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I have been in the writing process for some time now. Below is the draft of a small excpert of one chapter.
ALL TEXT IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION WITH THE EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE AUTHOR. © 2008 Travis Keller. www.subversiveREFORMATION.com.
0001 // audible.
Alex Hitchens, in the 2005 film Hitch, says that “60% of all human communication is nonverbal – body language. 30% is your tone. So that means that 90% of what you’re saying, ain’t coming out of your mouth.”
If the motion picture New York matchmaker is correct, then why are Christians so convinced that someone has to be invited into a building with a steeple to hear a minimum thirty-minute lecture in order to encounter the love of Christ? There is a fundamental problem with the all-too-typical, modern-Christian approach to evangelism that is directly linked to a misunderstanding of the church as a place to be rather than a people to be – a people to simply be.
Christ spoke an irreducible, irrevocable, and irreverent (according to many first century Jews) message that we read, recorded in the gospel according to Matthew, chapters 5-7.
Christ spoke.
It is thereby natural for a Christian to think that in order to continue sharing the message of Christ, he/she too, must speak. He must speak creatively as Christ did. He must speak courageously as Christ did. He must speak confidently as Christ did. He must be audible to the ears of those who need to experience the love and grace of Christ. Christ, indeed, spoke – but only in order that we might echo his voice.
If a Christian listens closely to the complex dialogue written in Matthew 5-7, he will realize that his own verbalization of the message is not necessary. The passage is dialogue because there is an implied response in the monologue of Christ. The words are not spoken emptily. They require a change in action from the reader. The words require an echo.
I stood on a foothill in northern Kentucky looking in awe over a glassy lake. From side to side and behind, I was surrounded by trees towering green against a blue sky. A creator had spoken audibly into a formless void to create all that encompassed me. I shouted. In wonder and amazement, I shouted the name Jesus only to hear the Creator shout back at me the name Jesus over and over and over again. I shouted again. So did the Creator – from the leaves, the land, and the lake, the name of our Messiah resonated throughout the air. After some time of silent thanksgiving, I continued my hike through the forested area toward my destination, the natural bridge. There are several natural, stone bridges in the Carter Caves State Park but none as stately and magnificent as Smokey Bridge, expanding 90 feet high and 220 feet long. Once again, I stood circling, my head tilted back gazing at the rock formation above, this time speechless at the grandeur of creation. Yet I mustered another word, the same name, the name Jesus. Even in a whisper the sound reflected from the solid, sleek, rock walls and reverberated back to me.
From a formless void, God spoke existence into being. From his creation, we hear an echo. We hear not the very word that he spoke, but the resonation – the infinite sound waves that continue from generations long ago.
From a plateau on a hillside in Jerusalem, Jesus spoke of a kind of creation and existence – an existence that earned him a death sentence. The type of existence he spoke of was echoed by his very life. A life free from anger and murder. A life free from lust and adultery. A life free from getting even with an enemy. A life free from the passions and indulgences of self-gratification. From his life, we hear an echo. We hear not the very word that he spoke, but the resonation.
When I struggle with and finally begin to absorb the life of Jesus I want it to penetrate and fill my entire being so that the very words and life of Christ spill out of my being. I want to be the resonation of the original word spoken. I want to reverberate the Creator along with creation. I want to reverberate the words of Jesus along with the life of Jesus. God spoke. Jesus spoke. I don’t need to speak. I need to be an echo.
ALL TEXT IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION WITH THE EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE AUTHOR. © 2008 Travis Keller. www.subversiveREFORMATION.com.
