Hitting a Wall on My Own - New Evangelizers

Did you catch the reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans at Mass yesterday? It was easy to miss, with the absolutely life-changing declaration from Jesus in the Gospel, “I am the resurrection and the life; 
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live” (John 11:25). But as I find myself frustrated or tempted to less-than-virtuous conduct in my daily life, Paul’s instructions turn out to be quite insightful.

Paul makes a simple statement, “those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8).

Now this isn’t bad news. By virtue of God’s grace in baptism, we are filled with the Spirit of God and Jesus Christ does truly live in us. This means that “although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness”–all because of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:10). And, in the Gospel, we get a vivid example of what this truly means that whoever believes in Jesus the Messiah, “even if he dies, will live.”

But here’s the deeper challenge: On one hand, I can know and believe with all my heart that Jesus is the resurrection and the life–living filled with the Spirit of God. Yet at the same time, every day is filled with temptations to act as tough it’s my “flesh,” my actions, my works that can please God.

This is especially true as evangelists. We know there’s an urgency to evangelization. Knowing Jesus Christ is the most transformative, important relationship for any person in the world–and so we should act, go forth boldly, and spread the Gospel as much as possible.

But, if we’re not careful, our actions can overtake our capacity to listen to the Holy Spirit. In the words of Fr. Joe Tetlow, S.J., we can become driven more than drawn to do whatever God has placed on our hearts to do as a sign of Jesus’ love for the world.

This is where Paul’s simple statement, “those who are in the flesh cannot please God,” becomes so important. It’s easy to dismiss it. To think to ourselves, “clearly I’m doing God’s work, I’m caring for the poor, I’m witnessing to the Gospel, I’m sharing the faith…so therefore, I’m right. And I’m doing right by God.”

But here’s the question for prayer: am I relying on my flesh, on myself alone to make decisions? To figure out what to do in ministry? To navigate the complexities of evangelization?

All too often we can get caught up the frantic pace of the world, caught up in our desire to do right by God, our desire to act, and find that suddenly, we are indeed acting in the flesh, more than acting in God’s will. For me, it’s like hitting a wall and realizing I (metaphorically speaking) left the Holy Spirit behind. Left God’s will out of the picture.

And that’s when we need to stop. Take a deep breath. And remember, that “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” We’re more than that. We’re baptized into Christ Jesus. And acting with Jesus is the only way to truly please God.

Copyright 2014 Colleen Vermeulen

Colleen Vermeulen

Colleen Reiss Vermeulen, M.Div., M.N.A., blogs, ministers in parish life and lay/deacon formation, and serves as a U.S. Army Reserve officer. She and her husband, Luke, have been married since 2011 and live in Ypsilanti, MI with their two young sons.