Overcome Your Fears

• Published in: The Presbyterian record (Montreal) Vol. 135; no. 4; p. 8
• Main Author: MacLeod, Kirk
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Presbyterian Church in Canada 01.04.2011
• Subjects: Christianity; Faith; Presbyterian churches
• ISSN: 0032-7573

Maybe it started with Queen Esther who was afraid to let anyone know she was a believer. Wherever it began, somehow sharing our faith became as risky as sharing the flu. We're as afraid of giving our faith away as others are afraid of getting it. I thought then, naively, that a sign would be easier than saying, "How about if I give you a tract and we go door to door - even though the Presbytery of Oakridges actually did this very thing before we began here in Keswick?" Now that was intimidating! How ominous could a sign be, I thought? We even gave suggestions to participants if people actually asked about their church. The easiest comeback was simply to say, "Why don't I show you my church? Why don't you be my guest this Sunday? I will pick you up and you can sit with me." My friend had a point. Now don't get me wrong, acts of mercy, justice and love are part of who we are. They're part of our distinctiveness. Yet acts are sometimes not enough, and thus one reason for our "lack of passionate spirituality" and declining numbers within the PCC.