Making Jesus known…

At Christmas we celebrated the coming of Jesus into the world. Among the first to see him were some shepherds. The Bible tells us that ‘When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child.’ Then came the wise men, who were not Jews. They came from Persia, and laid their gifts at the feet of the Christ-child; then they returned home to tell other non-Jews what they had seen, and how important Jesus was for people of every nation. We commemorated the wise men on the feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany is another word for ‘revelation’. In the following Sundays we have a series of readings about times when God revealed publicly who Jesus was. The first occasion was at his baptism, when God was heard saying, ‘This is my Son!’ Today’s Gospel reading tells of the wedding when Jesus turned water into wine, ending with the words, ‘Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.’

So, the theme of this season is mission. The mission of the Church following on from the mission of Jesus, to reveal to everyone on earth who Jesus is. This has two parts which are inseparable:

1. Living out a Christ-like life, imitating Jesus in social action and love for our neighbours, building the kingdom of God on earth.

2. Spreading the Good News of who Jesus was, and what he said, until all the people in the world know him and what he did for us all.

In other words, we are thinking about the task which faces every Christian: that of evangelism.

‘Evangelism’, meaning ‘spreading good news’, is usually thought of as winning converts and getting people into church. However, many Christians feel uncomfortable with the word. It is often associated with Evangelicalism. Evangelicalism can make us think of American politics, where Evangelicals and the politicians they support are opposed to abortion and divorce; they are overt supporters of Israel against the Palestinians and in favour of capitalism and wealth. Evangelicalism is often linked with fundamentalism, a literal interpretation of the Bible and opposition to science and especially evolution. Many worry that they seem to use manipulative methods to brainwash potential converts into an emotional conversion experience. Is this what we are signing up to when the Bible calls us to do the work of an evangelist?

Of course not! Jesus promised that those who are baptised and believe will be saved, but that does not prevent him from giving eternal life to those who do not fit into tidy pigeonholes. He said to old Nicodemus, ‘You must be born again’, but that meant making a fresh start, dependent on God’s love, not our own virtues.

But our suspicion of ‘bad evangelism’ doesn’t absolve us from our duty to tell everyone about the love of Jesus. We must choose our moment and our manner. We must express it in words and images that will be understood by all peoples of all cultures and that includes modern scientific thought. We must express Jesus’ love in our everyday lives through word, action and care. We must help people welcome Jesus into their own culture without rushing them into a change of religion and we should welcome what they have to teach us about God from their own experience. Despite our abhorrence of ‘bad evangelism’, we must put all our efforts into helping people of all backgrounds to learn and understand that they are God’s beloved children and that Jesus’ example of living can enable all of us to share in a divine love that can change the world for the better, for Christ’s sake.

Make Jesus known…

With every blessing,

Christian