Evangel They Bring--Are We Sure?

We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, 

by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are,

 but by showing them a light 
that is so lovely that  
they want with all their hearts  
to know the source of it.

-- Madeleine L'Engle      

If "evangel" is supposed to be good news, then why does the word trigger such a negative gut reaction to people both inside the Christian church and out? What are we actually offering? And why do so many people think it is anything but good news for either the evangelist or the target?

I have listened to one sermon too many about how "the un-churched" need to be brought into our churches, and we have to go out and bring them in. Why? How do we know what they need? Would you trust a stranger who sidled up to you on the street and said; "Hey, listen. I've got just the product for you!" I know I would say; "Get away from me, you creep! You don't know me. How do you presume to know just what I need? I don't want any of whatever it is you're selling."

But, isn't that often our attitude when we do go out and try to "share the good news," or even worse, "to save souls"? 

Hi there. I don't actually know you, but still, I am sure we've got whatever it will take to "fix" you. (Even if I don't actually know where, or even if, you're broken.) Because, you see, we know that we've got it, and you don't: we're OK, you're not-so OK.

Our attitude comes across loud and clear -- I, from my high perch of superiority, reach down to help the one who is lower; maybe not quite up to my level but up just enough so I can feel good about myself while maintaining my sense of moral superiority.

Jesus did say to go out and do good works and preach the good news. But is this what he really meant? Are our "good works" supposed to be coercive? Do we feed the poor because they are hungry, or because we want them to listen to our sermon and act properly in awe of our "Christian charity"? Is our "good news" that we have something they need, or is it that we have been changed by God, and have found new meaning? Saint Paul said that his "good news" was that "Christ lives in me, and the life I now live I live by faith" (Galatians 2:20). To me, Paul seems to be saying, "Come get to know me, work with me, check out what I'm about these days. I believe I am different -- I feel like I've been given new meaning and purpose in life. I've been discovered by something wonderful and it has changed me, reconciled me to the universe. See for yourself if I am real."This is his good news.

And then, I think both Jesus and Paul tell us to let the other decide whether or not what we have found interests them. Jesus said to shake the dust off your feet if they do not listen (Matthew 10:24, Luke 9:5); that is, let it go -- don't let it get to you, just continue to go on and share your story. Leave it up to them to decide whether what you're offering is anything worth having.

Because, you know, just maybe it's not.

I don't know about you, but I haven't got a lock on God. I can't look into someone else's heart and tell exactly what is going on there, or discern what they need. Yes, I affirm we all "need" a relationship with the God of the universe, and as a Christian, I assert that Jesus is the complete human image of God. But, I know that my understanding is only partial, and "through a glass darkly" (1 Cor. 13:12). I am quite sure that God's involvement with the world does not start and end with me, or with my church, or even with Christianity. I believe that we can all experience God, but I am not convinced we can know God, at least not very completely. Better tread carefully! Maybe the incomplete understanding I bring to the conversation just isn't the truth about God that will have any meaning for someone else's heart? In fact, they could actually have a truth about God that I need to hear, and be offering that to me.

Maybe God's good news has nothing to do with God being found in (and only in) our churches, our sermons, our creeds, our doctrines, our Bible, or even our Christian faith. Maybe the good news is that, when we work together with others to feed the poor, heal the sick, take care of the friend-less and orphans, increase justice, and reconcile the estranged, we find and experience God together--in any place, and in unexpected ways.

Evangelism. Could the "good news" be about God's presence when we vulnerably reveal ourselves, open up to one another, open up to the possibility of our own change in the encounter?

What would things look like if I went out and, with every encounter, instead of thinking that I have something they need and that they need to change, I thought:

Today, right now, I am going to meet God. God is present and, one way or another, I am going to be changed in this encounter. God has something for me in it, which I can accept or reject--help me not to reject. If it is really Christ who now lives in me, then that grace is sufficient. I will have no agenda. I don't need to presume God's intent in this encounter. I will have no expectation of "results." God, open me up -- take whatever you want, change whatever you want, replace whatever you want.

Whether others are changed in this encounter is not part of my story, that is between them and God. Maybe what I have to offer is just, simply, not what they need. And that is OK. But, for me: Please make me aware of your presence, God, and your voice, from their words and heart as from my own. Don't let me miss the good news that you have for me--in whatever wondrous or strange form it may take.