by Chris Folmsbee where he addresses “Event Evangelism” and how, sometimes it works and it brings people closer to God. But what happens afterwards? They leave, go home, and back to the real world. How do we live it out. Evangelism, minus the community and servant component, leaves a lot of people with a bad taste. People are turned off by canned presentations. People want to be met where they are. They want to meet a Jesus that is real and alive and cares about them. Now. Today. At work. In their cubicle. Wherever they are in life!
I sometimes feel that we have conditions. “Go and get your stuff straightened out, THEN you can come and be a part of our ‘community.’ THEN you can become one of US.” And that’s wrong. It’s not biblical. A couple months ago I heard someone at church talking about some recent visitors at the church he was concerned about. He said: “We need to monitor the types of kids that are coming into our church building. I don’t want my kids hanging around some of these kids that have been attending. They are not safe. What happens when you dip a white cloth in mud? It comes out dirty! And I don’t want my kids around them!”
How sad is that? As long as we view it as “us” versus “them” we will fail miserably at this thing we call evangelism. Not saying I have it all figured out either. But I sure know that reaching our generation for Christ begins and ends with serving others. Loving others!