Most Important to Evangelize...

Lady Love · #1 Jun 22, '12, 6:31 pm

I am going to spout my opinion here. I've spent many hours thinking about lost souls; what do they need? What will reach their hearts? What is preventing them from moving forward?

They don't know Jesus, they need Jesus, and Jesus is the only One who can reach their hearts.

So, I wondered why do they not know Jesus? I thought, "Maybe it is because Christians don't really know Jesus?" Maybe it's the lack of enthusiasm when we talk about Him? Maybe we avoid intimacy because we are too in our heads and we would rather talk about religion then Jesus. (I have no problem with religion but it is pointless if one does not know Jesus personally. Scriptures talk about those who "have the form of religion but deny the power of it.) Anyway, I have this theory that if someone does not have a personal encounter with Jesus then following rules and abandoning a worldly lifestyle we seem like nonsense. We could take it a step further and ask, "How do we connect someone to Jesus?" We have to "BE" Jesus. We have to let Him take us over completely. We can't say, "boo!" unless it is Him who is speaking. We can't move unless He moves us, we can't sleep unless He sleeps, we can't laugh unless He laughs, and we cry because He cries.(easier said then done)

Tangent: Sometimes I think as Christians we have to realize that some of our emotions may be motivated by the Holy Spirit. We may be sharing in a universal sadness, a universal fear, a universal longing for God, a universal doubt, universal grief over the loss of so many unborn babies or a universal confusion. And God is trying to show us what the people around us need by actually experiencing what they are experiencing. How else could we really be effective?

Anyone who seriously wants to evangelize, I recommend reading, "The Life of Christ" by Bishop Sheen. It is the best book I have ever read on the person of Jesus. My favorite section is on "the woman at the well." Where the woman tries every means of avoiding intimacy (being known), which means having her sins be seen. It is so revealing of the human maneuvers to avoid the real problem. She uses sarcasm, avoidance, and diversions such as discussing religious differences to avoid discussing her sin. Jesus sees her longing to be loved and all her failed attempts with men and He offers her the living water of His love, freedom, and peace.

Anyway, thoughts?

dsully · #2 Jun 22, '12, 9:08 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Love

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Anyway, I have this theory that if someone does not have a personal encounter with Jesus then following rules and abandoning a worldly lifestyle we seem like nonsense. We could take it a step further and ask, "How do we connect someone to Jesus?" We have to "BE" Jesus.

I agree that "incarnating Jesus" for people is one good way to evangelize...and one that Catholics seem to have been historically good at. But there are others. I know that my first encounter with Jesus came through reading the Gospel of John. We definitely can get a first rate encounter with Jesus through Gospels. The question is: how do we get the people we want to evangelize to actually read the Gospels?

Another method of evangelization, put forward by Robert Barron, is through beauty. He insists that people can be converted to Christ by religious art. He uses one of the great Cathedrals as an example, but I suppose other religious works might work as well.