There's a cartoon about a man going door to door, witnessing, but he's having problems with his language.
Christian: Are you lost?
Homeowner: No, I'm standing on my front door step.
Christian: No, I mean, are you blind?
Homeowner: No, I can see just fine.
Christian: No, I mean, do you need to be saved?
Homeowner: I don't think so. I feel just fine.
It would be funny if it weren't so true. We speak our Chrstianese inside the church, which is somewhat okay, if there are no visitors (which is a pretty sad commentary on your church, if you don't have any.) But, we can't really take it outside the church to the streets. Even Jesus had this same problem. "Eat my flesh and drink my blood" sounds an awful lot like cannibalism. And "I came down from heaven" sounds like a "Chariot of the Gods" thing. People who don't speak our language don't understand us.
Missionaries run into this, too. Ever hear the story of the missionary explaining "white as snow" to a group that has never seen snow? Your sins shall be as white as the inside of the coconut sounds weird, but it gets the point across just the same. Or the one who couldn't explain being nailed to a cross, because they didn't have hammers or nails? (God sent him a nail in a can of mandarin orangers, by the way.)
We had a missionary speaking at our church a few weeks ago. She was in northern Cambodia, and explained they can't say "God loves you." And why is that? Because they believe in millions of little gods, demons, spirits, and ancestors, all of whom need appeased.
Love? Love is desire. Desire is of the flesh. Flesh is evil. (Buddhist/Hindu/Animist beliefs, remember).
So, then, "God loves you" really means some little spirit of some kind or other wants to make your life miserable. Just great. That is exactly what they want to hear.
And what about those around me? The nurses I work with, old friends from high school I recently found on Facebook, my mafioso buddies on Myspace? What language do I need to speak to them? Many of my digital friends will never meet me, never get to see "Jesus in my life" and so see the difference he makes.
There is no resolution, no solution, no fix. Not for me. Not now. This is a question that I cannot answer.
Yet.
Tuesday, February 24
Speaking their Language
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3 comments:
I suppose that these are the cases where actions should be used to speak louder than words. We cannot trust our words to convey the history of Christ but we can trust our actions to reflect His living spirit.
We cannot trust our actions to do it either. They will see "a good person," yet not know what makes a difference. I am not a good person, but the impression they'll get is that being "good" is possible for people, in general. And they will continue attempting to be good, or being like me, or some other person in their life will become their standard.
I've heard others say "My lifestyle will point them to Christ." How? How do they know it is Christ, as opposed to your basic nature, or upbringing, or the school you went to as a kid. Maybe you were spanked. Or not. When was the last time some one approached you and said, "You're a real nice person. What makes you so different?" I've never had someone ask me that question.
We need to tell them about Jesus. Then they can look to him for their salvation and their righteousness. Paul said "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." I'm not like Paul. I don't want people imitating me.
(Sorry, Charles. This isn't a personal attack, its just one of my soap boxes. We learned about Lifestyle Evangelism in college, and it seemed pretty ridiculous, waiting for "them" to come to "us." We are sent to make disciples. That doesn't happen without opening our mouths.)
I do, indeed, agree with you in some respect. It is not enough to act as Christ acted or live our lives as an answer to the question "What would Jesus do?"
However, when the language barrier or personal aversions to Christianity are in the way we can start the way to overcoming them with our actions. It's always a good idea to behave as Christ like as we can but that is not (as you point out) the end of things. Simply the beginning. That is the way to begin with those who may misconstrue our words.
I am reminded of something Gandhi said "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
While being Christ like is not an end it must be a part if not a beginning of sharing our faith.
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