Evangelism through Community

Tim Chester:

You’ve managed to talk to your friend about Jesus without much response. What should do you do next? How can we get disinterested people interested in the gospel? Jesus said: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35; 17:21, 23). How will people believe that Jesus is the Son of God sent by God as the Savior and Lord of our world? Through the common life of God’s people (John 17:21, 23).

Proclamation must be central to mission because the gospel is a word to proclaim. But our message is understood best in the context of our lives and especially our life together and our love for one another. Time and again people are attracted by what they experience in the Christian community, and this creates interest in the Christian message. This means we need to introduce people to the Christian community, not just by inviting them to our meetings, but by including them in our shared life.

To reach the many people today who have rejected church we need to take church to them by doing mission in the context of ordinary life. As people hang out with us, eat meals with us, do chores with us they will encounter a disparate group of people who somehow are family together, a community that challenges their priorities and provokes their questions.

A Culture of Evangelism

What is that? Mark Dever explains in the introduction of his book, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism:

What do I mean by a culture of evangelism? I mean an expectation that Christians will share the gospel with others, talk about doing that, pray about it, and regularly plan and work together to help each other evangelize. We want evangelism to be normal— in our own lives and in our churches.

I certainly want that kind of culture in my own heart, and in the church I have the privilege of serving. Dever's little book is a great resource in cultivating an environment of evangelism.

You can read the Foreward, Introduction and Chapter 1 here.

The Church is a Model Home

A quote from Harvie Conn:

On a tract of earth's land purchased with the blood of Christ, Jesus the Kingdom developer has begun building new housing. As a sample of what will be, he has erected a model home of what will eventually fill the urban neighborhood. Now he invites the world into that model home to take a look at what will be...

The church is the occupant of that model home, inviting neighbors into its open door to Christ. Evangelism is when the signs are put up saying, "Come in and look around." In this model home we live out our new lifestyle as citizens of the heavenly city that one day will come. We do not abandon our jobs or desert the city that is; we are to "seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which" God carried us in exile (Jeremiah 29:7)

I love the idea here of the church living out its mission and inviting others to see the power of the community He is forming through the gospel. I only wish Conn would make clear that evangelism involves communicating the gospel message with words, and not merely living in a way that reflects His kingship over us.

I suspect Conn assumes this, but these days, that just can't be assumed. Too many today want to live out the mission of Jesus without heralding Jesus as the sin-bearing, wrath-removing Savior of all who repent and trust in Him.

The Gospel and Outreach

I've been re-reading Tim Keller's paper on the centrality of the gospel that I posted last month (thus the quote from yesterday). In it, he talks about how a firm grasp of the gospel works some characteristics into us that are immensely valuable in our witness to non-Christians:

1. We are compelled to share the gospel out of generosity and love, not guilt.

2. We are free from fear of being ridiculed by others, since we already have the favor of God by grace.

3. There is a humility in our dealings with others, because we know we are saved only by grace alone, not because of our superior insight or character.

4. We are hopeful about anyone, even the "hard cases", because we were saved only by grace, not because we were likely to become Christians.

5. We are courteous and careful with people. We don't have to push or coerce them, for it is only God's grace that opens hearts, not our eloquence or persistence or even their openness.

So drink deeply from the fountain of God's love revealed in the gospel, and get out there and tell someone about Jesus!

One Key to Effective Christian Ministry

Writing on the words I'll be preaching on this Sunday, Don Carson notes:

"As long as people are impressed by your powerful personality and impressive gifts, there is very little room for you to impress them with a crucified Savior."

That's good; I think I'm going to have to pull that out on Sunday!

Can I Pray for You?

Last week a few of my favorite bloggers linked to this article from Don Whitney on the value of asking the simple question, "How can I pray for you?", as a way of opening up doors to speak to people about Christ. Here's an excerpt:

Over and over I've seen one simple question open people's hearts to hear the gospel. Until I asked this question, they showed no interest in spiritual matters. But then after six words—only seventeen letters in English—I've seen people suddenly begin to weep and their resistance fall. The question is, "How can I pray for you?"

Most people in the world never hear such a question. And while many churchgoers know that a minister is willing to pray for them, in some traditions they're expected to make a special donation to the church for such services. So when you ask, "How can I pray for you?" and it's obvious that you're asking out of love alone, it can touch a person more deeply than you imagine.

