|
Evangelism for Regular Christians
by Rev. J. Howard Cepelak II Kings 5:1-14, Psalm 30, Galatians 6:7-16, Luke 10:1-1 1, 16-20 | |
|
From the Gospel According to St. Luke:
The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few... Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.... Nevertheless know this, the Kingdom of God has come near. Let us pray:
Over the past several years, I have read I don't know how many books, articles and pamphlets on evangelism, attended four Robert Schuller Institutes for Church Leadership , listened to tapes, participated in the evangelical group called Promise Keepers and have spoken at length with at least four pastors who have enjoyed significant success in building' congregations. The most prominent of these well known evangelists are John Maxwell of Joy Ministries, Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor of the Willowcreek Community Christian Church, Rick Warren founding Pastor of Saddleback Community Christian Church and Charles Stanley who televises his weekly In touch evangelical ministry nationally. Please do not think that I had their undivided attention for any length of time. I did not. But I did benefit from their various presentations and participated in question and answer sessions with them following their presentations. The latest book that I have read on the topic is George Barna's Grow Your Church From the Outside. In his book, Barna, CEO of the Barna Research Group in Ventura, California, offers a wealth of statistical material comparing church people with non-church people. Being a marketing man, he operates by the essential marketing principle of find out what the people want and give it to them or perhaps better expressed, sell it to them. He offers some insight but quite frankly, I learned nothing new from his book that applies to us here at Trinity, Waltham - at least nothing that I haven't read or heard before. But if you haven't read extensively about evangelism, then this book is well worth your time. What I did learn from his book - as well as from other sources is this - the unchurched are unchurched because they want to be unchurched. For many reasons, not the least of which is their perception that church people are hypocrites and that somehow they themselves are not hypocrites - a lie in which they whole-heartedly believe, the unchurched nonetheless dislike the church and do not want to be a part of it. Furthermore, they already have a religion other than Christianity. They may be Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist. But in our part of the world as well as in most of Europe, most are true believers in and fully committed to secular humanism which means that they believe in and have committed themselves to themselves. Having rejected organized religion, they believe in disorganized religion. I mentioned that Barna operates from the marketing principle of finding out what your market group wants and give it to them or sell it to them. When it comes to the church Barna's research tells us that what they want is for the church to not be the church. They want perhaps a therapy group, a self-realization group or a loose, low level of commitment organization that will somehow get them what they want out of life. And what they want is health, wealth and happiness on their own terms as part of their own celebration of themselves and their serf-indulgent celebration of life. Thus, asking the unchurched what they want from the church is futile. The church is not therapy, although the true faith does heal. The church is not a self-realization organization although if you really want to find yourself you must loose yourself in Jesus Christ. And the church does not promise health, wealth and happiness even though all healing comes from God, true wealth conies from your treasure in heaven and eternal joy will come to all who believe. But I digress. I will return to this in just a minute. What I have been attempting to do in my research is to sort through all the material that I have encountered in such a way as to determine the essential principles of evangelism that you and I can apply here -evangelism for us in our situation. We want to build up this church. We want to somehow proclaim our faith without looking like lunatics. We want to make a difference using the gifts we have rather than force fitting ourselves into some kind of evangelistic mold not designed for us. In other words, I am looking for an evangelism that we - being just regular people who believe in and love Jesus Christ and seek to be His faithful disciples - an evangelism that we can practice being who we are as just regular Christians. I - and you - have already rejected some evangelical styles. None of us here will be going door to door as do the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses. None of us here will stand out on the street and yell, Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. None of us here will approach anyone else and tell him or her, Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior or you will be eternally lost to perdition. Although expressed in slightly different terms, this last statement is, in feet, true. But that's just not our style. Nor is Waltham or, for that matter, New England in general, the place that any of these approaches works. So what do we do? First. Evangelism is essential to faithful discipleship. It's not an option. Our Gospel lesson this morning tells us precisely that. And Jesus commissioned us just before His - ascension saying, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is hard for most of us who have been raised to believe that speaking of religion is either impolite or just too personal to discuss. We have to get over that. Mark my words; militant Muslims and secular humanists aggressively proselytize for their evil. Their faith is not too personal to discuss. And being polite has nothing whatsoever to do with their proselytizing. I am not recommending that we be obnoxious in our faith. I am saying that in no way should we be ashamed of it nor should we just keep quiet when others disparage it. And regarding the personal aspects or our religion, a let it all hang out approach offering too much personal information has no place in most evangelical approaches. Our job is to bear witness to Jesus Christ and not to ourselves or our personal joys and sorrows in detail. Personal testimony has its place but it should be a carefully guarded place. Speak generally. Specifics can come later. Second. Evangelism in any form may elicit a hostile response. Jesus said, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. On the part of some of the unchruched, we often find a deep-seated hatred for the church. They will often assault us as churchmen and churchwomen with insults or harsh judgment regarding our intelligence or lack of it for they believe that intelligent people do not believe in God. And they judge us harshly even as they complain that the church is too judgmental. In most cases they are the ones who are too judgmental. Thus, as they judge the church and church people with harsh criticism, simply saying to them, You are so judgmental! will take them