Monday, October 15, 2007

Spinning

"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly;
"'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you may spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many curious things to show when you are there."

The charming spider reminds me of Candy. She lures women in with homekeeping advice and recipes, but the real intent is to proselytize.

Back in college we had street preachers. They would stand on benches and yell at people to repent, call people names and get into pointless shouting matches with students. They were quite a contrast to the Christianity I had experienced in my small midwestern hometown. The Christianity I knew was John 3:16, not Revelation 21:8.

One day in college, on my way to work shelving books in the library, I had to pass by where a couple of the street preachers were setting up. Classes were still in session and there weren't many people around so I was an easy target. They called me a whore, told me I was going to hell and that I needed to repent NOW!

I ignored them.

The point:
Some folks see hostility and antagonism as a legitimate form of evangelism. They try to scare you into belief. But how long will faith based on emotion (such as fear) last? Not very long. Faith is the work of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel and the Sacraments. It is not a fickle human emotion.

2 comments:

sara said...

yeah, I've heard some bad street preachers, but I've heard some good ones too. One man on a subway gave his testimony and said that he had been addicted to crack. The big, robust looking man said, "Yeah, I know I look good. Just look what Jesus did for this crackhead." OK, so it wasn't heavy on the theology but it was powerful and gave the glory where it was deserved.

I've been enjoying your thoughts here.

Sue Bee said...

Wow! Sounds like the guy was a great witness. Thanks for sharing. :-)