Whitney closes by encouraging readers that if you simply and sincerely ask people this question, you will be surprised at the results. So on the day I read this article last week, I took up Whitney on his challenge. I was having breakfast with a friend, and when the waitress brought our food I said, "My friend and I are about to give thanks to God for our meal; is there anything we can pray for you?"

Without hesitation, the lady said she needed help. When I asked her what she meant, she said "Mental help. My son died seven years ago and I've been in therapy since then and I need help."

As my friend and I prayed, I was reminded that God Himself knows what it's like to a lose a Son, as He gave His beloved Son to be slaughtered for the sins of the world. When the waitress came to check on us, I told her about what God had reminded me of when we were praying, and encouraged her that God could be a strength to her because He can empathize with her pain.

I told her I was a pastor in the area, gave her my card and told her where the church was. Who knows what will come of that, but I was encouraged by the opportunity.

So give it a try this week: ask a stranger how you can pray for them, and leave a comment to tell us what happened.

Audio from Acts 29 Regional Conference

As I mentioned last week, I had the privilege of attending the Acts 29 regional conference hosted by Real Life Church in Philadelphia. Here is the audio to the two main sessions given by Jeff Vanderstelt from Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington:

Session 1
Session 2

I was greatly challenged and blessed by these two messages, and would highly recommend them to stoke your own fire for living all of life as Christ's ambassadors, everywhere we go and in everything that we do.

Gino informs me that video will be available soon.

Everyone Has a Gospel Story

On Monday at the Acts 29 regional conference, Jeff Vanderstelt made this same point articulated by Tim Chester on his blog:

Four points of intersection
Everyone has their own version of the ‘gospel’ story:

creation – who I am or who I should be
fall – what’s wrong with me and the world
redemption – what’s the solution
consummation – what I hope for

When we hear people expressing their version of creation, fall, redemption or consummation, we can talk about the gospel story. Talking about Jesus begins with listening to other people’s stories and sharing our own story of Jesus.

What is a Missional Community?

Earlier in the week I mentioned being in Philly for the Acts 29 regional conference. The theme was building and multiplying missional communities.

So what exactly is a missional community? Jeff Vanderstelt, who was the main speaker for the day, defined the term this way:

A missional community is a gospel-formed community that lives out the mission of making disciples together in a specific area and to a particular group of people by demonstrating the gospel in tangible forms and declaring the gospel to lead people to faith and formation in Jesus Christ.

A mouthful for sure, but worthy of serious reflection and prayer. Vanderstelt uses some key words to remind people of this calling: family, missionaries, servants and disciples.

If all this sounds like a lot of extra stuff to add to an already busy schedule, I particularly was challenged by this statement from Vanderstelt:

"I'm not asking you to add anything to your life; I am asking you to live differently."

As I posted earlier, resources from Vanderstelt explaining how he has worked out this understanding of mission among his people in Tacoma can be found here.

Exploring Missional Communities

I anticipate that this week will be a light one in regards to blogging. Today I am headed into Philly for most of the day to be a part of the Acts 29 regional conference on exploring missional communities.

Our church is not a part of the Acts 29 network of churches, but I have great respect for what they are doing and was invited by my friend Gino, who serves in the church that is hosting the event. We will sit under the ministry of Jeff Vanderstelt.

If I have the time, I'll post something this week with some thoughts on the event.

Marks of an Evangelistic Life

Despite what I wrote last week about our use of the word evangelism, I really am desirous that I myself and my church would grow in our passion for evangelism (in the traditional sense of the word).

Along those lines, I was challenged by these insights from Thom Rainer (via Kevin DeYoung) on the habits of evangelistic Christians:

1. They are people of prayer. They realize that only God can convict and convert, and they are totally dependent upon Him in prayer. Most of the highly evangelistic Christians spend at least an hour in prayer each day.

2. They have a theology that compels them to evangelize. They believe in the urgency of the gospel message. They believe that Christ is the only way of salvation. They believe that anyone without Christ is doomed for a literal hell.

3. They are people who spend time in the Word. The more time they spend in the Bible, they more likely they are to see the lostness of humanity and the love of God in Christ to save those who are lost.

4. They are compassionate people. Their heart breaks for those who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They have learned to love the world by becoming more like Christ who has the greatest love for the world.

