Entering the Harvest

  A few years ago, I grew tired of hearing about others “on mission” and evangelizing with so little of it in my own life. Something in me desperately desired for evangelism to become a normal part of my life. I learned a lot that year, mainly by failing (if that’s possible) at evangelism. In the years since, I’ve learned even more. I want to expound a little on how move off the missional bench and into the game.

We are all called to enter the harvest. The work is there before us. Here are three observations on becoming an everyday evangelist.

1. Gospel Enjoyment Leads to Evangelism

We all have a friend that won’t stop talking about their kids (guilty), one who is a little too obsessed with their favorite team, and one who analyzes their favorite TV show a little too much. We wouldn’t call their incessant conversation about these topics that they love evangelism, but it is precisely what it is. Everyone is evangelizing about something, sharing about what they love and why they love it.

Gospel enjoyment is loving, celebrating, and finding joy in the good news of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. It’s good news because in God’s redemptive plan, Jesus lives the perfect life (the one we could never live), died an atoning death in our place (the death we deserved), and resurrected from the dead (accomplishing the victory we could never accomplish ourselves). In his good plan, he sent his Holy Spirit to live in us, for his righteousness to be credited to us and then enacted through us.

But do you see this as good news? Does it bring you joy or is it a fact that you have cognitively agreed is right?

I’ve known joyless belief and I’ve watched joyless Christianity in the church as if it were normal, but it is not the Christianity that God describes and invites us to in the Scriptures. Jesus summarizes the commandments into the Great Commandment - to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. In John 15, he speaks of abiding in the love of God that we may have his joy and it may be in full. Jesus prays in John 17 that his followers would have his joy fulfilled in them and that they would embody the Father’s love.

Paul tells us in Romans 14:17 that “the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking (religion) but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Psalm 16:11 reminds us that in the presence of God is fullness of joy. The Scriptures are filled with the idea of joy.

The how-to of evangelism must follow the want-to of evangelism, and the want-to of evangelism comes when we love and enjoy the gospel of Jesus Christ. Gospel evangelism is not a duty we are invited to, but a joy flowing naturally from gospel enjoyment.

2. We Are Wired to Evangelize

In The Permanent Revolution, the authors identify four different types of evangelists that can help us identify how we are naturally wired in relationships to pursue and grow in evangelism. He labels them as the investors, inviters, convincers, and conversers; helpful categories for us as we consider doing the work of an evangelist.

The Investors. Investors embrace the process method of evangelism. They seek to walk through the highs and lows of life with people, seeking to invest a lot of time, emotion, and energy into a few close relationships. The majority of us wouldn’t label this as evangelism at all, but if we don’t label this as evangelism we will lack the intentionality needed to continue to pursue conversations about Jesus and his gospel. Our prayer life will not include interceding for these people in our life.

This could mean you approaching your workplace with a greater vision towards moving your long-term relationships to deeper conversations. Leveraging your lunch breaks and intermittent office conversation to share how the gospel of Jesus Christ is transforming your views on life. It could be the family you know through your local school or sports league that your children are friends providing you an opportunity to demonstrate a life following Jesus throughout normal activities.

The Inviters. Inviters looks for opportunities to include people in more strategic environments where they can be exposed to Christian community and the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are people who seek to include as many different people as possible at their birthday parties, big events, or meals in hopes that they would connect and engage with others who could develop relationships to share the gospel.

They have a special ability to make people feel comfortable enough to explore a new environment and I’ve seen these people in our church invite and connect with new people, then connect them with others in the community that have discipled them and led them to a greater understanding of Jesus and what it means to be his disciple.

This could change the way you view cookouts, the Super Bowl party, or your next birthday party. View these regular and everyday events as opportunities to invite both your Christian friends from church and your neighbors while encouraging your Christian friends to seek to establish conversations and relationships with those they do not know.

The Convincers. In America, we call them salesmen or the "closers of the deal" at work. These are people who are able to make an incredibly compelling gospel presentation. They are gifted with the ability to use a short amount of time to present the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that brings people to a decision.

These are largely responsible for the evangelistic materials we see throughout the church because they are skilled at reducing the gospel presentation to an easily transferable conversation without reducing its content. This is challenging for many of us, but others are naturally excited by the thought of sharing their faith in a brief amount of time.

Whether you are a convincer or not, it is helpful to spend time thinking through how you can share the gospel in a concise manner. I’ve heard one suggestion of thinking through common conversations and how the gospel of Jesus Christ redefines and intersects those regular conversations you most commonly have.

The Conversers. Conversers are often characterized by a question-led evangelism, leveraging the interests and concerns of other people and connecting those ideas with the gospel. They even prefer to let the conversation be dictated by the other person, asking questions that tend to reveal someone’s worldview or the major issues they are currently facing in life.

We see this in the life of Jesus with the woman at the well, asking questions and initiating a conversation that eventually exposed her to the living water she truly longed for.

These descriptions could free us up and inspire us to identify the natural ways we can proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have not even imagined before. If we are to be about blessing others with the good news of Jesus Christ, we must embrace a broader view of evangelism to seek a conversion that makes a disciple of Jesus Christ instead of simply someone who agrees with their need for a Savior.

3. Evangelism Starts with Prayer

We often view the Great Commission as the time when Jesus first sends out his disciples to go and make disciples, but this wasn’t his disciples' first mission. In Matthew 10, Jesus sends out his disciples after instructing them in how they should be on mission.

The greatest preparation he gave them came in the previous chapter, Matthew 9:36-38:

When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

There is so much from this passage that we can learn about evangelism, but the most important is that it begins with prayer. I’ve heard verse 36 used often to exhort people that the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few, so we must go now and be on mission! It’s a truth, but it is a truth motivated by guilt rather than motivated by a heart for the harvest that Jesus has.

In prayer we acknowledge that God is, as the Scriptures say, “Lord of the harvest.” He is the one who pursues people first, giving understanding to the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:4-6) and imparting the Holy Spirit so that they are born again. Salvation is an act of God and when we begin in prayer, we submit our requests to the One most concerned and most powerful to act. Unless God works in people, all of our efforts will fall short. This shouldn’t cause negligence or laziness, passively waiting until we see signs that God moves; it should lead us follow Jesus’s example in praying to God for him to move.

This communicates our trust and hope in a powerful, sovereign God able to do more than we ask or imagine. It not only communicates something to God, but it changes us in the process.

When we pray to God as Lord of the harvest for more laborers (as Jesus instructed), we find ourselves transformed into the type of laborers God desires. We can become those who see crowds and other people not as inconvenient, but with compassion wanting them to know Jesus as the Great Shepherd of their lives.

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Logan Gentry is the Pastor of Community and Equipping at Apostles Church in New York City. He blogs at Gentrified and has contributed to The Gospel Coalition. He is married to Amber and they have three children. Follow him on Twitter: @logangentry.

Revising the Popular Phrase "In, but Not of"

  “In, but not of”— if you’ve spent much time Christian circles, you’re probably familiar with this slogan. In the world, but not of the world. It captures a truth about Jesus’s followers. There’s a real sense in which we are “in” this world, but not “of” it.

In, but not of. Yes, yes, of course.

But might this punchy phrase be giving the wrong impression about our (co)mission in this world as Christians? The motto could seem to give the drift, We are in this world, alas, but what we really need to do is make sure that we’re not of it.

In this way of configuring things, the starting place is our unfortunate condition of being “in” this world. Sigh. And our mission, it appears, is to not be “of” it. So the force is moving away from the world. “Rats, we’re frustratingly stuck in this ole world, but let’s marshal our best energies to not be of it.” No doubt, it’s an emphasis that’s sometimes needed, but isn’t something essential being downplayed?

We do well to run stuff like this through biblical texts. And on this one in particular, we do well to turn to John 17, where Jesus uses these precise categories of “in the world” and “not of the world.” Let’s look for Jesus’s perspective on this.

