This weekend I am getting spoiled. I am currently in San Francisco attending the Society of Biblical Literature Conference, where religious scholars from all over the world come and share their latest research and insights. After only a day of sessions my brain is already over-loaded with nuggets of theological goodness, so today I’m going to share a simple but sweet perspective that I heard from theologian N.T. Wright.

Yesterday afternoon I attended a forum hosted by another noted theologian, Craig Bartholomew, who began the session with a brief reflection from his quiet time that day. He had been reading the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 which, if you need a refresher, begins this way:

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. (v. 1-4)

Dr. Bartholomew went on to share that, upon reading this passage, he had an insight about the task of theology and Biblical scholarship. Within this story there are two obstacles that prevented Zacchaeus from seeing Jesus: The first was his height, and the second was the crowd. Based on this observation, Dr. Bartholomew remarked, “Too often, I am afraid we Biblical scholars are the crowd.”

What a great insight! Like the crowd, scholars have a tendency to focus on Jesus in a manner that actually prevents people from seeing him clearly. All the debates and ivory tower discussions can obscure the unbeliever’s view.

However, N.T. Wright later added to Dr. Bartholomew’s observation with an extra insight. As Dr. Wright stood behind the podium and looked into the audience of Biblical scholars, he drew on the analogy of Zacchaeus with the following exhortation:

“It is our task to plant more sycamore trees.”

So simple, so true, and applicable to us all. It is not only the task of theologians to “plant more sycamore trees” by which a seeking world can better see Jesus, but it is the task of every Christian. Rather than obscure Christ with our squabbles or confine him within the walls of the church, we are to be planters of sycamore trees. We get out of the way and make it as easy as possible for the world to see Jesus as clearly as possible.

The reason I found this insight particularly powerful is the source from which it came. Craig Bartholomew and N.T. Wright are two of the greatest theologians today, so it is encouraging to know that these two men not only have a vibrant relationship with God that fuels their scholarship, but that their reading and interpretation of Scripture is profoundly missional. Both men have a heart for the church that drives their contributions to the field. Although theologians are sometimes construed as being stuffy and out of touch, these men shatter that stereotype.

I am so grateful for the thinkers and leaders who love Jesus and want to see the world love him too. I am thankful for those planters of sycamore trees. And I’m excited to see what the rest of the weekend holds!

This month I’ve been wrapping up my summer schoolwork with an independent study of feminist theology, and I have really loved it! My research has been educational, thought-provoking, and personally challenging, which is exactly what I was hoping it would be.

As I have explored the history of feminism and its relationship to Christian theology, I’ve noticed a significant historical trend that includes, but is not limited to, feminism. To give you a little background on what I mean, one of the early criticisms of the feminist movement was its narrow scope. Although feminism sought to achieve equal rights and status for women, the movement was predominantly led by middle class, educated white women. Women of other ethnicities and nationalities consequently felt marginalized by the dominant ideologies of the movement. Although feminism set out to end this kind of social stratification, it unintentionally added to it.

Now before we villainize feminism for this hypocrisy, it is important to point out that feminism is not the first to make a mistake of this kind. Feminism is just one of many movements throughout history that initially marginalized others in its own quest for freedom.  Consider the United States’ own history. Our nation is founded on the pillars of freedom and equality,  and yet this newly liberated State was built on the backs of oppressed African slaves. White men achieved unprecedented freedom, only to withhold that freedom from women and minorities.

Examples such as these abound. When a group accesses freedom and empowerment, no matter how populist or democratic its initial intentions may be, it is likely to overlook others in need of liberation. In fact, some movements deliberately disadvantage others in order to ensure their own success.

As I studied feminism and reflected on this historical pattern, I began to wonder whether I succumb to the same kind of tunnel vision. Have I ever focused so unflinchingly on a personal cause or call that I forgot about the bigger picture and marginalized others in the process?

I am quite sure that I have. For example, I love teaching and discipling women in the church. I feel called to serve and equip Christian women, and I feel it is incumbent on the church to do the same. However, my passion can easily morph into tunnel vision, especially when Christian women are marginalized by the church. The urgency of this injustice, which is particularly close to my heart, narrows my gaze.

