I was recently talking to a mother concerned that her adult daughters were no longer interested in going to church. She wanted to know what could be done to get them going again, since thats how they were brought up. Not an uncommon situation.
I told her that not going to church was only the symptom. The heart of the matter was the issue of whether or not they had a personal relationship with Jesus; because it is from that relationship that the Christian life flows. Going to church, prayer, charity etc. are all expressions of that inner life of faith, that place where we encounter the living Christ.
"So, how do I get them to encounter the living Christ?" ...The good news is that a lot of that is up to Christ - so relax! But of course concerned parents want to do something, so here's what I propose:
1) Pray for that relationship between Jesus and your loved one to spark.
2) Model the Christian life: if your kids see you going to church but know that deep inside you're just going to keep up with the Jonses, some soul-searching may be called for. Make sure your own house is in order before trying to save the world. The best evangelism is when people encounter that deep peace and love of Christ in your heart and then put two and two together. To quote St Francis: "Preach the Gospel at all times; and when necessary, use words."
3) Discover and Address the Blockage. Often it is a particular issue that keeps people from faith. Perhaps they feel that Christianity is complicit with colonialism; then maybe its time they discovered Liberation Theology. Maybe they think they cant be Christian because Christians are dumb and dont believe in dinosaurs or science; then maybe its time they checked out Intelligent Design Theory etc.
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