Closing With Christ

By / Feb 3

When modern evangelical churches seek to bring the unregenerate to Christ (and they should do so with passion), they often fall prey to a formula which produces disappointing results. The pattern runs something like this:

  • Extending a public altar call
  • Praying “the sinner’s prayer”
  • Giving immediate verbal assurance that one is in Christ on the basis of the sinner’s sincerity and the accuracy of the wording of the prayer
  • Immediate, or near immediate, public announcement that this person is now in Christ
  • Public baptism as a symbol of death to sin and life in Christ

This pattern has been passed down and repeated because few are taking the necessary time to examine both its flight from Scriptural precedent and precept and its dismal effect. When asked to give more careful consideration to its content and outcome, however, we are finding that many, thankfully, are rejecting this inept structure in favor of a better, more biblical one. The above list will seem familiar to every soul-loving believer, but the very evangelistic passion we have for our neighbors and unconverted family members should drive us to lay our present methods up against the truth for a well-needed examination. Like the short-of-breath fifty-year-old who has never been to the doctor, it is time for a major check-up. What then is wrong with the above list?

First, there is no biblical precedent or command regarding a public altar call. Whatever might be said for its use, we cannot resort to the Bible for support. Jesus nor Paul, nor any other early Christian leader used it. Did Jesus ask his listeners to come to the front after He preached the Sermon on the Mount? Did Paul say, “Every head bowed, every eye closed” as Luke quietly sang the invitation hymn on the Areopagus? Did Peter have seekers raise their hands as a sign of their interest in Christ at the end of the Pentecostal sermon?

Quickly it must be said that I espouse a verbal call to Christ in a most serious way and believe that the spoken invitation to come to Christ is a part of all gospel preaching. We “compel them to come in.” When Moody failed to offer a public altar call on the evening of the Chicago fire, he stated a new resolve: “I learned that night [a lesson] which I have never forgotten; and that is, when I preach, to press Christ upon the people then and there, and try to bring them to a decision on the spot. I would rather have that right hand cut off than to give an audience a week now to decide what to do with Jesus.” I could not agree more with his underlying sentiment, but this does not argue for an altar call. Evangelistic preaching does say, “Repent and trust Christ now.” But there is nothing sacrosanct about getting people to occupy a certain piece of geography at the front of a building. Nor have I kept them from Christ by not having them respond to a public altar call. Rather I am offering them Christ without anything in between. I want nothing between their soul and the reality of Christ’s offer. To put something in between is a practical sacramentalism.

Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) popularized this method through his mourner’s bench. There was a person here or there that used it in an occasional manner prior to him, but he put it on the map. Reacting to Finneyism’s ineptness, theologian Dabney commented:

We have come to coolly accept the fact that forty-five out of fifty will eventually apostatize [fall away].

On the other side of Finney was the veteran evangelist Asahel Nettleton (d. 1844), whose converts stood. For instance, in Ashford, Connecticut there were eighty-two converts, and only three spurious ones. In Rocky Hill, Connecticut, there were eighty-six converts and they all were standing strong after twenty-six years, according to their pastor. Nettleton rigidly refused to offer public altar calls, believing that it prematurely reaped what would turn out to be false converts. C. H. Spurgeon, the Victorian “Prince of Preachers,” thought similarly. The long-term history is consistent on this issue; you may and should examine it.

Attached to the altar call (and to personal evangelism) in this model is the use of “the sinner’s prayer.” What can be said about this? Is it found in the Bible? The sad truth is that it is not found anywhere but in the back of evangelistic booklets. Yes, the Scripture says, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” but this means to evoke or place confidence in the name of Christ. The sinner may express genuine faith through prayer, but to pray such a prayer is not the essence of the required response to the gospel invitation.

The typical “sinner’s prayer” as evangelicals have come to express it, has three elements: (1) a mere acknowledgment of sin, which is not the same as repentance, (2) a belief in the act of Christ’s death, which is far removed from trust in his person and work, and, (3) an “inviting Christ into the life.” The last phrase hangs on nothing biblical (though John 1: 12 and Rev. 3: 20 are used, out of context, for its basis). It is considered, nonetheless, to be the pivotal and necessary instrument for becoming a true Christian. But God commands us to repentingly believe, not to invite Christ into the life.

Following the above, immediate assurance is given to the one who prayed on the basis of the sincerity of the person and the accuracy of the prayer. But it is the Holy Spirit who gives assurance of life in Christ, not the evangelist (Rom. 8: 16). We are to relate the basis of assurance but leave the actual assuring to the Spirit. This is rarely practiced in modern evangelicalism. Rather we prefer to take the place of the Spirit in assuring the pray-er and therefore seal many in deception. It is not the efficacy of a prayer that saves; Christ alone saves. The well-quoted passage on assurance, 1 Jn. 5:13 states: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” “These things…written” are the tests in the rest of the letter which give a basis to determine if we are truly converted.

In many cases, the next step is to publicly introduce the one who has prayed the sinner’s prayer and has just been told that he or she is a Christian. I have cringed to find that some leaders turn around after five minutes of “Just as I Am” and announce that the persons coming forward are converted. Sometimes the person has not been known to the pastor until that moment! Regardless, his optimism is often not founded, since extremely high numbers of these never show any competent sign of being converted. I am not intimating that people cannot be saved immediately, but that our early acceptance of the persons coming forward has often led us to “eat our words” about their new life in Christ.

Finally, there is the last stage of public baptism. It is interesting to note that in much of evangelicalism which is Baptistic, the number supposedly “being saved” and those being baptized is vastly different. If a hundred were purportedly converted during some sort of evangelistic effort, then we might not baptize but thirty of them. But out the thirty, as seen among Southern Baptists as an illustration, statistically only ten or eleven of those thirty (34 %) would show up on a given Sunday morning and only four or five (12%) on a Sunday evening (in churches that have services at that time). They do not really love the brethren or the atmosphere of godliness. All of these, however, have prayed the prayer, walked the aisle, been told they are Christians by someone in authority, and were publicly declared to be such.

Would it not be better for a system to be re-instated which comes closer to recognizing only the smaller number of true Christians? Is it love for the lost that will perpetuate practices producing such damning deception in so many—or is it merely love for success? Or should we assume that most leaders have simply gone on with “business as usual” without ever thinking it through at all? I prefer to believe the latter is true in most cases. Whatever the motive, however, those deceived on our rolls are still damned.