As a result of this tunnel vision, I lose perspective. My determination to advocate for women in the church can eclipse other aspects of the Christian call. I can become so focused on women in the church that I ignore women outside the church who need the love of Christ, or I forget about women around the world who need food, clean water, safety, and medical support.

Whether this tunnel vision is a manifestation of sin or simply the limited capacity of human nature, it is a common temptation that takes many forms. For people like me, ministries in the church draw our attention away from ministries to the world. For others, protecting their family can prevent them from protecting the poor and the weak outside their family. And still others can become so absorbed in evangelism or social justice that they neglect the friends and family closest to them.

To be fair, none of us is called to serve in every area of ministry out there. In fact, God does NOT call us to a degree of over-commitment in which we do everything, but we do it poorly. However, ministry is not a zero sum game in which commitments are mutually exclusive. There are ways that I can serve the women in my church AND serve women outside the church.

In fact, I know women who do just that. In His goodness, God has connected me with women who exemplify the full vision of the Christian life, and here are just a few of them:

• Author Helen Lee recently published the book The Missional Mom
• Activist Shayne Moore published Global Soccer Mom
• Tracey Bianchi equips women for everyday environmental stewardship in Green Mama
• And my friend Margot Starbuck just posted a challenging blog titled “Myopically Mothering My Own as Mission?“

Although each one of these Christian women writes from the particular perspective of motherhood, each sets an example for mothers and non-mothers alike. These women resist the tunnel vision that would monopolize their time and attention, opting instead for a life that reflects the fullness of Christ’s.

These women also remind us that the different spheres of Christian ministry are beautifully complementary: Global outreach gives me patience and perspective at home. As a mother one day, community outreach will model mission-mindedness for my children. And the reality of female oppression worldwide reminds me to be grateful for the equality women enjoy in America.

When understood this way, the multi-faceted Christian call seems less like a list of duties and more like a glimpse of God’s design for humanity. We are meant to be connected to one another, loving one another and serving one another. When we sequester ourselves in one part of ministry or service, we miss out on the fullness of God’s heart for the world. When tunnel vision limits our sight, I suspect it also limits our love.

Here’s a fun question to ask yourself:

If you could sit down and have a conversation with the person you were 10 years ago, what would you say to your younger self? On what topics would you agree, and on what would you disagree?

As I think about the ways in which I’ve grown in the last 10 years, I am grateful for the changes. God has been faithful to prune me of some rather unattractive habits and personality flaws, and hopefully He’ll continue to do so. My stubborn nature has ensured that the growth is slow and even stagnant at times, but God has persevered. That said, if I could sit down with my younger self today, I would probably tell myself to quit acting like a know-it-all and try listening for a change.

For instance, there were seasons in my life when I was unwilling to thoughtfully consider any opinion that was different than my own. In fact, I dug in my heels even deeper if someone tried to convince me otherwise.  I didn’t know enough to know how little I knew, if that makes sense. So I persisted in my naiveté.

In the last 10 years my growth as a thinker has indeed been a circuitous path, and a classmate of mine recently helped me to understand why. He told me about an idea called “The Persuasion Scale” and it works like this:

First, picture a scale from 1 to 10 in which the numbers represent agreement with an idea or an opinion. 1 signifies total disagreement, and 10 signifies total agreement.

1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10

Now imagine an issue with which you totally agree, such as helping the poor, or marital fidelity. Then imagine a person who disagrees with you. Let’s say they fall somewhere around a 4 or 5 on the scale.

Research shows that if you want to persuade a person to move from level 4 or 5 to level 10, do not aim for 10 initially. If you push them too hard too fast, they will actually move backward to level 1 or 2. They will disagree even more strongly than before. However, if you try to move them from a 5 to a 6 or 7, they are far more likely to respond positively. Persuasion is much more effective in little steps.

