Quote from Forum Archives on October 22, 2003, 2:40 pm

Posted by: mjf <mjf@...>

Doug Anderson writes:

>All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
>-Edmund Burke

A good point. But, among the things which some saints do -- indeed, our
Lord did -- is to undergo a long period of hidden preparation for public
ministry.

Peter Sharp mentioned St. Francis here a few days ago. Francis is one of
those shining examples, in whom even non-Christians glimpse true holiness.
Peter's quite right to hold him up as a role model for evangelists. The
barefoot friar's self-evident holiness is what allowed him to cross battle
lines, preach the Gospel to the Sultan Saladin himself, and live to tell
the tale. Saladin listened politely, granted Francis safe passage to the
Holy Land, and sent him on his way.

We see here two things. First, even a saint may fail to convert an infidel,
in face-to-face evangelism. This in itself is not a failure to serve
Christ. If non-Christians were to glimpse the slightest bit of holiness in
us, it would heap praise upon the name of our Lord.

Second, to be a saint, in whom the infidel sees holiness, may require long
preparation. Francis spent twenty years striving to live *literally*
according to the Gospels, before ever setting foot in a Muslim country. If
you consider how many hard sayings of Jesus the Gospels contain, you will
see why Francis literally wore himself out under that burden, and died at
the age of 44.

Now, Francis was not hidden among his own people. Not at all. But as far as
the Muslims were concerned, for most of his life he was a lamp under a
bushel basket. Was he therefore not a saint?

You mentioned Christ defending the temple. Scripture does not record that
the money-changers converted. So again, success is not the measure of
evangelism, even for the Son of God.

I don't mean to say that it takes decades to be able to spread the gospel
at all. Freshly-baptized martyrs can succeed in providing a powerful
witness. But it would be presumptuous to say that the man or woman who
isn't busy getting martyred, or whipping money-changers around the temple,
is not a good Christian. You simply don't know that, can't know that, and
that's it. Period. IMHO, and check your own Bible.

God bless you, and may your ministry prosper. I hold your zeal in high
esteem, although I disagree vehemently with the manner in which you
expressed it, in your latest post. That your heart is burdened, is quite
clear. And I would share your burden, if I could.

- Matt

P.S. There have been many good words here of late, too many to mention.