The Blind Beggar

Jesus told us to go into all the world and be his ambassadors, but many churches today have inadvertently changed the “go and be” command to a “come and see” appeal. We have grown attached to buildings, programs, staff and a wide variety of goods and services designed to attract and entertain people.

It appears that the Episcopal Church in the United States of America has a new “outreach” program that buys into this altered message. Here in Portland I’m seeing banners on many of Episcopal Church buildings that read “Come and See!”

Their general line goes something like this. In the first chapter of John’s gospel, two disciples of John the Baptist approached Jesus and ask him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Jesus replies, “Come and see.” In that same chapter of John, when Nathanael questions Philip about Jesus and wonders “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip responds to him, “Come and see.” Therefore logically our message should also be one that invites not-yet-Christians to come and see.

The difficulty with taking these passages and applying them to our world is one of context.

Philip, Nathanael and the two disciples of John were individuals immerse in a culture highly familiar with the Old Testament, the religious practices of the day and a messianic expectation. They had a background on which to base an appeal. Not so in our pre/post-Christian context. Few people have any knowledge of or language with which to understand what following Jesus might mean and therefore are not likely be attracted to any Christian community or program. This has been borne out by studies done by Gregory A. Pritchard of seeker services (the definitive attractional “Come and See” program).

But in our post-Christian context, moving into the neighborhood and living an incarnational life is the command of Jesus. It is through a “go and be” life that we will have an opportunity to see where God is working, join him, communicate the gospel and ultimately be his instrument of invitation to “Come, let me introduce you to Jesus.”