The more biblical way of “closing with Christ” is to focus on the gospel itself, without props. Whereas the altar call method can be tacked on to just about anything, no matter how absent the gospel, the biblical method demands the hearing of the Word. “How will they believe without a preacher.”(Rom. 10: 14). It is the “by the will of God that they are begotten, through the Word of truth” (Jam. 1:18, emphasis mine). They are “born again…through the living and abiding Word of God” (1 Pet. 1: 23, emphasis mine).

It is interesting to note that the Bible account focuses attention on the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, and his life and work when presenting the gospel to those who do not believe. There is virtually no explanation of the nature of repentance and faith; merely its mention seems to be enough. Why is that so? It is because of this wonderful reality. When the Word is preached and the Spirit is at work, the sinner is brought to conviction of sin and he cannot love his sin anymore. He must repent. And when the Word presents Christ as the only hope and the Spirit is at work in the sinner, he sees no refuge for his soul but Christ. He must believe. Where else could he possibly go?

What about those passages that deal with the nature of repentance and faith in detail? Those passages are there for the presumptuous. The Epistle of First John, James, and many other portions help the professing believer understand the nature of faith to test the quality of the faith he says he has. But on the main, evangelism, after laying out the awfulness of man and his sin and the consequence and offense against God, focuses its gaze on Christ and His work on behalf of sinners. And the people simply believe. There is no emphasis on anything else. They just believe—no laboring of mechanics or methods or perfectly worded prayers, or walks to the front. They believe because it is all they can do.

The New Tribes Mission has been instrumental in giving us the best of missiological tools in their chronological approach to working with tribal groups. They teach the Bible from its beginning, laying out each story in sequence without revealing what is beyond that point. When they come to Christ, they do not present the gospel in its doctrinal entirety until it comes in the passage. In other words, they leave the person to experience the New Testament as it was experienced by those closest to Christ. In their video depiction of a tribal group in this process, the day to explain Christ’s death comes. To the man, the New Guinea tribe visibly shows its sense of shame and remorse for the crucified Master. Three days are given before the group returns. Then the resurrection is explained. In the midst of the presentation, an older man jumps to his feet and loudly exclaims, “Ee-Taow,” or “I believe.” Others stand with the same exclamation, though this tribal group is normally reserved in their expressions. In time the whole tribe is chanting “Ee-Taow, Ee-Toaw,” and jumping up and down. This went on for an extended period of rejoicing. A tribe was re-born in a day!

Such a response, with varying degrees of emotion, is the nature of believing in the New Testament. It was entirely incidental whether anyone prayed a “sinner’s prayer” or walked to another place to take someone’s hand. The powerful Word had encountered the people through the invincible Holy Spirit. This is New Testament evangelism.

You may not agree with my assessment, but it is my contention that our use of the altar call and the accouterment of a “sinner’s prayer” is a sign of our lack of trust in God. Do we really believe that the Spirit convicts and regenerates and that His Gospel preached and read is the ordained means He uses? Surely there is nothing unbiblical or non-evangelistic about the man who preaches the gospel forthrightly, prays earnestly, appeals urgently, and places his entire trust in God to do what only He can do.

Editor’s Note: This originally published at Christian Communicators Worldwide.



The Hope of Holiness

By / Jan 27

Amidst the glorious glow of heaven, reflections of lightning and fire glisten against a glassy sea as deep roars of thunder echo behind the perpetual anthem, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev 4:8). This small glimpse of the magnitude of God’s holiness inspires reverence, showing the God who created all things is set apart from humanity. Yet John, the same man who in the Holy Spirit penned the description of God’s dwelling place, also says, “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). In a world where love has such a broad definition it has become meaningless and a culture where holiness is not valued, what hope is there for the believer to pursue growth in godliness?

First, we must acknowledge humanity’s nature lacks love and holiness due to sin. In Genesis 3, God curses Adam and Eve when they disobey His command and eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At that moment, “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom 5:12). Romans 3:23 further clarifies: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Being unlike God and totally depraved in nature, humans are naturally inclined to love the sin that enslaves them rather than the holiness of God.

What hope does fallen humanity have to taste true love and holiness? To restore the relationship with love and holiness Himself?

The only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of God, who alone can rescue and restore them to Himself. God, being rich in mercy and instigating love, chooses to bring His children into right relationship with Himself through the eternally begotten Son’s absorption of the wrath of God in his crucifixion and death (Rom 8:3, 24-26).” In redemption through Christ, God grants holiness. In Christ, God grants Himself.

The words of Christ in John 17:22-23 communicate the lavish heart of God for people to partake in the holy love existent in the Trinity before the foundation of the world:

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

It is by grace, not by need, God invites humanity to partake of His love. God graciously provides His own Son that believers might cherish “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor 13:14). The Lord provides His children not only with a forgiven past and secure eternal future, but with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit to enable growth in love and holiness in the present.

God’s demonstration of love and holiness extends into His design of sanctification, the process of growth for the Christian. Love poured into the hearts of believers through the Holy Spirit allows sanctification to flourish as they rejoice in suffering, continue in endurance, and experience the blossoming of character and hope (Rom 5:3-5).

The outflow of God’s holy love may be traced through every facet of how He has designed the universe, crafted time, and worked in His Creation. Ultimately, God ordains humankind to delight in His love and holiness in Christ’s accomplishment of redemption, the sanctification of His children, and eternal glorification of Himself.

Take heart, believer. You did not earn God’s love and you cannot lose it. When the world whispers a promise of fulfillment apart from Christ, the call of Christ bids you find freedom in obedience to your holy Lord. This God holds you in His love, invites you to behold His holiness, and promises, by His power alone, you will be transformed by both.

*This was originally submitted as a portion of a paper for a theology class at MBTS



Spurgeon, Atonement, and Your Life in Christ

By / Jan 14

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892), the famed “prince of preachers,” navigated his life by the reality of the living Christ, the influence of the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God. Even though he grew up in a Christian household, he did not come to faith in Christ until he wandered into a Primitive Methodist Chapel in 1849. Here, he experienced the power of God through Isaiah 45:22—“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!” He believed upon the Lord Jesus, and his life was radically changed.

