CraigWeidman.com

Small talk after the Sunday morning service or at a church fellowship meal sometimes turns to troubling headlines in the news. It may begin with commentary on the sad realities of a natural disaster from the day before. The conversation then drifts to make note of other bad things that seem so prevalent in our world—violence, immorality, evil regimes, etc.

More than a few of these conversations are eventually injected with someone’s conclusion that the Lord must certainly be coming back any day now. This is likely to get some nods of agreement from others who are part of the conversation. And it would not be uncommon for someone to respond by saying something like, “I sure hope it’s any day now; then, we would be done with all this terrible stuff.” At this, you would probably see the heads around the circle nod even more.

There is a strong escapist impulse within much of evangelical anticipation of Christ’s return. While this impulse is understandable when we are encountered with the groaning of creation longing for its full redemption (Romans 8:22-24), escapist pining for the Second Coming is limited and strips Christ’s return of its practical relevance to our current reality.

The first eleven verses of the book of Acts set the trajectory of the church in its understanding of the Second Coming and its relevance to our mission. We, who are followers of Christ and make up the church, carry on the work of the risen Christ. (Acts 1:1-3a,8b) This mission is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:2,4-5,8a), which reflects the fact that as God forsaken as the world sometimes seems, He is actually presently active in it.

Our engagement with the mission joins us with the divine activity in the world and makes us a manifestation of the kingdom of God (in contrast to temporal kingdoms) in our present context. (Acts 1:3b,6-7) This kingdom manifestation anticipates Christ’s Second Coming. (Acts 1:9-11)

The anticipation is not of escape from the here and now. Rather, it is hope that radically engages us in the here and now and informs and transforms that engagement. So as Stanely Grenz and John Franke have stated: “In the end, then, the object of Christian hope is not the future itself but the God of the future; not our creaturely destiny but the God who destines; not the [goal] of our existence but the God who is leading us toward that glorious goal.” (Beyond Foundationalism)

Grenz and Franke further note: “For the first Christians, this vision of a consummation centered in the return of Christ did not remain merely a set of beliefs about the future but functioned as a central aspect of their faith in the living, active God, a faith that led to hopeful engagement in the world.” So rather than merely looking from here to there, we look from there to here.

The winter of 2011-2012 was as snowy and as cold as any in a long time in the Northeast. And it initially appeared the winter that has just past would be the same when substantial and unprecedented snowfall hammered the region in October.

Mockingly, some exclaimed things like, “It sure looks like global warming to me.” It seemed that climate change science deniers had some contemporaneous evidence to support their considerably conservative political/religious ideas.

But then came the mildest winter most anyone can remember. Did this new “evidence” cause the adversaries of science to consider changing their minds? Not a chance. In fact, the Republican primary campaign, during what should have been the coldest months of the year that rarely saw a temperature drop below freezing in many parts of the Northeast, featured candidates competing with each other over who could most ridicule science, particularly as it relates to climatology.

Obviously, a single cold winter or a single warm winter in a single regional area proves nothing about the nature of global climate change. However, these two extremes back to back, combined with other dramatic occurrences of climate related catastrophes,  should cause us to raise an eyebrow and ask, “Is something strange going on here?”

Do you remember El Nino and El Nina? A number of years ago during these so named climate cycles, scientists were warning that significant drought, devastating hurricanes, catastrophic tornadoes, and unusual cool and warm were on the way. Is this how it has turned out? Just think about the number of weather/climate related news events in the last few years.

Can we be sure that all the climatological modeling and projections are precise going forward 50 or 100 years? Of course not. The most extreme predictions of entering an ice age or a warm up enough to melt polar ice caps to the point of dangerously raising ocean levels may seem to be possibly science fiction. But so were wireless phones in the 1960s spy movies and television programs.

I’m not suggesting an ice age or coastal cities under water is going to happen. I don’t know, nor does any scientist know, any more than anyone else whether such will or won’t happen. It doesn’t sound likely to me, but isn’t it foolish and risky to deny climate change science altogether when there is compelling evidence to demonstrate a negative trend.