Not of This World

On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus prays to his Father in John 17:14–19,

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Notice Jesus’s references to his disciples being “not of the world.” Verse 14: “The world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” And there it is again in verse 16: “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

Let’s all agree it’s clear that Jesus does not want his followers to be “of the world.” Amen. He says that he himself is “not of the world,” and his disciples are “not of the world.” Here’s a good impulse in the slogan “in, but not of.”

It’s Going Somewhere

But notice that for Jesus being “not of the world” isn’t the destination in these verses but the starting place. It’s not where things are moving toward, but what they’re moving from. He is not of the world, and he begins by saying that his followers are not of the world. But it’s going somewhere. Jesus is not huddling up the team for another round of kumbaya, but so that we can run the next play and advance the ball down the field.

Enter verse 18: “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” And don’t miss the surprising prayer of verse 15: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”

Sent into This World

Jesus is not asking his Father for his disciples to be taken out of the world, but he is praying for them as they are “sent into” the world. He begins with them being “not of the world” and prays for them as they are “sent into” the world.

So maybe it would serve us better — at least in light of John 17 — to revise the popular phrase “in, but not of” in this way: “not of, but sent into.” The beginning place is being “not of the world,” and the movement is toward being “sent into” the world. The accent falls on being sent, with a mission, to the world — not being mainly on a mission to disassociate from this world.

Crucified to the World — And Raised to It

Jesus’s assumption in John 17 is that those who have embraced him, and identified with him, are indeed not of the world. And now his summons is our sending — we are sent into the world on mission for gospel advance through disciplemaking.

Jesus’s true followers have not only been crucified to the world, but also raised to new life and sent back in to free others. We’ve been rescued from the darkness and given the Light not merely to flee the darkness, but to guide our steps as we go back in to rescue others.

So let’s revise the popular phrase “in, but not of." Christians are not of this world, but sent into it. Not of, but sent into.

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David Mathis (@davidcmathis) is executive editor for Desiring God and an elder at Bethlehem Baptist Church in the Twin Cities. He and his wife, Megan, have twin sons and live in Minneapolis. David has edited several books, including Thinking. Loving. Doing., Finish the Mission, and most recently Acting the Miracle: God’s Work and Ours in the Mystery of Sanctification.

[This was originally posted at Desiring God.]

Your Church Doesn't Need Followers

  Everyone makes disciples of something or someone. Just think about all the disciples that are made each and every fall as college football and the NFL kicks off with a brand new season full of thrills and excitement. It’s not new. It’s the same game played each and every year. But there’s much to be excited about. Why? Because we love it. We throw on our favorite jersey, eat our favorite nachos, and party while grown men war for a trophy. It’s great.

Disciples love the object that is teaching them something. The very definition of a disciple is "learner," though it is not simply a cognitive thing. It’s a life thing. We invest our emotions, desires, affections, money, time, energy in its mission. We’re all followers; we’re all passionate about something.

It is often the case that local churches build disciples around the organization itself. More often than not, this is accidental. We as church leaders and members typically have good intentions. We want people to know Jesus. We think that our pastors and our music and our worship experience are great gateways to meeting Jesus. That's why we invest in that church community, right?

But being a disciple of Jesus means that we are learning from him, walking in his ways. To be a disciple of Jesus means that we take our cues from him, not an organization. If we're not careful, we can get distracted by the organization or event and forget about the reason it exists - for the glory of God.

What happens when we make disciples of the church instead of disciples of Jesus? What might that look like? Here are five signs that we might be making disciples of our church instead of Jesus.

1. We Get Upset When People Are Gone

A prominent temptation of a local church is to root success in attendance on Sunday mornings. This is only part of what it means to be the church. Yes we gather, but we also scatter. If we put too much emphasis on the Sunday gathering and see this alone as “church,” then we’ll get frustrated when people aren’t there. Many pastors and members build their identity around numbers. This is dangerous and is most certainly a sign that you aren’t focused on making disciples of Jesus, but instead, disciples of the church. Disappointment is understandable; we want to see the lost come to know Jesus. But that must be grounded in gospel-motivation toward seeing more and more people become disciples of Jesus.

Disciples of Jesus build their identity around the gospel. Disciples of the church build their identity around attendance.

2. We Criticize Other Churches

We all tend to think that we’re the pure, true, and most correct church. This may in fact be true, but when we demonize others and divide on secondary matters, we are trying to defend Jesus when he needs no defense. When we criticize others, we are making disciples of our church because we want to keep people near to us and away from "them." We're more concerned about them huddling up with us instead of sending them out on mission. Suddenly your criticism serves as a ploy to justify “your church” and all of its perfection. We must remember that, unless heretical teachings exist elsewhere, all churches built on the gospel of Jesus are on the same team. We are fighting the same fight under the same Master. If a person in the church wants to join mission with another church, they should be sent away with joy and prayer. We should love other Jesus-glorifying churches as we all make disciples of him.

Disciples of Jesus are known for their love (John 13:35). Disciples of the church are known for what they’re against.

3. We Invite People to Come but Don't Tell Them to Go

This is a classic - and often overlooked - example. When success is defined by an individual’s attendance and giving instead of obedience to the gospel, we make disciples of the church instead of Jesus. When we over-emphasize “church” activities (Bible studies, Sunday night services, Wednesday night services, age-appropriate services, missional communities, service projects, etc.), it is no wonder a person views church as merely a thing they attend. They tend to embrace the goods and services, pay their money, and leave. We are so busy seeing church as a come-and-see event that people aren’t sent out on mission into their families, groups of friends, neighborhoods, workplaces, and to the ends of the earth. We must equip people in the power of the gospel to take that gospel out into their everyday lives. A lamp under a basket does not offer light to a dark world (Matt. 5:15-16).

Disciples of Jesus are sent on mission and challenged to do so. Disciples of the church just come and sit.

4, We Make Gatherings a Gimmick

When we ignore the mission of making disciples of Jesus, we tend to fill the time with goods and services. Suddenly, the bulk of our teaching becomes a gimmick to “get people to church" instead of a passionate plea for mission through the power and purpose of the gospel. We set up our Sunday mornings to make it as comfortable as possible. This is related to point #3, because instead of freeing up the church calendar for mission, we fill it with entertainment that ultimately distracts people from the real task at hand. Instead of training people for war, we entertain them with pithy paraphernalia. I get it. It’s often easier, because living our lives on full display for a doubting and watching world is hard. But Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow him. This means that church gatherings are a training ground for gospel battle, not a hip place to drink coffee and feel better about ourselves.

Disciples of Jesus long for the gospel, long to see not-yet believers come to Christ, and situate their lives to accomplish this. Disciples of the church long for the newest and best gimmick at church.

5. We Make the Gospel Dependent Upon Men

It's tempting to default toward trying to get people in the doors so that the gospel invitation can be given by the "professionals." We do this with good intentions, hoping that the lost person will come to faith. However, this sometimes turns into us spending more time getting people to acclimate to our church culture rather than familiarizing them with the good news and the grand mission. The gospel then becomes something only “those” people need to "get saved," and not something that is a daily necessity for all people. We tie their faith to a one-time experience based on the teaching of someone other than Jesus. This stunts their lifelong growth in the gospel. The gospel is the very power of God, not simply a fact to be acknowledged one Sunday morning. We must, with laser-like focus, continually point people to Jesus and the gospel as the only perfect goal. People will let them down; Jesus never will. He must be their prize, their hope, and their motivation toward daily striving.

Disciples of Jesus long for the gospel in every moment. Disciples of the church see the gospel as irrelevant in day-to-day life.

Are we making disciples of Jesus and centering our churches around him and his mission? Or are we too busy making our own survival as an organization the most important thing?

