The Pope Should Stay out of Politics!?
I wrote a blog earlier about dialoging with non-Catholic Christians and promised a later entry about extending this to dialoging with non-Christians about our Catholic faith. Of course in this context the non-Christian believer and the Catholic do not have a shared heritage. Points about the Protestant Reformation of a Church the person never believed in aren’t going to be much help.
The playing field here has to be about witnessing for Jesus Christ and His Church. It also means listening to the other person’s questions and points.
What I focus on are the following points:
Bear in mind that there is a difference between evangelization and proselytizing. We are not called to proselytize. We are called to evangelize. Evangelize means we testify to the truth of Jesus Christ and His Church.
Think of it this way: If you were called to court to give testimony in a murder case, your job as a witness would be to tell what you know. It would not be your job to harangue the jury to make sure they voted a certain way as to the guilt or innocence of the person on trial.
So too with evangelizing. When you tell people about Jesus Christ, especially those who do not already accept Him as Lord and Savior, you give witness to what you know to be true. What they do with your testimony is their own business.
One more important piece of advice: you may give testimony about Jesus to people who will not only reject what you say but laugh at you for saying it. They may even heap insults or abuse on you. Read scripture. The apostles rejoiced when this happened.
And consider that by testifying to Jesus you may be planting a seed in the person’s soul. You don’t know how that seed may grow. Maybe it will die from lack of water. Maybe it will not take root. But perhaps it will, and with time and experience in life, the person who once scoffed at you may stand at your side at a Divine Liturgy (Mass).
It is something to hope and pray for!