Knowing yourself helps reveal God to others
Regular Network Norwich and Norfolk columnist James Knight looks at how spending time alone with God can help spread the Good News to others.
This is Part 5 in a series entitled Spreading the Good News. Click here to read Part 4.
When preparing to spread the good news it is good to realise that most people of today do not see themselves as sinners - therefore we have to find the right method of helping people to see themselves as sinners without putting them off self-analysis – otherwise they won’t grasp fully what it is that Christ has done for them on the cross and, indeed, why it was necessary for Him to do it.
This is another paradox where seeing oneself as a sinner brings about greater enrichment; for once the realisation kicks in it is then that one can set about putting things right. Moreover, the greater one’s understanding of the Christian message the greater one’s understanding of sin will be, and thus, their understanding of love, grace and forgiveness will increase too. It is not always helpful though to show your companion where they are sinning without recourse to the message of grace because they will not really recognise the remedy until they have recognised Christian grace as a whole. Once a man recognises ‘sinning’, not just as murder or rape or theft, but as greed, selfishness, pride, and unkindness - sins that are prevalent in every man and woman who claim to be living ‘ordinary lives’ – there is a better chance that he will begin to see the need for change, and this will often be his first step to enrichment.
Notice that Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount puts lust and adultery, and hatred and murder in the same breath. All have sinned. We are all guilty of living by what we desire rather than what is ultimately true. Some of my sins it took me a while to give up, but it was not that I was unaware of what I would gain; it was that I did not want to face the truth. Many non-Christians are in precisely this position.
The people around at the time of Christ that knew full well they were sinners stand out very emphatically from those that did not; but as the world has advanced to, what is in many ways an improved standard of living, people see themselves as improved with it, and the concept of one’s own sins in relation to God has often been lost. We have to convince our hearers that Jesus Christ provides the answer to the sins of mankind, and that only through Him can one begin to put things right. But in saying all this, I must also say something else very important. It is so often unnoticed, but the best way to help someone become aware of their sins and how they can put themselves right with God is not by showing them your judgment but by showing them your love and grace and understanding.
Human togetherness
I remember in 2001 watching the events that occurred on the 11th September as they unfolded. I happened to be on annual leave and by the strangest coincidence switched on Sky News moments before the plane struck the first tower. All of us watched for days, observing the results of this heinous crime, but we observed far more than the malevolence attached to Islam. In the aftermath, we saw an amazing paradoxical situation occurring; we saw a juxtaposition of the wonderful side of humanity (the coming together of cities, and of nations - unified in their love and support for each other, refusing to be defeated by this axis of evil), and the real fragile nature of the fabric of our societies (that is, we saw the real nature of transitory things and how relatively meaningless they are, how they can be destroyed in a few minutes). We observed networks crashing, bricks and mortar crumble, and we saw heroic acts of bravery, and unified togetherness. And as a compassionate human being observing this - after I had been through the gamut of rage and disgust - I was left with the same feeling that I had before I switched on Sky News - the need to reach out to people and help them understand that anything related to humankind that isn’t Christ is either dependent on Him or needs enrichment from Him.
A percolating Christianity
We can often get people to listen to our Christian point of view for a short while, but half an hour after the discussion they find themselves back in the world that is so much more believable to them. The ‘chat about religion’ was a brief interruption in their day. It is easy to see that the world is very resistant to Christianity, so is it not reasonable to suggest that the world perhaps needs more Christian things in it? Neither politics nor the mass media are replete with Christian things, nor are most novels or television programmes. If a little bit more of our Christianity percolated into these things it might help us make a difference on the outside world. A book about Christianity would have more of an impact on people if there were many more books on physics, anthropology, politics, sociology, and psychology that were written from a Christian perspective or by impressive Christian minds.
People really would start to take notice if more of the best newspaper columns were written by Christians, if more of the best politicians were Christians, and if more of the best scientists were Christians. Moreover it would be helpful if people realise that everything good about life does not necessarily have to mean ‘Christian’ - the Christian influence can be found in so many things, thus I see revelation as one seamless entirety, and think it is helpful if we look for God’s works in things that are not, at first sight, very obviously ‘Christian’.
Of course, a greater Christian influence might be some way away, but there are plenty of other ways we can connect with non-Christians. We have to maintain a sense of timelessness when talking about our faith, for there are many sceptics who think that the events surrounding Christ’s death happened too many years ago to be significant. The bad preacher takes away the sense of timelessness and tries to conflate biblical teaching with modern political innovation. This can work if done correctly, but the bad preacher usually finds himself trying to make the former accord with the latter rather than putting it the right way round. Your teaching should not be affected by the amount of time lapsed. The core of the teaching should be timeless, the crust should be contemporary - and we see it is those who are best at conveying the message that can make it relevant to contemporary life while not diluting any of its authentic qualities.
Much of this generation has never been told what Christianity is offering, at least not properly, many have only heard a leavened version. They have never heard the proper arguments in defence of it, therefore their agnosticism or atheism is fully understandable - after all, only a fool would believe something without having any reason to believe it. The cause of their lack of knowledge, unawareness or (in some cases) ignorance is that they have not been taught the facts, yet my experiences show me that people are profoundly interested if Christianity is presented to them in the correct manner. And this, I think, is one of the most vital things we should remember - if we believe the scriptures to be true when it says that God put eternity in every man’s heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11), we should not be surprised to learn that people will listen if we are prepared to tell them.
