God’s Whistle Blowers

This article is refreshing. For several years now, after leaving “the bubble”, that was my old church, I have had a radical change in thinking. Luckily, my husband shares my same views and we are able to rant and share ideas together. If you have to be living outside this fish bowl, it is nice to have some company.

The church needs a face lift. It needs to change. And it took me stepping outside of it and looking in to see it. If you know me at all, or occasionally read my blog, you know that I have several opinions about it. I think the ancient days of door-to-door evangelizing are over. I think the days of acting religious and being religious for the sake of being religious should be over. I think the days of acting like as a Christian you are so far above everyone else should have never of been an issue. I think the “I am right, you are wrong” mentality is never going to win over nonbelievers to your side. It doesn’t work in any kind of debate. What does work is being kind and loving others regardless of what they believe, what color their skin is, what their sexual orientation is, if they have addictions… whatever the “problem” may be, love is always the answer. Always.

If you haven’t already clicked that link in the beginning sentence, I encourage you to do so. Read it. With a open heart and mind.

Here are some highlights that I find insightful:

What do Christians learn when they start listening to atheists? Henderson, author of the forthcoming book The Outsider Interviews, has found that the “I’m right/you’re wrong” model is a conversation-killer par excellence. So is speaking of non-converts as “lost.” “Nothing sets off an atheist more than hearing a Christian say, ‘I know Jesus is God and that I’m going to heaven when I die,’ ” Henderson says. “They also notice that we often say it loudly and arrogantly, which only serves to reinforce their negative opinion of our certainty.”

Atheists are also wary of being seen as “projects.” Does continued contact and eventual friendship with the Christian in their life depend on them converting?

As Christian pastor Samir Selmanovic has written, two-way conversations with the not-like-minded are vital for a devout person’s spiritual growth. Selmanovic, author of the 2009 book It’s Really All about God, wrote in aHuffington Post article that friendly atheists are “desirable and necessary interlocutors in our human conversation. … To us religious people, atheists are not only precious neighbors but also strangers who see what we cannot see and ask questions that we don’t know how to ask. … Atheists are God’s whistle-blowers.”

Benefits flow in both directions when Christian-atheist conversations break out. Matt Casper, the atheist co-author with Henderson of Jim and Casper Go to Church, and Henderson’s partner in the ChurchRater.com venture, says his engaging with Christians is motivated by his desire to get them to question their certitude and to see that atheists don’t have tails and horns. Being around Christians, Casper adds, “has made me a better person.”

Conventional evangelism is often accused, and rightly so, of “bait and switch” tactics; think attractive social gathering or sports outing that, unbeknownst to invitees, is really designed to segue into a Gospel pitch. Henderson has a fascinating alternative to propose: all bait, no switch.

Call it promotion by non-promotion, evangelism by attraction, goodwill mongering, or letting one’s life speak for itself, but this is what will best represent the faith among the many Americans who do not share the evangelical faith. Henderson and his fellow travelers are right in urging would-be evangelists simply to get to know people, become their friends and let the spiritual chips fall where they may.

The problem with evangelizing the majority of the time is arrogance. The idea that we as Christians have all the right answers to world and how to live life. And arrogance is always off putting. There is absolutely no love in arrogance. And how can you show Christ’s love with arrogance?

The revolution that needs to happen in the Church and among Christians is simply to love. Love freely. Love unconditionally.

One of the recent examples of the Church showing love and being what the Church needs to be was from a local church here in Nashville. Crosspoint church is lead by Pete Wilson.  I feel like out of the churches that I have attended in my life, this church is on the right track. I feel like Pete is extremely authentic and has a good understanding about what the church means and how that applies to the local community. During the flood in May, they stopped everything that they were doing and went out into the community to help others. They helped clean up flood damaged homes and started the rebuilding process. They were out there in the community when the people needed help. They were out there extending the love of Christ to people they did not know. To people who were and were not believers. And in doing that selfless act of helping, they showed God’s love. I am not sure if a “talk” about Jesus ever came up… but even if it had not they still did more just by showing up.

test Filed under religion b/c its a off topic topic. |