Evangelization in the Modern World - Essay Example

Evangelization in the Modern World Evangelization can be defined as the spreading of one’s beliefs, mostly Christian, in a bid to encourage conversion, by means of preaching. On the 8th of December 1975, Pope Paul VI wrote an apostolic exhortation, evangelii nuntiandi, to the clergy and the believers of the universal church. The exhortation explains that the mission of the church is to pronounce the good news of the gospel. The church therefore acts as a messenger of God. It was written around the 10th anniversary of the second Vatican council closing and a year after the third general assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Deliberation of the clergy came to the conclusion that time for a new period of evangelism had arrived. Conditions of the society had changed necessitated a different approach to spreading the gospel while maintaining the church’s purity. THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF EVANGELISM Jesus Christ was the pioneer of the declaration of the gospel. In the gospel according to St. Luke, the messiah “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.”(Luke 4:43) (E.N. pg 6) Jesus’ evangelic work took on many forms as it comprised the teaching through parables, performing miracles, gathering of disciples, sending out of the apostles, taking up the cross and eventually resurrection. All these displayed the way a Christian life should be led and the vital role that is spreading the word that is the responsibility of every believer. Jesus imparted his understanding of the magnificence of the kingdom of God the people. Its splendor was unmatched and all other worldly comforts were trivial in comparison to it. In one of his teachings, the beatitudes, He showed a paradoxical comparison of spiritual happiness and worldly happiness. (En pg 8) He taught of the poor not the rich, of those who mourn and not those who laugh and he showed that through God’s help suffering is always going to pass. At the core of Jesus’ evangelistic message was the gift of salvation. Accepting the good news was a step towards freedom from the evil one. The teachings of the gospel say that attaining of the kingdom of God involves humility, grace and mercy on the part of humans. These may be simple virtues, but they are not easy to come by as one must suffer as Christ suffered in his lifetime and also strive to resist worldly desires and temptations that draw us away from grace. Pope Paul VI talked of metanoia that is the total interior conversion of the mind and heart in a bid to transform one spiritually in readiness to receive God. The evangelizing mission started during the ministry of the son of God and was realized by his death and resurrection. Through his suffering at the cross, he died for the sins of man as a testament of Gods unconditional love for mankind. The ministry however was not over. During his time on earth Jesus taught his apostles who in turn he sent out to heal the sick, drive out demons and expand knowledge of the gospel (Mathew 10). In an effort to further assist his disciples, after his ascension into heaven the Lord’s son promised to send down a helper. On the day known as Pentecost, this promise was fulfilled. (En pg 13) In sending the spirit of truth, Jesus’ revelation of God’s plan for His people was complete. St. Peter on this day called Christians “a people set apart to sing the praises of God…telling the marvelous things that each one had heard in their own language” (acts 2:11). The message came from Christ to the disciples and then to the three thousand people touched by the Holy Spirit, who spread it in the world. The meaning of the phenomenon when everybody spoke in tongues was that God intended for every individual to know him and have a personal relationship with him. The life of a Christian acquires full meaning when they bear witness, stir up admiration and encourage conversion. Each member of the church is responsible for relaying the Good News of the word of God. Nature of Christian Evangelization Evangelization as earlier mentioned can be defined as the spreading of one’s beliefs, mostly Christian, in a bid to encourage conversion, by means of preaching among other forms of public witness. It aims to generate personal and collective consciousnesses of people that are essentially part of the change of metanoia that the Pope talked of in his exhortation (En 18). Evangelization aims to create a holistic Christian, so as virtuous as it is to lead a life of Christianity, a lot more has to be done. The Christian has an obligation to listen incessantly to the word of God. Constant fellowship helps them to affirm what they believe in and increase their hope and faith in the coming of the kingdom. What’s more, in a world full of temptation humans frequently need to be called afresh to God. The third duty is to continue the duty of evangelism. Like a racing baton, this gift has to get relentlessly passed down from generation to generation until the end of the race. . Content of Evangelism There are particular elements that are a prerequisite to a good message of evangelism. Without which one would not be accurately portraying the true good news of the gospel of Christ. Primarily, one needs to understand the true nature of God. God is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient meaning he is all powerful and all present and all knowing. His nature is supernatural and therefore no physical earthly manifestation of his presence. He is the creator of all living and nonliving things. Above all, He is the one from whom the rest of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, stem. The second thing that an evangelist has to comprehend and relay in his teachings is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the son of God who was the first one to remind the humans about the love of God. Christianity is founded on the life and ministry of Jesus and through his ultimate sacrifice of death on the cross through which Christians received forgiveness of sins. The eternal life reward from his resurrection and ascension begins on earth but comes into fruition in Gods kingdom. Evangelism is a hard message to pass along to people with a critical view on reality. Preaching to some extent involves convincing people to believe in a supernatural power, hence the need to encourage values such as faith, hope, and love. Faith in the unseen forces behind humanity, hope that the promises that God made his people through his son will come to pass. Lastly, love as a new commandment that Christ said would be the answer to obeying all other commandments of God. Love for one’s God, one’s neighbors, one’s enemies and thyself. The ability only comes through the help of the Holy Spirit strengthens one’s ability to be a good evangelist and minister well to new converts. This virtue is got through God’s grace and strengthened by sacrament. Methods of Christian Evangelization Without the use of words a true believer can engineer their way of life to mimic the life of Christ in that they become living witness. One can live a truly authentic