the God we hide

I've been thinking about evangelism quite a bit lately. Now that I've recovered from the trappings of the "Wretched Urgency" of modern evangelicalism, an appropriate theology of evangelism is in order. What is terribly missing from most evangelism today is confidence in God. It seems to me that letting God be God and letting God do what He will do is not enough for us. We need to persuade and convince. We need on the spot "decisions for Christ," a term I've come to loathe. And in order to get on the spot decisions, we need a clear, concise way of presenting the gospel. This has contributed to our hiding the aspects of God that will get in the way of a quick decision.

For example, who ever warned anyone they were "witnessing" to that Jesus is more important than family, and that one's love for Christ should be so much higher than one's love for family, that love for family looks more like "hating" them (Luke 14:25-27)? This very text is indeed an "evangelistic" passage. People have "come to Christ," and He issues that very statement.

The heart of this, of course, is the question about the value (if you will) of Christ. Those coming to Christ must see Him as the "pearl of great price," for which they are willing to sell all. One who comes to Christ has changed her or his affections (or rather, had them changed) to value Christ above all.

Now, piling up "evidence that demands a verdict" may have its place. Christianity has such a vast amount of evidence in its favor, and it must be defended intelligently against the likes of the Jesus Seminar. But evidence is not enough. That's made clear by the fact that those opposed to Christianity keep recycling old, debunked arguments like, "Christianity borrowed all its beliefs from pagan and mystery religions." That's rubbish, and it has been proved to be so over and over, but it still surfaces again and again, especially ever since the Nag Hammadi library was discovered.

Nevertheless, it is God and God alone who can transform a person's perception and desire. One must desire Christ to come to Him, and no one desires Christ without the intervention of God John 6:44. Therefore, what people most need is not evidence in favor of the Word of God, but the Word of God itself. Learn it, live it, and teach it. See the world from its radical perspective. Only the God of the Bible is worth our love and adoration, and no one will be drawn to God if we hide the aspects of His character that most offend us. We must tell them entirely about the God we love and adore. We either draw people to God as He is, or we tell them about an idol. An idol will bring no salvation. Jesus Christ, as He is portrayed in the gospels, will save to the uttermost.