Cinderella is the famous fairy tale of a poor slave girl who went from living with her evil step-mother and equally evil and ugly step-sisters to being the princess of an entire kingdom. However the end of this epic fairytale is what is notable. It is needless to tell the story of Cinderella as it is well known; so allow me to jump to the end presupposing your knowledge of the tale.
With the feeling of abandonment and intrigue for having Cinderella run out on him from the Royal Ball, Prince Charming became obsessed with finding who this young mysterious woman was. However to his advantage in Cinderella’s frazzled state one of her shoes fell off at the Royal Ball. The prince found the shoe and went to every door in the kingdom trying to find the owner of this shoe. He opted that the owner of the foot that fits this shoe is the one who he will marry. When he found Cinderella he put the shoe on her foot and it was a perfect fit; and everyone lived happily ever after.
With stories like Cinderella one has to suspend their sense of reality as chances are there was at least one other woman in the kingdom who had the same dimension of foot as Cinderella; however this fairytale is a good story to make an important point. One big issue that the secular world (and even many Christians) has with many Christians is what I will call the Cavalier Christian. To a degree there are many Christians who are like the prince in the story of Cinderella. Just as he was relentless in his pursuit to find the woman who fits this shoe there are many Christians, especially in some Christian apologetic circles who are equal in their pursuit to see their friends, family and co-workers be saved from the consequences of their sins. They swoop in, go around relentlessly preaching, citing scripture here and there and swoop out like some superhero. This often discourages many unbelievers from listening and considering that there is truth to be told regarding the Gospel. Another negative effect this has had is on Christians who just want to ‘show the love of God’; many Christians seem to divorce the act of proselytization and offering explanations for one’s faith in Christ, from the nature of love.
So what should we as Christians do? Is persistence in spreading the Gospel discouraging the work of the Gospel? Is associating various academic fields such as science, history and philosophy replacing love? The answer is simply, no on both accounts. As for the first point, Paul states:
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? - Romans 10:14-15
The ‘they’ in Paul’s passage refers to unbelievers. How can ‘the world’ call on the name of the Lord and thus be saved, if they are not told about Him? How then can they be told if no one steps out and tells them? It is important to note that this is arguing for an action that goes beyond the common belief that loving one’s neighbor is merely meeting their physical needs such as food and shelter. Helping someone in need and being a friend is definitely an act of love; but food only temporarily nourishes the body; a shoulder to cry on is only so broad; clothes become tattered; but eternity is forever. If the Gospel message is true, then the act of warning people about Hell and telling them of its remedy: Christ’s sacrifice, is at the very least parallel to the other acts of love. This does not mean that we don’t feed the stomach or cover bare backs with warm clothes; we continue to do these things, but not at the expense of the Gospel (cf. Acts 6).
Conversely however these things should not replace the Gospel. Another complaint flung at many Christians is the highlighting of one need for another; many Christians are accused of handing out a Bible but not a sandwich; but sadly regarding some Christians there is merit to this accusation. On the other hand however it is this accusation that has encouraged many Christians to go to the opposite extreme and meet people’s temporary needs and forget about the Gospel message; the idea is that they are called to love their neighbors, not pester them. So food and clothes are dished out but the knowledge of the nature of Christ and his message and mission remains in the dark; but as pointed out above this is not healthy.
It is true that a warm jacket in a Canadian winter won’t save someone from the hot fires of Hell, but meeting this need saves them from hypothermia and it shows the person that there are realists in this world. Christians need to be realists and come to grips with the fact that to love thy neighbor is to realize that a person needs saving in body, mind and soul. Christ is the only one who is qualified to save the soul and reform the mind, but talking, making a sandwich and handing out warm clothes is within our human abilities. Preaching Christ’s love is important but so is showing it.
In talking about ‘the mind’, Paul tells us to “...be transformed by the renewing of your [mind]” - Romans 12:2. Is merely telling someone that Jesus loves them and died for them sufficient? In many cases it has been; however there are many other people who are plagued with confusion resulting in pestering questions. Such questions are: How can the existence of the good God of the Bible be consistent with the reality of the evil that they experience in their life? And aren’t all religions merely different flavors of the same truth like how chocolate, vanilla and mint are all different flavors of ice-cream, but are all equally ice-cream? The nature of questions like these go beyond theology and venture into fields of science, philosophy, ethics, other religions, etc. Is offering answers to questions like these wasting time, time that could be spent telling the person that Jesus loves them? No. On the contrary preparing one’s self with answers to these sort of questions (cf. 1 Peter 1:13, 3:15) so to be able to teach others, (cf. 2nd Timothy 3:16) is an act of love as it tells the person that their inquiries are important and they are right in asking such questions.
Lastly, answers to these sort of questions set a foundation for the Gospel to be understood; so merely telling someone that Jesus loves them is, to a degree a waste of time; it would be like building a house to live in before establishing a foundation. Without a foundation the house will not stand. In the same way without answers to certain questions the Gospel message may be rendered incoherent for the inquirer. However this being said, it is only through the Holy Spirit that someone can be saved (cf. John 6:44) and understand its teachings; no amount of academic foundation will bring someone to a knowledge of Christ on its own merits. However this academic foundation is what God uses to accomplish his task of bringing people to him.
So what is the relationship between love and the acts of preaching and offering explanations? The latter are icons of the former. Therefore we should be in mind and body like the Prince in the Cinderella tale - persistent day in and day out (cf. 2 Timothy 4:2) presenters of the Gospel in word, action and thought.
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