Political Correctness

The past couple weeks, a group has been coming to my university campus to preach, but their method of doing so is much different than what I'm accustomed to: in your face, flushed shouting, repent-of-your-sins, look-at-my-sign kind of preaching.

 

The first time I saw them last week, I brushed them off, kind of gritted my teeth and tried to pretend that I wasn't embarrassed. The second time, I approached one of them (the one sitting quietly in the corner) and asked them if they actually thought that what they were doing was effective. (I was noticing more folks getting offended than convicted...)

Today, I went right up to them and started talking. The thing is, I agree with what they're saying. They are preaching truth, from the bible, God-breathed words. I felt very uneasy from the first day that I saw them preaching because I am a people-pleaser, and I didn't think it was very kind to yell at folks.

This is more along the lines of what I'm accustomed to: playing music, engaging people, sharing the good news and God's grace. But just as shouting about hell fire is only half of the gospel, grace is only half. Both topics are one half of a whole truth that people need to hear. 

So today I perched myself by the engineering fountain and started up a conversation with a man in a plaid shirt and suspenders about what they were doing, the effectiveness of evangelism, and fear of God vs grace of God preaching. As someone who takes special care to be politically correct, I had a lot of questions for folks whose whole ministry is based on violating social norms.

Things I learned:

• Their goal was to make a scene. They weren't being 100% serious. Yes, they fully believed the truth behind their words, but they were trying to be satirical, trying to be something that stuck out in people's memories, trying to make a scene for the sake of it. They wanted people to remember "those religious nuts" because deep down, people have an awareness of their sin. When the time comes, maybe they will turn to God.
• Grace is important, once we realize we need it - people who think they have a problem or don't think they have a penalty to pay don't understand how important it is when someone else pays that penalty.
• Grace is important - from my own experience, I've learned that many people actually are aware of their need. Being real with people about the consequences of unconfessed sin is important, once they realize that accepting Jesus is worth it because of his Grace. When people first come to Jesus, it's because they need something.
• A christian is a christian - I have friends who were really offended by these preachers, but at the end of the day, there need not be division. We are united by Christ, and that is reason enough to befriend each other. Disagreeing about evangelism techniques is not enough to fight with one another. 

We live in a world where in a class discussion about how to make friends after college, nobody suggests a local church. We dwell among a fallen people who need Jesus. However you choose to do so, open your mouth.