EVANGELIZATION

A few days ago, an acquaintance told me, essentially, that the reason why she would minister to her neighbor is to bring them to Jesus Christ. In her mind, Jesus told us to love our neighbor, not for the sake of the love that mirrors God's love for us, but as a method of bringing that neighbor to the church.

She made it clear that she wouldn't feed the hungry, clothe the naked or visit the prisoner without making a big deal out of the fact that she was there on behalf of Jesus Christ. Actually, she was in a white hot fury when she said it. She went on to insist that, by God, those damn people were gonna know about Jesus Christ, whether they liked it or not.  Hoo boy.

Fortunately, the woman is as selfish as she is misguided, and the closest she comes to actually doing anything for anyone else is flapping her gums after the sermon at the local big box church. She doesn't get a lot of opportunities to give the poor yet another reason to despise the Christians for their hypocrisy, ulterior motives and the way they look upon the souls of the converts as some sort of currency.

My impression of Jesus is that people loved him precisely because he loved them without conditions. He radiated love. He WAS love personified. It didn't matter if they'd been a prostitute or a tax collector. He turned his love on them and BAM!

If you believe that God is just a spiritual merchant, you're going to assume that if you bring him converts, you're going to get something in return and if you are kind to the poor, then God owes you something.

I feel sorry for people who have such a narrow (and false) picture of the Almighty because it means that He is very far away from their hearts.

Here is the fact: If you are close to God, you radiate God's love because that is what naturally happens. You cannot swim in the ocean of God's Love without becoming saturated with Him. Then, when you turn your face onto the poor and suffering, you are turning God's love on them.

God does not say, "I will only love you if you follow me." God is Love, and He loves all his creation.

He DOES say that those who love HIM will follow him and those who follow him naturally go to Heaven because where He is, there is heaven.

Jesus told us that the two most important commandments are to love God and love one's neighbor as much as oneself. The first commandment naturally leads to the second one He mentioned.
         
If we love God, we have already received our reward. We don't need to love our neighbor as a method of obtaining something from God. We have already received everything there is to be had.

This acquaintance I mentioned at the top of this diary entry DOES look upon God as a merchant. She has said, many times, that if she does certain things, then God will "bless" her. It's that stupid "prosperity Gospel" - the modern heresy. I tried to help her see that God is NOT a merchant and that our reward is being able to go to heaven, NOT having enough money to buy a vacuum cleaner. But she refuses to see God as anything but a spiritual merchant. Her relationship with Him is pervaded by sadness and regret because of her misunderstanding about his nature.

Please don't make the mistake of this acquaintance. Jump right into God with both feet. Soak yourself in the Ocean of Divine Mercy and Love. Prayer, meditation, and all the other methods recommended in scripture, help us to do this. Most people are not instantaneously purified when they embark upon the spiritual life. Even the people close to Jesus, in the flesh, were not immediately divested of all their defects. Just look at what Judas did! But, if we would all just follow what Jesus said, taking special care of the first two commandments, then no amount of artifice, double-dealing or ulterior motive will come into play.

We will become more and more like Jesus, as time goes on. Our evangelization will arise out of our very being. But it isn't a business arrangement. It is far more organic and simple than that.

You cannot swim in the Ocean of Mercy without getting wet.

Silver Rose