When we seek to evangelize, we don’t
have the same situation. The gospel has not changed.
Christianity is still the only religion that holds the words
of life. However, we are not witnessing to Peter. Peter and
the disciples realized that there was something different
about Jesus and his teachings. In the eyes of many people
though, Christianity is just another religion. It is one
choice out of many, or one path to God out of many.
As insiders to Christianity, we know
that there are plenty of differences between Christianity,
Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. To an outsider though, it
appears to be a different set of rules or different rituals,
all in a hope to please a different god (who may in fact be
the same god but just going by a different name.)
Christianity is not a consumer product
and evangelism is not marketing but there are some
similarities. We have a product that we are convinced is the
best available. But there are dozens of different products
all claiming to do the same thing. Everyone is clamoring to
be heard and sell their product. Islam is claiming they have
the only path to God. Judaism says they worship the only
true God. Buddhism claims to have the only path to inner
peace. Hinduism claims that it is the only way to gain a
more favorable afterlife. Christianity claims that it has
the only way to heaven and Christ is the only one who can
give inner peace. How do we make ourselves heard above the
rest?
In a previous chapter I referred to
standing on our soapbox and trying to yell above everyone
else. It is just like advertising. A commercial will tell
you all the benefits of a product and tell you why it is
better than the other available products. But unless you
actually see and are convinced that the product is better
than the other ones, you aren’t likely to buy. It doesn’t
matter how loud the commercial gets or how many claims it
makes. Unless you see a difference, you won’t buy it.
It is the same way with Christianity.
We can yell as loud as we want and we can make all of the
claims we want. Unless we can show others that we have
something that is different, they aren’t going to buy what
we are selling.
We must earn the right to be heard. We
must show everyone that there is a reason to listen to us
and that the claims we are making are different from every
other religion.
A lot of this comes down to practicing
what we say we believe and walking the walk instead of
simply talking the talk.
It’s hard to convince someone to go to
church with you because it has made a great difference in
your life when you yourself only go once a month because
you’re so busy. Nobody is going to believe Christianity
gives you inner peace if you are constantly worrying about
every little thing that happens at work and fretting about
how things in life aren’t fair.
“Never buy something from a salesman
who doesn’t use the product themselves.” If you make all
sorts of claims about what becoming a Christian will do for
a person but yet have not laid hold of those claims yourself
because you have more important things than to come to
church every Sunday, you are an unconvincing salesperson.
You have to show that becoming a Christian is worth the
investment of time and energy. If you haven’t really bought
into it, you won’t do well convincing others to buy into it.
As Christians, it should be obvious
that we are different. This starts with the Holy Spirit and
the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. The fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Most of the world is
lacking in these qualities and if we are mature Christians
these things should be evident in our lives most of the
time. Remember, God is looking for fruit, not just plants
that have sprung up from the soil.
Next Section -
Competence & Character