For Spurgeon, the atoning work of Jesus illuminated and enlivened his piety towards a faith marked by good works, and he emphasized the centrality of the cross in our union with Christ, union with one another, and our mission in this life.

Communion with Christ

Spurgeon understood the Christian faith to be built solely upon the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith in the atoning work of Christ brought communion with Christ. Jesus is the federal head, and “every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since he is the second Adam, the sponsor and substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love.”[1] This unity with the Lord was neither a mystical experience nor an intellectual ascent. It was a life-giving reality that transformed the life of the believer.

Spurgeon believed our union to Christ was all-encompassing. Spurgeon wrote, “We have communion with Christ in His thoughts, views, and purposes, for His thoughts are our thoughts according to our capacity and sanctity. Believers take the same view of matters as Jesus does; that which pleases Him pleases them and that which grieves Him grieves them also.”[2] Unity with Christ directed the life of the believer.

This led Spurgeon to conform his views on cultural issues to the Scriptures. When advocating for the abolishment of the slave trade, he said, “I do from my inmost soul detest slavery anywhere and everywhere, and although I commune at the Lord’s table with men of all creeds, yet with a slaveholder I have no fellowship of any sort or kind.”[3] His experience with the gospel of Jesus Christ altered all of life, even how he navigated controversial issues of the day.

Ultimately for Spurgeon, union with Christ means “Christ is our life.” Spurgeon said as much in his devotion Morning by Morning. He wrote,

Christ is the object of our life. As speeds the ship toward the port, so hastens the believer toward the haven of his Savior’s bosom. As flies the arrow to its goal, so flies the Christian toward the perfecting of his fellowship with Christ Jesus. As the soldier fights for his captain and is crowned in his captain’s victory, so the believer contends for Christ and gets his triumph out of the triumphs of his Master. For him to live is Christ. Christ is the exemplar of our life. Where there is the same life within, there will, there must be, to a great extent the same developments without, and if we live in near fellowship with the Lord Jesus, we shall grow like Him. We shall set Him before us as our divine copy, and we shall seek to tread in His footsteps, until He shall become the crown of our life in glory. Oh! How safe, how honored, how happy is the Christian, since Christ is our life![4]

Communion with the Saints

Spurgeon believed the atoning work of Christ not only united him to God but also connected him to the people of God—the church. Like today, there were many views regarding the church in Spurgeon’s era. He described this, saying,

There are various estimates of the Christian church. Some think everything of her; some think nothing of her; and probably neither opinion is worth the breath which utters it. Neither Ritualists, who idolise their church, nor sceptics, who vilify all churches, have any such knowledge of the true spiritual church of Jesus Christ as to be entitled to give an opinion. The king’s daughter is all glorious within, with a beauty which they are quite unable to appreciate.[5]

Spurgeon found the true church to be all together beautiful because of its connection to Jesus Christ. This was made possible through Christ’s atoning sacrifice. In fact, the atonement is the “conquering truth” for the Christian and the banner that the church carries!

Spurgeon emphasized the true identity and name of the church. It is the “church of the living God.” The significance is obvious. Spurgeon could not move past the reality of the life of God and the believer’s life in the living Christ.  He wrote,

The church is not a number of unregenerate people coming together entirely of their own notion to defend such and such dogmas. Such persons may form a club, but they cannot make a church. There must be a coming together of renewed men, in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and these must meet for purposes which God himself ordains, and be joined together after his own fashion. Jesus must be the uniting corner stone, and his Spirit the indwelling power….[6]

Jesus, through his life, death, and resurrection, builds and unites his people for his glorious purposes.

Mission in the World

Spurgeon also found the cross of Christ at the center of the mission of God’s people. The cross offered the evangelistic power necessary to see lives radically transformed. Christ and his atoning work are the magnetic power to soften hearts and to reorient lives. He wrote,

Not in his robes of glory does he subdue the heart, but in his vestments of shame…. The crown of thorns has a royal power in it to compel a willing allegiance, the scepter of reed breaks hearts better than a rod of iron, and the robe of mockery commands more love than Caesar’s imperial purple. There is nothing like it under heaven.[7]

Spurgeon knew that this power—the power of the cross of Christ—led the people of God to be on mission for God. This began at home but extended to the nations. “Conversion,” he wrote, “should begin with those who are nearest to us in ties of relationships.”[8] While we may set our eyes on India or Africa, Spurgeon would say look first to your own home and pray for those who are far off. In the end, “[W]hen we have proved our God by prayer, He will pour down such a blessing that we shall not have room to receive it.”

Gospel Power

Ultimately, Christians must remember the gospel is “a thing of power.” It unites us to Christ; it brings us into a new family; it sends us on mission. The gospel is “Christ, the power of God.”[9]

Endnotes

[1] From “Bands of Love: or, Union to Christ,” Sword and the Trowel (September 1865), 374-75. Cited in Nathan A. Finn and Aaron Lumpkin, The Sum and Substance of the Gospel: The Christ-Centered Piety of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (Reformation Heritage, 2020), 37.

[2] From “Communion with Christ and His People,” Sword and the Trowel (February 1883), 54. Cited in Nathan A. Finn and Aaron Lumpkin, The Sum and Substance of the Gospel: The Christ-Centered Piety of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (Reformation Heritage, 2020), 91.

[3] Charles H. Spurgeon, “A Letter to the Editors of the Christian Watchman and Reflector” (Boston, January 26, 1860).

[4] From “August 10,” Morning by Morning, 207–8.

[5] From “The Church As She Should Be,” MTP 17, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/the-church-as-she-should-be/#flipbook/.

[6] From “What the Church Should Be,” MTP 24, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/what-the-church-should-be/#flipbook/.

[7] From The Passion and Death of Our Lord, in A Treasury of Spurgeon on the Life and Work of Our Lord, 6vv. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), 6:365.

[8] From Word of Counsel for Christian Workers (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 10–12.

[9] From “Christ Crucified,” New Park Street Pulpit, (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1856), 1:57.

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared at the blog for Credo Magazine and is used with permission.



Will Democracy Survive in the United States?

