Evangelizing in a Post-Christian World

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple area for the three o’clock hour of prayer. And a man crippled from birth was carried and placed at the gate of the temple called “the Beautiful Gate” every day to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk.” Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong. He leaped up, stood, and walked around, and went into the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. (Acts 3:1-8)

This is proselytism. A certain alchemy has transformed that word. Now we conceive of it only as street preaching, Bible thumping, or—that dreaded word—apologetics. And yet, if we continue to read Acts 3:

[H]e [Peter] addressed the people, “You Israelites, why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety? The God of Abraham, [the God] of Isaac, and [the God] of Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, when he had decided to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong, and the faith that comes through it has given him this perfect health, in the presence of all of you. (Acts 3:12-16)

Proselytism, for the Apostles, was thus a mixture—both healing and preaching. Yet, love always stood at the center: Peter continues:

Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Messiah already appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. (Acts 3:17-21)

Preaching the Gospel must always be verbal and physical, a combination of joyful, forgiving words (“you acted out of ignorance”) and miraculous actions. Yet, which of these is most practical and effective is historically contingent. Too often we forget this; we believe that denunciations and direct calls to repentance are most efficacious. Pope Francis’ critical remarks about “proselytism” and the paranoia surrounding Muslim-Christian relations whip some into a frenzy. For these, however, proselytism means only the verbiage of a blowhard.