Evangelism has often been a dirty word in liberal circles. I grew up with a clear distinction between missions and evangelism (with the focus on missions). In reading "The Continuing Conversion of the Church" I've been amazed and excited by the merging of the two in ways I have not seen before. The things I've always learned about missions and being a "missionary" apply to evangelism.
Most startling is the idea that evangelism is a two way street. In translating the gospel into another culture, another life, we continue to be converted, changed, as well. Our understanding changes, our assumptions are challenged. One theme harped on in this book is that no cultural manifestation of faith is normative. In sharing our faith with others, in translating the powerful message of the gospel, we are shaped, changed, and grow.
Evangelism itself is scary. Evangelism can be pushed as an important response to faith, a mandate by Jesus, our loving response to caring for our neighbors. I've never seen it pushed as an important aspect of the development of our own faith. For without evangelism, without bearing witness, without being an interpreter of faith, we miss an important part of testing, stretching, and growing our faith.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Pacifism ramblings
I'm reading Bonhoeffer right now. I was thinking about his proposal for an ecumenical peace convocation to outlaw war. My father is a pacifist and I've been a pacifist too. The idea of war sickens me. But I thought about all of this in light of our changing society. "War" is almost an anachronistic word today. War used to be what happened when nations attacked each other.
We've moved further and further away from the "Gentleman's war" that once existed. Now we talk about the "war on drugs" and "war on terror" but these kinds of things are ways to legitimize our government fighting against something that is not another government. Our way of reaching beyond our bounds because we are afraid of the reality that what happens in one country dramatically affects another country and rarely has to do with direct government action.
War still exists, obviously, but is it really that I'm against war? Is that a complete statement? No. I oppose war for the same reason I oppose gangs, domestic violence, terrorism, etc. I oppose violence of all kinds: physical, emotional, sexual, individual, group, and national. I am a pacifist because I believe that God desires a world of peace, not violence.
People sometimes bring up Hitler as a response to my pacifism or my stance against the Death Penalty. I do not believe it is right to stand by and do nothing when people are behaving violently! What bothers me is that we tend to take violent action before non-violent, simple and brutal action before creative but complex actions. We do not do preventative work but jump to violence after someone else has caused violence. Our world has had enough. God calls for peace in our homes, in our streets, and between our nations. How do we prevent violence? love our neighbors. How do we respond to violence? By taking a stand, no mater the cost. Bonhoeffer resorted to violence, and I was not in his situation, but at the least he was willing to take a stand against the violence of Hitler. I hope to do better at my pacifism in the future, for it cannot be a passive pacifism, it must be active!
We've moved further and further away from the "Gentleman's war" that once existed. Now we talk about the "war on drugs" and "war on terror" but these kinds of things are ways to legitimize our government fighting against something that is not another government. Our way of reaching beyond our bounds because we are afraid of the reality that what happens in one country dramatically affects another country and rarely has to do with direct government action.
War still exists, obviously, but is it really that I'm against war? Is that a complete statement? No. I oppose war for the same reason I oppose gangs, domestic violence, terrorism, etc. I oppose violence of all kinds: physical, emotional, sexual, individual, group, and national. I am a pacifist because I believe that God desires a world of peace, not violence.
People sometimes bring up Hitler as a response to my pacifism or my stance against the Death Penalty. I do not believe it is right to stand by and do nothing when people are behaving violently! What bothers me is that we tend to take violent action before non-violent, simple and brutal action before creative but complex actions. We do not do preventative work but jump to violence after someone else has caused violence. Our world has had enough. God calls for peace in our homes, in our streets, and between our nations. How do we prevent violence? love our neighbors. How do we respond to violence? By taking a stand, no mater the cost. Bonhoeffer resorted to violence, and I was not in his situation, but at the least he was willing to take a stand against the violence of Hitler. I hope to do better at my pacifism in the future, for it cannot be a passive pacifism, it must be active!
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