Some Thoughts on Backsliding and Evangelism

Some stories

Recently we visited one of my mom's close friends in college who is now a professor at Hsing-Chung University (we did those nature adventures when we visited her), who she hasn't seen for 20 years. They used to go to church together in college, and she was actually the first person to bring my mom to church.

Now, she is completely separate from the faith. She hasn't been to church in years, hasn't talked to God in years, and actually leans towards Chinese traditions of idol worship. It's actually quite sad. Before we went to see her, my mom expressed the desire to evangelize to her while we were with her, and evangelize she did. She did it shamelessly, plugging Christianity into every hole she could find, even if it was obvious and awkward. My mom made us pray together at every meal. I think all she wanted to do was familiarize her friend with the faith that she once had. The day after we did all those nature adventures, we went to go find another of my mom's close college friends who she hasn't seen for 20 years, and we had lunch with both of these college friends. We prayed at this meal too. I don't think this friend was ever Christian, but from their conversations, it was clear that it became well-known that we were "pious Christians". This may not seem like a big deal to us, but I think that in Taiwan (especially being in a rural area), just being a good testimony as a Christian was important, as having good experiences with Christians is probably more rare than it is in the US.

Last night, we got to my grandmother's house (mom's side) in Kaoshung. We had dinner with my grandmother, and my mom's oldest younger brother and his family, who are extremely Buddhist. They are as Buddhist as we are Christian. My mom is the oldest child in the family, so I guess they are all subject to her will, and when my dad told my mom to say grace, we all did it (even though my two cousins were totally confused at what was happening, I think).

Thoughts on Evangelism

I've got to admit that there were points where I wish my mom wouldn't say anything about God. The plugs weren't always that unnatural, but I just felt ashamed that my mom was trying so hard. Looking back on these few days, I'm the wrong one and my mom is the right one.

Romans 1:16 - "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes."

In the US, it's so easy to grow ashamed of the Gospel. Soapbox preachers and Westboro Baptist Church make it seem like when we talk about God intentionally, we're being like street preachers who are trying to beat the Bible into other people's heads. We are to be bold in our evangelism, not hesitant. We are afraid of what people think instead of what God thinks. We're concerned with our reputations and not with their souls. If I really believe that it is only through the power of the Gospel that anyone's soul can avoid eternal damnation and enter the eternal presence of God, it sure seems that a little bit of awkwardness is a small price to pay for that chance to share the Gospel.

I know we are also to be wise and as sly as snakes, but the problem with our generation is boldness, and I have yet to see a person in our fellowship so shameless in evangelism that I would need to go over and say, "Hey, you probably need to evangelize a little less. Sharing your faith with your study group was probably cool, but standing up after class and giving a sermon was probably a little over the top."

Thoughts on Backsliding

This is for all my 2011 seniors, and those guys in AIV that I have been in accountability relationships with these last few years.

One of the purposes of writing this post was just to let you know that if at any point our paths meet again and you have backslidden, I will annoy the crap out of you (probably) and talk about God and church and tell you to go to church again. It may turn out that we don't talk for years. Maybe there will be 20 years that we don't see each other, like my mom and her friends. But when we do, let's make sure we are all still going to church and talking to God. Let's keep each other accountable.

The sad reality is that a lot of people who were strong Christians in college drop off after they go into the real world. As I mentioned in a previous post, life is just beginning right now. We haven't experienced the lowest lows or the highest highs in life yet, and those valleys and peaks are often where our faith is tested the most. I don't think my mom could have imagined in college that her friend would have completely broken her relationship with God, and I don't think I can imagine the same for any one of you, but we really have to face the fact that it might happen. For all of you young people, think about the person you may have led you to faith, and think about meeting him in 5 years, and he has become a complete atheist. It's sad, but possible. It may have even happened to some of you. For my 2011 class, can you imagine talking to Cory or Ann in 20 years and having them tell you they don't go to church anymore and don't believe in God anymore? It could happen to any of us.

Things to do:

Pray for each other - We need to constantly be praying for each other, that we can stay strong in the faith. This isn't actually something that I've thought of much before this year, but our prayers matter. Prayer is also an avenue through which God moves us to actually go out and keep in touch, however infrequent that communication may be.

Encourage each other (aka annoy each other when backsliding) - Most of us will probably go out of touch, but in those rare moments that we do interact, please ask me, "Are you still going to church?" I will try to do the same. It's a short question, but the answer could be very telling of where a person is spiritually. Then ask me "What has God done in your life recently?", and hopefully I would be able to tell you of all the things happening in my life, and we could catch up on all the things we missed in each others lives.

[Sorry to pictures/videos this post. We are at a McDonald's with only one computer, so Iris + Dad are going to need the account]