Most religious traditions are not missionary in nature. Religions provide a way of ordering society, a sense of belonging, a method of connecting as a community, a perspective for looking at the world, an orientation toward the divine. Sharing one’s religious vision with those outside of one’s circle is not an obvious next step. For example, Judaism did not actively proselytize. Jesus, however, looked on his religious movement differently. Jesus said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.” Think of it this way: if your brothers were starving and you had some food, you would bring the food to them out of love. The message of Jesus which his followers absorbed was food for the soul that people were starving for. Out of love for others you can’t hoard the soul food you have but must share it with your starving neighbor. And, as Jesus taught, there isn’t anyone out there who isn’t neighbor to us.