By / Jan 13

Carl F.H. Henry’s 1996 book Has Democracy Had Its Day? is a provocative and helpful reflection on American democracy as he considers its future in an era when the Christian faith has been shoved to the side in favor of highly individualized moral autonomy. Since Henry’s death in 2003, the dramatic shift away from moral consensus has accelerated and moved rapidly towards a nearly despotic emphasis on highly privatized views of sexuality and gender.  Again we ask, “Has democracy had its day?”

Henry broadly defines democracy as “a form of government predicated on human liberty and human equality. It involves rule by the people, either directly or representatively.”[1] Though this definition is helpful, it doesn’t address the various forms of democracy.  Democracy is a collective term for a wide variety of governments, including radical and moderate democracies.[2] One very important distinction in democracy’s various forms is the difference between federal and unitary democracies. The United States is a federal democracy meaning power has been divided between the central government and the constituent states. In contrast, Great Britain, for example, is a unitary democracy in which constitutional authority lies in the hands of the central government and the administrative divisions only exercise powers delegated by the central government. The Tenth Amendment says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Many debates about American democracy focused on the Tenth Amendment, centering on where the power of the central government ends and that of the states begin.  For good or ill, the United States Federal government has collected more power to itself and the areas left to the states continues to shrink. 

In the American context, defending a strong sense of a federal democracy reminds many people of the tragic memory of “states’ rights” opposition to federally mandated desegregation.  The systemic racism of Jim Crow laws illustrates a weakness of a federal model in which states denied constitutionally protected rights to citizens. At the same time, a Federal judiciary that seems reluctant to restrain its use of power to rule in favor of the progressive left on profound moral issues – such as abortion or gay marriage – illustrates the danger of an over-reaching central government.  Considering the strengths and weaknesses of democracy, one is reminded of G. K. Chesterton’s comment, “Seemingly from the dawn of man all nations have had governments, and all nations have been ashamed of them.”[3] All this to say, if democracy does survive in the United States, it may possibly be with a model that functions more like a unitary democracy with a centralized, statist power.

Discussing the future of democracy must also be placed squarely in the context of the Biblical purposes of government and the forms of government used to achieve these purposes.  At least three primary purposes for government emerge from Scripture. First, government provides order instead of chaos. The Christian doctrine of government presupposes the twin doctrines held in tension that mankind is both made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26 – 28) and is simultaneously fallen and capable of unspeakable horrors (Romans 3:23).  Because of man’s sinful nature, government is necessary to provide order and prevent descent into the anarchy of gang rule and oppression.  Two other purposes for government clearly emerge from Romans 13:1 – 7 and 1 Peter 2:13 – 17: Government exists to promote good and restrain evil.

Secularists have forged a distorted version of separation of church and state into the public psyche, convincing people that religion is intensely private and religiously motivated ideas are not welcome in public discourse. If democracy is to survive, we must convince our non-believing friends that this wrong-headed version of the separation of church and state may get them what they want in the short run – silencing Christians – but in the long run if the government can silence one group, other dissident groups had best beware as well.  A vibrant, lively open market place of ideas protects basic rights for believers and non-believers as well. A nation that says it believes in freedom of religion but does not want religions to have free speech has a confused understanding of religious liberty foreign to the American founders’ intent.

While the purposes of government are clear in Scripture, the Bible does not specifically tell us which form of government should be implemented. Henry said, “It is noteworthy that Christianity stipulates no one permanent form of government in the name of divine revelation.”[4] Henry’s point granted, democracy holds the greatest potential to show proper deference to Biblical warnings about human tyranny. Winston Churchill gives the right perspective when he said that “democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” 

A democracy with a citizenry whose conscience is informed by Biblical categories offers the best chance for ensuring basic liberties and self-correcting abuses; a democracy with a citizenry whose conscience lacks Divine accountability will soon descend into something undemocratic. The greatest danger for democracy is that the people themselves will lose any sense of morality, and then democracy becomes a blunt instrument to force the most immoral ideas off on a reluctant minority. In Democracy in American¸ De Tocqueville said, “Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot,” and he then added, “And what can be done with a people which is its own master, if it be not submissive to the Divinity?”[5]

For any preacher or church concerned about passing on liberty and democracy to the next generation, the most important thing you can do is share the Gospel with as many people as possible and teach your congregation to be soul-winners. For democracy to be effective, the populace must be able to practice a degree of moral self-control.  The most certain way for moral restraint to pervade in republic is for men and women to be born again, and when they are saved, one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control.

[1] Carl F.H. Henry, Has Democracy Had Its Day? (Nashville: ERLC Publications, 1996), 1.

[2] Manfred G. Schmidt, “Political Performance and Types of Democracy: Findings from Comparative Studies,” European Journal of Political Research 41 (2002): 147.

[3] Gilbert K. Chesterton, What’s Wrong With The World? (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1912), 198.

[4] Carl F. H. Henry, Has Democracy Had Its Day? (Nashville, TN: ERLC Publications, 1996), 3.

[5] Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 357.



He Leads for His Sake

By / Jan 13

Part of our problem with God in the midst of difficulty is that we continue believing that our lives are all about us. And when we turn inwardly, becoming preoccupied with self, we quickly spiral into fear and anxiety.

But, Psalm 23:3 says, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

Here, the Lord frees us from our deadly self-centered trajectory through the reminder that God’s work in our lives is for his name’s sake. Your present circumstances exist for the same reason the whole universe exists—for Christ (Col 1:16). This is freeing because no matter what is happening, we can believe and confess that the Lord reigns by himself and for himself, and in that scheme because he is a good shepherd, we are the beneficiaries. When we cease to be the point of our lives and turn to the Shepherd for meaning and security instead, it’s like stepping out of winter into the warm spring sun.

The question then is, Is the Lord the one leading you, or are you still wandering around, looking for your own comfort and restoration? Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27) Psalm 23 is a reminder of provision for those who follow Jesus, but there is also an invitation here for you to turn away from trying to go it alone even if you’ve never believed, or if you’ve been faking it your whole life.

And when you turn from leading yourself, to His leading—no matter what is happening in the world—that is where a true life of freedom begins.

Editor’s Note: This originally published at Christian Communicators Worldwide.



