Together

These past few weeks, Cru (formerly Campus Crusade) at Northwestern has been running an evangelistic campaign entitled "I Agree With Markwell". From what I've gathered from afar, the campaign included some pretty major advertising (posters, sidewalk chalk, and t-shirts) giving only the name of the campaign and directing people to the website iagreewithmarkwell.com. The advertising was meant to create interest, and the website informed people who Markwell is (a senior member of the organization) and what it is that these people agree with him about (a blurb describing the Christian gospel). An article on the school's online magazine about the campaign included an interview with Mr. Markwell himself, and this seems to be what broke open the major debate that followed. Thanks to the internet, I've been following the backlash from this campaign for the majority of the week.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of the methods used in this campaign, but nonetheless the extraordinary nature of the backlash was somewhat shocking to me. I was deeply saddened to see people saying hateful things about Markwell, all of Cru, and evangelical Christians in general. Much of the tone of the commenting was reprehensible, and the whole experience of following this has been something of a sad one for me. However, amid these voices there have come out some very reasonable and well-thought out ones, that have given me something interesting to think about.

The main argument against the I Agree With Markwell campaign (and evangelism in general) is that it is offensive and wrong to try to change a person's religious beliefs. It is fine, they say, to express your belief, buy only if it applies to you, not if it is attempting to be coercive to someone else. The idea is that religious beliefs are a personal thing and nobody's business but your own.

And in some sense, it would seem that the people on the other side of the issue would agree that religion is a personal thing. The headline on the campaigns website talks about your ability to have a personal relationship with Jesus. The responses that have been given to the above critique center around the fact that your personal decision about Jesus affects you in an eternal way, so their attempt to change your personal decision is in fact loving and for your own good. I have seen no attempt anywhere to discredit the idea that religion is simply personal.

But what if religion isn't simply personal? What if my religious beliefs affect you, and your beliefs affect me? What if Christianity isn't only about your personal relationship with Jesus?

I believe that the Bible tells us that when Jesus died on the cross it wasn't just about getting us into heaven. It was about so much more! When Jesus died on the cross, He accomplished victory over sin and death so that someday when He returns, this whole created world will be made right again. Our bodies will be healed, our relationships will be mended, our sorrows will be gone. All things will be as they should be; they will be as God created them to be.

And not only that, but as we wait for that final completion, we catch glimpses of the glory that is to come. Most of those glimpses come from the body of Christ we call the Church. Not only that, but we as believers in Christ, as we are being sanctified through the Holy Spirit, are invited to participate in working toward the restoration of this earth. We are called to heal relationships, alleviate poverty, and work for the good of the city. We are allowed to be instruments of healing in the world!

So yes, I believe that my religious belief affects others. I believe that the more people touched by Christ's healing, the better this world will be. I believe that your participation in my community called the Church will bring benefit to me and the others around me.

The modern spirit of individuality that is so prevalent in our culture has seeped its way into Christianity, and in many ways has been to our detriment. To think in terms of so much more than our own personal salvation would be beneficial to us in so many ways. I am so blessed to be part of a wonderful Christian community here in Lincoln, and I am being struck by the way that God can work through the fellowship of believers. I desire to live my life together with those around me, so that what was once personal is no longer personal. I pray that we as Christians may continue to grow together, not losing our individuality but combining our unique personalities and gifts to make a body that thrives.

1 Corinthians 12