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BULLETS AND BAPTISMS

There’s an old joke about the dictator who walks into the ornate national casino in his nation’s capital. Surrounded by 15 armed bodyguards, of course, he struts over to a roulette wheel and puts a thousand-dollar bet on 26 black. The croupier is so terrified he can hardly spin the ball, but he finally manages to get it twirling – round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows – and it finally bounces to a restless halt. The perspiring dealer gulps and manages to croak out the announcement: number twenty-SEVEN. Red. The “beloved leader” has missed it by one, with a possible 35-to-one payout going adios out the window.

In a quavering little voice, the casino employee squeaks out the bad news. “Number twenty-seven, El Presidente. I’m so sorry.” And with a hand that fully expects handcuffs to be snapped on it, he begins to scoop in the chips.

Just then the dictator pulls out an enormous pistola, the kind Dirty Harry carries around. “Uno momento,” he says softly. “Are you SURE the ball didn’t land in #26? Look again.” And he wordlessly cocks the handgun and sets it down on the green-felt table.

The croupier doesn’t need a second invitation. “Beloved leader, you are right!” he crows. “Sure enough, the ball IS in #26. How could I have been so foolish? You win the grande jackpot: $35,000! Congratulations!” And he gives a little nod to the pit boss, as if to say, “Just take it out of my paycheck for the next 35 years, capitan. It’s better than getting a one-way ticket to Box City and a new casa in the cemetery.”

You may wonder what a red-black casino conversion story like that is doing here in a radio sermon series on the topic of witnessing and sharing our faith. On the other hand, I’m sure many of you instantly sensed the painful reality that oftentimes the Christian Church has invited would-be converts to “come to Jesus,” and there was a loaded pistol sitting on the altar, in a manner of speaking. It was interesting to read a guest essay in Newsweek magazine by the delightful Martin Marty, Lutheran minister and professor emeritus at University of Chicago. He was wondering if America’s Commander in Chief, President George W. Bush, was capable of understanding the many tangled nuances of religion and faith that were involved in the recent conflict in Iraq. Right after the 9/11 attacks on America, the President, understandably indignant, lashed out against the perpetrators, and called for a “crusade” against the terrorists. Well, that word “crusade” brings to mind the idea of conversion by force, of “bringing” Christianity to a new land and foisting it on an unwilling public at the point of a gun. And Marty writes:

“Raging reaction was instant and total among offended Muslims.” Then he graciously adds: “The term never again appeared in White House language.”

I think there’s a lesson for us to learn here in this 21st century regarding the demeanor of witnessing, of taking the gospel across the ocean or even across the street. There shouldn’t be a pistol or a marching army, unless it’s one of kind, gracious volunteers. No coercion. No oppression. No politics. No arrogant “We’re right, and we know it.” As one comedian bitingly commented: “God Bless America – and no place else.”

It’s fascinating to read in Matthew chapter 10, which is really the Missions Handbook for Jesus’ hand-picked emissaries. In Eugene Peterson’s interesting paraphrase, he expresses Jesus’ words this way. First of all, Jesus sets the stage by saying:

“YOU have been treated generously, so LIVE generously.” Maybe you remember: “Freely you have received, freely give.” Then He adds: “When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting. If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation. If they don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders” – “shake the dust off your shoes” is what some of the older versions say – “and be on your way.”

Then there IS a moment of realism, where Jesus sadly confesses:

“You can be sure that on Judgment Day they’ll be mighty sorry – but it’s no concern of yours now.”

A recent Christianity Today article by Mark O’Keefe of the Religious News Service pointed to the pitfalls of Christian missionaries poising themselves on the borders of Iraq, just waiting for the “All Clear” signal to sound, so they could roll in with their Vacation Bible Schools and their, well, crusades. Richard Cizik shared this warning with O’Keefe, and uses an interesting term:

“Evangelicals need to be sensitive,” he said, “to the circumstances of this country and its people. If we are perceived as opportunists, we only hurt our cause. If this is seen as religious freedom for Iraq by way of GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY, is that helpful? I don’t think so. If that’s the perception, we lose.”

That colorful expression, by the way, goes back to the Teddy Roosevelt administration here in the U.S., and maybe you remember his expression, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” “Gunboat diplomacy” refers to the tactic of just parking a huge, fully armed Navy ship right off the coastline of some renegade nation you feel is up to mischief. You don’t declare war; you don’t fire the guns. But you do bring in that battleship, point it toward the beach, and then just let your enemies figure it out. It’s a couple of notches above what they call “showing the flag.”

And I think this Christianity Today editorial gives believers the opportunity to reflect about “gunboat diplomacy” in two ways. True, the allied victories in Baghdad probably will pave the way for Christian missionaries and aid groups and student volunteers to move in and share the message of Jesus as they best see fit. But is it possible for the Church itself to be guilty of some “gunboat diplomacy” in its own outreach to the citizens of a place like Iraq? An Internet essay from the Mackenzie Institute wryly observed:

“‘Speak softly and carry a big stick’? Few sticks come larger than a squadron of F-15E Strike Eagles with LANTIRN pods and GBU-15 bombs, especially if they follow a wave of Block III TLAM-D cruise missiles and have AWACS” – I HAVE heard of that one – “and J-STARS to guide them.”

And then this reminder, which should cause all of us who carry Bibles to maybe back off a bit:

“Gunboat diplomacy really is a simple exercise. The one with the gunboat has to have an Olympian self-confidence in his own moral superiority.”

In other words, to know that you’re in the right. That God is not only on your side, but that He is on your side in all things and on all issues and regarding all doctrines and church teachings.

Now friend, let me say this. The Christian faith is a religion OF faith, and also of hope, and also of confidence. The New Testament uses that word “confidence” a number of times and assures us that we can trust in God’s Word and in God Himself. God is going to do what He says, which means that our missionaries and our radio preachers can speak with joyful assurance. Blessed Assurance is a good song and one our missionaries should sing on the boat going over. Acts 4:29 has Peter and John’s Christian friends asking God to allow those two brave men to keep on preaching and “[speaking the] word with great boldness.” Ken Isaacs, director for the Samaritan’s Purse Christian ministry, told the author of that Christianity Today story:

“We go where we have the opportunity to meet needs. We do not deny the name of Christ. We believe in sharing Him in deed and in word. WE’LL BE WHO WE ARE.”

At the same time, Paul made it plain that our confidence IS in the Christian message, and not in our own perceptions and doctrinal brilliance. He told his followers in the book of Romans that he gloried in Christ Jesus, nothing else. In Galatians six, he gives the well-known adage:

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And I reflect on this whole idea of “gunboat witnessing” in my own experience as a Christian pastor. Here on the radio, friend, I want to tell you: we try so very hard to be gentle and humble. Confident in Jesus but mistrustful of self and in the doctrinal conclusions of self. When we explore a topic, we do pray that God will help us to put all of the verses on the table, not just the ones that might favor some pet perspective of our own.

I think back to times when I’ve stood in the front of a big church or in a soccer stadium. What a rare privilege! But it’s easy there to fall prey to the deliberate creation of a “crowd” mentality, where 90% of your audience is saying, “Yes, that’s right.” “This is truth.” “We agree.” “We’re with you.” “We’re all going forward when you give the call.” And those who are sincerely struggling still, still weighing the claims of Jesus or the validity of some pillar of the faith, might see the shadow of the spiritual cannon falling right across their pew, that they’re being pressured to join a religious army they weren’t quite ready to volunteer for.

Friend, as you and I find our own ways to cross the ocean or cross the street to share Jesus, may God help us to do it AS Jesus always did – with quiet, persuasive winsomeness.