Road to Recovery

They came in droves this morning. A group of people representing a certain religious organization roamed around the neighborhood to distribute pamphlets and invitations for a big religious gathering this December. Unashamed, undaunted by the weird reactions of the onlookers, these people politely knocked on doors to issue out their invitations. You can’t help but be very nice to them because they are extremely polite and friendly.

There’s just this little thing though. From my previous interaction with some of them, I know that they don’t use the Christian Bible. They have an entirely different set of teachings about God that they created their own translation of the Scriptures and called Jesus Christ “a god.” I like these people but I don’t quite agree with what they believe.

Still, there’s something admirable about the way they did their campaign. Going around a strange neighborhood on foot isn’t exactly the coolest thing to do these days, especially if you’re middle age or in your sixties. When I saw them, I was struck with one question: When was the last time I saw a group of evangelical Christians doing evangelism on foot? Ten years, fifteen years ago?

With everything going high tech these days, people rely more on text messaging and other electronic form of communication than doing actual home visits. Most of the time when people from church want to see each other, they arrange to meet outside of homes. Very few seem to be interested in doing physical legwork anymore.

I don’t know if this is to our advantage as a church or not. On one hand, it’s all about taking advantage of technology and staying relevant with the times. On the other hand, we’re slowly forgetting the art of developing intimate, familial relationships. I’m guessing this is one of the reasons why people don’t go to church by families anymore.

I’m reminded of Isaiah 52: 7.

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”

How are we gonna “translate” this Scripture now?