While the recent commercials from The Good Feet Store are amusing, I still
find them instructive. The store’s representative
ends one advertisement by saying, “I helped a person deal with a problem he’s
suffered with for thirty years. How do
you not go home and talk about that?”
We
talk about what helps. I have a friend
who recently purchased some shoe inserts that delivered him from a great deal
of pain. He is able to effectively walk
again; and though he knows most people don’t normally want to talk about
podiatric care, he just can’t help himself.
He has to share his joy at finding relief.
Christian witness is like this. Christ shares
our grief in a way that makes our burdens meaningful. As the woman on the commercial asks, “How do
you not go home and talk about that?”
Most people appreciate their friends sharing
with them what helps. It’s the impersonal
street preachers doing bad impersonations of John the Baptist who give
Christian evangelism a bad rap. I have been shocked by the insensitivity these
types sometimes display toward race fans who are just trying to enjoy a day at
the track. I understand there’s always
been some lude behavior that sometimes accompanies the race, but I’m more
offended by representatives of the Christian faith who do far more to dampen
the party by defensively airing grievances rather than joyfully sharing help.
I’d
much rather have street preachers this May performing something like Bob
Dillon’s When the Ship Comes In. The folk song celebrates the hope that
uncaring systems will not ultimately win over us. That’s not mere proselytizing;
that’s just suggesting someone try good medicine. In
Isaiah’s day, God sent messengers to announce that Assyrian overlords would not
oppress people forever. This kind of
hope can help. And most people appreciate
someone trying to offer hope, even if they choose not to pay much attention. It is as God says, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those people” who are
just trying to share what helps them—“who
bring good news.” (Isaiah 52:7)
