Sometimes we ask ourselves why we are not making greater progress in our understanding and demonstration of Christian Science. In the earnest study of the writings of our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, we may find many answers to our query. On page 254 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," speaking of achieving absolute Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy says, "But the human self must be evangelized." In the following sentence she tells us, "This task God demands us to accept lovingly to-day, and to abandon so fast as practical the material, and to work out the spiritual which determines the outward and actual." This reference is one that has helped the writer.
The demand of God that we accept the task to achieve salvation by our own evangelization faces each individual, and through the glorious truths revealed in Christian Science this task becomes a joyous one.
We find the word "evangelist" used in the New Testament when it refers to those early Christians who were not prophets or apostles, but who were so inspired by the words and works of Christ Jesus that they preached the gospel to those who, although ignorant of Christianity, were willing to listen to their message. They often went from place to place. The word "evangelization" is sometimes taken to mean conforming one's life to high Christian standards, or teaching by living in a Christian manner. This is the mission that Christian Scientists are performing in the world today.
Before the redemptive truth of Christian Science dawned upon our thought, many of us were in need of evangelization. Many of us were engulfed in materialism, and because of our acceptance of this false basis of life, we were open to the impositions of every type of evil suggestion. It was at this point that the understanding and value of Christian Science teaching came to our rescue. Our evangelization and redemption began to take place.
The first step in individual redemption is learning to separate the false from the true. In other words, one learns to know the man of God's creation as one's real selfhood and is not deceived by the false concept of man which error, or mortal mind, would aggressively try to have one accept as himself. The real man is revealed to consciousness by spiritual perception; while the false concept of man is presented to us by evil or aggressive mental suggestion.
The more we gain of spiritual understanding in our endeavor to evangelize the human self, the more we realize the present possibility of the disappearance of evil beliefs through the handling of them as aggressive mental suggestion. To become conscious of the nearness and ever-availability of God is a defense against the talking serpent of material sense.
Let us realize that God loves us. He is at our side, working for us and with us. We have nothing to fear; for His protecting care surrounds us, and He has given man dominion. We need more and more to be conscious of these facts in order to stay within our strong fortress of spiritual understanding, not letting evil suggestion alarm or stampede us and cause us to yield our secure position.
The following experience is helpful to illustrate this point: A chicken rancher was greatly perplexed by finding each morning that several of his best fowl were missing. He had strong, well-built pens surrounded with wire netting that was high enough so that ordinarily the chickens could not fly over it. Yet every morning he found evidence which seemed to indicate that the fowl had flown over the netting, been attacked, and then carried off.
The rancher decided to watch and find out what happened. Just about daybreak a wolf came running out of the woods and hurled itself with all its force against the wire netting. This procedure so frightened the chickens that several became panicky and flew over the top of the netting. They, of course, were caught by the wolf.
Now the chickens were well protected and perfectly safe. If they had not become afraid and yielded to the devices of the enemy, they would never have been hurt. So we can learn a needful lesson from this incident in our effort to evangelize the human self. We must learn that if aggressive suggestion hurls itself against our consciousness, we can stand unmoved, holding steadfastly to the power, presence, and protection of our loving Father-Mother, God.
It is the positive approach that delivers us from being carried away by evil arguments. We must not become panic-stricken before suggestions of mortal mind, but we must face up to them bravely and resolutely, knowing their nothingness. This action helps us in performing the task which God demands of us.
We must daily make an honest effort to evangelize self, determining to work to this end. By so doing, we shall grow in spiritual strength and stability. This work does not require the student of Christian Science to become unduly introspective, but it is necessary that the student often take cognizance of the false sense of self and question its motives and aims with a view to correcting that which is not like God. If this method is prayerfully and honestly applied, we are alerted to the presence of "the little foxes, that spoil the vines" (S. of Sol. 2:15), the subtle, unconscious errors that prevent us from making our demonstrations.
How grateful we should be that in this age the process of evangelization can be shortened by following the course which Christian Science has mapped out. We must joyously accept the fact of man's spiritual perfection and learn to let our thinking reflect Mind, rather than yield to the suggestion that we are mortals, trying to attain the perfection of being through intercession.
Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 259), "The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea,—perfect God and perfect man,—as the basis of thought and demonstration." To have as our model perfect God and perfect man is to enter the path of true evangelization and redemption.
