Our Gospel for this weekend (Matthew 4.12-25) begins with, “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee” and then tells us, “from that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
There is a sense of John the Baptist’s ministry ending and Jesus’ time beginning, bringing the same call to repentance. As a form of evangelism, we might be comfortable in hearing it on Jesus’ lips, but much less comfortable if we were to encounter such a message on the lips of a street preacher on the way to the train station, and even more uncomfortable thinking of ever delivering such a message ourselves.
Sometimes I find Christians feeling bad about this discomfort, as if their reluctance is a sign of failure in faith. I would argue instead that it is a sign of integrity, an instinctive knowing that the beauty and wonder of the good news of Christ is something that should never be harnessed to any kind of coercive agenda.
This is not to deny the power of Jesus’ words. Repentance, metanoia in the Greek, suggests an active turning around, a changing of mind but also a changing of heart or intention. To change course from ways that are death-dealing, disconnected and spiritually confining to the way of truth and life, love and freedom is most certainly good news. The problem is that many of us have had experience with evangelism that is money-grubbing, emotionally manipulative or spiritually coercive. There aren’t many preachers who still lean into the Bible thumping, “believe or burn” rhetoric, but it has played a part in generating an aversion to Christianity. Or maybe you have felt trapped by an event that was meant to be social, but turned out to be an appeal for conversion? To feel distaste for such methods shows not a lack of faithfulness but is in fact an expression of character.
So what are we to do with the invitation of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel to “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” If we think of the metaphor as hooking people like a gasping fish drawn from its watery home, it is repugnant. It is important to place these words in the context of the rest of Matthew’s Gospel and other uses of fishing metaphors in the Hebrew scriptures. Matthew is writing of Jesus beginning his ministry against the backdrop of the Roman occupation, proclaiming a time of restoration and liberation, peace and justice. Andrew McGowan offers a reminder that ‘Jeremiah, somewhat later than Isaiah, had promised the return of the exiles by a divine pescatarian expedition:
…I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their ancestors. I am now sending for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them.’ (16:16)[1]
Jesus is proclaiming the reign of God in place of regimes of violence, corruption and oppression. Jesus comes bringing healing and wholeness; a liberation from all that binds humanity and separates creation from God.
Many people are aware of the saying often attributed to St Francis, “Preach the Gospel, if necessary use words.” While that may be a false attribution, it carries great wisdom. Why would people listen to talk of a God of love if the speaker does not show any lived evidence of love in their actions? What we can miss, though, is that words can also be powerful and beautiful if spoken at the right time and context. Jesus both spoke and enacted a message of love, healing and freedom.
There is no program that we can take from the shelf for evangelism that will not prove a challenge for our integrity simply because these are not just words that can be applied to any context and designed like some marketing campaign. To follow Jesus is a path that leads us to turn again every day in fresh commitment to the way of healing and wholeness. It is such a life of faith that will ‘check out’ under scrutiny, sometimes prompting others to ask about the hope that is in us, and always shows itself in working for the reign of God on earth; the way of justice, freedom and peace.
Grace and peace,
Sue+
[1] https://abmcg.substack.com/p/galilee-of-the-gentiles-jesus-in