Sep
12
Four gods?
Filed Under Christian Living, Evangelism
Research from Baylor University has prompted a front page article in USA Today entitled, ‘View of God can reveal your values and politics.’ It contains some very useful information regarding the way people think about God in various regions of the country. The article is written in the predictably bland, flat, simplistic style of USA Today (can you tell I’m not a subscriber?) and, like most newspapers, can only trace ideas back toward politics–ugh!
Having vented my literary snobbery for the day, let me add that the information in the Baylor study confirms a couple of stark realities of which we should be mindful: First, when we say the word God to our neighbors, it does not necessarily mean the same thing to us as it means to them. They may be bringing some pretty heavy baggage into the conversation. Being alert to this helps us speak about the gospel more clearly and intelligibly to others.
Second, it is rarely, if ever, useful to bring politics into our discussions of the gospel with others. We live in a politically-charged society. In other words, if we lead with our politics or believe that on every issue there is only one truly Christian view, people will be more ready to dismiss us as shills for a political party. But remember, the gospel turns everybody’s politics upside-down, for Christ’s kingdom is not of this world (John 18-36-38).
Third, it is as important as ever that the Christian faith makes all the difference in the way we live day-to-day. Evangelism is not putting sentences inside people’s heads and getting them to nod their heads in agreement. If God has such a broad range of meaning, then it’s not enough to put a tract into everyone’s hand. We must put the gospel on display all the time! We put the gospel on display in the way we love each other, the way we raise our families, spend our money, savor God’s good gifts, struggle with sin, worship, forgive and laugh–and all those other things I forgot to add to the list!
NOTE: This will be last blog until next week, as I am leaving Wednesday for RYM Board meeting in Fort Collins, Colorado. I don’t know if they have computers there or not.
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