Christian life with all the necessary virtues that are proof of fidelity to Jesus Christ. The fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit can be experienced by how a person’s character is shaped. Examples of such people are the saints of the Catholic Church especially St. Peter, who was a model of the highest caliber of Christian principles (En 41; 1 peter 3:1) Another means through which the message can be relayed is preaching. Verbal relaying of the message of the gospel is the most common means of evangelism. In the words of St. Paul, ‘faith comes from what is heard’(Rom 10:17) Christians can do this by applying the use of modern means of communication and different forms of mass media to bear testimonies of the impact of God’s word on their lives or in the world. Over and above that, education in the faith by offering catechism is another method of evangelism. Catechism entails instruction on the sacramental and communal life of the church. Classes on the doctrine of the universal church are given to help believers better comprehend the meaning of being in the service of God (En 47). Beneficiaries of Evangelization The network of missionaries and believers who have gone around the world preaching and spread the gospel has not extended to all the corners of the world. In regions that it has reached, but has not received positive reception. There exist a range of means through which these factions of people needing the word can be reached, explicit preaching, art, philosophical research, science and recourse to human sentiment. Radical western cultures that are bombarded by extremist secularism also require evangelist intervention. There exists the risk of already devoted believers being swayed by the luxuries of a secular lifestyle. Secularism poses immense danger to Christian ways of life. Secularization is a means through which people try to find logical explanations to our existence through principles of certain disciplines i.e. science, philosophy. Secularism, on the other hand is more revolutionary as it portrays a world that’s self-sufficient and needs not resort to worship of God. These people view the gospel as unwarranted. (En 55) Small communities of Christians that have cropped up in certain areas of civilizations known as communautes de base or Christian base communities (CBC’s) could also be recipients of evangelization. These measures are necessary to ensure that the doctrinal information they use to run these local churches conforms to those of the universal church. CBC training was a program of Christian education championed by the last synod of bishops. Some of such communities were vulnerable to manipulation and in the long run ended up taking up fashionable ideologies that did not really reflect Christian principles. More often than not, such CBC’s developed a culture of sectarianism; another vice frowned upon by the universal church of God. Evangelism According To the Vocation of Church Members The entire universal church is a missionary because every member has the responsibility to testify of their Christianity. The meaning of the universal church has nothing much to do with the geographical location of the total churches that are catholic. It is concerned with the spiritual bond of the shared beliefs of the individual churches that bring it life. Members therefore, in their capacity as missionaries, strive to teach the gospel in the language of a varied number of communities, as many as they encounter. All this is done with the integrity of the content and meaning of the word in mind. Each local church also endeavors to stay in communion with the universal church (en 65). This is in accordance with the Magisterium of Peter, which is laws that regulate the way of prayer, lex orandi, and the way of believing, lex credendi, and they create uniformity in worship. The hierarchy is as follows: the pope who is the successor of Peter and he is the living symbol of unity of the churches as he governs the entire world church. Below him are the bishops who have the authority to teach as a result of their ordination. Under the bishops are priests who are also seen to be anointed by God to act in the person of Christ the Head. There also exist other clergy members who have taken religious vows to serve God, E.g. nuns. They, together with the laity members of the church, lead fellow believers and non-believers by being living proof of a life of holiness and prayer. The laity comprises of members who are not part of the clergy. They can also perform tasks in the church like catechism classes, liturgical music, adult and youth education, and at times leading small church groups. This form of ministry ascertains the teaching of the church in marginalized sectors of the community by having followers at the domestic family level (En 73). Elements of Evangelization Particular conditions are vital when it comes to productive evangelism. Predominantly, the presence of the Holy Spirit is fundamental to the ability to evangelize. These occur for the most part because the spirit is the tool through which God’s grace and consequent abundance of virtue are obtained. Without the existence of the spirit of the Holy Trinity, any word passed by the human tongue is not worth much without divine inspiration. The Holy Spirit can be received through prayer and sacramental life of the church. The enthusiasm to evangelize, as has been mentioned time and time again in the pope’s exhortation has to be influenced by true holiness in life. (En 76). Should an individual not practice what they preach, it is clearly evident in the execution of their preaching and most likely the reception of their words will also not be successful. Unity is also obligatory when it comes to effective evangelizing. Discord amongst the evangelists or the members of the clergy and laity, sends out the wrong message to new or existing members. The rift destroys the cause of gospel that purports to embrace all people without discrimination and with unconditional love. Evangelizers are under the obligation to maintain maximum honesty at all times. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth and that is the same principle that evangelists as messengers of the most sacred word. The diffusion of such information should be in all sincerity and with clear knowledge and understanding of the gospel. The last aspect of true evangelism is love that assures evangelists that they can uphold all virtue when preaching the word. Conclusion Modern day evangelism is an institution that was championed by the ministry of Jesus Christ. He began the work of spreading the good news and also introduced the kingdom of God as a haven for Christians in life after death. Salvation of Christians through his death on the cross was proof of Gods unconditional love. This is what it means to be a true Christian and is the word that is preached by evangelists all over the world. Works Cited Pope Paul VI, On Evangelization in the Modern World. Boston: Pauline Media, 1975. (Web) www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_pvi_ Exh_19751208_evangelii-nuntiandi_en.html (EN) Read More