The Clamor of Bickering Men
Over the past several months, I have been following some interesting discussion on a blog written by an old friend of mine. My friend, a former evangelical turned catholic priest, devotes his blog page to promoting and defending the catholic faith with the same fervor that many of his former fundamentalist colleagues ridicule the catholic faith.
Recently, the discussion on the blog has been mission work and evangelism in catholic countries. My priest friend took a jab at a group of Baptist teens in "jazzy T-shirts with Bible verses on them" whom he had run into on a recent mission trip. The teens were going to a catholic country to convert people to Christ. He felt the general belief of Protestants is that all Catholics need to be converted to Christ (pretty much a true statement), and he was incensed by it. The priest's evangelical friend responded with a list of reasons why he felt that Catholics need to be converted, and that was followed up by a response from my friend about poor, superstitious catholics who regrettably are too ignorant to know better. On it went. I had trouble following most of it.
As I thought about this bantering back and forth that went on between these two adult men who as far as I can tell are sitting on opposite sides of the same fence, it dawned on me that they were both missing the point. Energized by their desire to defend their petty little positions, they complete forgot about Jesus Christ. They also forgot that outside their two very large groups of nominal believers (for those are the real objects of their criticism), there is a group of devout believers who care nothing for evangelicalism, fundamentalism or Catholicism. These men and women care only about loving and serving the Lord Jesus Christ and glorifying Him on the earth. These are the true believers (and by the way, they can be found just about anywhere on the earth if you look for them).
As I contemplate these things, I can see in my mind's eye a multitude of bickering men (and women). On one side there are the evangelicals, on the other side the catholics. The noise is loud and the confusion is great. A great gray cloud hangs over them. To the side, a small group of simple men and women stand staring at the multitude in disbelief. Together, as one, the little group turns their backs on the clamor and walks away toward a Light in the distance. The sound of the bickering fades and the Light of Christ grows brighter. They have seen the Light of Christ and are not bothered by the bickering and fighting of religious men. Christ has shown His Light in their hearts, and they are changed forever. So while silly men fight over religion, they quietly carry the Gospel Light of Christ into the world ignored and often forgotten. These are the true missionaries.
Recently, the discussion on the blog has been mission work and evangelism in catholic countries. My priest friend took a jab at a group of Baptist teens in "jazzy T-shirts with Bible verses on them" whom he had run into on a recent mission trip. The teens were going to a catholic country to convert people to Christ. He felt the general belief of Protestants is that all Catholics need to be converted to Christ (pretty much a true statement), and he was incensed by it. The priest's evangelical friend responded with a list of reasons why he felt that Catholics need to be converted, and that was followed up by a response from my friend about poor, superstitious catholics who regrettably are too ignorant to know better. On it went. I had trouble following most of it.
As I thought about this bantering back and forth that went on between these two adult men who as far as I can tell are sitting on opposite sides of the same fence, it dawned on me that they were both missing the point. Energized by their desire to defend their petty little positions, they complete forgot about Jesus Christ. They also forgot that outside their two very large groups of nominal believers (for those are the real objects of their criticism), there is a group of devout believers who care nothing for evangelicalism, fundamentalism or Catholicism. These men and women care only about loving and serving the Lord Jesus Christ and glorifying Him on the earth. These are the true believers (and by the way, they can be found just about anywhere on the earth if you look for them).
As I contemplate these things, I can see in my mind's eye a multitude of bickering men (and women). On one side there are the evangelicals, on the other side the catholics. The noise is loud and the confusion is great. A great gray cloud hangs over them. To the side, a small group of simple men and women stand staring at the multitude in disbelief. Together, as one, the little group turns their backs on the clamor and walks away toward a Light in the distance. The sound of the bickering fades and the Light of Christ grows brighter. They have seen the Light of Christ and are not bothered by the bickering and fighting of religious men. Christ has shown His Light in their hearts, and they are changed forever. So while silly men fight over religion, they quietly carry the Gospel Light of Christ into the world ignored and often forgotten. These are the true missionaries.
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