Looking back on my own process of spiritual and intellectual maturity, the Persuasion Scale makes a lot of sense. If an idea is too radical, my fear tempts me to run away from it even harder. But if a new idea is relatively close to something I already believe and can wrap my head around, I am much more likely to consider it.

The Persuasion Scale is also helpful for Christians as we think about evangelism. Although God certainly has the power to move someone from a 1 to a 10 in a moment, everyone’s journey is different. Your role in the life of an unbelieving friend may be rather small, but it is nevertheless significant. Perhaps your only job is to show them that God is truly loving. Perhaps you are the safe place for a friend to explore spiritual questions.

Yet the Persuasion Scale also reminds us that if we share Christ in a way that ignores individual processes and tries to force growth, we risk doing greater damage than good. We can push people farther away from God than they were before.

Thankfully, God is Lord over each person’s path. The Persuasion Scale is not a sure-fire formula for salvation but a reflection of the human nature. It helps us to understand ourselves better, and in turn be better stewards of the message we have to share.

“Who you are speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you say.”

Those are the words of Mayor Cory Booker, who I discussed in my last post as part of my reflections on the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. Today I’m going to conclude those reflections by highlighting the life and message of another speaker, but Mayor Booker’s words were so relevant that I couldn’t help but post them.

Our actions and our attitudes have tremendous power. They can either amplify our words or drown them out as irrelevant and meaningless. I’m sure you can think of an individual or two whose demeanor or conduct is so unattractive that, even if you agree with some of what they say, you can’t help distance yourself. Whatever their stance is, you don’t want to be associated with them.

On the other hand, there are those individuals whose lives are so authentically devoted to God and neighbor that their words are dripping with authority. The Leadership Summit was graced with just such a person and her name was Maggie Gobran, or “Mama Maggie.” Often described as the “Mother Teresa of Egypt,” Mama Maggie abandoned her life of comfort and success to live with the poor. That was 20 years ago, and since then she has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times.

I was deeply impacted by Mama Maggie’s message. In fact, I was deeply impacted by her mere presence. Earlier this week I wrote about the experience for Cultivate Her, and here is an excerpt from that post:

Throughout the Summit I heard incredible advice from some of the top leaders in the country, both inside and outside the church. Every session was packed with wisdom and insight. What distinguished Mama Maggie from the group, however, was her mere presence. This tiny, wisp of a woman was the only speaker who shook the room by simply stepping onto stage. As we applauded her she wept in humility, and I couldn’t help but weep also.

Mama Maggie shared numerous profound and important truths, but what impacted me the most was the power of her incarnational leadership. She is one of those rare individuals who is so intimately connected to God that you can literally feel it. She spoke with power and authority, not because she was an excellent communicator, but because her life and ministry gave weight to her words. Her person was her message.

I titled that particular post “Incarnational Leadership” because Mama Maggie demonstrated Jesus’ incarnational approach to leadership and ministry. Like Jesus, she embodied her beliefs totally, not simply teaching about service but serving; not simply teaching about love but loving. Mama Maggie didn’t stop at teaching about Jesus but she also lived like Jesus. I had heard preachers teach this kind of embodiment–and I’ve even written about it myself–but something about her was palpably different.

Mama Maggie’s love for Christ was breath-taking and, to be quite honest with you, it changed my life. I was devastated and humbled by her example. She also reminded me why intimacy with God is our greatest evangelistic strength. Even in this increasingly post-Christian culture of ours, the world still has a pretty good idea of how Christians should act. Non-Christians know that believers are called to be loving and kind and to advocate for the least of these. They know we are called to model Christ. So when we preach those principles but fail to live them out, when our lives are utterly out of sync with God, the world around us is smart enough to notice. The glaring dissonance between message and practice is impossible to ignore.

To be fair, no Christian will ever live perfectly this side of eternity. We will all make hypocrites of ourselves at some time or another, which is why the gospel is ultimately about Christ and not Christians. Yet Mama Maggie’s life and faith is qualitatively different from mine. She is, undeniably, a woman who has seen the face of God. Her example withers any excuse I might have for an inconsistent witness.

