Drumming up new business

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28: 18-20

TV critic Tom Shales column in the Washington Post on January 5 soundly criticized Fox News analyst Brit Hume for daring to state, in the context of the current troubles of Tiger Woods, that the Christian faith offers a unique message of forgiveness and redemption to the world, in which Tiger might find comfort. Hume offended Mr. Shales by, in Shales's words, "dissing" half a billion Buddhists in the world, among whom Tiger apparently counts himself, with his suggestion that Buddhism does not offer such a means of salvation.

Shales then scolds Hume, commenting "...is it really his job to run around trying to drum up new business? He doesn't really have the authority, does he, unless one believes that every Christian by mandate must proselytize?"

Trying to explain Hume's apparent gaffe, Shales goes on to write, "Hume seemed so bolstered by Christianity that he just had to go tell it on the mountain."

Perhaps many of you have recently sung the joyful African American Christmas spiritual, "Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born." Who gave us the authority to proclaim the message of God's salvation? Are Christians in the world to be commended for their personal piety, as long as they sit down and shut up and keep their joyful message to themselves? Jesus makes clear, that by his authority, we are to spread the Good News of his salvation far and wide, making disciples of all nations. God's message of Salvation through Christ is not just for a small subset of humanity, but is for all. Why is it offensive to suggest that someone wounded by sin and beset by trouble should look to Christ for forgiveness and redemption?

We need to tell our children every day that it is their job to "drum up new business" if that means telling a fallen world about their Savior who died so that they would be set free. Not all religious faiths are true, and there is only one name under heaven and earth by which we may be saved, and that is the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.