5. They love the communities where God has placed them. They are immersed in the culture because they desire for the light of Christ to shine through them in their communities.

6. They are intentional about evangelism. They pray for opportunities to share the gospel. They look for those opportunities. And they see many so-called casual encounters as appointments set by God.

7. They are accountable to someone for their evangelistic activities. They know that many good activities can replace Great Commission activities if they are not careful. Good can replace the best. So they make certain that someone holds them accountable each week either formally or informally for their evangelistic efforts.

Would you add anything to the list?

Rethinking Evangelism

When you hear the word "evangelism" what enters your mind? You probably think of sharing the good news of Christ's life, death and resurrection, with an unbelieving person (or people) in hopes of another person would be converted and saved by God's grace.

And while I long for this as much as any Christian, I wonder if that understanding of evangelism is too limited. In Romans 1:15 Paul writes, "I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome." The Greek word translated "preach the gospel" is the word euangelizo, which most literally means, "to evangelize." So Paul writes that he is eager to evangelize those who were in Rome.

Nothing extraordinary about that, right? But who exactly is Paul so eager to evangelize? He says, "you also who are in Rome." And he's already told us a good bit about these people: they are loved by God, and have been called to be saints (v.7). They are those whom Paul thanks God for, because their faith is being proclaimed in all the world (v.8). They are those whom Paul is eager to visit so that he might be encouraged by their faith (v.11-12). They are his "brothers" (v.13).

In other words, Paul is eager to evangelize these Christians. The evangel -- the gospel -- is not merely the news people need to be converted and brought to faith. It's also the very same news that Christians need to grow up in faith and be strengthened day by day after their conversion.

So let's be zealous about evangelism, Christians. Only, let's not limit our evangelism to non-believers. You and I need the gospel every bit as much as they do.

Why We're Not Giving Away a Car (or an iPod) Tomorrow

A lot of churches do, and they are probably sincere in their desire to share the good news of Jesus with those who might not be inclined to go to church. But we're not doing it. Instead, we're just going to tell people about Jesus. Jared Wilson explains why:

1. It creates buzz about cash and prizes, not the Easter event. Nobody wants to interview these pastors because they want them to talk about the resurrection. They want them to talk about the loot.

2. It identifies the church not with the resurrection, but with giving toys away.

3. Giving toys away is not parallel to Jesus' providing for the crowds. Jesus healed people and fed them. This is not the same as giving un-poor people an iPod.

4. It appeals to greed and consumerism. There is no biblical precedent for appealing to one's sin before telling them to repent of it. This is a nonsensical appeal.

5. Yes, Jesus said he would make us fishers of men, but extrapolating from this to devise all means of bait is not only unwarranted, it's exegetically stupid. The metaphor Jesus is offering here is just of people moving from the business of fishing to the business of the kingdom. There is no methodology being demonstrated here. (But the most common one would have been throwing out nets anyway, not baiting a hook.)

6. But seriously, how lame is it to "lure" people some place to create a "captive audience"? Sure, they know they're coming to church. But it's a disingenuous offer. The message of the gospel is not made for Trojan horses.

7. It demonstrates distrust in the compelling news that a man came back from the dead!!

8. It demonstrates distrust in the power of the gospel when we think we have to put it inside something more appealing to be effective.

9. We are just now seeing the data emerging from research of years of this kind of marketing/evangelism attractional church stuff, and the results are not good. I have no doubt these churches are going to see decisions this weekend. I'd be extra interested in how discipled these folks are in a year or two years or three. Hype has always produced "decisions." Would anyone argue that after 30 years or so of this approach to evangelism the evangelical church is better off?

10. What you win them with is what you win them to.

Weekend Reading: Evangelism and Social Action

There is a lot being said and written about today in the evangelical world concerning the connection between evangelism and "social action."

Almost two years ago, Tony Payne wrote three posts on this subject which I found insightful and biblically faithful (though we may have some slight disagreement on 2 Peter 3, I agree with his conclusions in point #3 of post 2). If you have some time on this rainy weekend, check them out and let me know what you think:

Part 1: What is the relationship between evangelism and social action?
Part 2: How does social action relate to the Last Day and the new creation?
Part 3: What does social action look like for the Christian?

Joseph's Missional Life

(Disclaimer: I am aware that this lesson from the Scriptures is for me, first and foremost. If my life had to be spotless in an area before I could speak, write to, others about that area, I'd never have anything to say.)