Which brings me to one of the chief lessons I learned from Mama Maggie: When it comes to preaching the gospel, the world won’t take our word for it. In matters of God and salvation, it is not enough simply to be right. We need to follow Christ’s example and put flesh to the Good News. Don’t just tell but show.

That is why, as my title states, your body matters. As a Christian called to reflect God’s love and plan for the world, your body is part of the equation—and not solely in terms of purity. Just as Christ’s human body was the location of love, hospitality, kindness, healing, miracles, sacrifice and redemption, our bodies, in a rather literal sense, ought to be the same.

Before encountering Mama Maggie, I think I had forgotten just how radically holistic the Christian call is. It’s easy to write about Jesus and tell others how to live, but am I embodying my message in a physical, life-altering way? Is my character undercutting my witness or bolstering it? Is my response to criticism loving or spiteful? Is my own body a tool for love and redemption, or for vanity and destruction?

I am humbled by those questions, but grateful that the answer to them all is found in Christ. Mama Maggie reflected Christ because she knew him so well. When others look at my life, do they encounter a woman who has clearly seen the face of God? Or do I conduct myself as one who has only heard about Him?

Humbling questions indeed, but I thank God for Jesus, and for His faithful servant, Mama Maggie.

Continuing my reflections on the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit, I’m going to do something today that I almost never do: talk about a politician.

I am rather jaded when it comes to politics, and I NEVER endorse candidates publicly. Not to sound overly simplistic or self-righteous, but I would much rather spend my time endorsing Jesus. However, one of the most powerful speakers at the Summit this year was a man named Cory Booker, who is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He is a politician, but he preached it.

A self-described Christian, Mayor Booker shared a number of inspiring stories about his mission in Newark, but it was the perspective behind his vision that I found especially challenging, and Scriptural. At one point during his talk, Mayor Booker declared,

“Your attitude about the world says nothing about the world, but a lot about your character. What you see outside of you is a reflection of what is inside of you.”

These words are actually an echo of Jesus’ words in Luke 6:45:

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

At a time when our economy is struggling, when Christians are pulling their kids out of public schools because the system is so broken, when millions of women are literally missing due to sex trafficking, when the American family becomes increasingly fragmented, and our nation slides further towards a spineless kind of moral relativism, Mayor Booker’s words were a real check on my spirit.

It is so easy to point to the world and blame, blame, blame. Christians should be doing this, or politicians should be doing that. The younger generations are lazy and entitled. The older generations are irrelevant to the culture. Etc., etc. But Jesus’ words, as recaptured by Mayor Booker, are an indictment of this mindset. When we place blame everywhere but ourselves, we betray ourselves spiritually. We reveal a hopelessness and despair that is out of sync with God’s ability to redeem. We uncover a vision that has been crippled by sin instead of enlarged by the resurrection. Rather than see what the world could be through the power of Christ, we see only what it is.

Vision is not outside ourselves. It is an overflow of the heart. So we need to be asking whether we process and engage the world according to sin, or according to Christ’s victory over sin. Thankfully for us, God was not content to sit back and judge humanity for our brokenness, but instead took that sin upon Himself, came near to us in the flesh, and became the redemptive means by which we are delivered from this mess. Rather than command us to change, God enacted the transformation personally. As the Church, our call is the same.

What does your engagement of the world say about your heart? Are you an active part in God’s redemption of humanity, or a passive spectator? Are you wasting time pointing fingers, or living into the example of Christ? Gandhi is famously quoted as saying, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I could not agree more, but no one did it more perfectly than Jesus.

This week I happened upon a news story about the above billboard–posted in New Jersey by the atheist advocacy group American Atheists–and the subsequent backlash that ensued. As you look at this billboard (you can click on it for a larger view), I want you to pause for a moment and reflect on your feelings about it. What kind of a personal reaction does this billboard cause?

If you’re anything like me, your feelings are probably a mix between anger and hurt. After all, Christmas is such an innocent season of hope and goodwill. My observance of Christmas is a positive one, not an aggressive or angry one, so the attack feels completely unwarranted.

