A Proposition for Evangelism
By Fr. Jonathan Tobias
http://web.archive.org/web/20140619202025/http://janotec.typepad.com/terrace/2014/06/a-proposition-for-evangelism.html
Real conversion to real Christianity starts with the awareness that God is not only real, but He is Love (and thus Trinitarian).
And as He is Love, His culture is Peace.Thus, His Church must be peace, and the ways of evangelism can only be that: transcendently peaceful and beautiful.
So, the felt and experienced culture of the Church will be different, necessarily, from the surrounding dominant culture of violence and domination. The Church really does not need to worry so much about other religions as it needs to be concerned about the opposite of its own Christological culture. After the Resurrection, the other gods are only constructs. Simply put, when St Paul said to "come out from amongst them," he is calling the Church to exchange the values of the dark world for the values of the fellowship of the Light:
Finally, and ethically speaking, evangelism is only for neighbors. It is not to be directed to anyone else. But just who is my neighbor? Ah, there's the rub. Do this, and God will give your Church (whether local or diocesan or ecumenical) all your neighbors who want to know Him, and accept His love. Don't do this, and all the PR campaigns and media slots will devolve into shadow and dry dust, shaken off the sandals.
By Fr. Jonathan Tobias
http://web.archive.org/web/20140619202025/http://janotec.typepad.com/terrace/2014/06/a-proposition-for-evangelism.html
Real conversion to real Christianity starts with the awareness that God is not only real, but He is Love (and thus Trinitarian).
And as He is Love, His culture is Peace.Thus, His Church must be peace, and the ways of evangelism can only be that: transcendently peaceful and beautiful.
So, the felt and experienced culture of the Church will be different, necessarily, from the surrounding dominant culture of violence and domination. The Church really does not need to worry so much about other religions as it needs to be concerned about the opposite of its own Christological culture. After the Resurrection, the other gods are only constructs. Simply put, when St Paul said to "come out from amongst them," he is calling the Church to exchange the values of the dark world for the values of the fellowship of the Light:
Competition is exchanged for Cooperation.
Conquest is exchanged for Compassion.
Celebrity is exchanged for Humility and Meekness.
Rulership is exchanged for Servanthood.
Demand is exchanged for Generosity.
Anger is exchanged for Reconciliation.
Materialism is exchanged for Sacrament.
Anger is exchanged for Reconciliation.
Solipsism and Soliloquy are exchanged for Prayer.
Isolation is exchanged for Solitude (thanks, Henri Nouwen).
Conformity is exchanged for Fellowship and Personhood.
Acquisition is exchanged for Simplicity.
Self-Pity is exchanged for Repentance and Meekness.
Lust is exchanged for Friendship.
Self-Orientation is exchanged for Worship and Taxis.
Violence and Power are exchanged for Peace.
Finally, and ethically speaking, evangelism is only for neighbors. It is not to be directed to anyone else. But just who is my neighbor? Ah, there's the rub. Do this, and God will give your Church (whether local or diocesan or ecumenical) all your neighbors who want to know Him, and accept His love. Don't do this, and all the PR campaigns and media slots will devolve into shadow and dry dust, shaken off the sandals.