Back in the fall I introduced my church to the term "missional living". I loosely defined it as "looking for and taking advantage of opportunities for the gospel everywhere we go." In other words, to live with a missional mindset means to be on the lookout in even the most mundane, daily activities (like going the grocery store or taking a walk in your neighborhood) for gospel opportunities.

I saw a great illustration of this as I was reading through the book of Genesis last week. Joseph had been placed in an Egyptian prison and had every reason to sulk about what a bad hand he'd been dealt. But when he saw a baker and cupbearer for Pharaoh looking downcast, he resisted self-absorption and took an interest in them, asking why they were upset:

"When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, 'Why are your faces downcast today?' (Genesis 40:6-7)

From that simple question, Joseph found out that it was a pair of dreams that were troubling these two men, and he went on to share with them how his relationship with God enabled him to address their need.

What a great reminder: it doesn't take anything earth-shattering to live missionally. All it takes is enough love for God and compassion for people to ask others how they're doing when something appears to be troubling them. Just showing simple concern for another hurting person could create opportunities to bear witness to the glories of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Proclaiming His Excellencies -- Ten Encouragements

The text I'll be preaching on this Sunday has a purpose statement for Christians: "...that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9). That means if we're Christians, our calling is to speak of Christ to others.

If that's hard for you, here are ten encouragements from John Piper:

1. Know this: God uses clay pots
2. Get resources to share
3. Know that God may use many influences
4. Be a lavish giver (especially of good books)
5. Find people interesting
6. Invite people to church
7. Fill the city with gospel teaching
8. Use your giftings
9. Read books on evangelism
10. Pray for boldness

You can read, listen to or watch Piper unpack these ten encouragements here.

Real Needs and Felt Needs

It's common in our day for secular, non-religious people to say that they do not feel that they need God in their lives. "That is nice that it is meaningful for you, but I really don't feel that I have any need for God or religion in my life."

What do we say to this kind of attitude about God? Well, I am sure there are many things to say. But one thing might be this:

At around 8:15 AM on the morning of September 11th, 2001, those who had come to work in New York City did not feel the need to get as far away from the World Trade Center as possible. They didn't feel that need, but the need was real nevertheless.

Feeling safe and secure is no sure indicator that you really are safe and secure. Whether you feel a need for God is not really that important, because feelings are not a reliable guide to knowing what is actually true.

In Defense of Proselytism

Last week I posted the video of Brit Hume speaking about Tiger Woods' need for a redemption that could only be found in the Christian faith. As expected, he's getting a good bit of criticism from people who are offended by people who try to convert others to their religious views.

If you've ever experienced that kind of criticism, this post from Trevin Wax is a good one to read through. He mentions five common objections to "proselytism", and then shows how those objections are unpersuasive.

Communicating with Grace and Truth

Another good quote from Chris Castaldo's book, Holy Ground. Castaldo is actually quoting John Stackhouse's book, Humble Apologetics. When sharing with non-believers,

"We should sound like we really do respect the intelligence and spiritual interest and moral integrity of our neighbors. We should act as if we do see the very image of God in them. It is a voice that speaks authentically out of Christian convictions about our own very real limitations and our neighbor's very real dignity, not cynical expediency.

"We are rhetorically humble because we are not prophets infallibly inspired by God, let alone the One who could speak with authority in a way no one else can speak. We are messengers of that One: messengers who earnestly mean well, but who forget this bit of the message or never really understood that bit; messengers who never entirely live up to their own good news; messengers who recognize the ambiguities in the world that make the message harder to believe; and therefore messengers who can sympathize with neighbors who aren't ready just yet to believe everything we're telling them."

Good musings for this year's family gatherings

A couple of good posts on sharing your faith, on Christmas or any time:

Russell Moore gives a few quick thoughts on what followers of Jesus ought to remember, especially if you’ve got a difficult extended family situation: peace, honor, humility, maturity and perspective. Some of them aren't quite so quick, but it's well worth the time to read his thoughts.

Chris Castaldo (who recently published a book on ministering to Catholics that I am currently reading) unpacks this statement: “Evangelism is the activity in which the entire Church prayerfully and intentionally relies on God in sharing gospel love and truth, in order to bring people one step closer to Jesus Christ.”

Praying we'll bear witness to Christ in both word and deed this Christmas (and every day!).