Wednesday, September 28, 2005
High score to heaven
I grew up in a Christian tradition where the ultimate expression of Christianity takes the form of evangelism, which means getting other people to give their lives to Jesus (getting them saved, for short). Evangelism as such is the highest calling of each individual Christian, and the ultimate goal of the church. The climax of every worship service is the invitation (altar call), at which time someone can officially become a Christian by praying a prayer of salvation and walking down the aisle to inform the pastor of his or her decision for Christ. Maybe this sounds familiar to you, or maybe it sounds totally foreign. As a child, this was reality for me.
Reality as preached in the sermon was reinforced by Sunday school. In my sixth grade class, I recall one terrible morning when my well-intentioned teacher asked each child to verbally state whether or not we had received Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. All the other kids (including the bad ones) said yes. How could I say no, even when I knew it wasn't true? So I lied. Fortunately, I was among the brightest and best behaved children in the class, so my teacher never suspected that I was still an obstinate sinner.
Another way evangelism was subtly elevated to preeminence in Sunday school was through the occasional use of incentives. Our teachers would announce the possibility of winning a great prize (like a new Bible) by collecting points. Points were earned for certain good behaviors like regular attendance at Sunday school and memorizing Bible verses. Bringing a friend to church scored you mega-points (even if that friend already went to church elsewhere). I have to take a moment to apologize to my friends, especially Craig, who got dragged to church several times in order for me to get more points. The best prize I ever won was a set of twelve apostle-head-shaped metal charms to go on a keychain or bracelet, each with the name of the apostle and a Bible verse inscribed on the back. I have no idea where those apostle-heads are now, but I know that most of my friends who came have little or no interest in church anymore.
So here I am, all grown up and working in a job where one of my roles is, ironically, evangelist. The temptation from my youth is still there to view the communication of the gospel as a means to get points. The prizes are no longer Bibles and apostle-head charms, but fame and recognition from the Christian community for being an all-star InterVarsity staff worker - and of course, eternal rewards from God himself. The consequences of being a lousy evangelist loom larger too. If too few students become Christians, I fear that people might stop financially supporting my work and that God will be disappointed with me. Not to mention that I'll be way behind in the race for points.
Please join with me in praying:
Reality as preached in the sermon was reinforced by Sunday school. In my sixth grade class, I recall one terrible morning when my well-intentioned teacher asked each child to verbally state whether or not we had received Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. All the other kids (including the bad ones) said yes. How could I say no, even when I knew it wasn't true? So I lied. Fortunately, I was among the brightest and best behaved children in the class, so my teacher never suspected that I was still an obstinate sinner.
Another way evangelism was subtly elevated to preeminence in Sunday school was through the occasional use of incentives. Our teachers would announce the possibility of winning a great prize (like a new Bible) by collecting points. Points were earned for certain good behaviors like regular attendance at Sunday school and memorizing Bible verses. Bringing a friend to church scored you mega-points (even if that friend already went to church elsewhere). I have to take a moment to apologize to my friends, especially Craig, who got dragged to church several times in order for me to get more points. The best prize I ever won was a set of twelve apostle-head-shaped metal charms to go on a keychain or bracelet, each with the name of the apostle and a Bible verse inscribed on the back. I have no idea where those apostle-heads are now, but I know that most of my friends who came have little or no interest in church anymore.
So here I am, all grown up and working in a job where one of my roles is, ironically, evangelist. The temptation from my youth is still there to view the communication of the gospel as a means to get points. The prizes are no longer Bibles and apostle-head charms, but fame and recognition from the Christian community for being an all-star InterVarsity staff worker - and of course, eternal rewards from God himself. The consequences of being a lousy evangelist loom larger too. If too few students become Christians, I fear that people might stop financially supporting my work and that God will be disappointed with me. Not to mention that I'll be way behind in the race for points.
Please join with me in praying:
- that I can know the gospel for what it is: as the story of the Kingdom of God, a story which continues today as the Spirit restores the reign of God in the lives of individuals and communities all over the earth
- that I'll be free from the temptation to score points with God and with people by trying to win converts to Christianity, InterVarsity, or any other cause
- that I can unselfishly celebrate the victories of other ministers and not be focused on building up a ministry as my personal kingdom
- that I can proclaim the holistic gospel of the Kingdom with sensitivity, grace, and courage
# posted by Anonymous @ 10:00 PM 
