I Fought Monsters 😀

Back in the first century, spreading the gospel was an act of bravery. Many of the early Christians were martyred. And over the centuries, Christians were sometimes murdered by others who claimed to be Christians for breaking away from the church in a particular region for theological reasons or for translating the Bible into local languages. And persecution still happens in some regions.

In Ireland, maybe it can still be a brave thing to spread the gospel where people might regard being spiritual as a little odd. When I was young, it was odd not to be Roman Catholic. Nowadays, other forces want to heavily influence opinion. There’s always pressure to conform with the general flow.

Sometimes it takes courage to even mention that you’re a Christian. I think of the following verses from Peter and Paul:

1 Peter 3:15
¹⁵ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Romans 1:8
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

I notice Peter’s advice to “do this with gentleness and respect”. I like how nowadays, you can discover all sorts of opinions on YouTube. Some evangelistic methods that I practiced in my earlier days might have been regarded as a little “pushy” by some – such as knocking on doors, pushing leaflets through doors or street preaching. One wonders how Paul would have practiced evangelism if he lived in modern times. Perhaps he’s be on YouTube – or WordPress.com 😀. Back in the 1970s, we had no web. I was happy to see evangelicals preaching in the street and distributing leaflets – especially when it was done with gentleness and respect. That’s how I heard a much purer gospel message than I heard in my cultural religion.

In some parts of the world, spreading any view that’s contradicts mainstream thinking is considered sinister – as is converting to another religion. I admire people who suffer and die to stand up for Jesus. But perhaps we’ll reach a point where different views will be tolerated if you show respect for others. Even in the Apostle Paul’s time, he did want to have a good relationship with fellow Jews, Romans, and pagans. He even urged people to respect the government, which didn’t seem worthy of respect – Nero was the emperor at that time:

Romans 13:1
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

I think the point he is making is that even if you are hoping for reform, while the government is in place, you should aim to keep the law. I remember a chap from Afganistan saying that though he’d prefer something other than the Taliban, life would be a lot more scarier if there wasn’t a strong government in place.

And you can quietly pray for change and work for change without indulging in criminal behaviour. An exception is where the disciples were forbidden to spread the faith.

Acts 5:27-29
²⁷ The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” ²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! 

The whole story of Martin Luther and the turbulent times in Europe during the reformation is a good illustration of the difficulties of balancing obeying authorities with the need to proclaim the truth. Thankfully different outlooks are tolerated today (in my part of the world), but even now, we have “culture wars”, though they rarely involved violence in the Western world nowadays.

Here are a few hymns about spreading the gospel: