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Education Ministry

Posted on May 6, 2004 ...

A friend once asked, after attending a worship service, “Why did everyone keep looking at their shoes?” We were both kids and I do not remember my answer, but I doubt it made much sense to him. Even now I wonder how I would explain prayer to an unbeliever. To the uninitiated, talking to someone who cannot be seen visually or heard audibly must seem strange. And to the unchurched, “every head bowed and every eye closed” must look a lot like sleep. I offer this, not to call into question our prayer practices, but to illustrate a biblical truth: “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Ours is a world where Christians and non-Christians must live and work side-by-side. We get along fine when it comes to getting the job done and being good neighbors, but in matters of faith (the essence of who we are) it is as if we speak two different languages. We talk about being saved, while they do not consider themselves lost. We speak of the future blessings of heaven, while they are too overwhelmed with the pressures of life to look beyond the present. We speak about surrendering to Jesus, while they live by the rules of a dog-eat-dog world. Even the gospel itself may be more difficult to accept than we want to admit.

I recently asked my Sunday School class if they would readily alter a fundamental belief they have held their entire lives. They said they would not. Yet is this not what we ask of unbelievers when it comes to accepting the tenets of our faith? We who have been raised in the church find biblical truth easy to accept. But to those outside the church, Christianity is no different from any other religion or philosophy.

Now this presents quite a quandary for us Christians; for we are commanded by our Lord to go out and make disciples of just this sort of people. My own encounters with unbelievers have resulted in both frustration and disappointment. I confess I have been tempted at times to give up altogether and insulate myself with people who think like me. Thankfully, my Lord forbids it and reminds me that He is with me in this endeavor. For those of you who can identify with the tension between our Lord’s command and the hardness of worldly ideologies, I offer three thoughts of encouragement: 1) Refuse to be surprised or put off by the beliefs and actions of worldly people. A non-Christian cannot be expected to think or act like a Christian. 2) Rely totally upon the Holy Spirit. No man or woman, including yourself, can accept the things of God unless he or she is first softened and courted by the Spirit of God. 3) Think long and hard on the everyday benefits of Christianity. A faith with no practical relevance for today will not prepare a soul for eternity.

Next time I will address the question, “What good is being a Christian anyway?” In the mean time, think about the way you appear to those around you. Do they see in you a better way to live, or just one more person looking at their shoes?