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The final word on spreading the Good News

Regular Network Norwich and Norfolk columnist James Knight concludes his series on Spreading the Good News and reflects on how we are equipped to win people to Christ. 

I think our daily activities, if they are in accordance with God’s plan for us, will naturally provide us with many situations in which we can impact people’s lives.  But for those that feel they are underachieving in this area, or wish they had more confidence to make a difference, I should like to say that there are two things which I think will bring about the most favourable and fruitful results.  The first is if you spend time alone with God in prayer, discovering which inner-needs in your life you need help meeting and ask Him to help you meet them by giving you greater clarity and by giving you more confidence.  And the second is more general advice about always putting Christ first in everything you do and living for Him above everything else; for if you are achieving the second, you will find that the first becomes much easier.  The more of the second you are getting right, the more the first involves not much more than fine-tuning your engine.  One thing is for sure, however diffident or unconfident you are, He has big plans for you - He wants to speak to many people through you; in fact, He wants to turn you into the best warrior you can be.

Before I close with the final word in this series, there is one more thing I want to touch on; it is about Christian errors of judgement when the contours of ‘true and false’ stability are inadvertently taken into areas of emotion and feeling - the subjective/objective mix.  In other words, the errors some Christians make when they mix up ‘true and false’ distinctions with emotions and feelings.  Let me explain using the ‘morality’ issue as an example.

The Christian's error of judgement regarding ‘morality’

One of the most perpetual errors of judgement when it comes to witnessing is when Christians use emotive techniques without establishing the truth or falsity of something.  I have seen this most often with the a subject of ‘morality’ - that is, Christians attempting to play the ‘morality’ trump card long before they have convinced their interlocutor that Christianity is the truth (or stated a good case that Christianity is true).  This ‘morality’ issue so often causes our prospective Christian to step back indignantly, claiming that he doesn’t need Christianity to be a moral person, and, of course, he is right.  But that really misses the point.  Taking into account all of Christ’s moral teachings our interlocutor, having heard them, would have to suppose Christianity were untrue if he had any desire to reject them and propose a better or more enamouring view of morality; for to believe that Christianity is the truth is to axiomatically confer on oneself the wilful desire and commitment to do all one can to adhere to Christ’s teaching and live as He intends us to live.  Our interlocutor has little interest in the question about being moral outside of Christ’s teaching, because he does not accept the truth of Christianity in the first place, and thinks that morality can be distilled from other evolutionary sources (although that kind of thinking rather misses the point as well).  In other words, for him to show an interest in whether there are better morals than those of Christ suggests a desire to contemplate whether Christianity is true or not, and you do not often see that desire without first discussing the true/false factors. 

I suppose it is a little similar to when a man talks about the issue of Christ answering all those that want to know Him – a man might enquire as to how he can want God enough to enable himself to find Him, but in asking that very question he is revealing a concern about desiring the ‘want’ - thereby suggesting that the ‘want’ is there in the first place.  Similarly once a man begins to show signs that he is concerned with aligning his own moral precepts against those of Christ, there could be signs that he is, in fact, starting to question more strongly the true/false factor of Christianity.  That is why I always say that the true/false factor is a more important tenet to begin with than secondary constituent parts. 

The journey of growth

I remember Aslan, in C.S Lewis’s Narnia book The Horse and His Boy, saying to two of the children ‘I never tell anyone any story except his own’, and that, of course, is what we should remember when trying to help our interlocutors think of the true/false factors in relation to their own selfhood.  One of the most important and most helpful things we can do when we tell people about Christ is try to help them see their own story in the good news; that is, help them see that Christ is never telling any of us any story expect our own - therefore any rejection of Him is, in effect, a solecism against our own selfhood and, indeed, our own ultimate existence.

