What I really love about bloging is that anyone can talk about all sorts of things in an open format. The other day I wrote about my reluctance to evangelize in the traditional sense because of the bad rap us Christians have been getting. Some of which I admit is deserved. Believe you me, this is an occupational hazard of mine.
Lulu, a reader of mine reminded me that evangelism comes from our actions not our words and it reminded me of the St. Francis quote “Preach the gospel at all times, use words when necessary.” Possibly my favorite Christian quote (if that is a thing).
Most of my life I’ve lived by that rule. I believe in doing. I’m one of those people who feels most close to God when I’m in the dirt – getting my hands dirty. But lately I feel called to proclaim his name. I’m not really sure why, just that I am. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel the need to convert people from other religions. I have a profound respect for other religions and have many friends that are not Christian.
But here it is straight out. As a Christian, I feel we’ve done Christ wrong. We’ve made his teachings inclusive and untouchable. We’ve made our Jesus part of a secret club that you need some kind of secret handshake to share his wisdom. I don’t think that’s done Christ any good. As a matter of fact I think it’s made people down right adversarial.
Over and over I hear people reading books that sound awfully Christian but are missing Christ. His teachings of love, forgiveness, abundance of life, victory over oppression all spelled out in the language of vague spirituality. Have we thrown Baby Jesus out with bath water? I wonder.