Square Mile

"The greatest cause of atheism is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him with their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." Brennan Manning

Such a statement is not theory, it is reality. The following dialogue was an interview conducted for Third Way magazine with Mark Thomas, a popular comedian: 

Interviewer: Do you believe in God?
Thomas: No. I would like to, I really would, but I have never seen any evidence that would persuade me. 
Interviewer: So, how do you account for that sense of morality? 
Thomas: Can I tell you where I last heard that argument? It was from the press officer for the Church of England's investment fund. His argument was: without a Christian belief, how can you have fundamental moral principles? And I wanted to know from him, 'How come you've f**ked up so royally?' You have a look at the companies that the Church of England invests in. Religion has played a role in providing a moral framework, but it's also provided the most untenable excuses for atrocious behaviour.^[1]  

This exchange is symptomatic of what often takes place in contemporary evangelism. The non-Christian expresses a desire to believe but withholds from commitment due to lack of 'evidence'. The Christian interprets this to mean a rationalistic argument and so provides one: Aquinas' moral proof in this case. The non-Christian's response is not to attack this argument from a rational perspective, but simply to demonstrate that on a pragmatic level it does not work. The conversation continues with the Christian demonstrating the logical flaws in the non-Christian's point of view, but totally failing to convince the non-Christian himself or herself!  

My purpose in highlighting this is to demonstrate, once again, the close connections that exist between Evangelism, Mercy, Influence and Life discipleship. At root, Life discipleship is founded on the acknowledgement that 'Jesus is Lord'. In its first century context, such an acknowledgment embraced personal, public and political dimensions. It was personal in the way that many of the first Christians used it to express their own whole-hearted devotion to Jesus. Thomas' confession on seeing the risen Jesus, 'My Lord and My God' (John 20:28) is the confession of every believer. But it is also public in that to claim as Peter did that this crucified one is also 'Lord and Messiah' (Acts 2:36) is to say that no other messiah is expected. Peter was declaring to his fellow Jews that their salvation would not be achieved by the violent overthrow of the Romans, but rather by the love and death of this crucified messiah. Finally, it was political in the way it stood in stark contrast to the acknowledgement of any law abiding Roman citizen that Caesar was Lord. It was, in other words, a way of saying that this carpenter from Nazareth now has dominion over every aspect of life. There is literally no territory in which he is not King. And that is why genuine Life discipleship inevitably finds its expression in Evangelism, Mercy and Influence both personally and corporately. As someone once said, 'Our lives should be such that they don't make sense except for the reality of God'. Hence, if only we did practice Life discipleship, that might make an unbelieving generation perhaps once again believe.

Wirtten by Dr Justin Thacker, Head of Theology & Suannah Clark, Public Theology Researcher

^[1] 'Stand-up for Freedom' in Third Way, April 2000, 16.