However, almost as soon as I processed those thoughts my mind immediately turned to this convicting counter-point: My feelings are probably similar to those felt by non-Christians when they see Christian billboards commanding them to repent. The spirit of these two types of billboards is not so different.

The reality is that every religion or system of beliefs has within its ranks a visible few who steal the spotlight with their over-the-top behavior and offensive tactics. Atheism is certainly no exception, as self-righteousness and anger are common human conditions that plague us all.  And that is a perspective I have to keep in mind when faced with situations like this one. To borrow the language of the billboard, this perspective is the “reasonable” response.

But what is the Christian response? That is the real question I need to ask. While reason tells me to keep a cool head, the Gospel of Christ tells me to go even further. Consider Matthew 5:38-45:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”

It’s easy to forget how difficult it is to follow Christ. Jesus’ words sound great in theory, but my true feelings are quickly revealed with just the slightest bit of provocation. While it is tempting to respond tit-for-tat in these situations, a response of grace, love and gentleness is the real sign of faithfulness to God. Anyone can argue loudly but very few, when slapped on the cheek, will turn to have the other slapped also.

As we enter this Christmas season, remembering in quiet awe the miracle of Jesus’ birth, let’s not forget that the Incarnation is also a map for Christian living. God humbled Himself and became a man, suffering the persecution of a broken world when He deserved nothing but eternal glory. Blessedly, we are transformed by that act of grace, and we are to be a similar means of grace in the lives of others. When we feel unfairly attacked or judged, we are free from the burden of defending ourselves and are instead compelled to love in radical ways. I can think of no response more fitting as I celebrate this happy season.

In the last month I’ve written a couple posts incorporating my doctoral studies with the practical, every-day-life concerns of being a Christian woman. I was kind of nervous about those posts because I thought you all might get as far as the first paragraph and then say “YAWN”….click. Never to return again.

Fortunately, my readers are amazing and y’all were totally tracking with me! I tell you what, that was just one more reminder that the church needs to raise the bar for women. Women are clearly craving meat and are yearning to dig into the deeper things of the faith. Thank you for your feedback! It was a welcome affirmation of my call back to school as I sit here in the dark basement of a library surrounded by books.

Since you girls are theological rock stars, I thought I would share something else that caught my attention. It has TREMENDOUS application for how we think about and understand evangelism. It also levels a pretty searing critique in the process.

The other day I read about a man named Jurgen Habermas, a German philosopher and sociologist who studied how we communicate to one another. In his work, he established a term called “validity claims” which is what we use whenever we’re trying to communicate something to another person. For instance, if I wanted to communicate to my fellow Chicagoans that Chick-fil-a makes better chicken than any of the other chicken joints around here, and that we should start a petition to bring Chick-fil-a to this area, my argument would be composed of validity claims. These claims might include things like:

• Chick-fil-a has the best chicken because they use a special recipe (that may or may not be magic)
• Chick-fil-a has the best customer service, bar none.
• They serve chicken biscuits for breakfast (that validity claim speaks for itself)
• And the list goes on…

By now you probably get the point. Habermas goes on to say that our arguments are most effective when our validity claims meet 4  particular qualifications. This is where it gets really good! As I list these 4 qualifications, I want you to think about how Christians communicate the Gospel and then count up how many of these qualifications Christians generally meet:

To be effective, validity claims must…

1. Be clear and easy to understand–How clear and understandable are the words being used? Is the speaker using language that stands the best chance of being understood by its hearers?

2. Be truthful–Does your claim accurately reflect the the world around you? Are you giving the best argument for why things are the way they are? Is your claim rooted in the best explanation available?

3. Be presented appropriately–In other words, are you presenting your beliefs according to the rules of civil conversation, or are you screaming at people’s faces? Are you being respectful, gentle and kind, or are you condescending and forceful?

4. Be presented by a credible speaker–Can your listeners trust you? Can your listeners tell that you are sincerely trying to communicate with them? And more importantly, do your listeners feel like you are hearing them, or do they simply feel preached at?

