As I was cleaning carpets today in a house in Arlington, I noticed that there were several books sitting around called Red Letters by Tom Davis. I asked the homeowners about it, and they informed me that they attend Pantego Bible Church and lead a home group, in which they are currently reading and discussing this book.

Then they gave me a free copy!

There is almost nothing I love more than free books.

On the ride back to the shop, I opened the book up, and not only did I get the book free, but is has been autographed! That was a bonus.

And to top it all off, there was a piece of paper stuck inside the front cover as well. I opened it up, and out fell a check for $10,000!

No, I’m just kidding about the check. But there was a piece of paper inside, and on it was written “A Franciscan Blessing” which was exactly what I needed to hear today. Here is what it says:

May God bless you with discomfort…
     at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,
     so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger…
     at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
     so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears…
     to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
     so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness…
     to believe that you can make a difference in the world,
     so that you can do what others claim cannot be done,
     to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen.

I do not think I deserve to be called a Christian. Most of my believing friends would probably disagree with that statement, but I think it is possible that some of my friends who do not believe in Jesus for eternal life would probably agree with me. To some of my unbelieving friends, I probably do not fit their idea of how a follower of Jesus should live, talk, and act.

And guess whose opinion is more important?

In this matter (as in many others), the opinion of those who do not believe in Jesus for eternal life trumps the opinion of those who do. So, I guess I cannot call myself a Christian.

And as I was thinking about this recently, I realized that this is exactly the point!

The first group of people who were called “Christians” did not claim the title for themselves. Instead, it was a title given to a group of people who not only believed in Jesus, and talked a lot about Him, but also lived like Him in generosity, service, forgiveness, and love. They were “called Christians” (Acts 11:26). I believe that the title “Christian” is like the British honorary title “Sir.” Neither are titles that can be taken; both can only be bestowed.

There are great masses of people today who like Jesus and think He and His teachings are great, but who want nothing to do with those who claim to be His followers, by those who claim to be “Christians.”

However, I firmly believe that if a group of people who believed in Jesus for eternal life, and committed themselves to living and loving like He commanded, a watching world would soon take notice, and declare, “Now here…Here is a group of people that could be called Christians, for here is a group who seems to take Jesus seriously and want to live like Him.”

To me, that would be the greatest honor I could receive in this life. I don’t want to take the name “Christian.” But if I could be called a Christian, now that would be something! If a person who is not a follower of Jesus could look at my life over years of observation and friendship, and say “You are what I imagined followers of Jesus to be like. You are a true Christian” I would consider my life a success.

So who is calling you a Christian? Is it just you and your other “Christian” friends? Do people who are not “Christians” look at your life and say that you just don’t look like the Jesus they read about in Scripture? If so, my guess is that you are claiming a title you have not yet earned.

Don’t call yourself a Christian until someone who is not a Christian calls you one first.

I attended a Mormon church last Sunday. I haven’t really had time to write about it much because I worked 15-16 hour days on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I took Thursday and Friday off, and then I go back to work on Saturday. In many ways, my wife feels like a single mother, so please pray for us. 

Anyway, after attending the Mormon church with my co-worker, below are a few of my initial observations as gleaned through my own personal conversations:

