Welcome to The Word for Wednesday meme! Each week, you're invited to post a scripture that has touched your heart, whether it's an old favorite, new light from the Holy Spirit, or something you're pondering.If you'd like to participate and share what God has written on your heart, use Mr. Linky below to let us all know you've posted. And your comments would be most welcome.
Evangelism
Across the Christian blogosphere the past few months, I've seen many exhortations that mirror what the Holy Spirit has been speaking to my heart: seek and save the lost. Some are being called to witness in distant lands, but for most of us, we only need to open our eyes. We are surrounded by lost and dying people, who have been deceived by the father of lies.
There are two common approaches to evangelism. The first is taken by the preaching and teaching crowd, which I'll call active evangelism. It includes the Billy Graham's and the pass-out-tracts gang, who hit-and-run hoping something will stick. It also includes the line-upon-line folks, who hope that just hearing scripture will lead to salvation.
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (Mark 16:15)
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)
The second approach I'll call passive evangelism. These are the ones who don't talk about Jesus, but try to do the right things, good things, in the hope that others will notice and want what they've got.
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)
I don't fit neatly into either one of those categories, of course. I never fit anywhere. But I've definitely got the burn to evangelize. As usual, I gave it back to God with a big question mark at the end. He lead me here:
But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.' Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.' Another one said, 'I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.' And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.' (Luke 14:16-24)
I'm not sure just what this approach would be called: "Drag 'em in by the hair, and make 'em" evangelism? Can I do that without getting arrested? Should I, anyhow? I'm obviously still at a loss as to what I'm supposed to do with this, so if anybody has any suggestions, I'm all ears. If not, I'll keep you posted when the Lord gives me "the rest of the story."
Thanks for stopping by. If you've posted, don't forget to leave your link!
6 comments:
This is a great post. And yes, this is a question that requires some seeking and thought. I can't say that I have a perfect answer, but knowing my Bible, it sounds to me like "compelling them to come in" would not be requiring external force and coercion -- of course, nobody gets saved that way.
Perhaps what we should notice, from the context of the Great Commission (hat tip to Charles Finney for pointing this out in his great sermon "On Prayer for the Holy Spirit," Jesus charged His disciples to wait and pray in the Jerusalem, so that they would receive the "power from on High."
As Finney points out, only until they had received this power were they qualified to carry out the Great Commission.
Salvation, that is, both justification and sanctification are the work of God. They are not coerced, or even reasoned into someone. God must be present and He must act, but He does so through obedient people.
The methods that the Apostles used, by looking at Acts, is they preached openly (in the marketplaces, in the Agora, to fellow-laborers) to those who would listen. They preached to private individuals who they met along their way.
And that's when their work only began. They then began to educate and teach and exhort. I'm sure many methods of evangelizing (both active and passive) work, but we should not aline ourselves with only one. If all we do is active evangelism, it will be clear to others that the Gospel only means a speech in a stadium -- it's just a "christian" activity we do. If all we do is "passive evangelism," only a precious few, perhaps, will be challenged by the simple words of the Gospel, and the truth of God.
This is long, but I hope it is a contributing part to this discussion.
I'll have mine up next Wednesday.
Thanks for posting!
Aw, Herky, I can't drag 'em in by the hair? You're taking all the fun out of it! :)
On a more serious note, thanks for your thoughts on this. I think you're right that we shouldn't limit ourselves to active or passive evangelism. I suspect that when we do, we're really just keeping our own flesh comfortable.
I think the key word in this passage is "compel" and I've been digging around a little: it's a strong word. Vine's says it means "to constrain, whether by threat, entreaty, force or persuasion."
If we've agreed to rule out physical force in this context, on the flip side I think we also need to rule out mild-mannered enticement, a la Billy Graham.
I'm thinking what's called for is a straight-up gospel message, that defines God's holiness, our sinfulness, and the grace found in Jesus Christ.
And now that I write that, I realize that a document I recently did for a church meeting (which I'll post here at some point) fits into this category!
Is God too funny or what? By the time I figured out what He wanted me to do - I'd already done it!
Thanks, Herky, you made my day. :)
No, Jean, I'm sorry. You can't drag them in by the hair. ;)
I also noticed that the key word here is "compel," and the definition that you presented sounds like what I had in mind when I wrote my comment.
Yes, it is a forceful word, and yes we need to rule out physical force and enticement. I think you are right in saying that instead, we need to present God as He is, and the Gospel as it is. We need to do so with boldness, love, and compassion -- or, as Peter says,
"If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 4:11
We must also bear in mind, that we cannot reason a man into salvation, because salvation is not a salvation of the head, but of the heart and soul. Of course, the head must in the event be saved also. But if the information we give them concerning the Gospel does not go from their head into their heart, if they are not convicted, and guided into the right course of action and reconciliation with God, then there is no genuine salvation.
These are things that I think you already know, but I personally have found it helpful to repeat these things.
Hey, that's neat that you are writing on this subject! Yes, His timing is always perfect.
I'm glad my comment made your day. My pleasure. :)
With brotherly love,
Herky
I think you're right that the head knowledge thing is a big issue. I know so many people who have given a mental assent to the gospel, but have never received the Holy Spirit, as Peter told us we would.
"Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)
I'm beginning to suspect this is because many people were baptized as babies, and not after their conversion.
Thanks for your thoughts, Herky. It's helpful to discuss these things with others.
You're sure I can't ... nah, you're right. :)
This is a great post and the comments are so good! I wanted to do WW but it was Thursday night before I realized it wasn't Wednesday anymore. :'( Wednesdays are horribly hectic here. I will write this day on my calendar for next week!
I think of Jesus when He told the parable of the sower. Jesus never actually COMPELLED anyone, not in the way we think of to today-- but He made the line very, very clear and perhaps this was the forceful part.
Nor did the disciples; they spread the news and allowed the Holy Ghost to compel, through the prickings of the people's own consciences. Perhaps the sower sowing the seed is a good parable to remember (and that sower only had a 25% return rate).
I also remember Paul's words: Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. I don't think Paul was afraid of the Lord's terror for himself, but the terror for those who refused to be persuaded. And James exhorted us to pluck people from the fire.
Anyway, every individual is different. But the Holy Spirit is the one who does the work, and, who technically does the compelling through the work of the conscience. And everyone has his own ministry- prayer, faith, healings, teachings, etc-- you know-- what every joint supplies. :D We Christians must do our part to obey the Spirit but we also must be wary of making the very mission a god.
Good post. Thanks.
Thanks for stopping by, Mrs. M. You sound like me with a calendar - if it's not written down, it doesn't happen! Hope you can do it this week.
The parable of the sower is a good analogy, and brings to mind something else that God's written on my heart over the last year or two: Jesus didn't force anyone. He let the rich, young ruler walk away. The father in the prodigal son didn't go chasing after his kid, trying to convince him to change his mind. He even gave him his inheritance to send him on his way!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and stay tuned. I believe I have "the rest of the story" for this Wednesday. :)
Post a Comment