[This is a part of the Evangelization Basics Series. Have you read the other parts?]
I think evangelization is one of the most necessary and most feared aspects of the Christian life. Necessary because it lays the foundation for everything. Feared because it involves engaging people who don’t agree with me and asking them to change.
It Ain’t Easy, But it Could Be Easier
I admit, this is hard stuff to deal with, and we all tend to avoid hard things. However, evangelization is the very reason the Church exists. It’s like the 700-pound gorilla in the middle of the living room. Everyone knows you have to do something about him but he’s so hard to deal with it’s easier to just leave him alone. I think there’s ways to lessen the impact and hostility of proposing change to people. That’s what this blog series is about.
Metanoia…A More Positive Spin
The first thing Jesus says in Mark’s gospel is this, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). I find repent has a negative connotation. It can also be translated as convert. The Greek word used here is metanoia.
I like the way Fr. Robert Barron explains the meaning of metanoia. It comes from two words, meta (meaning “beyond”) and noos (meaning “mind” or “to think”). It literally means “to go beyond the mind, or the thinking, that you have.” The kingdom is here, God’s order is here, therefore, go beyond the attitude and perspective you have now and open yourself to the larger possibilities available through God.
Evangelization Facilitates Going Beyond
I think of conversion as a change in perspective. We all have our own ideas, opinions and ways of looking at things. These are conditioned by our upbringing, culture and situation in life. We look at the world and judge it through these filters.
In the process of evangelization, I ask people to step out of their conditioned perspective and look at reality from a new vantage point. Think of it like this, what if there’s an obstacle blocking your line of sight, a column or pole, and you can’t see what I’m seeing? You have to step to the side a bit to see it yourself. Our own projects, plans and agendas are often obstacles blocking our line of sight and keeping us from seeing God’s truth.
The work of evangelization facilitates this change of perspective. Conversion is a work of the Holy Spirit. What we do is dispose people to allow the Holy Spirit’s work within them, to allow their minds to be opened to God’s possibilities.
The Necessary First Step
Evangelization seeks to “bring about faith and conversion to Christ…a profound change of mind and heart, a change of life, a ‘metanoia’” (National Directory of Catechesis, p. 47). To go beyond one’s current thinking, to reorient one’s attitudes and perspectives, this is the necessary first step. Without it, further catechesis can’t gain a foothold in a person’s heart and soul. It becomes just one more ideology instead of life-giving truth. I think the reason our catechesis doesn’t stick is we so often skip this crucial step. But that’s the subject of my next post.
What do you think? Do you find evangelization scary? Why? Let’s see it in the comments!
[This is a part of the Evangelization Basics Series. Have you read the other parts?]
We’ve experienced it in our own conversion and we have seen it play out with others over the years. A gentle, heartfelt approach and genuine caring for the other win out over harsh tactics every day. nnWe must genuinely care about others. We must accept them for who they are and love them for who they are before they begin to move along to who they were created to be. nnFinally, we must never, ever, ever think we are doing any of the evangelization ourselves. We are of use to the Holy Spirit only when we allow Him to work through us. Humility is not only a virtue, it’s a necessity if one is to evangelize others. nnDon’t worry though. Not humble enough? God will take care of that.
Ha! Yeah, that’s right! God can take care of humility huh? Definitely a lesson you want to learn voluntarily. 😉
Our Leadership Team for our upcoming session of Cavin’s’ “Revelation: The Kingdom Yet to Come” had an amazingly similar conversation this morning around a kitchen table here in Ohio. The “other cardaronella’s” comment about genuinely caring for people, meeting them where they’re at with gentleness is exactly what St. Paul was talking about in 1Thess 2:7-12. We could all go to school on the one verse in its wisdom on evangelization. Thanks for a great article!
Thanks Maryc! That passage from 1 Thess 2 will be the subject of a later post in this series on St. Paul. Please stop by again and check it out! nnHope your Revelation study goes well. I liked that one very much.
thanks for another great post, marc! in my grad program, we’ve been reading some GREAT texts by henri nouwen and dietrich von hildebrand that expand on metanoia. great reads for anyone who has time to devote to reading. 🙂
i’ve found that creating opportunities for teens, college students and young adults to encounter Christ can be tough at times because they’re already sooo busy–after school activities, test prep, academic clubs, sports teams, social activities and so on. it’s really hard to get them to see that they would actually benefit from being less busy and taking time every day to just listen to what God is trying to tell them in their heart through prayer and going to daily Mass. that’s more valuable than any grade or test score, in my opinion.
this past fall, in my confirmation class, i had a 16-year old student ask, “why should i ‘make time for God’ when i don’t have any problems in my life, everything’s already going great?” there’s a disconnect somewhere in thinking that we only need God when we are in crisis mode. how do you explain God’s abundant grace and blessings [even when we don’t deserve them] so that it inspires the person to really think about their life further, in good times and in bad?
~crystal
This is a very good question Crystal. I think you’re right, there really is a disconnect when we only need God for getting out of a crisis. But that’s the way many people feel. Religion is just for the weak. If you’re talented and successful, why would you need it? I felt that way myself for a long time in my teenage and young adult years. These are often the hardest people to evangelize as well. There’s no hook! There’s nothing to appeal to. They have it all together.
I think many times it’s up to us to make people aware of the need. That’s the old sales trick. How do you sell somebody on something when they don’t need to buy? You make them aware of a need they didn’t know they had.
I’ve come to realize over the years that no matter how together people seem, there’s always something amiss in their lives–some ache, some longing unfulfilled, some hurt left unhealed. They just won’t let you see it. Some people are so good at covering it up, they’re not even conscious of it themselves. They’ve shoved it under the rug but it always surfaces somewhere in some kind of behavior or attitude that they don’t really like about themselves but there it is.
Now, they won’t tell you what that something is, but that’s alright. You probably don’t want to know. All you have to do is touch on the generalities to make them aware that their really not alright. Talk about the hurt that comes from sin. The world is messed up, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Just look around. Everyone has been hurt in some way by relationships, by other people’s selfishness, and by other people’s sin. They’ve been hurt by their own sin as well.
Jesus brings a healing that’s way beyond the “life’s going great” kind of problems. It goes on a deeper level to the very source of the hurt and woundedness. He can get down to the very core of the soul and provide peace, acceptance, love and unity where no one and nothing else can. Have the kids reflect on their wounds. What is eating at them? What has been bothering them for weeks, months, years? What about themselves do they hate the most? What gets them angry? What causes them shame? Once their in touch with that and aware, get them to ask Jesus to come into the wound and heal it. Tell them not to try to solve it–just give it over to God. Invite him into it and let him have it.
If these kids can experience healing from Jesus on a deep and profound level, they’ll know the kind of benefit God can have. Everyone needs the kind of healing Jesus can give–without exception! It’s just a matter of making them aware of what it is. And, if you can lead them toward an experience of healing from it, they’ll believe!
Thanks for the comment and question!