What is remarkable about these 4 qualifications is that they were not written within a Christian context. Even the above descriptions were excerpted from a secular book. But what a GREAT application this has for Christians! As I read through these and diagnose mainstream evangelism I think that we get #2 right, but too often we stop there, thinking that as long as we’re right, as long as we’ve got the truth, it doesn’t matter how we present it.

Habermas reminds us that in order to communicate effectively, we need to be using language that the world can understand, rather than Christian lingo. We need to present the Gospel in a manner that is appropriate and respectful. And who you are as a person will impact whether people pay any attention to you at all. Of course, these are all truths found in Scripture, but Habermas’ work shows us why theology and philosophy matter. Sometimes these disciplines can help us to see things in a way we haven’t before. Sometimes stepping back and taking a different look at a problem can shed new light on it.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

- Jesus (John 13:34-35)

Women’s ministries are known for a lot of things, both good and bad–discipleship, self-help, retreats, fellowship, crying, and the list goes on. One thing that women’s ministries are NOT known for is taking vocal stands on current events. We tend to leave that to our sisters in the feminist movement.

I am often guilty of this. I focus a lot on theology and discipleship in this blog. I don’t frequently take a side on controversial hot topics because of how heavily they are politicized. And while this avoidance stems out of a desire for prudence and wisdom, I don’t want to hide behind this practice when the time comes to speak boldly and with conviction about current events.

This week is one of those times at which I feel burdened to take a stand. The issue is the church in Gainesville that plans to burn Qurans on 9/11. And before I go on any further I first want to state clearly and unequivocally what I believe every Christian (men and women alike) should be stating without hesitation:

This is wrong.

Unfortunately, a lot of Christians are struggling to take a firm stance on this. Why? Because of the church members’ rights as Americans. This morning as I drove to school I heard a Christian radio DJ discuss the issue, weighing the church members’ rights against their Christian obligations. As I listened I kept waiting for her to assume a definitive stance, and perhaps I was expecting too much–she probably would have gotten in a lot of trouble for taking a stand on behalf of the entire radio station.

Even so, this battle between our American and Christian identities is troubling to me. We seem to have lost sight of the fact that we are always Christians FIRST, and Americans second (or third, or fourth or fifth). And because this particular situation involves people who claim to represent Christ, then our primary mode of operation is that of the church. This is an issue of Christian accountability. Were it to happen in your own church or community, it would be a matter of church discipline. Just because people have the right to commit adultery does not mean we stand for it in our midst. And neither should we now.

Yesterday I heard a professor at my current school express a desire for Christians across the country to write their local newspapers issuing a strong repudiation of this act. I agree. In fact, a professor from my former seminary did just that. You can read his wonderfully gentle and articulate response here.

However you respond to this issue, know that your voice matters. Your co-workers, your neighbors, and your fellow students are all watching for your response. And your silence indicates one of two things: agreement, or apathy.

So at a moment when God’s reputation is on the line and the world is confused about who Jesus is and what it means to follow him, I have to ask how you are responding: In loving rebuke, silent assent, or with confusion over the location of your primary identity?  However you respond, know that your voice DOES matter. Being a faithful Christian woman means defending Christ in love and gentleness, but also with passion and boldness.

This week I heard a truly fascinating story on NPR about why ALL humans, no matter their skepticism, are inclined to sense or experience the supernatural. The story began with a scientist named Jesse Bering who was a confessing atheist but, upon losing his mom, had a supernatural experience. The evening after her passing, he heard the wind chimes chiming outside her room, as if to indicate that his mother had safely “passed to the other side.”

Upon having this thought, Bering was surprised at himself. Where did this thought come from? As a seasoned skeptic and proud scientist, why did his brain so easily drift into this non-scientific belief? Bering was fascinated by the psychological implications of his experience, so he decided to study it.

Bering is not the first to ask this question. As the NPR story explained, “In the history of the world, every culture in every location at every point in time has developed some supernatural belief system,” a reality that has grabbed the attention of the scientific community and warranted much research.

