Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Evangelization: A Study in Contrasts
I have no general admiration for evangelical Christians. Many of my relatives on my mother's side of the family are loving, faith-filled people, devoted to God, family, and the Church. On open book I read that Jerry Rankin, president of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, made these comments about their work in Roman Catholic nations at last month's Midland TX convention:
“Why would we invest such efforts in Catholic countries? The answer is quite simple: It is because they are lost. The people may be identified as cultural Christians since that is their socio-religious profile, but most of them do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.... They, too, deserve an opportunity to hear, understand and respond to the life-changing message of the Gospel. They cannot be ignored in our commitment that all peoples would know our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In contrast, we have the neotradi Catholic position that the "dissenting" liberals Catholics would be better off getting the heck out of Dodge. And they say Catholics and Evangelicals have things in common. Hmm.
Just to spread the butter around a bit: where in the Bible does it actually advocate a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ?" I have a better answer for the question, why invest? (And I don't believe the use of the word is accidental.) It is because they have money.
