God's Facebook?

Last week, I saw a church sign that read, "God's Facebook is eternal. Are you on it?" Then Matthew Paul Turner posted this and this on his blog.

I wonder what those people were thinking when they came up with that. It looks to me like another failed Christian attempt at being culturally relevant. Facebook is hot right now, and so "Christian" copies are bound to pop up. There are already Christian social sites for those who seek to avoid the heathens in the wider culture. Now we have attempts to redeem cultural things by putting them on church signs and t-shirts and changing a couple of things to make them "Christian" and show that God is hip too.

I see a couple of problems with this kind of thing. First, and most obvious to me, is that these signs and t-shirts bring God down to our level. Yes, God came in human flesh and he calls himself our Father. Jesus calls us friends. There is a closeness we have with the Creator that is amazing. However, God is not our buddy. Jesus is Lord, and there is a certain level of respect that is lessened by things like this.

The second problem is Christians copying things in the popular culture, instead of exercising God-given creativity to make things that transcend culture and lift our attention to the Creator. All you have to do is walk into any Christian bookstore to see numerous examples. We do great harm to the Gospel when we display our faith on t-shirts and bumper stickers instead of by how we live our lives. We damage the cause of Christ when our art and music only serve as poor imitations of what is already out there. We are called to speak truth to the culture, not hide from it, or copy it.

Let's stop trying to be hip by copying what the culture is doing. Let's not hide from the culture either. Instead, let's go out into the world around us and live counter-culturally by loving others, sacrificing ourselves for their good, and doing what Jesus commanded us to do.

Signs and Wonders

At our gathering yesterday morning, one of our number told of buying supplies for a local homeless shelter and the way God moved others in the store, including an outside delivery man, to help her find what she needed to buy. Some of them then helped her load the supplies in her car. Our teacher made the statement that maybe the signs and wonders that accompany the Gospel today are the acts of mercy and kindness that we do for those around us, especially those in need.

I think he is on to something. In the early day of the Church, the signs and wonders that authenticated the message that Jesus is Lord included healings and other miracles, and speaking in other languages. In a world where medicine was primitive, and many health problems that we never experience were fairly common, healing a person was a pretty big deal. The gift of speaking in tongues was many times , in a world without many translators, the only way the Gospel could be communicated. Some of these same things accompany the Gospel in developing nations where conditions are not that far removed from those of the 1st Century.

In 21st Century America, medicine has advanced so that most of the problems found in the early days of the Church have been eliminated. God does miraculously heal, but it is not so widespread as to be seen as a sign authenticating the Gospel. Language is not usually a problem, as there are a variety of ways to communicate and be understood.

I believe that the signs that should accompany the message that Jesus is Lord are the things that stand out as being outside the norm. I'm not talking about carrying a big KJV Bible, or shutting ourselves up in a "Christian" bubble and separating ourselves from those around us. I'm talking about showing that the One that we follow calls us to own him as our Lord, not any person, government, political party, or other organization. Because Jesus is our Master, we do what he says. One of his commands is to love our neighbors, and take care of the least of these. Giving to the poor and doing what we can to meet their needs shows that we take seriously the commands of the One we proclaim as Lord. In a culture that teaches us to look out for ourselves, often at the expense of others, caring for others marks us out as being different.

Jesus said that the world would know that we are his disciples by our love. If we don't love each other and love those around us how can we expect the world to take us seriously? If we don't treat the "least of these" as we would treat Jesus, what business do we have claiming that Jesus is our Master? As our faith is marginalized more and more by the culture, the only thing we will have left to authenticate our message is the willingness to lay down our lives for Jesus and others. God help us to live the Gospel that we claim has changed our lives.

Evangelism

Barb wrote about evangelism yesterday and asked folks to weigh in with their thoughts, so here goes.

I grew up in fundamental Baptist churches, where the point of evangelism was to convince the person of the truth of a set of propositions and bring them to the place where they agreed that they were a sinner and going to hell and that Jesus died for their sins. After this was accomplished the person would then be led in the "sinner's prayer" and ask Jesus to forgive them and come into their heart. After saying this prayer, usually repeated after the person doing the evangelism, they would then be told that they were now going to heaven when they died. They would also be told to remember the date so they could point back to it if any doubts later crept in.

There were various methods used to try and get people to come to the point of making a "decision for Christ." The Four Spiritual Laws, the Romans Road, surveys where you would ask a series of questions designed to lead the person to pray the prayer. All of the methods were designed to convince the prospect of a set of propositions.

I was mainly involved in the survey method, what I call "hit and run evangelism" because these surveys were usually done in shopping malls or at county fairs, where there was little, if any, chance for follow-up or discipling of those who did make a decision. To this day, I have no idea who really came to faith in Jesus.

I find it interesting that Jesus never asked people to say a prayer and ask him into their hearts. he simply called people to turn from their old way of approaching life and follow him in the new way, the Kingdom of God. The disciples were called to follow Jesus as Rabbi and to seek to become what he was and to relate to God in the same way he did. The Apostles' message is one of turning from the old way of life and acknowledging Jesus Christ as the true Lord and King. If the Gospel message would have been just "accept Jesus into your heart and you'll go to heaven when you die" the early Christians would not have suffered persecution. The Romans had no problem with folks adding their religion on top of the Roman religion, as long as they hailed Caesar as lord. The reason the Gospel message was so subversive was that it denied all the other gods and proclaimed another King above Caesar.

The older methods of evangelism may have been effective in their day. Then again, they may be a major factor in the rise of American Christendom. I believe that what followers of Jesus need to do today is go back to proclaiming that Jesus is the true King and Lord over all things and that he calls people to turn their backs on their old way of approaching life and follow him as their Lord and Master. As we proclaim this message we also need to live like we really believe it. As an example, how much would the Gospel message be shown as true if we who call ourselves Christians simply loved each other instead of always fighting and condemning. I'm sure you could think of other examples.

I am encouraged by the rise in the number of people who are realizing that the Gospel is for more than just going to heaven when you die, that it is for all of life. May their tribe increase.