Five Stick Friday

Ash Wednesday is a milestone on my Calendar every year simply because it kicks off the season of Lent, and the ultimate promise of Easter. So it is naturally a time that I sit down and take stock of my “faith” and my “faith journey”.

Those that know me pretty well know that since my teen years, I’ve always been a believer in Jesus Christ. And when I’m challenged on that by my intellecual atheist or agnostic friends, my first response to them has always been…”Buy a red-letter New Testament…read every “red” word attributed to Jesus’ teaching, and then come back and let me know what you think. Wouldn’t living by those words make the world more peaceful?”

Some actually do that. Which has sparked some of the most genuine and interesting theological and “faith” discussions that I have. Because these are people that, while skeptics, are in a conversation. Which brings me to today’s blog’s point….

Isn’t that our role as Christians? To introduce Jesus? To support that introduction with our own hope in Christ? Are we called upon to do MORE than that?

Because I don’t think so.

Let me back up a minute…Since I was just a little kid being toted into First Baptist Church in Dalton, Georgia, I was taught about the Great Commission…

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV).”

It’s my stance that this may be one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. World Mission efforts have been built around it ( I have nothing against World Mission efforts by the way)…and a tone of “It’s OUR job to go ALL over the world spreading the Gospel.”

What if I told you that this verse was very poorly translated? And that when the Greek text is broken down, it actually would say this…

“(As) you’re being made to go, make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them everything I taught you.”

I’ve seen another direct translation begin with:

“As you go into the world…”

As I go? Sure…As I go to the store? As I go to a football game? As I go to school? To me, this means make yourself a personal witness as you go by your actions and deeds. It does NOT mean you necessarily and with intent need to get on a plane, fly to a foreign country and actively press a belief in Christ on the population there.

Jesus himself did very little “Evangelism”.

He lived His life around Jews who were serious about their faith; they just missed the forest for the trees.  Jesus never chastised them for not observing the Mosaic Law; He chastised them for observing it as a mere religious event and ignoring the heart behind it.

In fact, Jesus commanded the disciples not to evangelize when He sent them out:

Matthew 10:6

5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;

6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Which leads me to another scripture that I don’t think gets ENOUGH coverage when we’re sitting in Sunday School learning the tenets of the faith.

It’s known as the “Parable of the Sower of Seed”

Matthew 13:3-9
Then He spoke many things to them in  parables , saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

I found this infographic that I think does a very good job of breaking down the allegory to make it accessible to modern day.

My understanding of this is that as Christians it’s our role to “spread the goods”. But this parable also clearly demonstrates that “the goods” will not always be received positively or considered at all… is that our work? Or God’s? That’s probably another whole post…

But when a final scripture, that I also think gets way too little air time is employed…I start drawing a conclusion. Because there is a TIME to share the “goods”…and that’s when you’re asked to…

1 Peter 3:15,16: “When anyone asks you to speak of your hope, be ready … Yet do it with respectful humility” .

How many times have you heard this verse in a lesson where the three words “When anyone asks…” get totally ignored? Every time I see a street preacher with a bullhorn…yikes! No one asked. When I see condemning social media posts…again..no one asked. And neither is done with “respectful humility”.

Which leads me to this conclusion. Nurture your relationship with Jesus by reading those red lettered words in the New Testament. Live your life that someone might actually ASK…”You know, we all have our ups and downs…what helps you through them?”

Then…then you’re prepared to “evangelize”… I fear other forms of “evangelism” are not only ineffective…but actually harm the cause of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So…on this Ash Wednesday...AS YOU GO to work…AS YOU GO to church… AS YOU GO home for dinner… absolutely be prepared to give your hope in Jesus.

When asked. And if no one EVER asks? Maybe … just maybe…there’s a reason why. Which is worthy of reflection.

Welcome to lent, my friends.