Evangelization in a Post-Christian World
Evangelizing the culture means essentially bringing it to the truth, aligning it with the truth.. In this episode, Peter and Mark discuss the concept of evangelization in a post-Christian world and the idea that evangelization is the greatest source of earthly joy.
Topics
- What is a post-Christian world?
- Why is evangelization important?
- What are the challenges of evangelizing in a post-Christian world?
- How can we be effective evangelizers in our workplaces?
Notes
- We live in a post Christian culture. Anyone who does not recognize that by now is naïve, or is not working, or is a loner. The broader work and social environments do not support our faith. In fact, they undermine it. If we want to be successful according to their metrics, it almost always necessitates compromising our beliefs to some extent. This is the test of every one of us. Will we stand firm and bear witness to the truth - to God - or will we fall in line with the demands made upon us by a culture run amok?
- Through Baptism, we are all called to imitate Jesus Christ. Our life has a mission, a purpose, which carries with it the greatest possible joy we can experience here on earth. It is also the most dangerous, difficult, and challenging path we can follow. To imitate Jesus means to stand in front of Pilate and say the words Jesus spoke to him directly and clearly. The words were not understood by Pilate since he was not a truthful man, but they should resonate with us if we are followers of Christ.
- Evangelizing the culture means essentially bringing it to the truth, aligning it with the truth. This we do by being truthful in our work and interactions with others. In Opus Dei, we often speak of putting Christ at the summit of all human activities, but it is hard to visualize what this exactly means in a day-to-day context. This alignment with the truth is one way to visualize it. Bearing witness to the truth, even dying for it, is the primary vocation of every baptized Catholic, but the lot especially of Catholic men since Jesus was a man.
- Only when we bear witness to the truth can we have meaningful and sustainable dialogue with others about the faith and spiritual topics. This is why many efforts at evangelization fail. We simply cannot capitulate to falsehood in our work environments, while simultaneously talking to others about God.
- The role of laity is to Christianize or re-Christianize society. This is not the role of the clergy. It is our role and our responsibility and we should treat it as such. As eager and helpful the clergy are to assist us in this task, it does not fall upon them to carry it out. It falls on us. We can only take advice for so long. Eventually, we need to act.
- The Eucharist is the driving force for all spiritual improvement. If you receive it worthily and often, God will live in you and drive you forward. We need confession so that we can realign ourselves with the truth when we sin. We cannot attempt to realign the environments where we work with the truth unless we ourselves are truthful. Hence find a good parish where you can access the sacraments on a regular basis.