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Jason M. Garwood (M.Div., Th.D.) serves as Lead Pastor of Colwood Church in Caro, MI. Jason and his wife Mary have three children, Elijah, Avery and Nathan. He blogs at www.jasongarwood.com. Connect with him on Twitter: @jasongarwood.

The Important Work of Witness

  I want to tell you a story about a girl from ancient times.

She was a young woman possessing a quiet spirit. You might have found her type in any age—sweet, kind, and modest. If she were around today, she might be a fixture at youth group, a fan of Hillsong Music, and a devotee of a local coffee shop. Whatever her musical interests, you would know you could count on her, because behind her quiet and selfless demeanor was a strong faith.

Her name was Blandina. She in fact never sang a Christian rock anthem or visited a cafe, because she lived in the second century in present-day France. Hers was a humble life. In reality, it was a hard life. She was a slave girl.

With many others in Lyon, Blandina had become a Christian around AD 177. An elderly pastor named Pothinus had labored for years to spread the gospel in the area, and he had seen much success. People from all levels of society came to faith, including slaves like Blandina, from a place called Lyon in France.

Lyon was the main city of Gaul, which was part of the Roman Empire, still the world superpower at the time and officially pagan in nature. Seeking unity, the emperor Domitian had made Christianity illegal during his reign from AD 81 to 96. This did little to stop the spread of the faith, however, and actually seemed to intensify it. Blandina was one tiny part of this unquenchable trend, anonymous and unnoticed.

Until, that is, the persecution in Gaul reached fever pitch.

The anti-Christian spirit in Lyon grew so great that household servants suspected of being Christian made up outrageous accusations against believers to save their own skins. Charges such as incest and murder were thrown around. In the ensuing fracas, Blandina and many other Christians were taken into official custody. The odds of their survival were not good.

In short order, Blandina’s life was upended. With others, she was tortured under interrogation. Such official action was not fact-finding in nature; it was designed to break the will of the Christians in order to justify their impending deaths. Blandina was not a strong girl. She was not hearty. Her torturers were trained soldiers of tough fiber. On the list of tasks for a Roman warrior, subduing young girls was easy. Ratchet up the pain, break some bones, and get the job done.

That should have been what happened to Blandina. However, she did not die on the rack. Though she was tortured “from morning till evening” until her body was mangled, no amount of pain led her to confess error in being a Christian. She seemed to gain strength, in fact, when in the midst of her torture she cried out, “I am a Christian, and there is nothing vile done by us.”1

This was a woman, a believer, of whom this world was not worthy.

Can We Find This Kind of Strength Today?

Whew. I feel like I need a walk around the block after an account like that. That is the kind of real-life story that will, if you’re not careful, grab ahold of you and never let go.

This, I would propose, is exactly what many of us need today. We’ve established thus far that many of us could use some encouragement. Because of cultural pressure and other factors, many of us are tempted to live in a way that avoids sacrifice rather than embraces it when it is necessary to honor Christ.

We see cultural pressure and the costly nature of Christian faith in a secularizing culture, and we recoil. Is this really what God requires of us—to be unpopular and unsuccessful and even hated? That’s not what I got into this for. I was promised prosperity and favor and blessing. I was told that in coming to Jesus, the whole world would lie down at my feet. Raises would happen, friends would be made, difficulties would cease, sickness would end, and on the list goes. Now I’m making my way through life, and none of that is happening, and I’m seriously considering getting out.

This is an entirely natural way to think today. The challenges we discussed are real, painfully real. But here’s the thing: God has something better for us. He offers a gospel to believe and a kingdom to serve. He doesn’t want us to hunker down; he wants us to put it all on the line, risk everything, and experience the joy that comes from losing yourself in the only cause that counts. That’s the faith that comes from Christ; that’s the message we learn from the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14–30).

That’s what the life of Blandina, and countless martyrs alongside her, teaches us.

How to Get There

So maybe you’re with me so far. You’re fired up by Blandina’s stunning example. You see that you’re tempted to play down your faith, to hide your light under a basket, as Jesus memorably put it (Matt. 5:15). You might even see that you love Christ but don’t really want to be bold. You’re not some super-apostle; you understand that if an odd opportunity presents itself to “be persecuted for righteousness’ sake” (5:10) that’s cool, but you’re just a normal Christian who wants to keep on keeping on.

Let me encourage you to approach your Christian witness with a few things in mind.

Remember that all of life is witness. As I mentioned earlier, we too often think of gospel “witness” or “mission” as something we do at a certain time in the week. At other times in our regular lives, we’re not doing it. We need to rethink this. All of our lives should be witness. In reality, this is not a new idea, but an ancient one.

The ancient Israelites were to be a continual light to their children, for example. They were charged by Yahweh to teach their offspring that “the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4). This was supposed to be communicated at all times, as we saw earlier in Deuteronomy 6:6–9. This is true for us too. We should teach the truth about God and communicate the gospel of Christ to our children in specific times. But the witness of the Israelites went beyond this, and so should ours.

We’ll teach our families minute by minute, and we can proclaim and show that Christ has saved us at work, talking to parents at the park, on the bus, at intermission at a concert, at the local Starbucks, and everywhere in between. We can both preach the gospel in a way that makes sense to the context and live according to the gospel. We can, for example, show the fruit of the Spirit at all times. That will be an obvious witness to those around us.

So, talk to the mailman as a witness; go to your spinning class as a witness; use Facebook as a witness; sell socks on Etsy as a witness; answer the door as a witness; pin things on Pinterest as a witness; raise your children as a witness; drive in busy traffic as a witness; do laundry as a witness; create playlists on Spotify as a witness. Be bold and unapologetic. You do not need to be sent by an agency to be a fearless agent of the gospel. Your local church is training you for this role, week after week. The Holy Spirit is inside you. This is the commissioning you need. Gospel work isn’t for a half-hour slot every other week.

Your whole life is witness.

Living in this way is not confining. It’s liberating. It will fill moments that previously felt wasted with purpose. Ministry isn’t for the super-Christians. Every believer is a member of the “kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:6; Rev. 1:6). All of us offer service to God. We can all risk everything for him. We can live every day for him.

Remember the incredible importance of witness. You will be a bolder Christian in your corner of things if you regularly call to mind just how important such work is.

Sometimes we act as if God is going to do it all. But in reality, God has called us to carry out the mission with him. This is part of the remarkable story of the New Testament. Jesus began the work of the kingdom when he came to earth. The majestic rule of God became visible and tangible as Jesus, the Messiah, performed miracles and taught as only God can teach. Though his disciples struggled to understand him, Christ’s true identity emerged as time passed by. Jesus undertook a new kind of kingship, however. He ascended not a throne but a cross. On the cross he canceled the debt of a wicked people and overcame the powers of darkness.

We may assume that things stopped there, and we’re all left to marvel at what Jesus accomplished. From there on out, God would lead people to see this wondrous truth, and salvation would be like a zap from the sky.

But that’s the thing: while God does all the saving of sinners, he calls his church to take up the work of the gospel. This is what the book of Acts shows: the first Christians began to spread the news of eternal life in Jesus’ name to everyone they could. Their story is intended to give way to our story. We are called to join them in promoting the gospel in all the world.

Is everybody supposed to be a Paul? An Apollos? A Stephen? Trotting the globe, leading the mission? No. Many of us are called to labor right where we are. But this must not obscure the fact that as believers, every last one of us is called to be a witness. The instruction Christ gave to his apostles is for us as well: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit did come upon the disciples of Christ, empowering them for faithful gospel proclamation (Acts 2:1–4). He does the same for every Christian today. The “sealing of the Spirit” is an empowerment for witness. A lot of times we focus on the Spirit’s work in other areas, but we must fix this in our minds: God has given us the precious Holy Spirit to light a fire in our hearts, and to enable us to carry that fire into the world so that fellow sinners may be rescued from eternal condemnation.