Conservative Christians appear to be the foremost of climate change science deniers. A combination of political and religious ideology and biblical interpretations lead many of them to boldly claim, virtually as a tenet of faith, that climate change is not real.

Christians have done this before. They “stood on the Bible” as they mocked scientists who theorized, from the available data at the time, that the earth was round and not flat. The Church not only denied that which the scientists were proposing, but mocked and persecuted them. They insisted, as a virtual tenet of faith, that the world was flat. Sounds preposterous now.

Will the planet become uninhabitable in 75 years due to ozone depletion or something of this sort?

Over the years, Christians have shared their faith in Jesus Christ along with warnings about hell. Many have used an apologetic approach with those who say they don’t believe in hell, in God, in Jesus, etc. that goes something like, “Are you willing to take the risk that you are wrong?” I turn the same question back to Christians who want to deny climate change science. Are you willing to take the risk that you are wrong?

Years ago, I worked in retail sales while serving as a bi-vocational pastor. Anyone who has ever done sales is likely familiar with the adage, “Ask for the sale.” Many sales people can do a great sales presentation but come up short at the end by failing to close the sale, often because they haven’t asked the customer for the sale.

The key to staying employed in sales and getting a paycheck worth staying in sales is producing a good closing rate. Consequently, many sales people push hard to close the deal so they can move on to the next one.

Most of us know what it feels like to run into deal closing salesmanship. We are usually turned off, and even if we do buy the product or service, there is often a sense of wondering if we’ve made the right decision.

When it comes to sharing the gospel and leading others to faith in Christ, Christians fall into three general groups. The first and likely largest group is those who rarely or never do it. This is clearly not part of the biblical paradigm for us as followers of Christ and radically hinders the completion of Christ’s mission for the church. The second group is comprised of a small, yet hopefully growing, minority of Christians—those who share their faith as the Lord provides opportunities and do so with grace and sensitivity to the person with whom they are speaking and to the Holy Spirit.

The third group, which is my particular concern in this post, is the other side of the spectrum from the first group. They are overzealous and in your face. Most are well-intended yet misguided, using approaches that are much more like deal closing salesmanship than the relational engagement we see in Jesus.

I have been concerned for some time about the commoditization of the gospel and the approaches to evangelism that are commonly used. I’ve long wondered if we are actually inoculating far more people to the gospel than we actually see embrace it. And even of those who embrace it (at least initially in an affirmative response to a Christian working to close the deal with them), I am deeply concerned over the fact that generally only about one-third who make “professions of faith” are found in our churches after the fact.

This was driven home to me several months ago when I was beginning to share the gospel with someone. As I tried to sense how the Holy Spirit was moving and get a sense of the person to whom I was speaking, two things became quite clear.

First, it was evident that aside from generic “God talk” Jason wasn’t really connecting with what I was trying to share. Second, due to the crisis in this person’s life and the fact that he respected that I was a minister, he would have jumped through all the “accepting Christ” hoops that we typically set up—admit to being a sinner, confess the need of salvation, pray a prayer asking Christ to become personal Savior.

I changed the subject rather than push for a conversion. As I walked away from that meeting, I was torn. There was a sense that maybe I had missed an opportunity, but the Holy Spirit challenged me that I had listened to Him and needed to trust Jason to the Lord.

I received a call from Jason several days later asking if we could meet. This time it was clear something was connecting. I continued forward with explaining the gospel, but before I even got to the part about asking if he wanted to give his life to Christ, Jason said, “Can I do this right now?”

Jason truly met the Lord that day and is continuing in his faith as part of the church. Had I pushed to close the deal that first day I met with him, I’m not so sure it would have worked out this way. I could have claimed a conversion but wouldn’t have made a disciple.

Jesus’ Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) doesn’t call us to go and make converts; it calls us to go and make disciples. Salesmanship tactics leads to making converts. Relating to the person who is in front of us and listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit leads to making disciples.