Man’s resistance
 And of course another natural resistance is this: ‘Why should Christians need to project their beliefs onto others?’ - because you know what it is like when someone accuses you of ‘projecting your beliefs’ - it is that word ‘project’ that causes the hostility; after all, we do not project other beliefs in the same way. But there is a good reason. Most other beliefs (political, sociological, etc) do not have such importance - they tell us more about external things and, in comparison, very little about the self, compared with beliefs in the Divine. If we seem to be extra enthusiastic about sharing what we believe with as many people as we can, it is only because we know how awesome, wonderful and life-changing a relationship God really is. - because you know what it is like when someone accuses you of ‘projecting your beliefs’ - it is that word ‘project’ that causes the hostility; after all, we do not project other beliefs in the same way. But there is a good reason. Most other beliefs (political, sociological, etc) do not have such importance - they tell us more about external things and, in comparison, very little about the self, compared with beliefs in the Divine. If we seem to be extra enthusiastic about sharing what we believe with as many people as we can, it is only because we know how awesome, wonderful and life-changing a relationship God really is.
Another very unhelpful position that has been adopted in these present times is that men and women have, when it comes to God, elevated themselves to the role of judge and juror. In biblical times, men were fearful of God, and often stood accused in front of Him, accountable for their wrongdoings. In this contemporary age, it is man that judges God. We can awake the consciences of those listening to us, but we must start in the right areas. We all know that the best and quickest way to find God is on your knees; therefore we should encourage non-believers to think about their eternal existence; encourage them to spend time alone in silence or engage in some good contemplation when the moments arise; encourage them to develop a train of thought that gets them thinking about truth and falsehood; encourage them not to confuse relativism and subjectivism with philosophical truisms; and (if required) encourage them to change their views about money, relationships, status, image and achievement. These changes will be changes that lead them to a better understanding of their own future salvation.
The importance of finding time for solitary contemplation
Perhaps the cardinal reason why I think time alone for contemplation is essential is because it gives all of us essential opportunities to escape daily tumult and think carefully about the deeper issues. Now if one has a relationship with God, then seeking opportunities for time alone should (and usually is) less of a problem. But for the non-believer, he or she may not feel the same need for solitary contemplation, particularly as the everyday world IS very much his world. Moreover it is not always realised how seemingly inconsequential details in a person’s everyday life play a huge part in influencing their thinking and behaviour, therefore I think this places extra importance on solitary contemplation. This is one of the best things we can do for our prospective Christians; that is, encourage them to find opportunities to spend time alone, for it is only in those times that one is not susceptible to these ‘seemingly inconsequential details’ of everyday life (such as media thrall, other people’s opinions, and the more general distraction of other people’s activities and daily routines) that have such a subliminal but heavy influence on man’s thinking.
I have for you a couple of examples of how our thinking is shaped by subtle things. American psychologist John Bargh conducted experiments to show that instinctive reacting shapes much of our make-up (although this hardly constitutes a unique finding - we have known that for many centuries now). Bargh devised questionnaires for his subjects, the hidden purpose of which was to ‘prime’ some of them to words often associated with old age, such as ‘retirement’, ‘sentimental’ and ‘wrinkle’. It was discovered that as the participants left to go home, those who had been primed took much longer to walk down the corridor than those who had not been primed. The experiment, repeated over many trials, demonstrates that these ‘old age’ associated connotations produced feelings with which you would not really associate with those involved – it made people ‘behave’ older.
Another example is this. Dutch psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis asked two separate groups of subjects to talk with confederates who pretended to be university professors or football hooligans (a ‘confederate’ is a participant put in by the psychologist along with the real subjects). Afterwards the subsequent behaviour of the volunteers was analysed and it was soon evident that the subjects who had been primed by interacting with the ‘university professors’ behaved significantly better than those who were primed by ‘football hooligans’. The presence of the latter had had enough of an effect on the subject to bring about very different and very out of character behaviour. Of course, the subjects did not know what the real experiment was, but it goes to show how easily people are influenced, even when they do not suspect that any ‘influencing’ is taking place.
How does that help us when spreading the good news? Well, it is important to keep in mind knowledge of what human first person selfhood is like, how it becomes subliminally affected by the traits and characteristics of others. As Christians, we have a myriad of diverse wisdom with knowledge of Christ and His words, therefore if those with whom we are discussing Christianity are likely to be subliminally affected by our behaviour and our character traits as well as our words, it is important that we transfer such positive charges across to our companions, for in doing so we will influence their psychology far more than we realise. But there is a flip side to that coin - if it can happen one way it can happen in reverse too, particularly if we are not mindful of this; therefore we must be wary of letting the traits and characteristics of our companions encroach on our delivery of the good news, and be sure that nothing whatsoever compromises or dilutes the message that we are getting across.
Next week I will answer three common accusations that Christians frequently face.
The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Norwich and Norfolk, and are intended to stimulate constructive debate between website users. We welcome your thoughts and comments, posted below, upon the ideas expressed here. You can also contact the author direct at james.knight@norfolk.gov.uk
James is a Norwich local government officer, author and Proclaimers church member in Norwich. You can access his current collections of columns here
Meanwhile, if you want to find out more about Christianity, visit: www.rejesus.co.u |