So we’re not supposed to gaze up at heaven, waiting on spiritual rain. It is essential that you and I recognize that God has given us a very important role: we are to be witnesses of Christ. We don’t have a choice in this matter. Every Christian shares this call, though we will naturally play different roles in the movement. Not all of us have the gift of evangelism, but all of us have the charge to evangelize.

This will likely feel daunting to many of us. But we can trust in the empowerment of God to lead us. We don’t lack anything that we need for this mission. We know the gospel, and we possess the Holy Spirit. Start here; go anywhere. There’s not some evangelistic secret you must unlock before you can witness effectively to people. It’s important to listen and learn what you can about others. But the gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16).

Pray for boldness, and act in boldness. If you fail, try again. I’ve seen God give me the words I needed in many situations in which I felt awkward and afraid. I still do, and I would guess that I always will, at least some of the time. My cheeks get hot, my mouth gets dry, and I don’t know what exactly to say.

But then God gives me the courage to speak. He’s so faithful, and so kind.

He will do the same for you.

Remember the incredible power of a simple witness. Let me give you a few examples that play this out.

One of my friends was surfing channels one cold Maine night and happened upon the 700 Club. He didn’t know the truth about his sin and his need for a savior. He wasn’t expecting to make a life-changing decision while he was passing the time. He was doing what millions of us do: turn on the TV, zone out, and wait for sleep to take over. Something clicked, though, as the gospel was shared. He’s since become a strong believer, a godly member of his local church, and is raising his kids to know the Lord.

Another friend of mine was walking on the campus of the University of Maryland. He had seen “street preachers” before but paid them little mind. He was in business school and had little time for demagogues denouncing passersby. But something changed one day. He realized that in his quest to get everything, all he could in business, he was chasing the wind and would end up with nothing. The preacher’s words about Jesus’ death and resurrection pierced him. He was saved on the spot. Since then, he’s gone on to be a ministry leader with a thriving family.

I think also of a former atheist named John Joseph, whom I heard speak at the Together for the Gospel conference before 8,000 attendees. Just a few years ago, he was trapped in lust. Beyond that, he was a cocaine dealer. This guy was the type you see and think, Wow. That one’s beyond my powers. Not sure anyone’s going to reach him. But God is in the business of blowing us away. This young dude, looking like a Hollywood movie star, went to his local Blockbuster one night. He picked up Bill Maher’s Religulous, an open attack on and mockery of religious belief. This guy usually liked Maher’s stuff, but in this film he pushed too far and—even in the eyes of a fellow atheist—didn’t seem fair to Christians.

So, John got online, googled “Christianity Atheism debate,” and ended up watching videos of a spellbinding apologist named Ravi Zacharias. It was like Saul on the Damascus Road. John was struck dumb. He next came across Desiring God Ministries, which features the teaching of Pastor John Piper, and listened to sermon after sermon. In the course of this he was converted to Christ and transformed. He’s now a member of a strong church in Washington, D.C.

We could go on and on, my friends. What do we see in these and other testimonies? That God is great and merciful to sinners! That awesome truth aside, we see also that our witness is important. The work we do matters. Our preaching of the gospel is not dumb. We will feel that way; Satan will discourage in the moments when we do break free of fear and awkwardness. He’ll ambush us emotionally and cause us to doubt that we’ve said the right words. He’ll paralyze us by making us think that no good could ever come from our witness. If only God had sent someone else, someone who actually knows what he’s talking about.

These are lies from the pit of hell. But they will come. This is a natural part of a bold witness. Expect, as Jesus said, persecution. Plan for opposition. Ready your heart for it.

Keep pushing. Keep trying. Keep praying.

Your witness is important. You don’t need to be a super-Christian. You don’t need to be a missionary (though that is sensationally important work). You need to recognize the task God has given you, and invest where you are. It may not always be the case that you can share the whole gospel, either. Perhaps you take time in a certain situation to build trust and establish a friendship. Don’t condemn yourself in that case. When it is right to speak up, you’ll know. Sometimes we need to be direct, and sometimes we need to allow people to observe how we live and see how God works to redeem sinners.

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Owen Strachan is executive director of the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood and assistant professor of Christian Theology and Church History at Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky. He also teaches for the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Bethany and is the father of two children. Follow him on Twitter.

[This is an excerpt from Dr. Strachan's forthcoming book, Risky Gospel.]

How to Turn a Conversation

  Max wanted to meet with me about his new blog. He needed help in fleshing out his concept and practical perspective on reaching his audience. Max is a student from the youth ministry that I had pastored for four years.

We met at a café and went to work on his blog. I pointed out some practical components he needed in his right sidebar and explained the importance of leveraging social media. We talked about networking with people along his niche. I encouraged him to buy Michael Hyatt’s book Platform.

Then the conversation took a subtle turn to discipleship. “Max, how are you going to introduce the gospel into your blog?”

This took him by surprise. I reminded him that as he builds a platform, he extends God’s platform. Every post about music is an opportunity to let the gospel shine. As Tim Keller points out, there are diverse ways to let the gospel shine in your work or writing. We don't have to tag every post with Jesus.

From here the conversation sprang into "burn out" on church. We discussed how to respond to someone who’s been “hurt” by the church. We talked about the book Embracing Obscurity and how he ought to read it in tandem with Platform. I shared about the impetus behind my blog and writing ministry. All through our discussion, I interlaced gospel threads.

These conversations happen with Christians and non-Christians alike. When this occurs, we must always remember that there is a dance between what we can do and what the Holy Spirit does in people’s hearts. We need to first rely on the Holy Spirit and look for his prompting to take a gospel turn in our conversations. In an instant, a person's heart and mind can unexpectedly open to hear the gospel story. But how do we prepare ourselves to take these gospel turns? What are natural segues into gospel conversations? What do we do if someone is reluctant to take the turn with us?

Preparing to Take the Gospel Turn in a Conversation

Be prepared to share. In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul says, “Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season.” This does not mean that we have to have mastered the Bible before we can be used by God to take a gospel turn. Rather it means to always be ready to teach in every situation. It helps to be able to share about what God has taught you personally. But don’t discourage yourself from taking the gospel turn because you aren’t a Bible scholar. God can use you where you are. It is advantageous to be well-studied in the Word as you engage in gospel conversations, but it is equally true that the gospel is simple truth that even a child can understand.

Spend time with people. A lot of us could easily eat lunch alone at our desk every day at work. Instead, invite others to join you for lunch. Look for ways to connect with others over table fellowship. Eating a meal together is one of the best settings to take the turn towards a gospel conversation because it is a common, relaxed environment that all people share. Maybe your friend at work is having trouble parenting a child. You can invite them to have lunch and you can share how you have experienced the same challenge. As trust builds, he might be open to hear how the gospel influences his situation.

Capitalize on your skills. Maybe you have a friend who needs help with something simple, like in my situation with Max. Max knew I had a skill and wanted to learn from that skill. When someone recognizes a talent or skill that you possess, use it to bring him or her to the gospel. Remember Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Share how you apply your skill or talent for God’s glory.

Have resources handy. I have resources ready at hand. I keep both the "Story" and "2WaysToLive" apps on my phone and iPad. I also love sharing with people about New City Catechism. I share about how we lead our children through New City Catechism and how it is perfect for adults, too. I often have a book with me. Sometimes I simply share a quote that I underlined or recently highlighted. It’s surprising how many times normal conversation connects to what I’ve been reading recently. Though many of these resources are a tad out of vogue these days, they can be a helpful teaching tool for the person and a useful guide for the discipler.

Natural Segues

There are a number of ways to segue these moments into a gospel conversation. Here are a couple of tips.