You can read more about Bering’s study here, but for the moment I want to focus on his conclusions. After years of research, Bering has slightly altered his formerly atheist stance: “I’ve always said that I don’t believe in God, but I don’t really believe in atheists either.” He explains, “Everybody experiences the illusion that God — or some type of supernatural agent — is watching them or is concerned about what they do in their sort of private everyday moral lives.”

The article goes on to summarize Bering’s findings: The belief that “supernatural beings are watching you is so basic to being human that even committed atheists regularly have moments where their minds turn in a supernatural direction, as his did in the wake of his mother’s death.” As Bering puts it, “They experience it but they reject it. [They] sort of override or stomp on their immediate intuition. But that’s not to say that they don’t experience it. We all have the same basic brain. And our brains have evolved to work in a particular way.”

The story goes on to interview other scientists who speculate that this belief in God may be some kind of evolutionary development, a type of survival mechanism. But as the narrator herself concludes, these theories are nothing more than pure speculation. Scientists can never really know from where this human inclination originated. They can only draw on evolutionary theory to guess.

Now, I find two things about this story particularly fascinating. The first is that, in spite of his findings, Bering has persisted in espousing an anti-supernatural worldview. As a scientist, he is simply not open to the possibility that every human culture throughout the history of the world has believed in some sort of god because there might actually be one. The irony of his unflinching stance is the unscientific nature of it. He approached a problem with a foregone conclusion. If ever there was an argument to be made for the “religious faith” that individuals have in science, this is it. Bering admits to experiencing the transcendent echoes of a grander reality, and simultaneously denies it.

However this study also has interesting implications for how Christians approach atheists. So often we feel the need to defend God aggressively, as if He can’t defend Himself. Let us not be so proud. In Luke 19:40 Jesus reminds us that even if we are silent, the rocks themselves will cry out. God’s fingerprints can be found all over this world, including the humans who inhabit it. He created our very souls–in His image, no less–which means the most staunch of skeptics cannot help but encounter the divine…a point that human philosophers and theologians have always claimed throughout history, and that scientists are just now discovering.

Given this human tendency, Christians are reminded that when unbelievers deny the existence of God, it’s not always for lack of belief. As Bering so aptly put it, many atheists engage in a willful suppression of their natural inclinations. Bering might be surprised to learn that his wording is almost a direct quote from Romans 1:18.

But let’s get back to the practical implications of Bering’s admission. One of the things we learn is that the battle is not always fought and won in the arena of logic. That is why Jesus so heavily emphasizes an apologetic of love, not rhetoric. It’s not that reason has no place in this debate, but logic isn’t always the real issue. Rather than play a game of tit for tat with people who may argue with science but have also been frustrated or hurt by the church, it’s important to recognize the power of gentleness and grace. It is indeed discouraging to dialogue with individuals who have pre-existing biases no matter what you say and no matter what evidence there is to the contrary, but it is also true that atheists feel the same about us. Let us therefore be known foremost by our unreasonable love, and trust that God is always on the move in invisible but undeniable ways.

I should have mentioned this sooner but I’m actually out of the country right now, which is why I’ve been posting a number of re-runs from the past. The following post was written over 3 years ago and, as will be quite obvious from the context, before I met my husband. It made my smile to read it again!

Today I realized something interesting about typical strategies of evangelism. The realization came after spending a couple hours at UNC tonight handing out free lemonade as an exam outreach initiative. We weren’t asking students to sign up for anything or come to church in exchange–we were giving the lemonade out with no strings attached.

Surprisingly, the students were still very suspicious. A lot of people ignored us when we asked if they wanted something to drink. And the ones that did come to the table were immediately apprehensive when we told them that we were from a church. You could just see it in their eyes–they were waiting for something Christiany to be thrown at them like a Gospel tract or the Four Laws. They were bracing themselves for it.

