Hello Friends,
Today is Halloween, and I have an exciting Theology and Film post to share. Growing up, I have always been a fan of horror movies. My love for horror movies came from my mother. My mother did not like them so she would prohibit watching them when she was around. As I got older, I bought a DVD player and got a subscription to Netflix (this was when they first started, which means only one location, and no streaming. Scary!!!!). With this new found power of watching anything I wanted, I would fill up my queue with horror movies.
One movie I enjoyed was Dawn of the Dead (1978, not the 2004 version). Watching this film, one of the theories that the dead walked the earth was because "hell ran out of room." Recently, when I watched this movie, the phrase, "hell ran out of room," lingered in my head. It made me thing about evangelism. Now what does a zombie apocalypse and evangelism have to do with each other? Well, if the reason why the dead walk is because "hell ran out of room," then that means there are more souls going to hell then going to heaven. Matthew 28:18-20 says,
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
As Followers of Christ, it is our responsibility to share the Gospel with everyone we come in contact with. It is more important that we live out or faith just as much as we profess it. However, I know for some, evangelising is a hard thing to do. What is so challenging about spreading the gospel? One reason is that most people do not know how. Some people have seen other people evangelizing on street corners handing out tracts and saying, "repent for the end is near." Some have seen people walk up to people and tell the person that they are spreading the gospel that they are sinners and they need to change there ways or they are going to hell. For some people these methods work, however for some, it continues to see Christians as a bunch of crazies and they walk further and further away from Christ.
Is there a better solution to witness to people? Yes! reading through the four Gospels, I notice some things about Jesus when he would talk to people. First, he would never start off by telling the other person their sins. Any time Jesus would go to an individual, he would never start the conversation talking about sin. He always would ask questions, listen to the person, or would talk to an individual with gentleness and respect. When sin was brought up, that is when he would address it. For example, the woman caught in adultery, Jesus never said that she was a sinner. when the crowd walked away, He asked her if anyone was left to condemn her, she said no, and then he said he did not condemn her either and to go and sin no more. What is interesting about this story is that she knew that she had sinned and was feeling the guilt (and fear) of her actions. Jesus non-chalantly forgave her and told her to sin no more. No hell, fire, and brimstone sermon from Him afterwards.
Lastly, he never pursued a situation where he was never wanted. After Jesus drove the demons out of a man and into a herd of pigs, the villagers wanted him to leave. He did what the crowd asked and left but before he did, he refused the man, who was possessed to come with him because Jesus knew that this man could help lead the village to salvation. When we share the gospel, some do not want to hear it. Unlike Jesus, it is hard for us to walk away when people do not want to hear the message, especially if it is in a work or family setting. However, sometimes it is good to table the sharing of the gospel in order to build up relationships with co-workers, family members, etc. Eventually, something will happen when that particular person would need to hear the gospel and then not only can you lead them to Christ, but they also have a great support system in place.
