Persuasion

If I became the pastor of a church, how would I persuade others to follow me in my idiosyncracies?

This raises the question of persuasion. The result for which I am aiming is that others would believe the same way about worship, church, and the Christian life as I. But where to begin?

I believe the first thing any one of us must do is to realize our own idolatry. Not acknowledge the fact of idolatry or even repent of it. What I mean is to see the world around us for what it is in reality. Secondly, to see the world as it is related to Reality. To begin looking at everything, both fact and event, and asking the question of how it affects my view of Reality. Why type instead of write? Why use a ball point instead of a quill? How does driving a car differ from riding in a cart? Why does my office have four ugly white walls? What is the difference between chronos and chairos? (See Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death.)

Eric, you are crazy. Yes!

You begin to get a grasp of idolatry when you get the feeling you do not exist. A story may explain...

I was talking to someone in the foyer of the church where I attend. The youth pastor walked by with news of the day. Some of the highschool teens earned a day off of school. The school faculty and the youth pastor were accompanying them on the outing. The activity - Lazer Tag! "What did you do at school today, Johnny?" "It was great, Mom! I shot the youth pastor 5 times!" This thought ran through my mind as the conversation continued without me. The two were discussing how much fun it is to play lazer tag with the kids, and how the kids usually gang up on the adults. I felt as if I were in another world, peering into this one as a bystander, eavesdropping, for those in the conversation ceased to acknowledge my existence. Or, perhaps I ceased to exist.

Imagine if you will, you walk into a room where 19 people are staring at a wall. You say, what a nice purple color. The rest look at you and say in unison, "It's white." "No," you reply, "it is clearly purple." Who is right?

Here is yet another story...I am sitting in a room full of people discussing differences of opinion. The topic - music. Again, I suddenly felt as if I was no longer in the room. This discussion of musical opinion is futile because no one in the room knows what music Really is. The wall is purple.

Have you ever noticed that in good writing, the person with the correct view of reality is considered insane, or queer? Take Chesterton's Father Brown-not too crazy. How about his Judge Rupert in "Club of Queer Trades"? A little recluse, but harmless. How about C. S. Lewis's professor Digory? A little odd. Now read Hebrews 11. Who are the odd ones? Who are the social outcasts? Is it not the faithful. How did they live? They pursued a country no one could chart, and a God no one could see. The Bible calls them strangers. How strange do we feel in this world? Contemporary Christianity is much too comfortable. Christians are so comfortable, they do not know what it means to be uncomfortable.

tbc...