Wrong Aroma
At first I was pleased. Then I was offended. Now I'm furmished (is that a word?)
I was pleased ...
because a friend from long ago emailed me out of the blue. She'd gotten our annual Christmas card and responded with a few greetings of her own. As a vital part of a former church, she had gone on to marriage, parenting, and the like. You know, the usual stuff. I was pleased to hear from her and delighted to know something of what was happening in her life.
Then I was offended ...
for suddenly the tone of her letter changed. It started with the words, "I am writing you to let you know about a fantastic business opportunity. Have you ever heard about...?"
What? Give me a break! How naive does she think I am? Does she really think I don't see through her blatant recruiting effort?
Now I'm furmished...
which is a word my friend uses when ever he sees me stewing over something. Like this: How many times have I used the same technique to interest people in Jesus?
The apostle Paul wrote about two approaches to church planting in his letter to a small church in Corinth. On the one hand, there are those who "peddle the word of God." On the other, there are those who are unpretentious and approach people "with sincerity." These are the people carry on them "the aroma of Christ."
Unfortunately, the way many of us approach evangelism, the only aroma that we give the kind that makes you hold your nose.
posted by Steve Gilbertson at 3:25 PM
1 Comments:
furmished? do I need to look that one up?
Sounds like you had a good friend, yet that friend didn't keep in contact with you until recently, and that contact was more of a sales pitch than anything. That's what made you furmished.
I've had those as well. But in hindsight, those friends were people that I never stayed in contact with either. And while their motive for contacting me could've been less than pure, I'm a big boy and should be able to just say 'no.'
I struggle with churches and how they invite. "Come support our ministry" soon becomes "give us your money". Or better yet, XYZ Community Church is really part of a mega denomination, but just doesn't want to say that out loud.
Since when did sharing the Gospel become stealth? Is this a result of the post-seeker movement? We used to call church "church", and then we called it a "community church" and now people want to call it a "gathering." How about we call Christianity "Christianity", and we tell people that going to a Sunday service is a way to learn about God in our lives, and that they'll be glad they did it.
Too much sneaking around for me. Let's proclaim God without shame.
P.S. was the business opportunity any good?
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