Money: The Most Complicated Part of Missions

By / Jan 11

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10

Without a doubt, financial issues are the most stressful aspect of missionary work for the average Western missionary. Consider the following:

  • In 2012, if someone made $34,000 per year, they were among the 1% of the planet’s highest salary earners. 
  • In 2020, the average income in the United States is $63,051 (IMF estimates). Therefore, the average American is in the global 1%
  • In 2020, the average income in India is $1,877 (IMF estimates).

Many Western missionaries come from middle-class homes. However, upon arrival in South Asia, they are relatively wealthy compared to most South Asians. In a country like India or Pakistan, income inequality is much broader than in the United States. When a Westerner arrives, he is confronted by poverty on a level he has never seen.

The problem is even more pronounced when particular states are examined. For example, the per capita income among the 220 million people of Uttar Pradesh is $972 per year or half of India’s national average. Uttar Pradesh is also home to some affluent areas, such as Noida and Lucknow. There are even some billionaires in Uttar Pradesh that pull this average up significantly. The result is that the average resident of Uttar Pradesh is poor on a level that the average American cannot understand without first experiencing it.

As Westerner missionaries encounter this poverty, many issues collide in their hearts and minds. Here are a few of them.

The Bible commands followers of Jesus to care for the poor. Here are a few verses that we missionaries wrestle with almost daily.

  • “Give to everyone who asks you.” Luke 6:30
  • “They only asked that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.” Gal 2:10
  • “If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,’ but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?” James 2:15-16

Just as Paul was eager to help the poor (Gal 2:10), the average missionary is filled with compassion regarding the human tragedy surrounding them. We want to help! Moreover, Scripture commands us to help.

In our countries of service, we missionaries are the rich. When we move overseas, we have to wrestle with verses like these for the first time in our lives.

  • “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”Matthew 19:23-24
  • “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort.” Luke 6:24
  • “But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction.” 1 Timothy 6:9

Personally, I never considered myself to be rich before moving to South Asia. However, I also remember having a roof over my head, decent clothes, and eating three meals a day. We had a refrigerator in our kitchen as well as an air conditioner and heater in our home. I slept in a comfortable bed and had enough money to take my wife out for a nice meal. Sometimes my wife and I shared one car, but other times we each had our own vehicle. In South Asia, these are all signs of wealth. 

At one point, we moved into a middle-class neighborhood in South Asia. We installed one of the first air conditioners in our community to manage the hot South Asian summers. Our little apartment cost $70 USD but was nice compared to many of our new friends. 

At the same time, whenever we go back to visit family in the United States, we switch from being rich to being dependent upon others. We have no home nor car in the United States. Everything in the United States is costly in comparison to our South Asian home.

We feel guilt when we enjoy comforts that were normal to us growing up. When I take my family to McDonalds here (which is a special treat!), we usually spend about $10-12 USD. From an American perspective, this is a minimal amount. From a rural Indian perspective, this is enough money to feed a family with rice and beans for a few weeks. Often, I have a hard time enjoying such extravagance while thinking about a friend who may or may not have food for their family. More than one night, I have laid awake in bed, looking at the air conditioner pumping cool air into my bedroom, wondering why I should have the luxury of this device when most of my friends do not. Likewise, I sometimes feel guilty when going to the doctor. I know that my insurance will pay for my bills, while others that I know are praying for God to take care of their medical needs. They are not going to the doctor simply because they lack enough money. Why should I get decent medical care when they cannot? All that I have is simply because of God’s sovereign choice. I could just as easily have been born into a poor family in rural Uttar Pradesh.

I grew up in the most comfortable country in the history of the world. The kings of ancient times would have been jealous if they knew the comforts that Americans experience today. For example, the average American sleeps in a comfortable bed in a temperature-controlled home. The contrast is stark when I stay in rural areas in South Asia. Once I attended a meeting in a village with about a hundred people. I wondered where we would all sleep that night. In the evening, they put out bedsheets on the concrete roof of the church building. There was no pad and no pillow. We each had a bedsheet on a concrete slab. To say the least, I had a poor night of sleep. However, for the South Asians around me, this was normal. A few days later, when I got back to my bed, I felt both grateful and guilty.

It is confusing to know when to help others and when not to help. Today, I have the following requests in front of me. One man is asking me to help him pay for his children’s school fees. If their school does not receive payment in the next five days, his children will be kicked out. Another person is asking for help with a CT scan to understand why they are having chronic headaches. Yet another friend is asking for money to help meet their societal obligations for a relative’s wedding. On top of this, I am helping two brothers in Christ start small businesses that I am hopeful will help make them self-sustaining in the long run. Also, some believers in rural areas have been telling me that they are low on food.  I know dozens of others who are in genuine need who have not asked.

In light of all of these requests, a few things are clear. First, I am incapable of meeting the needs of everyone who asks me. Second, a dependency problem exists among many South Asian Christians. Dependency means that many Christians are dependent on outsiders to meet their needs rather than being locally sustaining and independent. Let me share how this works. Imagine a foreigner begins working with a South Asian Christian. The two of them become like brothers, which leads the foreigner to share more and more financially with his friend. He helps his friend get a better home and pays for his children to attend a better school. The South Asian believer quickly becomes dependent on the foreigner to sustain their new lifestyle. Compared to the foreigner, they are still living on a low-income level. However, it is beyond the South Asian believer’s capacity. Now imagine that the foreigner has to go back to his home country for any reason. After a few months or a few years, the funds stop coming to this South Asian believer. Now he is in a crisis, unable to pay the rent at his home and afford to put his children in the new school. So, what does he do? The South Asian believer looks for another foreign income source!

We want to leave healthy churches and ministries in South Asia. The vision of our work is “No Cousins Left.” This vision means that we want to see local ownership of the core missionary task. When we define local ownership, we tend to think of four aspects of this local ownership:

  • Self-propagating. Local ownership means that local ministries and leaders are propagating the gospel themselves. They are making disciples, planting churches, and developing leaders rather than depending on outsiders to do so.
  • Self-governing. Local ownership means that local ministries and leaders are led by local leaders. Outsiders are not making decisions for the group.
  • Self-funding. Local ownership means that local ministries and leaders are financially independent and take care of the ministry’s financial needs locally.
  • Self-theologizing. Local ownership means that local ministries and leaders study the Scriptures themselves under the Holy Spirit’s guidance to determine truth. Their theology is not being dictated from the outside.