Use questions. As you’re discussing with your friend, try asking, “Have you ever thought about how God would want you to…?” Or, “How are you going to introduce the gospel into…?” You could also try, “How do you think God expects us to…?” All of these are great segues to lead into a gospel conversation. Using questions invites people to share, which is far better than you just teaching at someone. People who haven’t invited your gospel input may be hesitant to take the turn into a gospel conversation. This leads to the second segue.

Ask for permission. When I was growing up, one of the ways I got into the most trouble was not asking permission. My mom would nail me because I didn’t get her permission to do something first. However, when I asked my mom permission, she almost always said, “Yes.” This principle applies to friendships as well. When we ask for permission, people are usually accommodating. So ask permission to apply the gospel to your friend’s life. They might be willing to permit you to transition your conversation to gospel matters.

Handling Reluctance

Of course, people might be reluctant to talk about gospel matters. Even Christians will be this way. They may say something like, “Look at you, over-gospelizing everything.” Or maybe they’ll make a light-hearted joke or be skeptical. Initially, Max raised objections about how his blog was meant for the “mainstream.” Of course, the non-Christian will often be hesitant to talk about gospel matters. In both cases, how do we respond when people object or are reluctant?

Walk the tight-rope between persistence and pressure. You don’t want people to feel uncomfortable or pressured. You want to be respectful. However, there is a difference between pressuring and persistence. Maybe you need to let it go and then return to the concept later. Perhaps you haven’t asked permission. Perhaps the person found your conversation to be too pushy.

When a pilot knows he is not coming in for a sound landing, what does he do? If possible, he circles around and tries a new approach. He waits for calm weather or better winds. Persistence is when you circle around and try a new approach or waiting for a fitting time to return to discussing gospel matters. However, persistence can often be seen as pressure, so be mindful of their response. This leads to the other tip.

Read their feelings. Some people may feel threatened by you bringing up gospel matters. Others will feel insecure. Still others will be fearful. Max wasn’t unwilling to discuss the gospel. His hesitancy rested in his fear. He needed someone to infuse him with courage. I did so by showing him how Relevant Magazine navigates the mainstream and yet introduces the gospel into their interviews and posts all the time. This gave him courage to follow suit. I persisted with Max because I knew his gospel perspective. I had clocked in plenty of time with him to know what drove his objections.

There are going to be those situations where a friend adamantly refuses to discuss gospel matters. When someone feels provoked or enraged by you introducing gospel matters, it means that there is some hardening of heart. Trust that God knows what he is doing with this person. Look for ways to be persistent but not pressuring. And if the person outright rejects speaking with you about the gospel, pray often for him. If it is God’s will, he will soften that person’s heart. He may even use you. Extending mercy, grace, and acceptance could bring about a beautiful, gospel-rich conversation.

Give Them Jesus

Taking a gospel turn in a conversation is a delicate process where we lean in to hear the Holy Spirit’s prompting. Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” This means to not abide in our flesh. We will want to force or coerce a gospel conversation. Remember, they are only gospel conversations because the Holy Spirit led them to occur. When they do occur, gospel conversations are a powerful experience. Encounters with the gospel are like running into a dear friend at a café. The unplanned fellowship is sweet and often surprising.

Still, taking the gospel turn in a conversation is not only a Spirit-led endeavor, but a way of life.. We need to practice and be intentional about taking the gospel turn in a conversation. I admit that Max and my “unplanned" fellowship came unexpected only to Max. As I have feasted on the gospel by preaching it to myself daily, I’ve practiced the discipline of introducing the gospel into everyday conversation. Why?

Milton Vincent writes:

By preaching the gospel to myself each day, I nurture the bond that unites me with my brothers and sisters for whom Christ died, and I also keep myself well-versed in the raw materials with which I may actively love them in Christ.

Being well-versed in the raw materials of the gospel will make conversations more natural and compelling. We will be more prone to share a Christ we love, than a doctrine we defend. We love others best when we love them with the gospel. When we introduce the cross and the resurrection into conversation, we practice a worthy discipline of centering fellowship and discipleship upon the gospel. We give that person what they need the most: Jesus.

I walked away from meeting with Max seeing a young man refreshed by the gospel and growing in knowledge and wonder of how the gospel applies in every facet of life. This is what we should all hope to accomplish by taking the gospel turn in conversations.

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Joey Cochran served as the high school pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for four years before transitioning to serve as Resource Pastor at Cross Community Chicago. Joey is a graduate of Dallas Seminary and blogs regularly at JTCochran.com. Follow him on Twitter: @joeycochran.

How Faith Affects Our Work

  I’ve had some busy people pick up Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work, look at the subtitle, and ask: “OK, so, in a nutshell, how does God’s work connect to our work?” Always a good exercise for an author, to be asked to explain your book in just a few minutes! Here are four ways Christian faith influences and shapes our work.

1. Faith Gives Us a Moral Compass

First, the Christian faith gives us a moral compass, an inner GPS giving us ethical guidance that takes us beyond merely the legal aspects or requirements in any situation. A Christian on the board of a major financial institution—recently publicly embarrassed by revelations of corruption—told me about a closed door meeting there between top executives. Someone said, “We have to restore moral values.” Immediately someone asked, “Whose values? Who gets to define what is moral?” And there’s our problem.

There once was a habitus of broadly felt moral intuitions that governed much behavior in our society. It went well beyond the legal. Much of the ruthlessness, the lack of transparency, and lack of integrity that characterizes the marketplace and many other professions today come because consensus on those moral intuitions has collapsed. But Christians working in those worlds do have solid ethical guidance and could address through personal example the values-vacuum that has now been recognized by so many.

2. Faith Gives Us a New Spiritual Power

Second, your Christian faith gives you a new spiritual power, an inner gyroscope, that keeps you from being overthrown by either success, failure, or boredom. Regarding success and failure, the gospel helps Christians find their deepest identity not in our accomplishments but who we are in Christ. This keeps our egos from inflating too much during seasons of prosperity, and it prevents bitterness and despondency during times of adversity.

But while some jobs seduce us into over-work and anxiety, others tempt us to surrender to drudgery, only “working for the weekend,” doing just what is necessary to get by when someone is watching. Paul calls that “eye-service” (Colossians 3:22–24) and charges us to think of every job as working for God, who sees everything and loves us. That makes high-pressure jobs bearable and even the most modest work meaningful.

3. Faith Gives Us a New Conception of Work

Third, the Christian faith gives us a new conception of work as the means by which God loves and cares for his world through us. Look at the places in the Bible that say that God gives every person their food. How does God do that? It is through human work—from the simplest farm girl milking the cows to the truck driver bringing produce to market to the local grocer. God could feed us directly but he chooses to do it through work. There are three important implications of this.

First, it means all work, even the most menial tasks, has great dignity. In our work we are God’s hands and fingers, sustaining and caring for his world. Secondly, it means one of the main ways to please God in our work is simply to do work well. Some have called this “the ministry of competence.” What passengers need first from an airline pilot is not that she speaks to them about Jesus but that she is a great, skillful pilot. Third, this means that Christians can and must have deep appreciation for the work of those who work skillfully but do not share our beliefs.

4. Faith Gives Us a New World-and-Life View

Fourth, the Christian faith gives us a new world-and-life view that shapes the character of our work. All well-done work that serves the good of human beings pleases God. But what exactly is “the common good”? There are many work tasks that do not require us to reflect too much on that question.

All human beings need to eat, and so raising and providing food serves people well. But what if you are an elementary school teacher, or a playwright? What is good education (i.e. what should you be teaching children)? What kinds of plays should you write (i.e. what kinds of stories do people need)? The answers to these questions will depend largely on how you answer more fundamental questions—what is the purpose of human life? What is life about? What does a good human life look like?  It is unavoidable that many jobs will be shaped by our conscious or semi-conscious beliefs about those issues.  So, finally, a Christian must think out how his or her faith will distinctly shape their work.

