Sophia and phronesis: armchair evangelization

I have noted, in attending a lot of parish meetings lately, that there are two distinct qualities on display when you want to get something done; the understanding of a thing and the understanding of how to do something effective with it.

Most recently there was a meeting covering evangelization that, sadly, gets repeated every few months with little actual action afterward. In essence lots of people have opinions - often informed by a lot of sayings from the Church Fathers, opinions about helpful books to read, and thoughts on website additions. What is missing is the will to go out and bring people to the Church. It is quite easy to wax poetic (and at times sophistic) on the Internet, but what is needed is direct action.

C. S. Lewis speaks of a God-shaped hole that all men seek to fill. For those that do not fill it with God it is filled with other things they put in His place. Certainly it is not a clean fit, but just like junk food fills you up without really sustaining you, so the substitute stifles the hollow aching of emptiness.

God is not discussed very often these days by the non-church going. Few people without a connection to the Church - beyond a baptism they can't remember or a wedding that was more about checking a box than the glory and honor given by God to the participants - ever consider that the feeling of incompleteness is a result of this hole. It stands to reason, then, that waiting for people to come through the door on their own is a plan with a built-in limiting factor. Your net is always in the same place and you're just waiting for a fish to swim into it by chance.

True evangelism is uncomfortable. As God calls all men to him it is safe to assume that the person who you hope to strike a dialogue up with has turned away from that call a few times in his life. What needs to be developed is the fortitude to proclaim the Gospel in the face of anxiety, opposition, or simple anger. What is not needed is more print outs of catchy sayings from the saints or minutes from the last infecund meeting.

Let us ponder Memorial Day and think about the results of a general that kept rewriting plans as the enemy approached but never put troops into action. Or if Bilbo Baggins had stood over the map and never gone into the mountain after Smog's treasure. Or if St. George had stood silent to the orders of Diocletian to sacrifice all Christian soldiers. At a certain point the strategy needs to become a reality - the sleeves must get rolled up and the world beyond the parish doors must be faced.