If we think about these four aspects, it quickly becomes apparent that “self-funding” is a core issue. For example, we know that ultimately whoever pays the bills is the one holding the authority. If the person paying the bills is not happy, then they will withhold their financial help. Therefore, whoever is paying makes many of the decisions about strategy and theology. As a result, if a church is not self-funding, it is also not self-governing, nor is it self-theologizing. 

Imagine a South Asian leader was being paid to focus on Muslim ministry. While the support continues, it is easy for them to continue this focus on Muslim ministry. They are afraid to leave Muslim ministry since this would cause a loss in their support. The result is that they are led less by the Holy Spirit than they are by an outside donor. Now imagine this external support ceases. If they want to continue in Muslim ministry, they struggle to determine how to do so without support. Imagine that they are having trouble paying their bills a few months later. Someone comes and offers them a salary for translation work or radio ministry or something else. Seeing their family’s needs, they eagerly take this new role while trying to continue in Muslim ministry on the side. After a few years, their passion for Muslim ministry is squeezed out by their employer’s new emphasis.

We want to be wise in our giving. The above just scratches the surface of the issues related to money in missions. Missionaries are usually burdened for the poor. Missionaries are often filled with compassion and want to help. However, missionaries are also often thinking through all of the questions related to money above. 

On top of these issues, most South Asians and most Westerners have a vastly different approach to money. In his book, African Friends and Money Matters, David Maranz shared a great deal of wisdom about how Westerners and Africans differ in their approach to finances. A few years ago, I read through this book with one of my good South Asian friends. He was shocked at how Westerners think about money. I was also shocked to learn about how South Asians think about money! While this book was written for African and not South Asia, it is amazingly applicable. I highly recommend this book for understanding two divergent perspectives on money. These divergent perspectives on money often lead to significant misunderstandings.  

For example, I knew a Westerner who was starting a business with a South Asian partner. The Westerner was leaving to go back to his home country for a few months, so he gave around $10,000 of cash to his South Asian partner. There was a highly developed business plan for these funds to get the business started while the foreigner was abroad. However, once the foreigner left, the South Asian man’s extended family came to him and pressured him to use large portions of these funds for weddings and other needs. Because of how social pressure and finances work in South Asia, this man gave most of this $10,000 to these needs. When the foreigner found out, he was angry and felt betrayed. This event ended the relationship between these two men. The foreigner ended up moving back to America. The South Asian partner never became involved with ministry again. One of the core issues was that the foreigner involved had no idea how money works in South Asia.

In the end, what should missionaries do regarding money? Let me give five of my convictions.

  1. Be frugal. While most missionaries are “rich” when they come to South Asia, it is best to moderate spending on their personal needs. 
  2. Be generous. Missionaries should model 1 Timothy 6:18-19, “Instruct the rich to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.” 
  3. Be wise. Missionaries should seek to invest money into developing others so that they are self-sustaining after the missionary leaves. Care should be taken not to create dependency but to use their finances to build others so that they become strong and independent. One good book on this subject is When Helping Hurts.
  4. Be Spirit-led. Missionaries should be wary of depending on their own wisdom regarding finances. Instead, they should pray and consult with other godly men and women to make Spirit-led decisions.
  5. Be forgiving. If we are generous, sometimes we will be cheated. Some people will lie to us or deceive us to get money for something else. Sometimes, the money will get used in a way other than our intention. When this happens, we need to forgive. One big key is not to trust anyone with more money than you can lose. Then as trust grows through experience with that person, you can entrust them with more money.  

In the end, remember that “we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out” (1 Tim 6:7). Money is a temporary part of this life that will not be part of eternity. Let us seek to glorify God with the money that He entrusts to us.



Remembering God’s Faithfulness in the Face of a Detour

By / Jan 8

Traffic stood still. That’s never a good thing when you’re traversing the Pennsylvania Turnpike. After thirty minutes without moving, curiosity began to take over. Drivers turned off their ignitions and shed their seat belts in search of fresh air and accident information. The guy behind me walked forward and a conversation ensued. Over the next three hours, he poured out his story of pain, loss, and disappointment. I shared how Christ answers the deepest longings of the heart. I hope he heard me. Four hours later, traffic began to inch forward. I shifted into drive, marveling at how God fills unexpected detours with kingdom purpose. 

In 2 Samuel 6, we meet David as the prophet Samuel anoints him king. Samuel had asked Jesse, David’s father, to gather his sons. There were eight boys altogether but only seven were invited to the anointing party. David was left out in the fields because Jesse assumed that God would never choose a ruddy shepherd boy. But the truth is that God loves to take the least likely—the least likely people and the least likely moments—and use them to magnify his strength.  

After he was anointed, David was phenomenal. He slew Goliath and dominated in battle. After David’s victories, a new song hit the top of the charts in Israel, “Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands” (1 Sam. 18:7). When King Saul heard the crowds singing for young David, he was enraged with jealousy. He attacked David and sent him fleeing for his life. The future king and great warrior became a fugitive. He was constantly on the run and ended up living in a cave. David had been a rising star, but he became a fleeing felon with hit squads trying to track him down. 

It was a major detour; more significant by far than being stuck in traffic on the Turnpike. David was lonely, despairing, afflicted, and in need of deliverance. But from that place of desolation, he prayed Psalm 57: 

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah. God will send out his steadfast love and faithfulness (Ps. 57:2–3). 

In that moment of desolation, David looked to the past and said, “God, you’ve been faithful before, and you’ll be faithful again.” Later the apostle Paul would echo the same sentiment. In the midst of his own tragic detour he wrote, “He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (2 Cor. 1:10).

How about you? Do you trust God’s faithfulness to deliver again in the midst of your daily detours? Perhaps you feel it now each time you leave your home: the great unknown awaits out in public. Masked faces populate public places, reminding us that we’re not in Kansas anymore. Restrictions are being lifted, but the coronavirus remains present. There are risks that are punctuated each time the press reports a small outbreak. Where do you look in the midst of this unexpected reality? What shall we say to these things? 

Follow David and Paul’s example of faith. Look to the ways God has delivered in the past: “If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:31–32) What father wouldn’t run to his kids in their moment of weakness? Whatever detours you’re facing—tribulation or distress, pandemic or persecution, you can have confidence that your God is present with you. He has delivered at the cross, and he will be faithful to deliver again. You may even find that he’s given you a gospel opportunity in the midst of a detour. 

