the spread of christianity

The leader of the Knowing God study brought out another great point. In the past, Christianity has almost always advanced by humble means. Rarely has it happened that a leader or powerful figure of some sort made a conversion and then those around or under him followed his example. I'm sure it has happened; Constantine comes to mind, for one. But far more often it is the case that people are converted through relationships with believers, usually in humble circumstances. This was true with Biblical figures like Paul and Christ himself, and also with missionaries like Carey and Taylor and even slaves such as the Moravians that sold themselves into slavery for the sole purpose of witnessing to their new masters or the slave girls taken by the Vikings who evangelized the Norse regions. A missions class I once took devoted much time to this idea of evangelism at a personal level through everyday means. Come to think of it, I'm sure it'd be great to go back and reread some of that stuff.

The leader also pointed out that there are many people who confuse politics with evangelism and laws with morality. How often do we hear, "but if A gets elected then he'll sign X into law and promote the ideas of B and C and then Y will become legal and..." And so the argument goes. It's as if God's plan suffers a setback if the wrong guy gets in office. This line of thinking implies that God is somehow dependent on us to accomplish His plan. Maybe this makes sense to some, but I'm inclined to believe the Bible makes it clear that God's Kingdom will go forth regardless of whether or not we choose to be a part of it and help it advance. We should obey out of a sense of gratitude and humility, not due to fear and burdens for advancing society that we place on our own shoulders. That's not to say politics is useless, but it's best to remember that the Kingdom is far greater than any nation or leader. History even proves that Christianity actually thrives the most when its followers are being persecuted or suppressed. Just look at Africa and Asia today. The underground churches in those regions put our glamour churches here in America to shame.

Moreover, such a focus on legalistic concerns completely misses the point of evangelism. We aren't supposed to regulate those around us into believing a certain way or following a certain set of standards, as if such were even possible. This is basically the method of "conversion" favored by Muslim and Communist countries, but would this work for advancing the truth? Would someone be closer to Christ just because they have to live more like an ideal Christian? Christianity isn't about how many boxes one can check off, it's about what one actually thinks and believes (which will in turn influence how one lives). But actions always come from the heart, not the other way around. And so someone can lead a very "good" life and still be dead to sin. It seems a waste of time to focus so much on making sure our morals win in the political arena when the real battle is taking place on a personal level. Politics are nothing more than an outward expression of someone's worldview and hope (or lack thereof). If Satan has deceived us into thinking we can somehow beat him by passing the right laws and banning unpleasant things, he has succeeded in deflecting our energy into something other than the real struggle for men's souls that he knows matters most. We ought to know that as well.