The crowd in the mall stood still as the group of both male and female teenagers organised themselves into their respective positions. Then one of the teenagers stepped forward and took up a microphone. He announced they were a group of young people who were about to do some dance moves and they were doing it all for Jesus. They then went into action but the thought somewhat uncomfortably swam around in my mind "Is this reaching the lost in the Name of Jesus Christ?... How effective is it?" I must confess the whole scene had a 'cringe' effect on me. Anyway some water has passed under the bridge since that spectacle.
Today my thoughts were thrown into a similar quandary while watching the television news. There was a 'trailer' to the sporting section of the news showing a car at Mt Panorama, Bathurst, NSW, emblazoned with the message "Jesus, all about life". Sadly, the film clip was of the "Jesus" car crashing out of practice and going backwards into a wall. When the sporting section came on, the voice-over journalist quipped (as the image was again shown of the "Jesus" car crashing into the wall) "The Jesus team will need a miracle to be in the field on race day." There was then a quick interview of the leader of the "Jesus Racing Team" who said the damage to the car was minor and they will be right for race day." When the news segment covering the Bathurst car races finished the 'anchor' in studio said the the voice-over journalist "the Jesus team will need a resurrection to be there race day."
Well, all this made me wonder "Is God with the Jesus Racing Team?"
"Is this the way to evangelise?"
"Is more harm being done than good?" After all, the "Jesus" car was the subject of jibes in the television studio and would surely have attracted laughtere and perhaps scorn from the hard cases assembled up there on Mt Panorama.
"Is this just a group of rev-heads 'legitimising' their motoring interest by slapping the logo "Jesus, all about life" on their vehicle and saying they are evangelising?"
Maybe the Lord will be with them and a miracle will occur - the "Jesus Team" will perform well and attract some credible interest. I have my doubts though. Further, I suspect more harm than good may be done to the Name of our Lord and to cause of reaching the lost.
Time will tell.
Neil
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2 comments:
It's similar to all those footy stars who make a show of their Christianity, and then get clobbered in the match. And even it's about saying that they "merely" want God to protect them while they're playing this too seems odd. I meam, for goodness sake, they're participating in a very physical, dangerous sport where body contact is at a maximum. It's like putting your hand in a fire and praying that God will protect you.
A lot of this "evangelising" we're seeing lately, where Jesus' name has to be mentioned, otherwise they haven't presented "The Gospel", is so contrived and formulaic.
And this 'Essential Jesus' thing, what exactly is this abridged version of the Bible? Have you seen the first page which is a total misrepresentation of Jesus and the Father's office of being Creator. Why are they so embarrassed to tell people that Jesus is Creator, as well as Saviour. Their truncated Christianity and Gospel is doing far too much harm and they are reduced to gimmicky evangelical activities like face painting and sausage sizzles.
Don't forget the free balloons!
Gwen
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