Chris Hohnholz, at the Fundamentalist blog Defending Contending recently wrote a post about his most recent evangelistic efforts. Hohnholz writes:
When I am not busy working, raising my family or blogging, God allows me to share the gospel with people in evangelistic endeavors…
…Meet Michael. He is the point of this article. I met Michael today on a street corner in my home town where I was out with the cross trying to evangelize. As you can see, Michael spends a lot of time walking the roads and sleeping in the outdoors. When I saw Michael walking down the street towards me, I prepared to hand him a gospel tract, but I doubted he would be willing to stop and talk with me. I was quite surprised when he stopped directly in front of me and asked “Are you a crosswalker?” I explained to him that I was attempting to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people. What followed next was a half hour conversation where Michael explained he had become disillusioned with the “physical processes of life” and was looking to determine if he was something more than a biological machine that simply existed for itself and then died.
I was blessed to be able to share with Michael that he had been created for God’s glory. That because of his sin, Michael stood guilty before God and would be condemned to Hell. Yet, God in His mercy, poured His wrath out on Jesus Christ so that the righteous law of God could be satisfied. I explained that through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, Michael could receive salvation and spend eternity with the God who created him. I explained that God created him so that God Himself could be glorified by redeeming him out of his sinful state. While Michael did not immediately repent and place his faith in Christ, he stated he was very glad to hear that redemption was possible.
After talking for a half hour, Michael and I had to part ways. It was such a blessing to talk with Michael. It was a reminder of how desperately the world needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, that forgiveness is indeed available to wretched and vile sinners. So often we get caught up in discerning false religions and teachers, or we get caught up in the political machinations of the government to shut down the church’s influence, or even in the watering down of the Word that is going in evangelicalism. And while those can be worthwhile endeavors, the first and primary effort of every Christian is to share the gospel. The souls of people like Michael depend on our daily obedience to the command of Christ to go forth and preach the gospel to every creature. Let us not fail in this, but let us make every possible effort to share gospel with people so that souls might be saved.
Please pray for Michael. Pray that God would keep him safe as he continues to walk the roads and pray that God would lead him to true repentance and faith. Pray that we will one day meet Michael in Heaven.
What about Michael’s physical needs? Did Hohnholz buy him a meal or a cool drink on a hot day? Did he give Michael some pocket change, money that might come in handy a day or two later when he was hungry or thirsty?
Hohnholz doesn’t mention these things, so I will assume that Hohnholz, like all good Evangelical Evangelizers stayed on task. Who cares what this man’s real needs are. Hohnholz knows what he REALLY needs. He needs to hear the gospel, repent, and follow after Jesus Christ.
Michael may go to bed in the park tonight but bless God he will know that he has heard the truth about his true need and the answer to that need.
Hohnholz is quite proud of himself, thinking he has done this man a great service. More likely, Hohnholz was just another example of a self-righteous Evangelizer, just like a hundred other Evangelizers Michael has met on the homeless road.
Jesus said:
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
This reminds me of a trip our family took when our children were very young. We were in the U.S. and while filling up at a gas station we saw a homeless family living out of their car. They had a sign on the front of the car, some children in the car and some on the hood with them as they sat. Biker Dude and I chatted and drove across the road to give them some money and a Bible tract. How I wish I had simply handed them the money.
Yeah, I know. It’s not quite fair to elide so much of that. But, seriously, isn’t that what he said? Didn’t he say he was “blessed” to tell Michael that he was going to Hell? Dang!
The blind spot Mr. Hohnholz has here is simply staggering. I mean, he makes sure we know this man is not just anyone, but a homeless person, not to make a statement about society or human dignity or compassion, but as a means of self-congratulation: “Ooh, look at me! I actually witnessed to a bum! He sleeps outside and doesn’t shower and everything! I’m so brave for the Lord!”
After that, Michael’s living conditions are unimportant; they were only props, after all, for the important third-act conversion scene. (Which turned out to be only the second-act confrontation scene, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. I mean the man was carrying a CROSS, fer dog’s sake.) Michael’s existential questions are are answered logically enough, from Chris’ point of view, but the whole thing stinks. Here’s a man who “wanders” all day and sleeps outside at night, winter and summer, and all Hohnholz can think to do is call him a sinner and tell him he’s going to hell unless he says the magic words? (And this is all for “god’s glory”? Well, fuck that particular god and the horse it rode in on!) It’s not just a matter of forgetting the entire “least of these” parable — it’s just stupid evangelizing. Think of how much more receptive Michael would have been if Hohnholz had taken him to lunch and talked to him about god there? Showed how Christians were not only forgiven and saved but changed, for the better. Now that would have been true “witnessing.”
