It's not like me to be so troubled by something that it stirs a passion in me that wants to scream out. But today, that very thing happened.
As I was driving today and listening to the local Christian radio station I was deeply bothered by a commercial advertising an upcoming fund raiser that they were planning to sponsor. They want to raise money to build a church in China that would seat 450 people so that the Gospel might continue to be spread. Now don't get me wrong. I'm all for humanitarian work and helping to build Christian community and spread the Gospel. BUT. . . by the power of the Holy Spirit the Gospel is already being spread like wildfire throughout the East - especially in China. I can't imagine that China needs Christian Americans to help them with anything. If anything, we need them to teach us a thing or two about following Christ. In house churches throughout the East pastors are offering to give their life for Christ. Lives are daily being transformed by the hundreds in the purest sense of the word. What do we Americans think - that they need a church building so that they can program out the Christian life as we have? God help us Americans who think that building a church building is what they need. It is brutal of me to say this, but I suggest that China's greater need is for we American's to stay far away. Lord, instead, how about you send some Chinese missionaries to us?
Whoa, was that Amy? I don't talk like that. I don't even think like that. Those thought just surprised me as much as they surprised you (if anybody ever reads them). O well. This blog thing just might be a lot of fun.
2 comments:
You Rock!
My best friend's son is in "an unamed Asian country" with YWAM. He is part of a team which shares the Gospel through dance and pantomime. Apparently it works. Sounds strange to me, but he writes that lots of people have come to know "his Dad". If I remember correctly, there are a few billion people in that county, and so the need is great, no matter how many people there are. Even here in America, where there are many churches in virtually every city, the message still does not reach everyone.
That being said, I agree that we Americans have a particularly arrogant approach to evangelism. I wrote about it on my blog in a post called, When Evangelism is Evil" (October 24, 2005).
I really appreciate your post. I'll reread it and give it more thought. Lately, I've been asking myself, "Just what IS the Gospel?" and what makes it the good news? Is it the american evangelical conversion experience, is it a call to a life of relationship and fellowship with God, how much of it has to do with God's Kingdom in this world, etc.? No clear answers yet, but beginning to do the asking has been valuable.
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