{"id":1817,"date":"2012-05-02T10:48:33","date_gmt":"2012-05-02T10:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/?p=1817"},"modified":"2012-05-02T10:50:16","modified_gmt":"2012-05-02T10:50:16","slug":"lost-and-found-more-on-narcissistic-evangelism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2012\/05\/lost-and-found-more-on-narcissistic-evangelism.html","title":{"rendered":"“Lost and Found”: More on Narcissistic Evangelism"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you read yesterday’s post, “Narcissistic Evangelism,” then this morning’s reflection from the gem of a devotional book, Celtic Daily Prayer,\u00a0<\/em>may seem poignantly relevant. \u00a0Member of the Northumbria Community Aidan Clarke writes: “What I believe about Jesus could not be contained in a thousand books. \u00a0I believe in Jesus more than I believe in the pen with which I am writing these words. \u00a0I cannot, however, expect you to believe my beliefs. \u00a0Imagine you meet me in a cafe and I introduce you to a friend. I say, ‘This is Jesus.’ \u00a0I do not then give you a list of things you must believe about His family and a thick book to memorize before I let you speak to Him. \u00a0I don’t ask you to believe in Him- because you can see Him for yourself. \u00a0I ask you only to trust Him and to get to know Him.”<\/p>\n

Clarke speaks to the crux of what I am calling “narcissistic evangelism.” \u00a0It’s no wonder that the Dan Savages of this world are turned off by Christianity when they’re implicitly told that knowing Jesus equates with simply adhering to a prescribed set of moral codes or applying every part of the Bible literally, devoid of its historical context. \u00a0When we introduce Jesus to people by asking them to accept at the outset a list of beliefs about<\/em>\u00a0Jesus or His ethical expectations for us, we are, I think, as lost as the people we claim to be evangelizing.<\/p>\n

I guess I’m inclined to think that our “lostness” and our “foundness” depend in any given moment on where we are standing in relation to Jesus. What do you think? Leave your reflections below.<\/em><\/p>\n

Next, some reflections on nature and grace from this “pessimistic optimist” (to borrow Reinhold Niebuhr’s expression).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you read yesterday’s post, “Narcissistic Evangelism,” then this morning’s reflection from the gem of a devotional book, Celtic Daily Prayer,\u00a0may seem poignantly relevant. \u00a0Member of the Northumbria Community Aidan Clarke writes: “What I believe about Jesus could not be contained in a thousand books. \u00a0I believe in Jesus more than I believe in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149,25,15],"tags":[649,648,288,516,650],"class_list":["post-1817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evangelical","category-jesus","category-mission","tag-celtic-christianity","tag-dan-savage","tag-discipleship","tag-evangelism","tag-knowing-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\n"Lost and Found": More on Narcissistic Evangelism - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2012\/05\/lost-and-found-more-on-narcissistic-evangelism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Lost and Found": More on Narcissistic Evangelism - 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