Originally posted on CopticNN
Someone I often notice when speaking of my personal journey
to the Orthodox faith is that people do not hear what they expect to. A number
of years ago I attended a converts group and explained how I came to faith
through philosophical enquiry and was told, “we don’t want to hear about
philosophy, when did you open your heart to Jesus?” Needless to say, I didn’t
attend the group again. However, this incident raises an interesting challenge
regarding the expression of our faith to others, and that is the risk of
alienating them through not speaking to their need.
In my own secular life, I work as a teacher, and the
question of differentiation comes up often in my planning. We are trained to
ask, ‘what level are you teaching to?’ and ‘How does the lesson link to prior
learning?’ In the same manner, we need to ask the same question when speaking
about our faith or trying to present it in a manner which would be meaningful
to others. After all, what benefit is it to speak of the marvel the crucifixion
to someone who hasn’t come to terms with the concept of the salvation it
brought. Similarly, we would not spend the majority of our energies convincing
a well-studied catholic enquirer of the importance of the fathers or apostolic
succession. Therefore, we need to step away from the presumption that a
‘pre-packed’ view on evangelism or the position that all come to Christ in the
same way,
Let us take two examples and compare these. Imagine that you
have a visitor to your parish who has come from a Pentecostal background and
left due to a family issue, they would be seeking to find community and a
church which can provide comfort. They may also face difficulties in areas such
as the veneration of the Saints, or the use of Icons in the Church. This means
that anyone helping with their catechesis will need to adapt their approach to
these specific needs through themselves having a comforting approach and a
depth of understanding of these issues. In a similar way, if there were to be
someone coming from a non-religious background and seeking to become Orthodox
following some personal epiphany regarding the faith. This person may have
background in addressing philosophical questions and need their entire
understanding rebuilt from the ground up and need to address tough questions on
theological challenges such as the nature of God. Similarly approaches may
differ based on someone’s prior theological education or their own prayer life,
both of which impact the approach the Church should take when introducing
someone into the Church and catering for their development.
As both of these examples show, the view that someone’s
spiritual and catechetical development can be presumed is an absurd one and one
which the Church needs to address, otherwise we risk falling into the common danger
of ‘prepacked evangelism’ which we see often amongst some communities who will
take a generic and often impersonal approach to their introduction of the faith
to others. This is also something we often see in our own communities where an
enquirer whose needs or questions are not answered will be blamed if they do
not attend again or lose their way in their journey of faith. However if we are
to take an intelligent approach to this challenge it can be solved by looking
to the example of Christ in his interactions with people of differing
backgrounds and foundations in their faith.
In John 4 we see Christ’s interaction with the Samaritan
woman, in which he refers to her concerns over the Jewish/Samaritan schism in a
manner which gives us pause to think. When she asks, “You are a Jew and I am a
Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (John 4:9) due to views on
ritual purity he responds by pointing out, ““If you knew the gift of God and
who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have
given you living water.” (John 4:10). In this manner he addresses her concern
though raising his divinity, leading to a discussion on his teachings and the
nature of salvation. Following this he calls her to him through speaking of the
end of this schism through the person of Christ, stating, “a time is coming and has now
come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the
Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father
seeks.” (Jhn 4:21). In doing this there is no dismissal of either her previous
views nor a vindication, but a catering to the discussion she needed for her
salvation. Applying this to the modern challenge in evangelism in a multi-faith
society, we need to ask “what is their prior understanding? What needs to be
stripped away, and what can be built on?” In this manner we can
both take down any misconceptions and build up and need for development based
on the manner of someone’s prior learning.
In its missionary and evangelism work, the Coptic Church has
made strives in its approach to bringing faith to other communities and growing
in the multi-faith and often postmodernist world, however without ensuring that
the evangelism that appears is catered to the recognition that diversity is not
simply intercommunal but also intracommunal it is bound to hit a brick wall. If
we cannot speak to the individual and their own experience in our attempts to
bring others into the Church, we will struggle to bring anyone into the Church.
In the same manner, if we cannot cater to the individual needs of the person
coming into the Church, we should not be surprised if they seek it
elsewhere.
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