Last Thursday night I arrived about an hour late for Bible study at a church I was visiting. I hadn’t been to a Bible study session in years.
The lesson was on evangelism, spreading the good news of Christianity and bringing others into the fold.
The minister had just called a young man to the pulpit to give an example of how to evangelize. Afterward he asked the congregation of about 50 or so parishioners and guests who among us could do that. A few of the flock sheepishly raised their hands. Mine wasn’t among them.
– – –
Off and on that day, I had been thinking about U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s comments to a group of Christians gathered in Washington at the Call to Renewal conference on poverty in America. On Wednesday he had said it was OK for Democrats to talk, in an authentic way, about how their own faith had changed their lives.
In a sense Obama was urging his fellow Democrats to evangelize, to talk about their faith in hopes that it would help them spread the good news about the Democratic Party–the party that has lost traction since the civil rights movement and the Great Society programs. The goal is to bring more moderate Evangelicals into the fold and turn red states blue.
– – –
I grew up in a church that preached the importance of evangelizing. My first memory of spreading the good news occurred when I was 10 and standing on the playground of my South Side grammar school. Another 5th grader loomed, threatening to bop me in my eye.
Though I don’t recall the reason, I do remember looking her squarely in her eyes and assuring her that Jesus loved her and wouldn’t appreciate her socking me. Guilt-ridden and a bit crestfallen, she turned and walked away.
It’s true that I wasn’t as concerned about her soul salvation as my own self-preservation. Back then you could disarm a classmate by invoking the name of Jesus.
– – –
On Thursday night the minister asked audience members what were the obstacles to their feeling comfortable evangelizing. One woman said that those who had known the new Christians back when they were “worldly” were sometimes reluctant to take them seriously now that they were “saved.”
My problem with evangelizing about my faith is that I prefer to wait until I’m asked about it (or perhaps desperate, see item above).
Too often it seems talk about religion evolves into a mini-sermon rather than a discussion. One person comes off as having all of the answers and knowing the only path to the truth and the light. In the end, very little ground is gained.
– – –
America’s fight for independence was waged in part so that people could evangelize and worship without fear of reprisal.
Among the founding fathers were Unitarians, Episcopalians, Deists and non-believers. Whether they foresaw the churches, synagogues, mosques and temples that eventually would develop in America, the philosophical framework they created has been more than adequate to deal with them all.
Though religion was paramount in most of the founders’ lives, they were wise to resist any instinct to impose one religious doctrine on a pluralistic society.
More Top Picks Best Amazon Prime Day Hair Straightener Deals 2026
Over the years, as we have stitched together the materials of church and state, we have been careful not to let the pieces overlap terribly. It is true that religion has become a part of our government. Still, we see, maybe idealistically, that the God of “In God we trust” “God bless America” and “One nation under God” was not a Christian God, but a non-denominational deity that was bigger than the sectarian parts.
The use of religion in recent political campaigns and strategies is another matter. It often feels much more creepy, opportunistic and divisive.
– – –
At the end of the Bible study, the minister offered sincerity as the hallmark of evangelism.
I would hate for the Democrats to talk up their faith just for votes. Talking about morality and religion doesn’t make one more moral or religious.
Religion is about life service, not lip service and saving one’s butt–in the pulpit, in politics or on the playground.
———-