Buzzard Evangelism

This is a leftover and vaguely connected thought to the buzzard theme from the blog Drive By Dieting a few posts back. To be an effective evangelist, it seems to me that one must exhibit two qualities: Boldness and compassion. The boldness comes in seeing and seizing an opportunity to speak the gospel to those who need it. Evangelism is rooted in the gospel or the "good news" that Christ has come to do for us that which we can never do for ourselves. One of these things is to die so we can live. Now we will still die a physical death unless we are of the number that remain alive at the return of Christ. You might say that is according to what I believe. I would argue that it is not true because I believe it...it is true because God said it. So the useful kind of boldness comes with knowing that the things we say to others about God is true. For that you must have a good source of truth. God's word is the source. Without a clear understanding of biblical truth, a person does not have a reliable source of truth. Well, one may ask, aren't all Bible translations the same? As a matter of fact, they are not. There are some translations that the wording is changed to deny the deity of Jesus. Oh, some of His teachings are there and some words are attributed to Him as accurate. But in a particular translation, used by people who are attempting to work their way into Jehovah's Kingdom, Jesus is not and cannot be portrayed as God. He is only a man. In this flawed theology, there is no Christ who has come to do for us what we are helpless to do for ourselves...which is to earn our place in the kingdom. Therefore, there is no gospel. Without a gospel, there is no evangelism. So in this case their boldness about their evangelism becomes brash and rash.
Compassion is the other component for effective evangelism. The reason I am writing this is to speak about what I call "buzzard evangelism." This is where some "evangelists" speak to people during the time of a loved one's death or be so bold as to send them an unsolicited letter in an attempt to convey hope. Now, I fully realize that some of the most effective windows of evangelistic opportunity is found in the context of ministry to the family and friends before, during, and after the funeral service. People who do not know the Christ may be more prepared to hear the word of God at that time in their lives because they may be hopeless and fearful of the future. But some evangelists may use this opportunity to manipulate others for reasons other than compassion. Being a boldly compassionate evangelist in these times means that the Spirit of God will guide the evangelist into truth to share with someone that "we have a mighty good God for some awful bad times." And the hope that we have in Christ is that He has come to do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. He has come as our Hope. Without the gospel component, the evangelist cannot be compassionate, even though they may be bold.
Three days after my mother's funeral I received an unsolicited letter from someone I didn't know. This person attempted to share some things with me about a promised resurrection for all humanity on an earthly paradise soon. And according to this person, we are guaranteed this because Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Nothing is mentioned that Jesus conquered death because He was raised from the dead. Their hope is based on a false premise of a man-centered earthly kingdom. My hope is grounded in the Kingdom of God where Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I am amazed that one can use the raising of Lazarus as a promise of resurrection and miss the following:
So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." (John 11:17-27)

Being born again enables belief that Jesus is the Christ, and that as the Person of God, He came and dwelled among us. Jesus died on the cross to pay our unpayable sin debt, and was raised from the dead to break sin's death grip. Without the new birth, people will believe almost anything because they are blind to the True Kingdom of God. And their letters, along with their literature, read like empty epistles, dead documents with no life giving promise. These evangelists are like buzzards, feasting on dead men's bones, sincerely believing their "witness" for Jehovah is earning them favor with God. Perhaps they mean well. Perhaps they intend to be compassionate. But if I desire to be compassionate to those who are grieving, wouldn't I want to give them the gospel? Wouldn't I want to give them the truth? Wouldn't I want to present Jesus as this hope? Sometimes well meaning people can be deceived and the truth is that truth is hidden from them. I pray that the sender of my letter will come into the knowledge of the truth and be delivered from living as such a hopeless heretic.