Earlier this week, my girlfriend and I were walking around Town Center (area in Virginia Beach, for those not from the area) and we were flagged down by these two young people. At first I thought the girl was drunk because she flailed her arms at us like she was trying to flag down a car. Thinking they were drunk, we kept walking until they caught up to us and started talking about God with us... like we never read a Bible before. After we established that we were Christians, they still talked to us like we were ignorant. They were sharing the message about Mother God coming down soon and that she would gather the believers with her. Bottom line, it was a misinterpretation of scripture that was a message that pretty much said, "join our club, and you will get a ticket to heaven!" We declined their invitation to come to their church, and after some fruitless discussion we found that they were regurgitating Revelation as a sales pitch (their pastor probably had them memorize specific verses). Mind you, it is a dangerous business trying to interpret Revelation, and those that claim to know it should think long and hard before they talk about it because it is one of the most difficult books of the Bible to understand for various reasons.
This is not to criticize these two kids for doing what they believed God told them to do, but instead I am talking about this an example what not to do so that if you ever take a leadership role that you will know what not to do. It seems that they were trained by someone who did not have sound training in the Bible. So this is how I feel about people who feel led to teach...
1. Do your homework! They mentioned Revelation 21:9-10, but gave a literal interpretation... the New Jerusalem was a real city, and that it was the bride of the lamb. They mentioned that it made no sense that Jesus would be married to a city so it must be a real person. They also tried to explain Jewish marriage tradition, but not enough to make sense. When we think of successful characters in the Bible, such as Paul and Jesus, they knew the scriptures and were able to prove things to people. Much like that today, if you want to be influential, you must understand how to connect to the culture and not be abrasive about your knowledge.
2. Don't belittle people. People have different levels of conviction towards their beliefs, so you should never talk to them like they know nothing. Some of the most educated people on Christianity are not even Christians, which shows you never know what you are dealing with. This is why we should treat all people fairly. Unfortunately, these two evangelists talked to us like we didn't know anything and it was very off putting. I can only imagine what someone with a different religious preference would feel about Christians after such an encounter!
3. Have a sober respect for God. When I chose to go into the ministry, I memorized James 3:1. If you don't know it, it is worth your while to look it up. James was writing to an audience to let them know that there is a stricter judgment for teachers, because ultimately they are responsible for the disposition of the messages that they give. So if I lead people astray by telling them something that is not true, I will be held accountable for that. These two seemed to run around telling everyone that they saw to be aware of the coming of God... Well, that has been mentioned for years. There is a reason that he will come like a thief in the night, because if the thief notifies the house owner than the owner will be ready for the robber. Its common sense. Sometimes people just need to realize that being abrasive just pushes people away, and they need to have a little bit more reverence for the message that God gave them... if God gave it to them.
So I guess what I am saying today is if you feel called to teach (which in some capacity we teach others constantly through out our day), always remember James 3:1. I know that the context is a little more complicated, but it is a succinct way of remembering that we need to be careful with the messages that God gives us. We must also remember to give messages in love and work towards building people up rather than making them feel threatened or condemned. So that was my adventure with evangelists, and please remember if anything sounds funny to you, look it up in the Bible and ask other Christians. Don't let someone else tell you something that is strange and lead you astray. It never hurts to ask! And if you are a teacher, don't fear saying the wrong thing, but be as educated as possible so that your words will bring life and that you may live beyond reproach.
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