Today, I was approached by an evangelist. Poor soul. He wants so much to share his faith with others that he is confronting them with his belief and with his struggle. To me, he is young in faith. It is wonderful that he wants to share his belief and his faith. He is born-again as this culture promotes, yet does not seem to educate beyond " Jesus is Lord. I struggle with..." Interestingly, I just purchased my first Bible shirt that I have had in years. I used to only wear these mass marketed and produced items that are marketed for Evangelical Christianity. I love these things. I purchased it because 1) I am revolving my clothes, downsizing them, and replacing three with one, 2) I needed to choose one, and 3) I liked it. Of course, since it has a Biblical reference on it, the direct correlation that it has to be something more than a shirt.
To some, this is the equivalent of a Dallas Cowboys shirt for Christians. It's our team, so we need to wear it and advertise our faith with pride and marketing. To me, it isn't even a form of evangelism as it is something that I have always done. I started wearing them when I was young in faith not that I am completely wizened or old in it either. It saddens me to see people young in their faith doing the same things that I was told to do that brought sorrow into my life about my faith. This young evangelist was motivated to zealously share his struggle with marijuana, yet spoke in a soft tone that he believed in Jesus as Messiah, that he lived, and that be believed in both the New and Old Testaments. He needed to shout his sins, but only dare speak the name of his Messiah.
Evangelical Christianity does this. I don't understand it as, for a group of people determined to be in the Word of God, that they seem to skip going into their prayer closet in order to confess their sins and instead boast of their struggles to follow Christ. It seems arrogant to me to boast in my own sin instead of what Christ has done. At the same time, believing in Jesus doesn't change temporal imperfections. I am not healed because I believe in Jesus in the same manner as a dentist pulling an abscessed tooth. While I believe in miraculous healing, I found the dentist's chair to be more miraculous for my constant pain than most drawn out prayers attempting to heal personal imperfections, brokenness, and illnesses. I find scientific mistakes like penicillin to be of more use than warm fuzzy Jesus thoughts or shouting confessional sins to purge the body. I'd much rather boast in my dentist and his awesome staff along with my other doctors as being the hands and feet of God working to heal the world than in what I find to be a struggle. Although, I also don't mind addressing the struggle.
Dear Evangelists, struggle to praise God. Struggle and strive to praise and boast of the grace that God has found in his creation. Strive to boast of the healing energies in the world. Strive go forth to bless and serve the Lord. Seek Justice, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with your God. Struggle with these three things first and those who carry the Good News will be unable to refrain from being the hands and feet of God in the world. Learn to love your selves as God loves you. Love, A Child of the Most High Merciful One
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