Anyway, I would like to talk on an issue that he addresses in the preface of this incredible book. The idea of how the Christian faith is presented to the pagans of this world. Imagine, if you will, that you knew nothing of the saving power of Christ. You knew the doctrine that the radicals professed about Christianity, but you knew nothing of the power of it. You were told by some that you must confess your sins or you would go to this "Hell" and live eternally in suffering. What would you think?
Rather, present the gospel in one of two ways (depending on who you are presenting it to). Either through an incredible display of Love, or an incredible display of logic, but ultimately you ought to use both. We should follow Christ's example by presenting love and logic to all, but it should be different to pagans then it is to fellow christians. This is very important.
You should never approach a pagan like you would a fellow Christian. You should never attempt to present doctrine to someone who does not care. Nor should you propose that they need to repent from their sins. This simply looks like foolishness to them (refer to 1st Corinthians 1:18). But you must live in example, that they may be attracted to it, or you must offer them something that will make sense.
This is what C.S. Lewis does in Mere Christianity. He proposes sound, irrefutable logic that ultimately shows why people truly do believe that there is some higher being. Then he goes on to point towards the God of Christianity later in the book.
Point being, we must follow his example in offering sound logic.
In Christ,
Ben
Ben, you brought up a really good point about how we should show the unbelievers in the world about God. Sometimes it may be easier for us to quote a couple Bible passages for them and try to teach them about how magnificent our God is, but they won't be able to understand. I think it's very important for us to show our love and thankfulness to God in how we live our lives they can see our joy far better they they could understand the doctrine we might try to throw at them. I really enjoyed reading your post; keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI agree- Lewis's logic is incredible. The examples and illustrations that he puts forward to clarify his reasoning are so helpful. I often wonder how he can reach such deep conclusions; but, after considering an example, I wonder how I had not thought of it myself!
ReplyDeleteBen, I agree with what you said regarding our evangelism to non-believers. When you said it also reminded me of a bible passage (somewhere in Romans if I am not mistaken) and it talks about how we should operate in the church when non-believers are amongst our midst. It's true that our approach will be different for reaching out to former-believers (or whatever you want to call them) and the non-believers.
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