I'm really glad to live in a place that values tolerance and personal freedom so highly. Even as a devoted follower of Jesus, my life is genuinely enriched to have Muslim friends, and gay friends, and Communist friends. It's so good and healthy when people get to interact with each other and cut through all the prejudices which can so easily create societal division. I truly appreciate, for instance, that when my children hear the word "Muslim," their first associations are not with "extremism" or "terrorism" -- but more readily with "Suikerfeest" (or Eid ul-Fitr, the end-of-Ramadan celebratory feast) and its really delicious tea, which our school's Muslim families serve at an annual after-school party. Unlike so many Americans brought up in the post-9/11 era, our family is greatly benefited by having individual, personal relationships with real people who practice the Muslim faith, and not just caricatures of Islamic militants. Do you know what I mean? It's nice to build real human relationships without having to wade through propaganda or feel like we're forcing each others' agendas down each others' throats. I also hope that our family might similarly help to improve others' perceptions of "Americans" and "Christians."

Even so, I've been really challenged lately through reading the Book of Philippians. I've been really challenged by the zeal and zest for the Christian cause which the Apostle Paul (the book's author) demonstrated so consistently, despite his difficult circumstances. Even though Paul was beaten within an inch of his life, his freedom was taken away from him, and he probably realized that he would eventually be executed because of his faith in Jesus Christ, at the time of writing his letter to the Philippians -- he was still crazy about advancing the cause of Christ!

Frankly, Paul's passion for proclaiming the Good News about Jesus unsettles me.

Here I am: a Christian living in a society with unprecedented freedoms. I’m a pastor, even -- making my living from advancing the cause of Christ. Yet I don’t think I have anywhere near the level of concern for advancing the cause of Christ as Paul seems to have, here, in writing this letter to the Philippians... I mean, I really like Jesus. I’m glad for the Good News, and I think it’s great when I get to tell other people the story. On the theoretical level, I’m absolutely in favor of advancing the cause of Christ and proclaiming the Good News to the world around us. But how much do I actually live in this way? Or how much do I shrink back from opportunities to proclaim the message about Christ, whenever I hit any little whiff of "persecution" -- even if it's just a funny look, or a critical question, or just a "bad vibe."

As I consider the situation, it occurs to me that many of us Christians have become very good -- and perhaps a bit too good -- at functioning as “Jesus’ Public Relations Department." Do you know what I mean? We can live our lives as some campaign to show the world that Christians can be cool... and intelligent… and socially-minded… and appreciative of fine wines and good art. And I’m not saying that these are bad things at all! In fact, I really do appreciate the ways our church in Amsterdam finds to balance the dorky, dogmatic, self-righteous, and simplistic branches of Evangelical Christanity around the world. Still I worry that we might be sacrificing some proclaiming possibilities, in the process.

Even in our own lives, I wonder if our faith is somehow weakened, when we function as “Jesus’ PR Department,” instead of actively proclaiming and promoting the cause of Christ. Specifically, I wonder what kinds of problems we have to deal with because we don’t even allow ourselves the tiniest exposure to persecution. When there’s no persecution, there are none of the benefits of our motivations being purified; so we end up with a lot of mixed motives. We’re not forced to strip away all the unnecessary and unimportant stuff; so our lives and our faith end up feeling very cluttered and chaotic. We don’t end up with many opportunities to see true faith in action; so we struggle more profoundly with doubt and disillusionment. As I read through Philippians and consider the circumstances around me, I feel like there is a link in these phenomena: the inaction and the angst. But I don't know exactly what to do about it.

I genuinely don’t know if we should thank God for the fact that we’re not persecuted (which certainly has its advantages!), or if we should ask God for more opportunities to experience the joy that comes from being "counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name" (like it talks about in Acts chapter 5). But in any event, it seems to me that we could learn a lot from considering the plight of persecuted believers, like Paul, whose difficult circumstances were actually the very factor that helped the believers in Rome and in Philippi to gain "confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear" (in this vein, I greatly appreciate the resources published by the Voice of the Martyrs at www.persecution.com). And furthermore, it seems like we could grow in letting ourselves step away from the role of being “Jesus’ PR Department” and more actively proclaiming God’s message to those around us. Maybe we could stop, mid-conversation, and pray for our non-believing friends or family members, when they share some problem or pain in their lives. Maybe we could invite our neighbors in for coffee and trade life stories, including how we chose to follow Christ and what that means for our lives today. Maybe we could invite our colleagues to come along with us to one of our worship gatherings, or to a Bible study with our communities, or to our church's next Alpha Course. Or maybe we could even bring a little crate to the Dam and stand up, next to the living statues and street performers, and shout out God’s love for the city of Amsterdam. It’s true that we might get rejected. People might laugh at us or argue with us. Things might get a little bit awkward among friends and neighbors after making a step to advance the cause of Christ. But I think we could probably live through it. And we might even find ourselves experiencing more life, more joy, and more awareness of God’s work in and around and through us! What do you think?