How wonderful that the gospel works on every aspect of us—mind, will, and feelings—and enables us to both deeply appreciate the work of non-believers and yet aspire to work in unique ways as believers.  Putting all of these four aspects together, we see that being a Christian leads us to see our work not as merely a way to earn money, nor as primarily a means of personal advancement, but a truly a calling—to serve God and love our neighbor.

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Timothy Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and three young sons. Dr. Keller’s books, including the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, have sold over 1 million copies and been translated into 15 languages. Follow him on Twitter: @timkellernyc.

[This was originally posted at Redeemer City to City and is used here with permission from the author.]

How to Tell the Better Story

Evangelism might be the most discussed, most intimidating, and least discussed practice in the American church. As our church just finished our sermon series through the Sermon on the Mount, I’ve been amazed by how Jesus evangelized through his message and his life. It can be easy to view the Sermon on the Mount as directed simply to believers, but Jesus’s view was beyond the disciples sitting with him; it involved the non-believing, curious, and even the antagonistic crowd around him. He doesn’t supply a complete explanation of any of the topics he addresses. He spends two verses dealing with divorce, makes simple statements about how we should use our money, and provides a small insight on anger and lust being rooted in the heart.

In all of the issues Jesus addresses, he is presenting a better story, a better narrative to follow than the world offers. It truly is picture-perfect evangelism, declaring through “you have heard it said, but I say” statements that contrast the cultural narrative lived around us and the kingdom life he brings. This must guide us as we process how we have been evangelizing, and how we can move forward evangelizing and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ.

The Good News

We must ask whether we truly believe that the gospel is good news in our lives, and if it is the prevailing narrative that we live for. If it’s not a better story, bringing greater peace, joy, and hope in the midst of whatever circumstances come, then how can we invite people to believe it as better for them?

When we follow Jesus and the life he offers, evangelism flows from a natural expression of the change we are continually experiencing.

For example, when I go see a basketball game with one of my son’s classmates’ dad, and we begin to talk about our kids, I am confronted by whether the gospel has been guiding my parenting. If it has been guiding my parenting, I can acknowledge with him my failures in disciplining without patience and love at every moment, but also explain how the gospel guides me in interacting with my son. I get to explain that I can affirm my love for my son rooted in him being my son, not in his performance.

I can also describe how my desire in correction is that my son would know the delight and joy in obedience rather than the destructive nature of sin as my he trusts Jesus and his parents. This presents a better story than our culture’s typical annoyance by kids' rambunctiousness, disobedience, and anger in timeouts or discipline, and points to the responsibility of the parent to lovingly correct and teach a better way of life by correction and modeling. It also demonstrates and aims to highlight that this can only be done well through gospel motivation and empowerment by faith.

The Gospel Is the Better Story

Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount sound impossible to follow at times, but thankfully he fulfilled all of the demands and challenges that he presented for us through his flawless life. His fulfillment is now imparted to us by faith in his death and resurrection through the Holy Spirit to empower us to live the better story so that it becomes a better and ever-increasing reality.

Jesus speaks to so many areas of our life, and provides a better way forward than the one typically based on life experiences, preferences, and at times, heritage. If we never stop and consider how Jesus calls us to live differently from the desires of our heart, to the private and public expression of our faith, we will not be able to share how the gospel transforms our approach to relationships, career, and even the religious devotion we are hoping our friends and family embrace. The call is to faith rather than religion, and only the gospel produces that in us.

The Better Story Demonstrated

Jesus proclaimed the Sermon on the Mount, dropped the microphone, walked off, and lived it out. When we invite our neighbors to see the better story played out in the community of faith through parties, meals, and service to the neighborhood, our words have more power based upon the life that is formed through them.

This is where evangelism becomes easier and normal. You are already doing and being a part of environments in your faith community where evangelism can happen, but you’ve forgot to provide the invitation to those who don’t know the better story yet. Jesus invited the crowds to follow him as he lived what he taught, and in doing so, informs us that we get to evangelize by presenting a better story through everyday life.

My hope is that the church embraces Jesus’s words as the greatest story ever lived. I pray that we enjoy it, and through loving it, we live it out as a powerful proclamation to our friends, co-workers, and family.

Examples of Telling the Better Story

I thought I would provide a few real life questions and scenarios to help.

1. I met a pro-choice advocate asking if I supported women's rights for abortion. They asked, “Are you against abortion?” Obviously, this is a potentially heated debate with a lot of emotions. I chose to answer like this: "I believe there can be a better way. What if there was a community that would adopt, care for, and raise that child and the mother/father could be a part of their lives? This is God’s desire for the people of God, to assist families and care for any and every vulnerable child."
2. After finding out I’m a pastor, I’ve been told multiple times, “So you believe I'm going to Hell.” Always a great conversation starter. One way to present the better story would be to say, “I believe you don't have to go there. Christ took all the punishment that you or I deserve by dying on the cross. He provides a way for us to know him in relationship, to know true joy, and to experience Heaven now and to love him forever.”
3. An even more common occurrence that I’ve seen in my life and our community is that social events are for everyone, not just Christians. Show the joy of Christian community by inviting them to the party and demonstrating the same relationships, conversations, and care for others that you do in fellowship with Christians.

Jesus and his kingdom is the better story and better reality for our day. It’s yours by faith and offered to anyone who will receive it.

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Logan Gentry is the Pastor of Community and Equipping at Apostles Church in New York City. He blogs at Gentrified and has contributed to The Gospel Coalition. He is married to Amber and they have three children. Follow him on Twitter: @logangentry.

Not Only Spirit Filled, But Also Spirit Controlled

Why are Christians so unkind to one another and the world? Why do we criticize, degrade, and dismiss? Why do we act like jerks? I have experienced the sting of Christian criticism many times as I’ve posted Scripture or encouragements online. I’m sure you’ve experienced this, too. Christians critique my use of the Bible and correct my theological positions. This happens so frequently on Twitter, there is now a hashtag, #JesusJuked, for Christians who use Scripture as a correction-weapon to tell others how they are wrong. This isn't cool and this isn't classy. Nowhere in the Bible has God given us license to treat each other like jerks.

If we continue to pridefully announce our objections to everything, we will soon lose credibility to speak the truth of the gospel. We will be known for our desire to be right and prove others wrong, instead of being known for our love for one another. The world will not believe our points about God's love when they are delivered with disrespect and pride. Some Christians have been so busy trying to make their argumentative points, they have lost the opportunity to make a difference. It’s that kind of non-Spirit-led, fleshly preaching that turns people from the gospel everyday.

Again, why do we act with such pride and arrogance toward one another?

At the root, we are relying on our own intellect, ego, and proven arguments instead of Christ. We are prideful and think we can get people to see the truth in our own strength. We trust our smarts and wit more than Christ. With our eyes on our selves, we miss others and the gospel.

A Matter of Control

Today, we have access to the Holy Spirit's power to control our lives. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live with “gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15) and be “the aroma of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15) to the world around us. God has commanded us to walk and live by the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23

Scripture tells us "when the Holy Spirit controls our lives," we will have certain characteristics that demonstrate his character. Through our words and actions people should see certain aspects of God’s character: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. If we are speaking out of bitterness, anger, frustration, fear, we are not being controlled by the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are the picture of what it looks like to follow Jesus. If our actions do not display these fruits, we aren’t being controlled by the Spirit.

We often get confused into thinking our frustrations and bitterness are actually righteous obedience. The reality is, however, the righteous acts are those of peace, patience, and kindness.When we aren't patient with our unbelieving neighbor and his journey with faith, we are not living by the Spirit. When we lose our temper when our co-worker asks another hard question, we are not living by the Spirit. However, when pursue peace among those quarreling in the office, we are living by the Spirit. When we sacrifice our Saturday to help our neighbor with their yard-work, we are living by the Spirit. As the Spirit controls our lives, we become a better picture of God's character and the gospel.