Some will enquire with genuine honesty -‘Will Christianity make me a better and happier person?’, or ‘Will it stop me doing all the things that I currently enjoy doing?’.  I should like to reply that Christianity has all the secrets to happiness and fulfilment; it should be explored until the truth is known.  So long as one genuinely wishes to know the truth, if Christianity is false its falsity would soon become evident and if it is accepted as true it will change the life of every person who is bold enough to open the first door or climb on the first step and embrace its truth.  Any curious person would see straight away that all those who enquired about whether they could live a good and fulfilling life without Christianity did not have much of a clue about ultimate goodness or ultimate fulfilment.  But it is not really their fault, and I think a Christian can make himself wise by being mindful of the cognitive positions and varying standpoints of those who do not yet know Christ, after all, in many cases, one might justifiably ask, ‘How are they supposed to know?’ - for often what they do not yet understand is, to us Christians, perfectly understandable.  They could have no more of a clue about these things than a man born with partial vision could have about the beauty of the mountains and valleys in Tuscany; after all, Christianity provides a cognitive enrichment that non-Christians cannot yet anticipate.

Final word in this series

We have seen in this series how we can help people to discover this providential awe for themselves.  I think it has been one of the most important series we have covered, for there is no better service to men and women than to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ.  Our Lord Himself placed a very substantial emphasis on telling others; in fact, His last words before He ascended to Heaven were instructions about the urgent nature of promulgating the faith.  We are to ‘Go and make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19), and we are to ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation’ (Mark 16:15). 

We are, of course, very often met with strong resistance - after all, much of the world thinks it has become wise to all the ‘Bible nonsense’.  But we see in Christ’s Parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16) that we are called upon to be as wise as we can in the outside world; that much shrewd wisdom will be required of us.  The shrewd manager was resourceful in a tricky situation.  We see that he needed faith, trust, prudence and love in order to be successful.  Christ commended His methods, and taught us not to be devious but to be shrewd in winning people to Him. 

There are many other Bible verses which will help us to win people to Christ.  We must win the respect of outsiders (1 Thessalonians 4:12); we must bless those who persecute us (Romans 12:14); we must be wise in the way we act toward outsiders, and make the most of every opportunity (Colossians 4:5); we must renounce our secret and shameful ways, not use deception, not distort the word of God (2 Corinthians 4:2); and equally we must be disciplined, for we are told that our ungodly behaviour will be noted in the minds of our listeners (1 Corinthians 8:9-13). 

There is much comfort to be had from the positive attitude of St Paul who very often preached the word in weakness under great fear of persecution.  But his attitude was wholly commendable; an attitude from which we could all learn a lot:

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through Him (Christ) who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13.

There is one more reason why we should never underestimate the impact that we have on others.  It is what you might call ‘seeds of longevity’; that is, we are planting seeds, and if we plant them well enough; if we make enough of an impression on a man, telling him about Christ with love, grace and wisdom, we shall create in his mind an image which he will take into old age.  You can be sure that whoever drifts in and out of your life; whoever passes through your town or city - each and every one of them can have a seed planted in their heart which, although meaning much less at present, will one day go on to mean something very significant.  And if, looking back, it was planted well enough at the time of their life when we made an impact, it will reappear at some point later; for then they will realise that it did all make sense; that what you said could not impact as it should have back then, but now it can really mean something; it can change their life forever.  We do not always see outwardly the effect we have on others.  The words were timeless, the feelings were not; they had only just begun to take root; they hadn’t even started to grow.  It was us that planted the seeds; it will be Christ that makes them grow.

We have covered so much in this back to basics programme.  We have all been called to spread the word; to pass on the good news to everyone who needs it.  And you can be sure that in the times when we find it difficult, unnerving, or intimidating, Christ our saviour will be there right by our side, as He is always.  The Spirit of Christ will give us the words when we need them.  The one thing we must never do is underestimate our own importance, for in doing so we underestimate the job that He has called us to do.  We are here to shine our light on the world.  2008 was a wonderful year; we witnessed Christ moving in so many people’s lives.  Now He is calling us to make 2009 even more special, by bringing as many people to Him as we possibly can. 

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16