Life in Mandela's South AfricaOn EvangelismI had been wanting to impart my undoubtedly unwanted opinion on the role of the Church in general and on evangelism in particular, when (it's a sign!) a visitor to my guestbook left an introduction to the Active Christian group. Most people would be annoyed at best and and livid at worst at this thoughtless waste of space, but I was intrigued. Here is someone who has the strength of his convictions to tell the world what he believes in and acts on his convictions, instead of just sitting back and bemoaning the state of the world. Free speech in all its glory! (!) Of course, his message would have been a lot more effective if he had taken the trouble to read my site, and had put his name to it, but then we can't have it all our own way, can we? The spammage made me consider two issues:
As fas as the first issue goes, I guess the popular thing to say would be "No, we can't judge our fellow man!". But are we really judging? If you think that someone's behaviour is unacceptable, surely you have a right to say so? If they don't like what you say, they can just ignore you! We should distinguish between judging a person's soul, which is not acceptable, and judging his behaviour, which is. In South Africa we have just we emerged from a system which banned just about anything it didn't deem suitable for our sensitive eyes and ears, and found ourselves with a libertarian Constitution and Constutitional Court which was determined to make a clean break with the past. The result was that the pornography market flourished, and what had previously smuggled in and sold by schoolboys at R 10 (then about $3) a page became commonplace. So what to do? The Christians for Truth group got together and staged protests outside a national bookstore and threatened a boycott. The result was that the store in question relented and stopped stocking the magazines, sales fell (eventually Hustler magazine opened its own retail outlets) and eventually everybody went home happy (of course, with the growth of the Net the whole point has become moot...). Is this sort of behaviour acceptable? I believe it is. Just because the state doesn't have a right to tell you what you can and can't see, doesn't mean that other organs in society can't use their influence in controlling what may be regarded by some as unacceptable behaviour. The important point is that the individual can choose whether or not to submit to a particular set of rules. This brings me to rules, and Christian ones in particular. Does Christianity have any rules? I may have run into bad Christians, or I may just be overly pessimistic, but Christians don't seem to be very good at following the rules of their own religion. Of all those who profess to be Christians, how many actually pray every day? How many would truly turn the other cheek, or walk the extra mile? The Christians I know don't give food to those who ask it of them, don't do any particular work for charity, and don't feel embarrassed about their wealth. Others, when I express my views on religion (agnosticism), say "But don't you want to get into Heaven?". Is that the purpose of Christianity -- an insurance policy? I would be really happy if all people could belong to a religion. But Christian leaders in particular have to take stock. Those who profess a particular religion should avoid behaviour which breeds cynicism. People have lost their fear of God. It is up to Churchgoers to make people feel that there is something worthwhile about joining a particular faith. That doesn't mean wearing pastel clothes or mentioning Jesus in every second sentence. The least you can do is look as if you are trying to follow the precepts of your religion, and not spend each day indulging in the sort of behaviour that is unacceptable to all religions, and then laughing it off by saying that we're all sinners! The issue of Church "interference" in the affairs of the rest of society arose recently (23/01/1999) when e.tv in South Africa decided not to broadcast The Exorcist because of concerns from religious groups that it would encourage satanism. I don't feel that The Exorcist is more likely to encourage satanism than any other film (if anything, it should discourage it!), but there is merit in the argument that it may be harmful to children. Mailto: |