Editor’s Note: This originally published at RevDaveHarvey.com



Keeping Your Lamp Ready for Christ’s Return

By / Jan 7

In ancient Israel, when a man and a woman were to be married, they first were bound by a year-long betrothal, during which the husband and wife were legally joined, but the marriage was not consummated. Everyone knew when the year was up, the groom would, with much fanfare, return to the bride’s home and take her with him to the house he had prepared for her.

No one knew when the groom would return. It was his father who gave the go-ahead, and while the bride waited, she readied herself. She kept her bags packed and her lamp ready to go with an ample supply of oil. Unpreparedness would have implied complacency and lack of honor to the groom. For the couple, the betrothal year was spent in joyous and eager anticipation. 

We Are His Bride

In his parable of the ten virgins, Jesus used this imagery to describe the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 25:1-13). Waiting for the groom involved the bride and her attendants keeping an ample supply of oil to trim their lamps, in the event the groom returned at night. Dark lamps meant being shut out of the celebration. Dark lamps resulted in being left in the dark.

Throughout the gospels, Jesus used marriage as an allegory for his relationship to his church. Here, the church refers to the global body of followers of Jesus Christ, not a religious institution. If you believe that you are a sinner in need of a savior, and that Savior is Jesus Christ, you are his bride. 

The Promise of His Coming

More than two thousand years have passed since Jesus told that parable. His bride is still waiting. Many are asking the church, “Where is this messiah of yours? I think you may be mistaken.” I admit, more than once, I have been tempted to ask the same thing.

But Jesus is coming back. Based on the hundreds of prophecies and promises in the Bible that have already been fulfilled, there is no reason to believe otherwise.

So, how’s your lamp?

Five Ways to Keep Our Lamps Trimmed

John Piper describes the lamp as the trappings of Christianity— what some might call religion. “I go to church. I carry a Bible. I pray before meals. I try to keep the Ten Commandments.” The oil, Piper says, is “life, faith, hope, love, reality.” Trimming an empty lamp is foolishness. Empty religion is foolishness. And, as Piper explains, “A life of foolishness deepens foolishness.” 

Here are five ways, based on Piper’s description of the oil, to keep our lamps trimmed while we wait for Jesus’s return:

1. Life

We are given only one earthly life, and Christ would have us lose it completely. “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). 1 John 4:4 says anyone who follows Jesus Christ “belongs to God.” 

Jesus demands no less than our entire life, which is then “hidden with him” (Colossians 3:3).  When our life depicts the gospel, we are keeping our lamps trimmed. When the heavens dissolve, will you have been found  “alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5)?

2. Faith

The level at which you seek to cultivate your relationship with God is indicative of your level of faith. Regularly reading scripture, being an active part of a Bible believing church, meeting regularly with fellow believers, and filling your mind with the things of God are the soil in which faith grows. 

Are you nourishing habits that produce an “assurance of things hoped for” and a “conviction of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1)?” When we consistently demonstrate a life of faith, we are keeping our lamps trimmed. When the heavens dissolve, will you have been found faithful?

3. Love

In Matthew 25, Jesus describes what it looks like to love in God’s economy.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. As you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me. Matthew 25:35-36, 40

In other words, while you waited for my return, you loved. And in that love, you showed that you love me also. 

How are you loving in your sphere of influence? From motherhood to the mission field, when we love others we are keeping our lamps trimmed. When the heavens dissolve, will you have been found loving?

4. Hope

Romans 8:24 says we were saved in hope. But not the kind of hope that we have when we hope the weather will cooperate for our vacation, or the hope that the adoption we so longed for will come through. Christian hope is a sure hope. It is an eager anticipation of a secure future with Christ, as adopted children and heirs to his throne. It is a hope without wondering if. 

To what extent do you anticipate the return of Jesus Christ? Have you allowed complacency to dull your sense of hope? When we possess a sense of eager expectation, we are keeping our lamps trimmed. When the heavens dissolve, will you have been found fervently hoping for the appearance of Christ?

5. Reality

The hope in which we live is “folly to those who are perishing” (1 Corinthians 1:18). But this hope in which we live is more real than anything our senses can apprehend in the temporal world. 

C.S. Lewis became a Christian while seeking to debunk Christianity. But in the end, after extensive research meant to affirm his atheism, he concluded, “Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly. For all that can be shaken will be shaken and only the unshakeable remains.” 

Does your life reflect your belief in the reality of heavenly things? When we regard heaven as more real than earth, we are keeping our lamps trimmed. When the heavens dissolve, will you be found to have been grounded in the reality of the gospel?

Jesus is coming. Today or thousands of years from now, the Giver of oil has an endless supply to ready his bride for his impending return. May we all keep our lamps trimmed.



Building a Culture of Evangelism Takes Time, So Be Patient and Get to Work

By / Jan 5

Evangelism isn’t just for the “professionals”—pastors, ministers, Bible teachers, and all the rest.

Instead, the New Testament teaches that evangelism is the whole church’s job. But asserting the “whole church” does evangelism can be a bit confusing. What does that mean? Is there some special evangelism program hidden somewhere in the pages of the New Testament? Furthermore, what if any relationship exists between our personal evangelism and our church’s outreach ministry?

PROGRAMMATIC EVANGELISM

In most churches, the role of the church in evangelism is largely reduced to programs. Local churches create programs or events in order to share the gospel with the surrounding community. Unfortunately, such programs tend to displace the more important work of cultivating a culture of evangelism. They tend to divert members’ attention away from cultivating friendships with unbelievers and toward propping up a program—particularly, event-driven programs. (Watch The Gospel Blimp film for an older, slightly cheeky illustration of this tendency.) The result is as surprising as it is unintended: a church full of busy Christians who simply have no time for non-Christians.

We need to be careful here; not all evangelistic programs do this. But many do.

So, does that mean all evangelism should be unstructured and “organic”? Not necessarily. As a general rule, the best evangelistic programs (1) facilitate relationship building between church members and unbelievers; (2) emerge from the ground-up, rather than imposed by the leadership from the top-down.

Check out Christianity Explored and Christianity Explained for an example of an evangelistic study that encourages Christians to have non-Christians over to share meals and spiritual conversations.

