Editorial for January 26, 2006
By Jim White
Why aren't more unbelievers listening to what the church is saying? Perhaps they are. Sometimes I try to put myself in the place of the unchurched and I listen to what “the church” is saying. My assumption is that most unbelievers are not attuned to the different strains of the church's voice, so they imagine that anyone who speaks out does so for all. What have unbelievers heard?
They got both ears full of Pat Robertson. When he is not calling for the assassination of one foreign leader (Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez), Pat is proclaiming God's righteous judgment in zapping another with a stroke (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon). Between times, he is spewing wrath on a Pennsylvania town (Dover) that came down on the wrong side of intelligent design. I can understand disagreeing with them. But I can't understand the brand of Christian theology that says, as he did, “If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected him from your city.” May I suggest to the folks at CBN that it's time to make a wholesale purchase of duct tape and apply it liberally across the orifice beneath Pat's nose?
Now I don't mean to be unkind to Pat. In all fairness, he did apologize for the Chavez and Sharon comments. But to the undiscerning, his big mouth gives us two black eyes.
Robertson, of course, is not the only one talking and not all the talking is bad. But generally speaking (no pun intended) there has been too much talking and not enough doing. It's easy to talk about how “God loves you and so do I” to the homeless. Actually doing something that demonstrates love for them is hard.
The self-righteous will say that AIDS victims are simply reaping what they have sown. Unbelievers, hearing that level of viciousness talk write off whatever brand of religion the talkers are selling.
Taken as a whole, Rick Warren is correct. He observed that for too long the church as the body of Christ has been one big mouth. The Apostle Paul asked, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?” (1 Cor. 12:17). If the whole body were a mouth, it could talk incessantly but could do nothing else.
I suspect that one reason we have not baptized more people in the past is because all some unbelievers have seen of the church is an open mouth. Except in the case of Pat Robertson, in whose case the world has also observed a foot within it.
How does this affect evangelism? It's been six months since Southern Baptist Convention president Bobby Welch attempted to place baptisms on the front burner of what's cooking in the convention. His passion is that we baptize 1 million people from October 2005 through the end of September 2006. I support him. You may or may not like his style or his methods, but unless you have slipped over the edge of Baptist life into the abyss of apathy, we are of one accord when it comes to salvation.
That said, how are we doing with the great task of the Great Commission? In truth, some churches are doing really well while other churches are doing really … well … awful.
If preaching alone could save the world, it would already have been saved. Maybe we need to rethink our evangelism efforts. What did Jesus say? “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples-if you speak persuasively to unbelievers?” That's not necessarily bad, but it's not what Jesus said. “… if you love one another” (Jn 13:35). That alone is the singular mark of a bona fide Christian.
Someone who genuinely loves people in the name of Christ may not have all of his doctrinal ducks in line with denominational decrees, but he will communicate the means of salvation authentically to those who need to be shown not just told. Someone who genuinely loves people in Jesus' name may not be able to articulate the faith with clear and concise conclusions, but his life will compensate for his halting speech.
I am not suggesting that our evangelism should be by deed alone! What if the whole body were a hand? It takes word and deed to share Christ.
I have an evangelistic suggestion to offer. Invite your unsaved friend, coworker or relative to go with you to see Chronicles of Narnia.
While the special effects are astounding, it is the story itself that is compelling. Four children discover themselves in a strange world that has known only winter without Christmas for a hundred years. It has come under the influence of a white witch who is the self-proclaimed queen of Narnia. In frozen Narnia, the children learn of an ancient prophecy that four human children will sit on the throne and rule justly. The Lion, Aslan, empowers the children for their task. When one of the children betrays the others to the queen, Aslan offers himself to cover the death required by the betrayal.
This touching symbol of Christ's death is a wonderful place to steer a post-movie conversation with the unchurched. The scene has just the right amount of pathos, tenderness and stark, surreal ugliness. The witch queen celebrates her victory intent on making her rule complete. But Aslan comes back from the dead to bring victory.
The parallels between Narnia and the Christian faith are easily seen and may be more easily “heard” than words alone. Let the unbelievers we care about hear from us!