Bad evangelism says: I'm right, you're wrong, and I would love to tell you about it
Interpretation
This quote critiques a confrontational style of sharing beliefs that alienates others. It emphasizes the importance of dialogue over dogmatism.
Timothy Keller highlights the shortcomings of aggressive or confrontational evangelism, suggesting that a mindset that prioritizes being 'right' over understanding others can lead to disconnection and hostility. Rather than establishing meaningful conversations, this approach can often create barriers between individuals. Keller advocates for a more respectful and empathetic approach to sharing one's beliefs, promoting understanding and genuine dialogue over merely asserting oneβs correctness.
In practice
In a debate about beliefs, this quote can remind participants to engage respectfully.
Falling in love in a Christian way is to say,'I am excited about your future and I want to be part of getting you there. I'm signing up for the journey with you. Would you sign up for the journey to my true self with me? It's going to be hard but I want to get there.
Only in Jesus Christ do we see how the untamable, infinite God can become a baby and a loving Savior. On the cross we see how both the love and the holiness of God can be fulfilled at once.
All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause.
While your character flaws may have created mild problems for other people, they will create major problems for your spouse and your marriage.
To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.
God's Kingdom is "present in its beginnings, but still future in its fullness. This guards us from an under-realized eschatology (expecting no change now) and an over-realized eschatology (expecting all change now). In this stage, we embrace the reality that while we're not yet what we will be, we're also no longer what we used to be.
Prayer is commission. Out of the quietness with God, power is generated that turns the spiritual machinery of the world. When you pray, you begin to feel the sense of being sent, that the divine compulsion is upon you.
He who sows the ground with care and diligence acquires a greater stock of religious merit than he could gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers
A miracle signifies nothing more than an event... the cause of which cannot be explained by another familiar instance, or.... which the narrator is unable to explain.
We may, perhaps, imagine that the creation was finished long ago. But that would be quite wrong. It continues still more magnificently, and at the highest levels of the world.
Religious wars are not caused by the fact that there is more than one religion, but by the spirit of intolerance... the spread of which can only be regarded as the total eclipse of human reason.
Human beings cannot be willed and molded into non-existence.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.