Christian Witness as a Tool for Evangelisation amidst Religious Plurality
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Date
2016
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Abstract
One of the successes of Vatican II was that of exciting awareness on the
changes that occur in the modern world. The changes affect every area of human
life. Realities such as technology, modernity, communication, and religious
pluralism make people close to one another. The world has become a global village.
People are no longer “isolated” from one another as they were some few years
before. This marks a new epoch in the history of the world.
Due to these changes, we observe an unbelieving tendency in the modern
man. This unbelieving tendency engages man into circumstances where he forgets
completely his primordial vocation that is love. On the one hand, we witness to
realities of religious wars, violence, and religious hostility in which some Christians
act contrary to the law of love: “You must love the Lord with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as
yourself” (Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27). On the other hand, others misuse religions to
justify their actions against others. What can we say about religious pluralism? Today, none dares to deny the phenomenon of globalisation.
enhances the possibility of a community-world. We do not need to travel to China or
to India to meet Hinduism, Buddhism, or Judaism. Rather, we live with them and
share the neighbourhood together. In fact, we are the next-door neighbours to people
of other faiths. Moreover, migration, technology, and even travel contribute largely
to the knowledge of various cultures and beliefs.
Due to neighbourhood, some people find it difficult to practice freely their
faith. In countries such as Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and India,
Christians feel “persecuted” and “denied” of their right of religious freedom. Again,
some states do not give way to “religious tolerance”. This gives rise to tendency to
embrace fundamentalism and secularization. To that, we add modernisation that
offers new values and meanings to man. As noted in Gaudium et Spes, the modern
change brings much worries and anxieties to man: “Torn by a welter of anxieties he
is compelled to choose between them and repudiate some among them. Worse still,
feeble and sinful as he is, he often does the very thing he hates and does not do what
he wants” (GS, 10). This situation compels the researcher to assess the divine
commission that says, “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to
observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the
end of time” (Mt. 28:19-20). To assess the divine commission is to scrutinize Christian witness
effectiveness within the modern world. Christians are invited to reflect upon the
methods and ways used in the fulfilment of the command of the Lord. The
fulfilment of the divine command is a matter of witness. Christian witness does not
consist of proclamation through words only. It is beyond that. Christian witness is
rather a combination of words and actions. This means that Christians are
instruments through which God brings salvation to people: “Go, for this man is my
chosen instrument to bring my name to Gentiles and kings and before the people of
Israel” (Acts 9:15).
We realise that Christian witness uses more the person of the preacher as
God’s ways to reach out to people. Thus, to evangelize
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and its
today is to establish
correspondence between words and actions. It is only in this way that Christians
may identify themselves as Disciples of Christ: “It is by your love for one another,
that everyone will recognise you as my disciples” (Jn 13:35). In this sense, Christian
witness becomes effective for evangelisation.
The effectiveness of Christian witness lies in reflecting the person of Christ
in one’s life. Paul states that, “I have been crucified with Christ, and yet I am alive;
yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me” (Gal. 2:20). Having explored some of the changes of the modern world, the researcher
intends to propose Christian witness as a powerful tool for evangelisation. This
entails that Christians must not engage themselves in a wrestling with the
unbelieving world as far as evangelisation is concerned. Rather, they are called to
witness to the person of Jesus through both words and actions and surrender the
outcome to God. They are called to, as Barth says, “let God be God”.
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Keywords
Christian, Evangelization, Religion, Our Lady Queen