Spread the Word

 

After I started college, I was occasionally approached by Evangelicals who gave testimony and were in my face about whether I had been born again, accepted Jesus, and so on.  Back then, like a great many Catholics (I assume), I was a bit uncomfortable wearing my religion on my sleeve.  

The first time I heard people publicly confessing their sins and telling how they had found the Lord, I felt like I was watching them undress.  When they would demand to know the state of my soul before I could converse with them further, I had to strongly resist the urge to say MYOB.  It’s just the way I was raised, I guess. 

Today, when I read from Acts about how Barnabas and Saul “proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues” I wondered how I would have responded to them [Acts 12:24-13:5].  Probably a lot like I reacted to the Evangelicals giving testimony on my campus.  Most likely, I would have walked away, embarrassed for these nut cases.

Yet I believe as strongly as any Evangelical that Jesus was sent here to be our light and to light our way out of darkness [John 12:44-50].  Before Jesus it was all darkness, but Jesus is the manifestation of God’s word to save us.  He’s a beacon, illuminating the path, lighting the right way.  He’s our guide, our leader. Here to save us from the darkness, not to condemn us.  Before we were trapped in the darkness, but now there’s light, a way out.  Believing in Jesus is believing in God who sent Jesus.  And not believing keeps us trapped in the darkness of ignorance and despair.

Jesus comes, sent by the Father, on the authority of the Father, speaking the words of the Father.  He’s our savior—if we recognize who He is and where He comes from.  He will save us if we let Him, but if we’re condemned it’s by our own actions – our refusal to see the light and our determination to stay in darkness.  Jesus speaks God’s words of eternal life and shows us that light.  We choose light or darkness.

I think all of us who share this belief have an obligation to help spread it.  

There are many ways we can participate in that effort, most importantly by living the Gospel in our daily lives in countless small ways.  As a Christian, I have to make an effort to forgive those who have hurt me and to seek forgiveness from those I have injured.  I have to try to reach out to others in the ways that Jesus suggested through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

I’ll never be completely comfortable aggressively proclaiming my Christianity or trying to push it onto others.  But surely Jesus will understand if I try to overcome my many weaknesses and live as someone who takes His teachings seriously.