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Posted At: 11:18pm by Rachel Engebretson
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I stood in the doorway and waved goodbye to my bedroom. I wasn't moving away. I was running away. As a determined 8 year old, I was angry at something probably very petty but just aggravating enough to drive me into a rebellious fury. While I marched down Maple Street, the confidence so inflamed within me at home dwindled with each step. I stood beside the stop sign at the end of my street and realized - I was alone.
In the course of time, we will sometimes feel alone. It may be as insignificant and comforting as sitting alone in peace and quiet. Most often, the connotation of "alone" is scary. Alone means having to survive without the help or presence of others - or having to survive among others who are all completely different than you.
As Christians, it is completely natural and habitual to be alone while living in a secular territory that rejects faith everywhere. From the coworker who is proud to say she hasn't gone to church for most of her life to the family member who embraces nihilism to the acquaintance who swears in God's name, we are inundated with Christianity prejudice. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6a), says Jesus. It's not a way, it's the way. It's not a truth, it's the truth. It's not a life, it's the life. So, when non-Christians run around with lives pasted together with a hodge-podge of truths and ways, Christianity can appear very non-accepting of philosophies apart from Christ. To a certain extent, this is most certainly true. "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6b), Jesus continues.
Admittedly, those who are non-accepting can come off as judgmental and cold. They're not comfortable people. They aren't people who are going to love every part about you for the sake of it. The end result? Christianity can't be comfortable either. Bring it up in conversation? How dare you! It's not a friendly subject. Go so far as to invite others to join? How dare you! If you can't accept the person without religion attached, forget it.
What a frustrating mission field of the egotistical, and how alone we may seem.
Law has a sly way of making evangelism seem as though it's a one-person job. It says, "Make haste, believer, for the whole world is going to rot in hell if you don't quickly tell them all the Gospel." Jesus says, " Behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). We are never alone. The Spirit works with and despite us.
Notice how Jehovah's Witnesses never go to someone's house alone (or shabbily dressed, for that matter). It is insecure to stand alone. How much more empowering it is to outnumber one non-suspecting door opener. What a strategic way to compensate when the message is weak.
This isn't to say more than one Christian evangelizing with each other is weakness. One gigantic difference lies between us and the occult: the omnipotence of the True God. When one Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, Muslim, or Jew proclaims their message, they are alone. When one Christian proclaims the Gospel, they are never alone in Christ.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).
All of this may seem like a no-brainer. Of course Christ is always with us. Yet, being human, we tend to rely a lot on how or what we feel at the time. Being Lutherans, we know very well that faith does not rely on the unpredictable, sinful feelings of this world. However, this is sometimes forgotten when we're dropped into the middle of the world, busy with its own agenda, and we feel very much alone. I often think of a lonely man looking straight into the eyes of thousands of armed militia. Jesus used a different example when sending out the twelve apostles to spread the Word. "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves" (Matthew 10:16)...
It's a scary feeling. Nevertheless, feelings are helpless and useless. The power of an almighty God does not rely on feelings and is the sower who plants seeds in hopes of growth, the vinedresser who looks at the barren tree and says, "Give me one more year," the shepherd who leaves his 99 sheep to look for the one lost lamb, the father who throws a party for the lost son who came home.
The power of this unconditional love is what guides us and and is constantly with us. It is what will never leave us alone.
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Posted On: August 04th, 2007 at 11:43pm by Kelly [ + ] |
Great post!
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Posted On: August 11th, 2007 at 9:35pm by Rick Weiss [ + ] |
Im wondering how you feel about the ELCA voting last week on allowing gay minsters?
You seem so sensible that I value your thoughts
God Bless
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Posted On: August 16th, 2007 at 10:12pm by Damian G. [ + ] |
"No one comes to the Father except through me."
GASP! Intolerant bigot! Multiculturalism! Rainbows! Puppies!
Great post, Rachel.
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