The concept of God-fearers has always intrigued me in the scriptures. It leads us to the fact that there are people who’s hearts are attuned to God but who may not be a part of a faith community. My guess is that many of them have not ventured into a church because of the lack of conventionality of their faith. It doesn’t fit the Christian church world.
I’m also reminded of the way in which my faith has been challenged over the years in various settings. The first of those was college. I did not drink alcoholic beverages. As a member of a fraternity I was in the microscopic minority of those who didn’t. I defended my position until it became apparent to me that my reasoning for not consuming didn’t get two minutes worth of attention from those around me.
My time in the navy was also an eye-opener as I have written before. I was faced with questions and assertions by Mormons, those practicing voodoo, metaphysicians, radical right wing Christians and others who were embracing the homosexual lifestyle. My Baptist theology wasn’t deep enough to help me encounter the questions of those I met.
Several things came into my life to impact that. I have written about the impact of Francis Schaeffer and his philosophic approach to the truth of the Gospel. It enabled me to be in conversation with those who didn’t adhere to mainstream Christianity. I’ve also been enabled to dialogue with those in the main stream of our culture as I have found the reality of God in my own emotional life’s healing. I am convinced in a very experiential way that God is real and He and I are in relationship.
I remember writing once during a goal setting exercise when I was pastoring that I would like to study the unchurched, have more interaction with them and find out what brought them to their place of faith or lack of it.
Now I find myself immersed in that world. I am no longer working for a self-confessed Christian business. I am not surrounded with others who have been attracted to their employer by his or her statement of faith. In fact, I’m in an environment where I have to be somewhat careful of “pushing” my faith on others. I don’t have a problem with that. I like the natural way of conversing anyway. Tracts and confrontive evangelism have never been my style.
What of those who have never been exposed to the Gospel in any kind of organized form? What of those who have unfortunately had a negative encounter with those of Christian faith? Who reaches those who would never darken the door of a church to further their faith? What of those who, if given the chance, say that they are without faith of any kind in God? Would we ever have occasion to have conversation with them about the Gospel?
We need to be in the world. We need to be daily interacting with others who may not have a traditional faith. We need to have communities (notice I didn’t say church—I’m not talking about a building with organized programs) where faith can be questioned. Where a relationship with God can be sorted out. Where we can court the Father before we commit our lives to following Him.
I want to be there. Right in the middle of the mixing pot. I want to be on the mount sharing my heavenly Father with those who are searching for truth and seeking for life…and that to the full. There is a deep hunger in our culture for something of meaning. Too much of life is being lived by those who are just existing. Then there is the other extreme of those who are living life by amassing as many toys as they can to flavor life and make it all worthwhile.
I haven’t found either of those in my relationship with the Father. I have found a richness and fullness of life and joy. I want others to have the opportunity to experience that. It’s without cost—at least monetarily.
