Sometimes you meet someone and you sense right away that they want something from you. They are "takers." On the other hand, sometimes you meet someone who is genuine. We enjoy meeting that singular person who is truly generous.
We like to be around people who are generous. People who are giving more than they get. Generous people are absolutely irresistible!
Did you know that the only saying of Jesus Christ preserved outside the Gospels is from Acts 20:35: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Stay with me here, but I'm going to jump over to the "New Evangelization." I've expressed before that I'm concerned about the way "New Evangelization" is being degraded into a mere slogan. It's on the banner of every Catholic meeting, conference, and magazine, but few of us can articulate it.
Back in 1990, Pope John Paul II issued his encyclicalRedemptoris Missio, which clarified that a "New Evangelization" would not proclaim new content or a new Gospel. Rather, it would be new in "methods, ardor, and expression."
We often speak about methods and ardor. Are you "on fire"? Are you "passionate" about Christ? We like techniques. We like talking about ourselves.
Perhaps we should start focusing on the expression of generosity. How do we express the Gospel in public? Expression entails the "other." Expression scares us because it involves engaging the person who doesn't want to be "evangelized."
Which raises a question: Do other people think that Christians are generous? Or do they think that we're takers?
When they meet a Christian, do their shields go up? "Uh oh, she wants something from me. She wants me to convert. She wants to make me pray with her. She wants me to tell her friends she shared Christ with someone on the airplane. Uh oh, she wants to push her rosaries on my ovaries."
I get the sense that non-Christians believe that we're takers, not givers. The only way to change this impression is to begin making deposits in others. Bake a pie for a non-believer. Loan him your weedwacker. Better yet, mow his yard. Be real. Be authentic. Be generous.
Sometimes we think like this: "Oh, if I do X, Y, and Z for my neighbor Pagan Jimmy, then he'll feel obligated to go to church with me or listen to me talk about God." If you're thinking quid pro quo, you're off base.
The Gospel has never been a tit for a tat...
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