CONGREGATIONAL EVANGELISM

Ultimately, purely programmatic evangelism is insufficient because it falls short of Christ’s vision for his church. After all, the church ought to make the gospel visible (Jn. 13:35; 17:20–21). The church equips people to share the gospel (Eph. 4:12). The church holds one another accountable to evangelize, and helps one another in the task. In other words, our congregations aren’t told merely to prop up an occasional evangelistic program, our congregations are the evangelistic program—one invented by Jesus.

This is why every church ought to cultivate a robust “culture of evangelism.” Programs are events. A culture is a way of life. Programs come and go. A culture endures.

Such a culture is easier to observe than to describe. But here are a few defining characteristics:

  1. The church labors to make sure every member understands and can articulate the gospel.
  2. Leaders and members regularly encourage sharing the gospel with people in their network of relationships.
  3. The church regularly prays (as individuals and corporately) for the evangelistic efforts of others.
  4. The church trains people to share the gospel winsomely.
  5. Members informally gather to talk about their evangelistic conversations, receive feedback and encouragement, and pray for the lost.
  6. Members try to build intentional friendships with their friends’ lost friends so that they can be yet another influence in the life of an unbeliever.
  7. The church endeavors to care for all its members and love one another in such a way that the gospel is made visible to outsiders (Jn. 13:35).
  8. The evangelistic programs that happen are chosen for their ability to facilitate and strengthen relationships between members and unbelievers.

HOW CAN PASTORS PROMOTE A CULTURE OF EVANGELISM?

1) Evangelize. (1 Tim. 4:12; 1 Pet. 5:2–3)

We can’t reproduce what we ourselves aren’t doing. If we don’t engage in personal evangelism, then we have no reason to assume we’ll be able to lead a congregation to evangelize those in their circle of influence.

2) Take others to do it with you.

For some reason, modern evangelicals often think evangelism is only a personal spiritual discipline, and therefore ought to be done as privately as possible (cf. Matt. 6:1–6). But if you’re doing something for the kingdom, try not to do it alone. Whether discipling, evangelizing, or counseling, bring a fellow church member with you if possible. Christian growth isn’t about reading all the right books or listening to all the right sermons. People need to see what faithfulness looks like. The simplest way for that to happen is for you simply to invite them to observe your life and ministry up close.

As far as you are able, invite others to watch you evangelize and then discuss it with them afterwards. Take advantage of every opportunity to teach and disciple. In so doing you will not only help equip them to do ministry, but you will help them learn to share ministry as well.

3) Make evangelism a regular point of sermon application.

We should never manipulate, guilt, or strong-arm our people into evangelizing their friends and neighbors. Instead, we should exhort them from Scripture that the Lord expects them to share the gospel, and we should encourage them that they have already everything they need to do it well. Might they need practical training? Sure, perhaps. But they’re already equipped with what’s necessary and most important: God’s Spirit and God’s Word.

4) Make evangelistic appeals to unbelievers in your sermon.

When you preach, speak to unbelievers. Doing so helps both unbelievers and believers. It reminds believers of the urgency of sharing the gospel with the lost. It also models how to articulate the gospel or other Christians doctrines to someone who may disagree with their presuppositions or misunderstand various biblical terms and Christian lingo.

5) Raise the profile of members who are doing evangelism well.

We replicate what we celebrate. One way to build a culture of evangelism is to highlight members of the congregation who evangelize faithfully. During a prayer service, invite a gifted member to share a passage that helps him in his evangelistic ministry. Or simply tell young or inexperienced members to go ask certain people for help with their evangelistic efforts. The point is not simply celebrating those in the congregation who are doing evangelism, but drawing attention to them so that others might look to them for discipling in this area.

6) Lead the congregation to pray for the church’s evangelism and evangelistic ministries.

At some point, every Christian has probably sat through a prayer meeting dominated by requests for Aunt Susie’s hangnail and their friend’s friend’s friend who has the flu. Of course, God cares about hangnails and viral infections, but spending our limited corporate prayer time on these matters probably isn’t the wisest practice.

Instead, use your corporate prayer time to focus on the ministry and mission of the church. Give the congregation a sense of the church’s calling in the world by allowing the mission of the church to dominate the prayers of the church. If we focus our prayers on the ministry of the word, preaching, discipleship, evangelism, and missions, then our people will begin to view those things as central to their own lives.

7) Open up the prayer meeting for stories about evangelistic conversations taking place.

In addition to praying generally for the church’s evangelistic efforts, make it a regular practice of inviting members to share about their evangelistic encounters during the corporate prayer gathering, so that the church can specifically pray for specific non-Christians.

These testimonies have several positive effects on the life of the church. First, members will be encouraged by how much evangelism is actually taking place. Second, they’ll be motivated to faithfully share the gospel themselves. Third, the congregation will become more invested in the evangelism that’s already occurring. I (Sam) remember sharing about an evangelistic conversation with some Jehovah’s Witnesses and being astounded by the response of other members offering to pray for the JW couple and even offering help: “Why don’t you invite them to the barbecue at Pastor Steven’s?” “Want to invite the mom to our next play date so we can meet her too?” “I recently witnessed to a JW couple and learned a few things, mind if we get coffee and chat about our experiences?” Sharing about evangelism in corporate gatherings makes our personal evangelism a matter of congregational interest and investment.

EVANGELISTIC CULTURES TAKE A LIFETIME TO BUILD

Pastors sometimes struggle to believe their members are evangelizing regularly, especially if the church isn’t seeing many conversions. In these situations, they can be tempted to take even the seven suggestions above and use them to berate their congregation. But a culture of evangelism only takes root in a church when the pastor is willing to celebrate even the smallest of evangelistic efforts. So don’t be afraid to ask someone to share about a recent evangelistic conversation—even if it “failed” and there was no fruit.

It takes time for to grow a culture of evangelism. Hopefully some of these practices will help. So get to work; patiently pray and patiently wait. And over the months and even the years, watch what type of culture the Lord grows in your congregation.

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared at the 9Marks blog and is used with permission.



Episode 100: The Years Behind and Ahead

By / Dec 31

For The Church Podcast

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

On this special 100th episode(!) of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz look back at the weird year 2020 and forward to some anticipated highlights for FTC in 2021, including a special announcement about the podcast itself.