Experience & Culture In Evangelization

I attended a small Catholic school from K-8 grade. In reflecting on this time, I remember that the way that most Catholics lived their lives (at least the ones I saw) was not much different than those who were not Catholic. Therefore, I learned what "being a Catholic" meant, by experiencing the culture of our parish and school, more than the through the classes we took.

I certainly had good examples of what Catholic discipleship looked like. In fact, my parents are exceptional Catholics. But, most examples of being Catholic (from what I learned from others) taught me the following:

• You went to Mass
• You got your Sacraments
• You had a Pope and Bishop
• You had a lot of rules, which meant guilt, when you broke them

This was my early childhood understanding of Catholicism. Was it very incomplete? Of course. Was it about being a radical disciple? Not at all. But, this is the basic understanding of our faith for many who still identify as "Catholic" in our country today. There is no conversion of heart, but it is mostly about the outer acts, done due to obligation.

We have a lot of years of an unhealthy Catholic culture (in most places) to overcome in our work of evangelization - apathy, ignorance, and a failure to make intentional disciples. As Tertullian once said, "Christians are made, not born." Our culture is part of this process of making disciples. When we experience a culture that isn't about discipleship, then why would we expect disciples to come out of it?

For my personal journey to faith, it took a community of disciples, who intentionally evangelized me, offered me a chance to repent and make Jesus the Lord of my life. Then, once I joined the community, I learned what discipleship was really all about. I have apprenticed under some amazing Christians, who challenged me, encouraged me, held me accountable, loved me, and helped me grow closer to Jesus. 

I, like others, learn more through experiences than I do content. Of course we need to teach the content of the faith. But, the content, without experiencing what Christianity lived-out looks like, is like learning advanced science without ever going into a lab and doing experiments - it remains an abstract idea. God is no abstract. Neither is the life of discipleship. 

We don't need any more either/or situations. It isn't that we jettison classes or teaching content. Rather, we need to learn it AND apprentice under more advanced disciples. Then we need to start to work on our own Catholic parish culture, so that others will have this opportunity as well.

We need to have an authentic Catholic experience in order to learn what discipleship is. This experience is necessary, if we are to change the Catholic culture in the average parish into what it ought to be. If we can, then the next generation might be raised in places where they see Catholics who look radically different from the world around them.