We not only need to live Spirit-filled lives, but also Spirit-controlled lives. If you don't know if your actions or words are from the Spirit, ask: Is this statement done out of joy? Done out of love? Done out of gentleness? Done out of kindness? If the answers are no, it’s not of the Spirit.

A Better Way called Grace

Make no mistake. We are called, as Christians, to persuade others towards the gospel. It is one of our main responsibilities. Paul says: “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this too” (2 Corinthians 5:11). We are to share the message of grace.

I’ve been asking myself a question lately, and it has been wrecking my heart: “How is the world supposed to see the grace of God if the people of God are not gracious?”

The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction. - Proverbs 16:21

The writer of the proverb is saying: "Gracious words make a person persuasive." It is not our arguments or our tight-doctrine that make us persuasive to people, it is the graciousness, love, and joy that only comes from a Christ-filled and Spirit-controlled life. If we walk in step with the Spirit and exhibit these characteristics to a world thirsty for grace, who wouldn’t want to be around us?

When we are gracious, we introduce a little more of the character of God to the world. God, more than anyone, has the right to banish us, to speak ill of us, to expose our heart’s motives, to reveal how wrong we are, and yet God is gracious. He doesn’t critique, jab, or JesusJuke his children.

The gospel shows us that God is not running after us to smite us, but to save us. "God so loved the world,” and “God did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16-17). God lavishes us with grace.

The gospel is not our work, our rules, or our religious structure. It’s the news that Christ has come, died, and rose again for the sake of us sinners. God wants to reconcile people to himself and he’s given everything in His Son to reconcile people to himself. God has done it all for us and that is grace. That’s the gospel the world needs to hear. It’s this simple proclamation and the hearing of this good news that transforms the human heart.

This gospel preached graciously does something profound to the human heart. When we talk about who Jesus was, and what He did, and His great love and gracious covering for our sin - God takes it and drives it supernaturally into the human heart, and the Holy Spirit draws people into faith in Christ. As we graciously share this story of Jesus, the graciousness of God is evident and draws people to the grace of Christ that can save them. When we pridefully argue our points, the message of grace is lost.

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Matt and Michelle Brown are evangelists and founders of Think Eternity, an evangelistic nonprofit. Matt is the author of several books, including Revolutionaries: Men and Women in Every Century Who Advanced Christianity and a frequent blogger. You can connect with them on twitter@evangelistmatt and @Thinke. Matt also wrote the article: Evangelism Has Become a Dirty Word.

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Read more on making sharing the gospel with grace in Jonathan Dodson's book, Unbelievable Gospel: How to Share a Gospel Worth Believing

What Would Jesus Say About That?

“I DO DRUGS. WHAT WOULD JESUS SAY ABOUT THAT?”

How would you respond to this question? Here’s the context: you’re a night security guard and the only Christian in your workplace. Another guard suddenly sticks his head into your office. Pointing his finger he almost accuses, “You’re one of those ‘Christians,’ right?” You get a little nervous. Nothing good ever follows that question. No one gives you a high five, says “good job,” and goes about their business. They only want to debate, challenge, or stump you. You respond with regretful hesitation, “Yeah…”

He crosses his arms, looks you square in the eye and then brings the challenge: “I do drugs. What would Jesus say about that?” How would you respond? More pointedly, how could you respond in a way that might actually resonate with the asker?

THREE INSUFFICIENT RESPONSES

I’ve posed this scenario, which actually happened to a leader I was coaching, in trainings around the country. No matter where I am, I hear these responses:

1. “Um, I Don’t Know Exactly”

For some followers of Jesus, our gut response would be to look down, stammer a bit, and ashamedly admit we don’t know what Jesus would say. Maybe, we give in to the pressure of the unexpected question, the outlandish honesty, or the shock of a challenge at 2 a.m. Perhaps we have a general sense of what Jesus might say, but have a hard time putting it into words. It could be that our “people-pleaser” kicks in and we simply can’t tell him the core of what we believe. Sometimes, we are afraid. A common response to this question is a blank stare. Put yourself in the shoes of the asker: “I don’t know” looks like ignorance. This simply isn’t a sufficient answer, the asker really wants to know what you and Jesus think.

2. “He’d tell you to stop.”

For other Christians, the answer would stem from the moralistic, humanist culture we grew up in. Our answer is some form of Bob Newhart’s MadTV sketch: a counselee admits a number of struggles, while Newhart, the counselor answers each with a blunt “Stop it!” Even if we intellectually know Jesus is our savior, we function as if he is simply a good guy with ethical advice. When asked about any sin issue – by anyone, Christian or not – we espouse surface-level fixes. Instead of addressing the true sin, we merely address the outflows or consequences of sin. Maybe we look for five easy steps to end a struggle; advise a few “good works”. Perhaps we appeal to legality (“you’ll get arrested”), personal welfare (“it might kill you”), heartstrings (“if you get arrested or die, can you imagine how your family will feel?”), or moralism (“you know it’s wrong”). It could be that we even quote a verse: “He’d say ‘you shall have no other gods before me’ – that’s the first commandment.” Put yourself in his shoes again“He’d say, ‘Stop it’” fits a view of God they’re most likely assuming of a no-fun, rule-giving, demanding, and impersonal deity. This too doesn't get to the heart of the matter.

3. “He died for your sin so you can be with him in heaven”

A final common response acknowledges their need for the gospel. Maybe you’ve been praying for this guard. Perhaps, you’ve intentionally spoken of faith before to “peak his interest.” It could be that in this moment of boldness, you’re elated that God finally opened the door. So, you share the gospel many of us know well. You gush out some form of, “He’d tell you that God is perfect and heaven is perfect, but because of sin, you’re not perfect. God sent Jesus to die for your sin so you can be reconciled to God and live eternal life with him. If you accept Jesus he’ll forgive your sin of drugs!” This is all true – and praise God it is! But, if he’s ignoring God, he doesn’t care about heaven. If he’s like much of the world, he doesn’t believe he’s too bad a person. If he’s a common American, it’s likely he doesn’t fully understand sin or his need for Jesus. There’s a strong possibility he doesn’t believe in God – or at least, a God who makes any difference in his daily life. Even the objective, big-picture gospel is not a sufficient answer!

CHILDREN, TOSSED TO AND FRO

These three responses fail because they don’t get to the heart of our faith! The first answer is empty, the second is moralistic, the third is futuristic: it sees the gospel as merely a past event that greatly benefits my future but has nothing to do with today. Many who question the gospel need to know how it applies to them in their current situation. Behind the challenging question is a heart in need of applicable truth.

Futile and failed attempts like these, for growing or explaining faith, are not unique to our culture. Writing to first-century Ephesus, Paul explains the goal of Christian life is maturity in Christ. How do we attain maturity? Paul gives three ways we cannot grow: “[by] every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Eph 4:14). Following new doctrinal trends, teachers, or even gaining more head-knowledge of the Bible isn’t enough. We will always be let down by relying on our own power and “cunning,” to make new rules and fix ourselves or each other. Some are deceived by false teachers, with false hope, and false ways to solve real issues. This is how we often answer any question, not just the 2 a.m. drug challenge. Difficult questions like:

• “How can God redeem my broken marriage?”
• “I’m so angry at my boss, what do I do?”
• “We just want a baby!”
• “How do these verses or commands apply to me?”
• “Where is God in this (recent tragedy)?”

Our answers are some mixture of:

• “I don’t know” (and if you’re really good, you’ll add “but I’ll pray for you.”)
• “Let me give you a great book on that.”
• “Let’s meet every week for accountability.”
• “Do these three things or steps.”
• “You just need to trust Jesus.”
• “One day, all this will be better.”

