The Pelagian shadow
What, then, is evangelism in this [Western] context?
To our 'secular' contemporaries the answer to this question is quite simple. The Christian Church is a voluntary association of people who wish to promote certain values for themselves and for society. These 'values,' like all others, are matters of personal choice. They are not matters of 'fact' that everyone has to accept. It follows that the success of these 'values' depends on the number of people who support them. There is a diminishing number of people who identify themselves with Christian churches. The churches are therefore in danger of collapsing. Evangelism is an effort by the churches to avert this collapse and to recruit more adherents to their cause. It is even possible that this way of understanding evangelism may be in the minds of some church members. It then becomes impossible to conceal the element of anxiety that infects the enterprise. It becomes very important that we should succeed. The shadow of Pelagius hangs over the enterprise. (Weston, Paul. ed. "Lesslie Newbigin: Missionary Theologian." Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 2006 p231)
I would say that the Pelagian shadow hangs over much of what the contemporary western Church does. Not only do we regard evangelism as gathering adherents to our [God-given] cause, but our assumptions about the success of the venture rest on Pelagian assumptions: that those who hear and see the message will find it compelling on the basis of our presentation of it.
This couldn't be farther from the heart of the Christian Gospel. Jesus said, "But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe" (John 6:36). People saw the Savior, the image of the invisible God, and His miracles, and yet did not believe. Let us not think that people come to Christ because if we say it clearly enough, or live it well enough that it will be obvious to them. On the contrary,"The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor 4:4).
How do we escape the Pelagian shadow? By obedience and trust. We must obey the call to preach the gospel, and to walk in the ways of our King - regardless of whether He adds numbers to our ranks. And we must also believe that the Holy Spirit, whose role it is to glorify the Son, will be pleased to give life to dead people through the foolishness of the gospel as we present it in word and action. It is not that our words and actions make the witness compelling, but rather that this is what the Spirit is pleased to use to glorify the Son through these things that show our bankruptcy and His magnificence in mercy.
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3 comments:
Not only after posting this thread, a friend emailed me a NY Times article entitled, "Evangelicals Fear the Loss of their Teenagers"
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/us/06evangelical.html?ex=1160798400&en=53f06f3b16392e8e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
and included the following statements:
“I’m looking at the data,” said Ron Luce, who organized the meetings and founded Teen Mania, a 20-year-old youth ministry, “and we’ve become post-Christian America, like post-Christian Europe. We’ve been working as hard as we know how to work — everyone in youth ministry is working hard — but we’re losing.”
Mr. Luce’s strategy is to replace MTV’s wares with those of an alternative Christian culture, so teenagers will link their identity to Christ and not to the latest flesh-baring pop star.
Genuine alarm can be heard from Christian teenagers and youth pastors, who say they cannot compete against a pervasive culture of cynicism about religion, and the casual “hooking up” approach to sex so pervasive on MTV, on Web sites for teenagers and in hip-hop, rap and rock music.
One seventeen year old interviewed was quoted as saying: “It’s scary sometimes. You get made fun of.”
“This generation is not about church,” said Ms. Sandler, an editor at Salon.com. “They always say, ‘We take our faith outside the four walls.’ For a lot of young evangelicals, church is a rock festival, or a skate park or hanging out in someone’s basement.”
The article clearly shows the Pelagian shadow that hangs over us, "We’ve been working as hard as we know how to work . . . Genuine alarm can be heard . . ." I would contend that it is precisely our Pelagianism that is driving youth away in droves. They see that this is a human activity, not a divine one, that uses pyrotechnics alongside prayer. We are perhaps one of the few generations in the world that think it strange that, "You get made fun of." Teenage Christians in other countries die for Christ, and we have raised our youth such that they are surprised when they are ridiculed, rather than teaching them, "“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:11-12).
Newbigin spoke very clearly on what we are doing: "The churches are therefore in danger of collapsing. Evangelism is an effort by the churches to avert this collapse and to recruit more adherents to their cause."
We must repent of our Pelagianism, and humble ourselves to the foolishness of the cross that is not glamorous, or stylish. Jesus Christ does not compete with the powers of this age (MTV, etc.) but unmasks them through the beauty of His holy humility, manifested in human beings by the power of the Holy Spirit. This repentance the Holy Spirit may be pleased to use to grant true conversion to youth who see right through our foolish masquerades.
A great reminder that it isn't going to be our words or our ways that bring lost family, friends and strangers to Christ. It is easy to get discouraged OR to overanalyze the best way to reach someone and help them to see Christ. But it is God alone who opens the eyes of the blind to see.
Now if I could just turn all of the 'mind time' that I spend, worrying or concerned of how I can help them to see... into genuine heartfelt petition to God to peel the scales from their eyes... how much more well spent that time would be.
Dear Brothers, Friends,
nothing can be further from His Truth as blind obedience and subservience to written or spoken words, actions or body language of those, that claim to be priests in His Name.
St. Pelagius was more than right. Number of "sheeps in flock" of course means nothing -- but the free choice of rectitude and ways free of sins (since we are all born without any sin and all will be forgiven) is of sole importance.
I will pray for freedom of your hearts and minds from those human injunctions of obedience, servitude and false humility that torments so many for too long.
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