Evangelizing Through Beauty, Part 2
Well, the finals are over and I'm back in the swing of things. Good to be back.
I want to suggest based on my previous post that we Christians take every opportunity we can to point out to the outside world that we, like them, love beauty. We are not concerned only with truth claims. We are of course concerned first and foremost with truth claims, but this does not mitigate our appreciation of beauty. When we have established this principle, we may engage the lost person based on what they find beautiful and appreciable in the world. We may state that we ourselves find much beauty here as well. In doing so, we will show people that Christians do not live in a world without color, a world without sunsets, love, and strolls through nature. We will show people that we are the people who most see the world's beauty and who in fact know the source of such splendor.
Connecting with lost people through beauty allows us to present a multi-faceted view of the Christian life that does not contain it simply to certain statements about the Bible. It is essential that our witnessing include these statements--indeed, they are the very marrow of our faith, being the gospel message. However, the Christian faith is not marked by mere recitation of a creed or formulation. The Christian faith involves all of one's senses and draws one into a lifelong study of beauty, truth, and goodness. The Christian faith is not simply an invitation to salvation. It is also an invitation to gaze at God and His created beauty. Those who never see this are those who live shallow and paltry existences, not Christians.
Christians find reason for appreciation in everything. We should communicate this simple fact to the lost person even as we share with them what we find beautiful in the world. Then, when that is established, we may steer our conversation to the One who is both the source of beauty in the world and the Savior for a world gone ugly.
I want to suggest based on my previous post that we Christians take every opportunity we can to point out to the outside world that we, like them, love beauty. We are not concerned only with truth claims. We are of course concerned first and foremost with truth claims, but this does not mitigate our appreciation of beauty. When we have established this principle, we may engage the lost person based on what they find beautiful and appreciable in the world. We may state that we ourselves find much beauty here as well. In doing so, we will show people that Christians do not live in a world without color, a world without sunsets, love, and strolls through nature. We will show people that we are the people who most see the world's beauty and who in fact know the source of such splendor.
Connecting with lost people through beauty allows us to present a multi-faceted view of the Christian life that does not contain it simply to certain statements about the Bible. It is essential that our witnessing include these statements--indeed, they are the very marrow of our faith, being the gospel message. However, the Christian faith is not marked by mere recitation of a creed or formulation. The Christian faith involves all of one's senses and draws one into a lifelong study of beauty, truth, and goodness. The Christian faith is not simply an invitation to salvation. It is also an invitation to gaze at God and His created beauty. Those who never see this are those who live shallow and paltry existences, not Christians.
Christians find reason for appreciation in everything. We should communicate this simple fact to the lost person even as we share with them what we find beautiful in the world. Then, when that is established, we may steer our conversation to the One who is both the source of beauty in the world and the Savior for a world gone ugly.
posted by Owen at 5:31 AM
2 Comments:
Say bro,
You and the lady need to go rent 'One Love' from Blockbuster. Be sure to set aside some time to hoop afterwards though cuz you'll have the fever.
What is beauty?
Or is it like pornography? We know it when we see it?
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