The Power of Woo

As I am preparing my sermon for Sunday which is Pentecost, Mother's Day, and Graduation day, I am caught in that dilemma of what is speaking to me. I will be preaching on Pentecost and what it means to be so caught up in the fire and wind of the Holy Spirit that one would go out into the world to talk about the good news of Christ. I have been influenced by several things that have been happening over the last few weeks that has made me reflect on what would it be like today to talk about Jesus in the world that we live. It seems that so many Christians spend more time talking about exclusiveness, hatred, divisiveness, and I hear very little from supposed Christian leaders about Jesus. Certainly this is not new. In Acts at the time of Pentecost, Peter in his sermon also says harsh things about the people who crucified Jesus. Yet he ends up talking about the love Jesus had and how that love triumphs over evil, hatred, and sin.
I struggle with the polemical point of view. I understand that there exists differences in opinions, traditions, and even in dogma and doctrine. I also understand that for many these differences are important for their faith whether Christian (Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox) or any other faith such as Judaism, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or any other faith. What concerns me is often the lack of willingness to respect and hear someone who has a different point of view. In Christian Century this week, there were many articles that discussed the various points of view of pastors, denominations and how these have led not to unity in Christ but have led to splits and anger among people. One instance was an Episcopal church in the Chicago area that has split over 5 times based on people's anger about decisions about ordination of women, homosexuals, and often over the sense that they didn't get their way.
I wonder what Jesus would say about some of the actions that his followers have chosen and the way they have treated one another.
That is why this Sunday I will be focusing on evangelism using the power of woo. Some of the ideas have come from a book titled "The Art of Woo" by G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa written in 2007. They present ways of approaching others without coercion. In an article in Homiletics Magazine, they also talked about using some of these ideas to evangelize without coercion (Homiletics May-June 2008, p 9). What struck me about both the book and the article as it pairs with some of the inflammatory statements that have been widely published, is the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of wooing others. On that day of Pentecost the disicples in unity, prayer, and anticipation were blessed with the Spirit. They went out and began to speak to others not in tongues but in the language of the others to convey their experiences of Christ in their lives. Not to condemn but reaching out to encourage. I am quite willing as I said last blog to allow God to be the "righteous judge" and to speak to others about my experiences with God in my life.