The Trayvon Martin case has caused us to again be confronted with perennial issues present in American culture. As this story continues to unfold, the debate over whether George Zimmerman acted in self-defense or not opens deep questions about the role of guns in our society, the nature of justice, racial and other prejudices, and even the divisions of left and right politics.

Much scrutiny is now being given to the reasonability of the so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws that, like in Florida where Martin was shot and killed, are on the books or being considered in many states. Statistics on justified homicide claims following enactments of such laws along with complementary anecdotal evidence from some of these killings would strongly suggest that these statutes have emboldened citizens to take the law into their own hands—to figuratively and literally shoot first and ask questions later.

It appears that “Stand Your Ground” is to neighborhood watch as the Bush Doctrine is to national defense. There was a time when American military force was viewed as the last resort to be used only when necessary and when no other options were available. A provocative, preemptive strike based on the supposed ill-intent of another country was considered unworthy of American values. The invasion of Iraq in 2002 radically shifted military policy from a stance of defense to one of offense. In doing so, a sort of international “Stand Your Ground” was established.

So there appears to be a larger ideological framework that informs the laws that George Zimmerman and others have stood behind as they have not merely defended themselves but have pursued others with guns drawn. And it all seems to reflect something within our cultural psyche that deserves serious examination.

We must ask ourselves some very tough questions about our souls as individuals and about our soul as a nation when we effectively authorize lone citizens to become judge, jury, and executioner. As much as the gun slingers of the wild west appealed to our collective imagination, we still held the line that there should be no place in a civilized society for vigilantism. That line appears to now be in the process of being erased…and sadly enough, in the name of justice.

My wife and I had not been sleeping long when we heard a car alarm. Within moments my cell phone rang. It was a neighbor telling me I should come out front, because someone had just run into my parked car and sped away.

We quickly got dressed and headed out into the chilly night air. After a quick assessment of the damage, getting the story from our neighbor, and calling police, my new later bedtime made for a short night, particularly since I hadn’t been feeling well anyway. Needless to say, that night last week was quite frustrating.

The frustration only continued the next day. There were the requisite calls with the insurance company, towing service, and repair shop. Further there were the transportation challenges of being down a car. To top it off, I slipped and fell down the steps of my front porch while returning my insurance and registration cards to the car before the towing company came to take it to the repair shop. And did I mention that I still wasn’t feeling well.

My wife and I vented quite a bit while I drove her home from work the day after the hit and run. And as often happens when we start complaining about one thing, it spreads to other things. So by the time we were driving up our street, we had worked ourselves into a fair amount of self-inflicted discouragement.

Just as we pulled into a parking space in front of our house, Buffy noticed a regular customer of hers at the bank where she works. The customer was approaching the house next to ours. Crystal also noticed Buffy as we got out of the car. Crystal doesn’t live in our neighborhood, so it was one of those delightful surprises for both of them. We quickly discovered that Crystal’s daughter had just moved in as our new neighbor.

Suddenly mine and Buffy’s perspective was changed. We had something other than our downward spiraling negativity upon which to focus our attention. A divine appointment had interrupted our little pity party and gave us something to celebrate.

It’s interesting how prone we are to complaining. It was the chief sin of the Hebrew people during the 40 wilderness years between the Exodus from Egypt and their entrance into Canaan. Complaining is a response to perceived or actual misery, but it serves only to make us more miserable. Complaining didn’t unsmash the front of my car or make the stiffness and soreness from my slip on the steps hurt less. It actually made me feel worse about it all.

Not only does complaining make us only feel worse, it often causes us to miss things God is doing. Thankfully He made it plain enough and obvious enough to Buffy and me last week that we couldn’t miss it. But how many other divine appointments have been in my path only to be missed because I was too wrapped up in one unfortunate event or another?

So may we all pull our chins off our chests more often so we can better look around to see what God may be doing around us.