I was looking over the band line-up for Purple Door the other day and I came across a band that I had listened to a lot growing up but hadn't listened to in several years, so I decided to go to their website and see what they had been up to. I came across some writings that the lead singer of this band had done and I decided to take a look at some of them. One of them struck me in particular. If you want to read the whole thing you can go here.
I will try to summarize it for you. He was on a plane and was looking forward to sleeping and had a seat alone but then someone sat with him. At first he felt very frustrated, but figured perhaps God had a reason for sitting this man beside him so he talked with this man throughout the flight looking for an opportunity to share his faith with this man. He didn't have a very good opportunity to share his faith and didn't want to force it so as the time went on it didn't look like it was going to happen. He kept praying about it, but didn't bring it up. At the end of the flight though this man asked him if he went to church and continued by inviting him to a meeting that was a part of Christian cult known for its heretical teachings. The irony here is impossible to miss and the writer felt betrayed in a way because the passenger was not interested in having a conversation with him he was simply interested in getting to the point where he could invite him to a meeting.
I guess the point here is that if we talk with people only to get to the point to share our faith do they feel the same way? The writer at one point writes that he has often heard it said that, "Christians always seem to have a hidden agenda." I think a lot of times when we try to share our faith it comes out that way. Jesus called us to love others no matter who they are, what they believe, or what they have done. Relationships are important and can't we focus on having a relationship with others without having a hidden agenda. Maybe we should have and "agenda-less faith." If as we are getting to know someone and the topic of faith comes up great, but I don't think we should try to force it. Can't we simply have a relationship with someone because we care about them and not because we are trying to get them with a bait and switch. Our faith should be an out-poring of who we are and not some hidden agenda that we are looking to turn on someone.
Maybe if we are going to have an agenda it should be loving and serving others and not trying to force a rehearsed evangelism attempt on others. Let me know what you think.
Monday, May 18, 2009
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