But no. Only words are necessary (“say the magic words, get eternal salvation!” ), so Chris has discharged his duty and can go home to his warm home and his three squares a day with a clear conscience. And the sheer chutzpah of his call for prayer makes my brain hurt. He doesn’t say “please pray that we can help Michael out of his current situation” or “pray that I will be able to find him a place in the nearest shelter,” but “Please pray…that God would keep him safe as he continues to walk the roads and pray that God would lead him to true repentance and faith. Pray that we will one day meet Michael in Heaven.” Because Chris is done with him, apparently, and god knows he doesn’t care about meeting Michael on earth again.
:::applause:::
Ah, Matthew. Verses like these (and this is/was one of my favorites) are what kept me going as a Christian. Love, faith, hope, compassion, and rainbows kept my world going around. When I actually looked around, my fellow Christians would give reasons as to why the word was satisfying enough to those with needs. And they were good at giving reasons why eventhough the church won’t and shouldn’t try to help all who are in need, the government should not have safety nets for them either. For if they actually followed god’s laws, then they surely would be blessed. I guess at the end, the joke is on them.
I admit, I still read my bible. Instead of trying to follow god’s commands, I do find comfort in many verses and try to emmulate those lessons in my life. The darker verses help me to remember what i don’t want to be.
Homeless people are becoming more and more prominent as we out-source jobs and off-shore corporate income to avoid paying taxes in the U.S. It is very sad, as many older people are getting caught up in this relentless drive for profits. Here in Madison, as in many cities, some homeless people sell a little newspaper called Streetwise. Reading a recent issue, I learned that quite a few people are living under a bridge on the east side of town. This I Iearned from an article by an ex-convict, who had been released from prison in Montana after serving 18 years. He had no money and nowhere to go, so he came to Madison, and had an impossible time finding a job, so was grateful for the bridge. He married a fellow bridge-dweller, about 20-30 years younger than him. Pooling their resources they had a better chance of surviving. Most states are massively cutting social services due to budget shortfalls having to do with the loss of jobs in America (and thus state tax bases), the expensiveness of symbolic wars in Muslim nations (reducing payments to states for social services), and the general revolt against taxes by the vast majority of Republicans, Grover Norquist representing the chief architect of this mess, as Republican politicians take vows to him in violation of their vows to the country when they assume office. Of course Romney is today criticizing Obama endlessly imposing the PPACA healthcare “tax” on the American “middle class” (which is rapidly being destroyed by virtue of Republican cannibalism of vulnerable fellow citizens, fully endorsed by the rich). I cannot tell you how disgusted I am with the whole political circus, that a vulture capitalist who off-shores his income is now going to be one of two candidates to lead this country for four years, and if he succeeds in doing so, it will be in large part through the concerted efforts of Christians.
In Wisconsin, our Democratic predecessor to Gov. Walker, a former state District Attorney, implemented a very severe “truth in sentencing” policy that disallowed virtually any early releases from prison. Gov. Doyle quickly realized that this was a major impediment to the rehabilitation of prisoners, and rescinded the policy. Walker reasserted it. There’s an excellent article in the New York Times about nationwide initiatives to privatize incarceration.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/us/probation-fees-multiply-as-companies-profit.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
It reminds me of the way that “pay day” loan services operate (many of them, by the way, are owned by prominent banks), a small error cascading into huge and insurmountable debts.
Christianity is a human artifice, and as such, enshrines in its texts some of our fundamental social values, such as helping those less fortunate than us. Many of its instructions for living are very socially constructive, though ALL are very culture- and time-bound. These positive values only incidentally have anything to do with modern evangelical Christianity as a social force for good. This is why I remained an Anglican for so long, though, it’s the Anglicans (aka Episcopalians) who maintain the only “faith”-based homeless shelter here in Madison, as far as I know. And of course sojo.net is virtual liberation theology, taking seriously these verses in Matthew. And mainline churches represent COMMUNITIES of action, something we seem to otherwise lack in the U.S. (as say, compared to the many aid organizations that help those in other countries).
An excellent assessment of the state of our country. On my “list”—not the good list—are the churches making several trips a year to foreign countries to help the poor, while ignoring the new unemployed homeless under their own bridges.
Thanks, DTR. You make an excellent point–I need to think about this, too, since I DO give every month to help needy people in other countries. I need to find a good charity that helps homeless people here. Buying Streetwise isn’t exactly the level of commitment I should be showing my own neighbors and fellow-citizens! By the way, I recommend this to everyone–give whatever you can to help others–even if it’s only 5 or 10 dollars. If every able American gave $10 a month, that would easily be a billion a month collectively, minimum. Giving opens your eyes and you suddenly begin to see the need in the world, and with compassion instead of denial.
Bruce – Just discovered your blog. (Yes! A kindred spirit!) This is exactly my biggest issue with evangelical culture right now: glut your own soul at the expense of starving others. Thank you for writing this. Needs to be said. (And then hammered in again and again and again.)
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