1. I am amazed that Mormonism is so popular since in many ways, their style of “worship” service is nearly identical to that of fundamental Baptists. They only use the King James Version, they pray using words like “thee,” “thy,” and “thou,” all the men come dressed is slacks and ties, and the entire morning lasted three hours, with a heavy emphasis on extended times of teaching. Since fundamental Baptists are seeing a rapid decline in attendance, but Mormons are on the rise, what is it about Mormonism that people find attractive?
2. Theologically, Mormonism does not seem to be as “wacked out” as some Christian critics portray them to be. In fact, when it comes to the doctrine of salvation, I could easily argue that Mormons are just as orthodox as many “evangelical protestants,” specifically in regard to the role of good works in salvation (in other words, they base it partly on their own works). Also, there are many similarities between a Mormon’s view of Joseph Smith and other groups within “Christendom” (e.g. Catholics and some Charismatics) who believe in some sort of apostolic succession or ongoing prophetic additions to Scripture.
3. They believe they are the one true church, and all others are in apostasy to one degree or another. They believe that Joseph Smith restored correct practice and doctrine as it was originally taught by Jesus Christ and Paul. Again, this idea is not unique to Mormons, as there are many groups and teachers who think they have a corner on the truth, and everybody else is in error.  
4. There are, of course, serious problems with Mormon theology and practice. For example, they don’t really believe in the Trinity the way most evangelical Christians do, and they don’t seem to believe that Jesus was eternally God. It is probably for these reasons that they are labeled a “cult.” Also, some of the primary practices of Mormons seem to be based on obscure passages of Scripture. For example, a common Mormon practice is baptism for dead ancestors, which is based on a particular interpretation of 1 Cor 15:29.
5. Most Mormons are convinced that their beliefs are correct because they had a supernatural experience which proved to them that what they believe is true. I have men many people within various brands of Christianity who argue along similar lines. It is next to impossible to convince such a person through logical reasoning and arguments that what they believe might not be true. As I have conversed with my Mormon co-workers about their faith, every time I bring up a question they don’t seem to be able to answer, they revert to talking about their experience (vision, dream, inner feeling, etc.) which proved to them the truth of what they believe, and then they tell me that if I really want to know the truth, I should pray for wisdom and ask God to give me a similar experience to reveal the truth to me.

There are numerous other things I could discuss, but these are the five that stand out to me right now. One thing I am becoming more and more convinced of is that before you go blast someones life, theology, or practice, you should not go read a book about them, but instead endeavor to become friends with someone of that group. Once you do, it will become impossible to blast them. Things are not as cut-and-dry, black-and-white as some speakers and authors would make you believe.

I wrote on Saturday about an evangelistic festival I took part in and some of my complaints about such efforts. My post was rather negative and critical, so I want to balance it with some constructive suggestions on how evangelism can be done differently and (in my opinion) more effectively.

The bottom line principle is that developing a genuine relationship with someone is simpler, cheaper, and more effective than putting on a big production. It takes hundreds of Christians hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to put on one “evangelistic” festival like the one I participated in, and yet, ironically, seemed to primarily attract Christians. But I believe that if those same Christians put the same amount of time, energy, and money into developing a few close relationships with a few non-Christians in their neighborhood or workplace, the results might be much different.

Here are some suggestions of what you can do this week:

1. Slow down at the doctor’s office this week and really visit with the administrative assistant about what is going on in her life. (But be aware of the people waiting in line behind you!)
2. Give your mailman a cold bottle of water and tell him to knock on your door every day to get another one from you (we have been doing this for close to a year now, and have developed a very good relationship with our mailman. We actually invited him over for dinner a while back!) Of course, this only works if you have a mailman who does his route on foot.
3. When you see your neighbor weeding her flower garden, go give her a hand.
4. Bake a plate of cookies and take them over to the elderly lady across the street. If she asks you to say for milk and cookies, do it!
5. Help your other neighbor put together his storage shed.
6. Get gas from the same gas station every week, and get to know the attendants by name.
7. Use the same check out person at the supermarket every time you go…even if their line is longer.  
8. If you pray over your meal when you eat out, tip your server at least 20%.
9. Hold a free block party where you invite everyone on your block over for a BBQ just so they can all get to know each other. Don’t do a devotional. Don’t invite them all to church. Don’t invite them back next week for a BBQ and Bible study. Just build relationships. This may cost you a couple hundred dollars, but it will be money well spent.
10. See the Doable Evangelism OA blog for more ideas.

I do believe that God can use “festival” evangelism like what I witnessed this past weekend. But in my experience, most non-Christians see such attempts as a half-baked, bait and switch, slightly entertaining, wasteful sales pitches. Christians exhaust themselves putting on such events, and few real relationships are formed. Such events are like fireworks: a lot of noisy flashes, but nothing of substance is left when the show is over.

So if you want to be involved in something of substance, build into the lives of the people whom God has already placed around you. If you begin to look, it is amazing who you will find. I realized just yesterday that six months ago, I didn’t know a single non-Christian by name. Then in the middle of January, something happend in my life which made me reassess all my goals and priorities. Now, six months later, most of my friends are non-Christians. I don’t say this to my credit, but only to show that relationships can be easily developed, if you look for the opportunities. And such relationships are generally cheaper, statistically more effective, and certainly more fun than the typical “evangelistic” event put on by most churches.

Who can you begin to develop a relationship with today?