by surprise and in many cases open their eyes. Remember, those who hate Christianity generally do not see their own hatreds - hatreds that they perversely perceive as love. Remember, they see themselves as loving people. Many unchurched people will be completely indifferent to us. They see no value in church life and more importantly they see no importance whatsoever in Christianity. They simply do not care one way or another so long as they can be left alone. These people may be outside of our range. Say your thing. Do your thing. But only God can open their hearts or minds. The Book of Revelation offers the heaviest judgment on those who are neither hot nor cold regarding the faith. The indifferent, referenced as the lukewarm just may be the ones who are finally lost. Again, all of that is up to God and not us. In any case, we have to come to terms with the fact that if we're living our lives in such as away as to avoid any hostility regarding our faith, in other words, living to be accepted by those who do not accept us, we will fail. We will fail in our evangelical mission and we will foil in our efforts for acceptance. My advice - be yourself as you are yourself in your faith. Don't seek their approval. Seek their respect. Demand it if necessary. Third. Call things by their proper names. The United Kingdom has a new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. He's an appeaser. He, like so many others, seems to believe that if we are nice to those who seek to destroy us, they will then like us and let us live. He couldn't be more wrong but only further acts of terrorism and killing will manifest their error. And even then, committed to falsehood, they just may not see it. Thus, one of his first acts as Prime Minister has been to forbid the use of the words militant Islamists, militant Muslims and the phrase, the war against terror from all discourse regarding Muslim militants and their terrorism. We need to call good good and evil evil. We need to clearly identify a wrong as a wrong and say so. Sugar coating evil will only lead to greater evil. If someone whom we know gets into trouble, we need to identify that trouble as a result of faulty faith or a lack of faith. Don't be cruel, but be honest. Be good. But being good may mean that you will not be nice. And this applies to God Himself who reveals Himself perfectly and finally to us in Jesus Christ. Calling Him by any other name or designation misses the point. God has told us that He is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We must proclaim Him as He has instructed us and not as someone else may want Him to be. Fourth. This applies directly to Trinity Church. Speak well of this church, its faith and * ministry, its purpose and program. I, as your minister, should never have to say this. But I will. Tell others that this preacher has something worthwhile to say and says it. Tell them that his sermons always provide some kind of significant inspiration. Tell them that he preaches faith hope and holy love. If someone in conversation mentions something about almost anything, say, Our minister preached on that. You should hear what he has to say. But most importantly, tell them that he preaches Christ crucified and risen. Tell them that Trinity Church offers some of the best and most beautiful music available for holy worship in this city. Tell them that when our organist plays the hymns, he sends chills up and down your spine. Tell them that when our soloists sing, we hear angels. And tell them that Sunday worship at Trinity is the best free show in town. In other words, in_marketing words, sell them this place. Fifth. Talk about our Sunday School. The Christian education of our children and of all children is essential for the development of good people and of a good society. If our children get the right faith and values - and I mean the RIGHT faith and values and not just any faith with relative values, then we will have a better world in the next generation. It should be no surprise that so many of our young people get into serious trouble with drugs, pregnancy and destructive interpersonal relationships. So few of our children have any idea whatsoever of what's right and wrong. They simply pursue what the humanist culture advocates - Follow your heart. Seek self-fulfillment. Watch out for number one. Get what you want when you want I- and, if possible, set someone else to pay for it. Do unto others before they do it unto you. And. Do whatever makes you happy. All of this leads to heartbreak and trouble. All of this works against a good, productive and satisfying life. Work on your friends and neighbors who have children to get them into our Sunday School. I think it's the best church school in Walthara And tell them that if they want a good life for their children, they have to make one for themselves as well by participating in the faith that this congregation proclaims. Sixth, invite people to church. In all of the material on evangelism that I have ether read or heard, in all of its variety, one thing comes through loud and clear. The way churches grow depends upon one person speaking well of his faith and of his church and then inviting another to that church. Bringing someone else to church remains the most effective form of evangelism offering the greatest success. Invite them over and over again. One invitation will not work. But several invitations extended over time over time will work. Seventh and finally, love your church and those unchurched that you seek to become part of Christ's church. Jesus mandates, Love one another. Scripture tells us that the church stood out in ancient society because others would say; See how they love one another. And the great and first commandment is Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. Holy love is contagious. It's what those who hate the church are really seeking but in the wrong places. Our job is to both proclaim it and do it. I hope this helps you in your evangelical mission. Remember, evangelism is not an option but a requirement of our faith. It need not be obnoxious. And it's very simple. Just do it. It's entirely up to you. One last word. I said at the beginning of this sermon that saying to nonbelievers, Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour or be lost to eternal perdition is not the way we should evangelize. But that message remains true. Life without Christ will always be polluted by lethal emissions from hell. God has made His Son the Gate of Heaven. Eternal life depends directly upon Him and upon Him alone. Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, Allah, Mother Earth and any and all of the idols currently embraced by too many people today will not get anyone into heaven. Jesus Christ - and only Jesus Christ - opens up that gate because Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ IS that gate. He's the beginning and the end of salvation's story, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega. Accept it or reject it. That's the final choice. Nothing that we or anyone else can say or do will change that ultimate and eternal reality. God has made his choice. All of us must make ours. Let us pray.
|