USING MEANS THAT ARE POOR
Frequently we understand the evangelizing act in an excessively doctrinal way. To bring the Gospel would be to explain Jesus’ doctrine to those who don’t yet know it or know it insufficiently.
If we understand things that way, the consequences are evident. We will need above all «means of power» with which to secure the propagation of our message in the face of other ideologies, fads and waves of opinion.
In addition, we’ll need well-formed Christians who know doctrine well and are capable of transmitting it persuasively and convincingly. We will also need structures, techniques, and adequate pedagogies to spread the Christian message.
When all is said and done, the number of prepared people will be important so that with the best means, they bring about convincing the greatest number of people. All this is very reasonable and encloses undoubtedly great values. But when you look at Jesus’ way of acting for a moment, and in his evangelizing action, things change a lot.
The Gospel isn’t just, or even above all, a doctrine. The Gospel is the person of Jesus: the humanizing, saving, liberating experience that started with him. That’s why to evangelize isn’t just propagating a doctrine, but making the saving force of the person of Jesus Christ present in the very heart of society and of life. And this can’t be done in just any way.
To make present that liberating experience, the most adequate means aren’t those of power, but the poor means that worked for Jesus himself: love in solidarity to the most abandoned, welcome to each person, offering God’s forgiveness, the creation of a fraternal community, defense of the least ones…
Therefore what’ important is to count on witnesses in whose life you can perceive the humanizing force that encloses the person of Jesus when he is welcomed in a responsible way. The doctrinal formulation is important, but only when it nourishes a more evangelizing life.
Witnessing has the first and absolute place. Structures are precisely needed in order to sustain the life and the witness of Jesus’ followers. That’s why what’s most important isn’t even the number, but the quality of Gospel living that a community can radiate.
Maybe we ought to listen more attentively to Jesus’ words to his messengers: «Don’t take a purse or a beggar’s bag or shoes». Take my Spirit with you.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
