FAITH MUST BE SHARED

  

 

Who was the ancient philosopher who observed that “you cannot step in the same river twice.” He recognized that the river is moving, changing, adapting. And so is the life of the society we are living in. Things are different from when you grew up.

 

In North America we have been moving more and more into a very individualistic society. We look after ourselves and do not need other people or institutions to thrive. We have been on this course in a very determined manner for the past sixty-five years.

 

This is the same social phenomenon happening in our society. People are dropping out of all forms of organized churches and mosques; all the volunteer social organizations have disappeared; citizens are concerned that their fellow citizens show no interest or participation in the political life of the country/community. Last of all, people are dropping out of marriage and family life. 

 

People are asking the question, “Will my great-grandchildren even know what family they belong to?”

 

It is in the atmosphere that believing Christians must go back to their roots. Christiaens began as a renegade religious belief. They believed in the divine-become-human Jesus Christ. They lived and believed that they shared in the very life of the divine; the risen Jesus lived and moved within their personal lives.

 

They lived the wrong political belief. They rejected that Caesar (the great source of power) was divine. There was a price to pray for holding the  wrong political beliefs.

 

Now this is where we as believing Christiaens must reclaim our roots. We must begin again, calling these nice human beings with whom we work and play hockey to come to believe in Jesus Christ. We are asking them to discover the new life, the new meaning that comes from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Once again, we are calling our fellow citizens to turn toward what God is working in and through Jesus Christ.

 

Once again, we must evangelize, share the gospel of Jesus as the Good News from God that it actually is.

 

Every  human being has a deep hole within themselves for the divine. Just like hunger, the need for connection and meaning that only the divine can give, is active within each one of us. We can ignore our need for God because we feel self-assured that we are doing a good job of living. But sooner or later, the need for God will surface. 

 

Now, believing Christiaens must be alerted to reaching out, to asking their co-workers, fellow curlers to move toward belief in Jesus Christ. We must be like the first Christians who reached out to the people around them and shared with them how great and wonderful it is to live, breath and believe in Jesus Christ.