As I was driving home tonight, I was reflecting on these students’ reactions and the reason behind them. The easiest scapegoat for their skepticism is judgmental Christians who scream at people and tell them they’re going to Hell. But the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that it probably wasn’t judgmental Christians that these students were tired of, because most Christians aren’t actually like that. Sure, non-Christians may run into a couple scary Christians along the way, but the majority of their experiences were probably with “normal” Christians, which means their opinions of the church were probably shaped by such “normal” Christians.

No, it wasn’t the crazy Christians alone that were scaring the non-Christians away. It was also the majority of Christians who are nice but are constantly scheming to convert people. The way we do evangelism may not be scary or loud, but it nevertheless sends non-Christians running in the opposite direction, and I think I know why.

Tonight, as I looked in the eyes of these young people and saw the distrust therein, I was startled to realize that I recognized that feeling, because it is the feeling I frequently get when interacting with single guys. In the last several years of my life as the pressure to get married has been mounting on everyone my age, I have become extremely hesitant about meeting new guys, even Christian ones, because many times guys will start flirting with me, to some degree or another, the moment that we meet.

When this happens, it’s as if they don’t see me at all–all they see is my potential as a wife. And I hate that feeling, because I know that it is not based on their desire to care for me, but their desire to care for themselves. All I am is a means to an end–the end being marriage.

I think that is the same vibe that we often give off to non-Christians. It’s not that we’re mean or judgmental, but our evangelism is about as sincere as a pick-up line. In the same way that a guy’s initial advances are inherently insincere since they don’t know me, non-Christians receive a similar message because we don’t know anything about them.

And in the same way that guys hit on girls because their vision is dominated by dreams of marriage, non-Christians know that all we can really see is our hopes for “conversion.” Our eyes are so focused on that goal, that we miss seeing the person. Though unintentionally, they become just a number to us, a means to an end. And non-Christians are no more impressed by that kind of evangelism than a girl is impressed by some cheesy line about how her legs must be tired from running through a guy’s mind.

The advance is lacking in any sort of genuineness, and it has little to nothing to do with the actual person. All it does is make people want to run away as fast as their “tired” legs will carry them.

And this analogy can be taken even further. One of the reasons that Christians keep on engaging in this kind of evangelism is because it does, occasionally, work. Of the hundreds and hundreds of people you talk to, at least one or two take the bait. But I suspect that the kinds of people who respond to that type of evangelism are no different than the kinds of women who respond to pick-up lines–they’re desperate.

There’s a reason that guys keep using pick-up lines–they actually work from time to time. If you approach enough women, you’ll eventually find someone who is either insecure enough or desperate enough to accept it.

But that success is not so much a commentary on the quality of the pick-up line as it is the state of the girl. In the same way, I suspect that the people who are most likely to respond to formulaic evangelism are those people who are at the end of their ropes.

Granted, it is important that we reach those people, and for this reason we should be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading in case we are called to this kind of evangelism, but we should be extremely discerning about this method because, if used incorrectly, it can do quite a bit of damage in the mean time.

Just think about it–because so many guys indiscriminately hit on girls, I am now suspicious of any attention a guy gives me as soon as I meet him, thus making it that much harder for any genuine guy to pursue me, even as just a friend, in the future. Similarly, non-Christians become so jaded by the impersonal outreach strategies of the Christians they’ve encountered that it becomes more and more difficult for Christians to reach out to them in a genuine way in the future.

So yes, pick-up lines do work, but in general, they tend to do more harm than good. Why? Because pick-up lines are never sincere. They are never the reflection of a person who genuinely wants to care for and love another person. They are the fastest, easiest means to getting something.

And I think that is what Christian evangelism is often reduced to. Christians comfort themselves with the knowledge that we are not being hateful or narrow-minded, but that doesn’t mean we’re actually loving people in an authentic way. Real love is the kind modeled for us in Christ–it is personal, intimate, sacrificial, and patient, so just because we share the Gospel with someone doesn’t mean we’re actually loving them.

More likely we are conveying the same cheap imitation of love that you can find at a bar any night of the week–a love that is fast, easy, and requires very little of us to get what we want. But whether the target is a cute blonde at a party or a non-Christian in the student union, the fact of the matter is that pick-up lines almost never work.