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Everyone needs an ultimate reason for their existence. This hard-wired reality in humans can be seen in the multitude of ways that we try to answer the questions about our existence with meaning. This includes:- A wealthy person who is spending all their money and time trying to cheat death
- The self-help industry that lets you “discover yourself”
- The desire to be the best in your career or passion
- “Saving the world” through environmentalism
- Fighting injustice and helping the less fortunate
- Elon Musk’s desire to colonize Mars
Through the years, I have walked with many others who have been far from God or struggled with the idea of a loving God. There are many deep questions that don’t always have answers that satisfy someone who is struggling. Why do the innocent suffer? Where is God’s mercy when I don’t feel his presence? How can I know for certain Jesus is God? Where can I find purpose in the mundane? Etc.
For the Catholic evangelist, we must be on our guard against always trying to be the one who has the easy answers to questions which are wrapped in mystery. In fact, many times it is better to merely be charitable and present, rather than always right. Yes, these questions have theological and philosophical answers. But, if you have ever lost a loved one, you know the Catholic theology on suffering isn't what you are grasping for at a funeral - it is a hug from your loved ones. Thus, we have to be discerning in how we evangelize each person in each place / time. We also must understand that many struggle to believe in God. This is because reorienting yourself to see the world and to find meaning as a believer is a difficult proposition for many who have never done so before.
EVANGELIZE BETTER
If you want to evangelize better, then you need to help others explore how they see meaning, purpose, and reality. All of this is tied to their worldview. A worldview tells us not only how people think about the world, life, truth, goodness, meaning, etc., but it also plays the main role in our underlying assumptions - and many assumptions which are not explicitly thought through. Ultimately, a worldview encompasses our philosophy of life and our unconscious ways of thinking about the world. It is really important.
An interesting thing about a worldview is this - most people aren’t even aware they have a worldview. It is like a pair of glasses that affect how you see what you see (and what you see), yet most don’t even know they have them on. In our work as Catholic leaders, we have to be aware of how others are seeing the world, even if they aren’t conscious of it themselves. Without knowing where someone is coming from, we won’t know what they need or how to help them. We can then (possibly) help them move closer to Jesus.
The best path to understanding someone, and their worldview, is to be an inquisitive and interested friend. This takes time, investment of self, and putting your own desires as secondary to the person’s needs. It takes active listening and good questions. This is a good place to remind everyone that understanding someone doesn’t mean you accept what they believe, how they act, or their lifestyle / choices.
Now, some tend to equate evangelization with having all the right answers. I certainly used to be one who had to be right all the time (don't ask my family if this is still the case)! My idea of evangelization was winning an argument or proving someone else wrong. It wasted a lot of time pushing people away, through my pride and lack of charity, to realize my mistake. Apologetics or a good argument for your case can certainly be a tool to help remove an obstacle toward someone growing closer to Christ, but it rarely moves anyone closer to God, by itself.
Others believe that our faith is something very private that shouldn’t be shared, in order not to offend or seem too pushy. It is the Catholic version of “don’t ask, don’t tell”. This attitude comes from a culture that believes faith is something we do part-time or compartmentalize. Unfortunately, this attitude creates a culture of silence, where we don’t talk about our faith at all. As many others have responded to this – our faith is always personal but never private. Imagine if the Apostles had never talked about their faith. We wouldn’t have any Christians today.
What I have found works best when evangelizing others is to start with truly listening to where they are coming from. Not in order to prove them wrong, but rather to accept the person who is in front of you a human made in God’s image and likeness, and uniquely created to glorify His name. When we are able to do this, we can marvel in their creation and truly love them where they are at. Then we can better understand what they need from us, in order to help them grow closer to God. Evangelization takes the other person's consent to God's grace. To put it bluntly, the one doing the evangelization is the least important party in the drama. It isn’t our job to convert anyone – we can’t! Only God’s grace, chosen through a free act of the other person’s will, can spark faith. Thus, I am a limited instrument in the hand of God, who is called to love the other person and help them grow closer to God. True love for another person means I will always seek their good, and asking good probing questions can help me understand how best to help them grow.
But, we can's stop there. We must then respond and initiate in order to evangelize them explicitly. Still, to be a good evangelist we discern how we might best help a person in each situation we encounter. So, there are no techniques or strategies that will always work. But, there are a few things we must always do.- We must pray for those we evangelize.
- We must live what we say we believe.
- We must look for the opportunity to proclaim the Good News and invite a response. This is essential to being a good evangelist. Without this proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus, our evangelization will remain incomplete. Conversion is the response to the Gospel, chosen in faith!
So the next time you see someone searching for meaning in their life in something outside of God, which cannot ultimately satisfy them - see it as an opportunity to evangelize, not denigrate, shun, or merely criticize
Furthermore, remember that the desire to go to Mars may in fact be a search for God that the other person just doesn't see yet.
