Devotion for Wednesday, June 29 (Affirmation of Baptism Week)

Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you at baptism: 

to live among God's faithful people (Monday)

to hear the word of God and share in the Lord's supper (Tuesday)

to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed (Wednesday)

Does proclaiming the good news of God in Christ through word and deed mean that you need to become a street preacher? Or someone who asks people at cocktail parties if they have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior? Or someone who rides around with a bumper sticker on your car that reads "If you died tonight, where would you spend eternity?"

Well, it may mean that.  And I give credit to those who actually do the things listed above.  Not my style, but I admire it, at least to a degree.

My main problem with the above mentioned models of evangelism is that THEY DO NOT WORK!

If they worked, then I might actually be willing to do all of them.  But not only do they not work, they also seem to drive a wedge between people and Jesus that need not be there.

If we are willing to look at the scripture, then we will see that Jesus was not above bringing some fire and brimstone from time to time, though it was almost exclusively brought toward his intimate followers who were missing his message of grace and peace, and the burdensome religious elites who were only out for themselves. He rarely acted in such a way with the people he was evangelizing, i.e. to whom he was "proclaiming the good news."

Instead, Jesus met people where they were.  He ate with them, insiders and outsiders alike. He invited others to spend time with him. He welcomed outcasts and sinners when others were not willing to do so.  He challenged the religious and the faithful to move beyond themselves.  He healed the sick and fed the hungry. And He forgave those who had not yet begun to forgive themselves.

This is what "proclaiming the good news of Christ through word and deed" looks like, my friends. And this model of Jesus actually does work.  It changes lives and brings others to Jesus.  Because, the way of Jesus is not to "scare you out of hell" but to "love you into heaven!"

Lord of Love, help me to never tire of telling what you have done in my life. Amen.