Evangelism

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.

DC and Ohio – Culture pt. 1

When I came to DC, one of my reasons to leave Ohio had been about having a slightly different cultural experience. I knew that things were different even in different parts of the USA and I wanted that broader perspective to bring into ministry.

A year after arriving in DC I was asked about what I’d found in this regard. I intuitively knew that things were different. But when I tried to pinpoint what it was, all I could think about were the things that I’d experienced about being a stranger in a strange land. What that was like.

Having moved off campus, and had my eye open for more concrete things, I’ve found several ways to describe the differences.

Story #1: A friend at church, no older than me, got a job working for a NON-profit. One of the first things she learned about as a benefit was free access to a service that would do things for her. The would buy presents for her family member’s birthdays, do research on vacation locations, or whatever else she didn’t have time for. She was encouraged to use it to help plan her wedding. It was strange to her, it was strange to me. Her reaction was not to use it, but I could tell she was tempted. Heck, I would be tempted.

Story #2: I started hearing about what are called bedroom communities. Adults who live in these places may travel THREE HOURS every day to get to work. They basically sleep in their homes and have some weekend time there. Questions are being asked about what it means to be church to these bedroom communities. Places where children see their parents only on Saturdays and Sundays. Where there is no real community or bonding in the area. People do shopping and recreation in the city where they work, not the town where they “live”

In D.C. there is a different understanding of work and home life.

The Beauty of Churches

"That we should ever meet the redeeming power of God in the humble stuff of congregations is witness to the extraordinary nature of both...Yet this is what we claim. We make this claim on the basis of reason and sacred text, but mostly because, time and again, so many have been bathed in redemption through God's reach in and through congregations." (Dunlap, 6)

I just wanted to share this because I was so moved by it. Too often church people get together to bash and complain about the church. How often do we sit and marvel at the powerful claims we make about those communities, not to mention the transformative work they continue to do.

Why I Became a Christian

For me, Christianity was a way of life that I was born into. Faith and life were integrated seemingly seamlessly in my family. Love and trust were held up paramount. Church was a safe place to be myself. I don’t have a great memory, but those I have of church were of play. I would play around with my friend while my parents lingered after church. To greet my babysitter I would run and leap into his arms. Church was also a place that connected me to an amazing world. When I was only about 4 years old my parents were co-chairs of the missions committee at my church and so our family was a heavily involved part of bringing a man from the DR Congo to get his pilot’s license at school in Toledo. So my memory of Christianity at a young age was one of safety, love, and a global vision of connection.

As I grew older, Christianity just made sense. Bad decisions in life were I guess similar to sin, though we rarely used that language. The thing that just made sense to me was that sin led to hurt. I guess I had less desire than most to explore the edge, so to speak, because that way of life tended to hurt not only anyone intended, but everyone around you, and eventually the person making those decisions as well. I say this not to sound superior, but to explain that for me, Christianity and the Christian way of life has been for me one of joy, love, hope, and the possibility for more people to lead good lives.

I’ve never particularly been shielded from the harsh side of Christian living. The church is filled with sinners and as such has deeply hurt my family, myself, and my husband in particular. Yet despite our faults, in people I see so much hope and potential that I just know that with God at the center we can do extraordinary things in this world.

Every day our society bombards us with images of fear, inferiority, scarcity, and individuality. I’m a Christian because I know for a fact that the God of love who created everything made it good and sufficient. We live in a land of abundance not scarcity. We can flourish as community not needing an “every man for himself” mentality. All are uniquely special, there is enough love and appreciation to go around to everyone, therefore we need not compete. And I can go on and on. Christ came to tell us that the prevalent motivations in our world are based on a reality that has been conquered by an amazing God.

Though I haven’t run far from my faith, and as nice as it would be to say that I’ve been a Christian my whole life, Christianity is something that is chosen most every day, in almost every decision, even many that are unconscious. Slowly as I grew up I grew closer to God. There are times in High School that I know I paid more attention to that journey than others. Over time I’ve learned more about how many decisions relate to being a Christian. I’ve struggled with inadequacy and doubt, anger that God would allow so much pain in the world and the feeling of impotence to do anything about it as my heart breaks. Journey is a good word, but a word I like better is conversation. Talking with God seems to come fairly naturally to me. God and I talk about lots of things, and in the process I’ve learned that it’s ok to hurt, doubt, question, and fear as long as I remember to turn those things over to God in the end.

I don’t believe it is an easy way of life, though I know it has greatly blessed me. I can’t imagine living any other way. The only one I know for certain cares more deeply about the people of this world than me is God, and I take comfort in that because somehow God is already taking care of all of it and more.