None of these, Paul would say, are sufficient for faith or maturity. He even claims answers like this likens us to “children, tossed to and fro by the waves” (v.14). These answers fall short because they don't come from belief in the gospel. Pointing people to books, programs, and renewed moralism to receive blessings and solve problems demonstrates a lack of belief that Jesus is sufficient for our struggles, doubts, hopes, and frustrations. We are saying, "that's a tough question, let me point you to some human cunning or the latest in pop-psychology.

APPLYING AN OBJECTIVE GOSPEL TO SUBJECTIVE SITUATIONS

In conversations like these, we miss a great blessing of the gospel. It is a past event, both historically and personally for every Christian. It does give future hope, for personal reconciliation and the renewal of all things. But it also impacts every moment of our present lives! Paul writes in Romans, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” (Romans 1:16-17). Verse 16 shows the past reality of the gospel; in the verses following these, Paul explains coming wrath and eternal power: the future reality of the gospel.

But verse 17 says our faith doesn’t just “save us,” and “give us eternal life.” Faith is the very power by which we live. The gospel does mean something: to everyone, everyday and for every situation. We just don’t seem to know how to apply it! To the Romans, Paul says we learn to “live [now!] by faith.” To the Ephesians, he says that while those other ways will fail, the way to “grow up in every way into him who is the head” is to “speak the truth in love” (Eph 4:15). Jesus himself, the greatest proclaimer and very embodiment of the gospel, gives us an example of what it looks like to apply the objective truth of the gospel to the specific, subjective need.

When Jesus meets a Samaritan woman in John 4, she challenged him with a question of race and gender roles, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (v.9). Jesus doesn’t ignore her first question; he doesn’t tell her to stop worrying about her situation; he doesn’t answer that he’ll die soon to reconcile the broken socio-economic status, so she should believe in him for eternal life. Instead, he starts by addressing her obvious need, thirst: “there is greater water than this well can give,” he says – “living water” will forever quench your thirst (v.10, 13).

Here’s what is often missed in this passage: Jesus speaks to something deeper than thirst. He speaks to the woman’s lack of satisfaction. We see this in her desire to be filled, never having to drink again: “Sir, give me that is water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water” (v.15). We see this as they discuss her string of spouses: “You’ve had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband” (v.18). In her unfilled desire to worship: “[Jews] say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship” (v.20). At every point, Jesus shows himself and God’s truth to be more satisfying than any of her lesser pursuits: water, good husband or fulfillment in a man, or worship location. Finally, she declares her need for a Messiah as he reveals, “I who you speak to am he” (v.26).

Jesus spoke “truth in love.” He met her on her turf. He showed her how faith matters for her present life. Jesus spoke the objective gospel: “There is a Messiah, coming to free you to worship God in spirit and truth, and I am he!” But he spoke that objective gospel in a way that addressed her subjective situation. He started with her felt needs, then pointed to her greater, heart-level need: “God will satisfy you more than this!” It’s a poignant picture of Jesus, truth incarnate, speaking truth to her in a way that she can immediately resonate with and understand.

HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND?

Back to the original scenario and challenge: “I do drugs. What would Jesus say about that?” How do you answer that question? What deeper need is the asker really addressing? What true struggle is he admitting? Put yourself in his shoes: how can the objective truth of the gospel apply to their subjective situation?

Here’s how my friend responded to the challenge, and I couldn’t be prouder of him. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I think Jesus would tell you that you’re looking for hope in a place that’s going to let you down. You know it lets you down because you have to take a hit three times a day. So I think Jesus would tell you that he’s a better place to put your hope, because he promises he’ll never let you down.” Jesus spoke the gospel truth as it addressed satisfaction; my friend spoke the gospel truth as it addresses personal hope. He exalted Jesus as the objective answer to the guard’s subjective question. God has thousands of years of history, 66 written books, and millions of lives throughout history to prove that Jesus is man’s greatest hope.

No, the guard didn’t fall on his knees weeping that night. God didn’t redeem his soul in that office. But he uncrossed his arms, shook his head, smiled and told my friend: “No one has ever told me that before. That actually makes a lot of sense. We should talk more about that sometime.” That night, the guard walked away from my friend, having heard the gospel spoken to him in a way that resonated with him in his present life.

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Ben Connelly lives in Fort Worth with his wife and daughters. He started The City Church in 2010 and lives on mission by teaching public speaking at TCU. Ben sits on the board of a few city-focused organizations, trains occasionally across the country, and writes in spurts at benconnelly.net. Twitter:@connellyben

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Related articles:  Questioning the Gospel by Jonathan Dodson and What is the Purpose of the Bible? by Jeremy Carr

Christians on Stage & on the Go

The guy in the white, skinny jeans was staring at my wife from the concert stage. He bounced in rhythm behind his electric guitar and gave his best "smoky eye" looks her way as she stood next to me on the front row. She thought it was funny. Not me. I thought he looked weird and uncomfortable.

The lead singer sounded better than ever. However, she tugged on her dress, spilled water on her piano, and led the crowd in a few awkward moments between songs. Well into our thirties and on the front row, that night we saw humanity in a super star. We'd long admired her songwriting skill and silky clean voice. We assumed her life was just as silky and clean, with very few mess-ups. Seeing her perform live that night, we didn't get that feeling.

Humanity is a funny thing. When we pull people off of our stages and screens, we realize we hold a lot of basic things in common---breathing, being hungry, and experiencing pain. This levels the playing field. We have days where we feel on top of the world, and we have (more) days where we just feel the grind. We feel tired. We find out a friend is hurting. A relationship gets fractured. We procrastinate about a difficult decision. I have more days when I'm just trying to walk next to Jesus and it’s all I can do to breathe in and out and put one foot in front of the other.

Mission and Humanity

Being human puts us on an equal playing field with the people on the platforms. That’s good news. But, there are also some really beautiful things associated with the gospel that level the playing field for spiritual influence as well. That’s even better news.

After Jesus rose from the dead and before he went back to be with the Father, he stood on a hill and shared something with his disciples that changed everything for the rest of us. He said, “Go.” He told them to rise and live a life of mission. My life would look differently today had it not been for a collision with the grace of the gospel. It’s not always pretty for me, and it wasn’t always pretty for the disciples, who got much needed help when the Spirit showed up. The gospel has a way of causing a ruckus and moving forward, and we get to play a part in the advancing story.

Not only is the superstar on stage just as human as we are, but so is the spiritual giant who always says the right thing and has all the best stories. We are all equally desperate for God’s grace, and equally capable of greatness. Not the kind of greatness that makes the Huffington Post  but the kind that shouts a giant shout in the halls of eternity.

In other words, each of us can have the most profound impact possible. You and I can have the most significant conversation ever possible: a conversation where the gospel message moves across the line and takes root in a person’s life, transferring their heart from darkness to light. The greatest conversation of all time can be had by any of us, and there’s no need for a guitar or super-tight jeans, which is really good news for me.

God talked about Jesus through Paul’s letter to the Colossians.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. -Colossians 1:17-18

Jesus was before everything that is, and he holds everything together as it continues to be. He’s in charge of his people, work, and plan. He’s preeminent. He’s above all things. With the lifting of his finger, the universe would jump off of its rails and become a disorganized and utter mess. Jesus’ power is comforting to me, but it’s also unnerving. If it's true that Jesus is preexistent and preeminent, then I’m in need of a gut check every day. It also means that there are a lot of people who are in a bad spiritual space.

Mission with Love and Trust

Paul wrote to one of the more disheveled cities, reminding them of the why behind “Go.” He said,

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. - 2 Corinthians 5:14-16

It’s the love of Christ that moves us toward people. His love controls us because we have experienced it. I was quite a mess when the gospel took root in my life. I was confused and unhappy. The ground below me seemed like it was constantly moving. I felt like a shell of a person, and I wasn’t sure what to believe or who had the answer. I had a family who loved me and friends who exposed me to Christians, but it wasn’t until I actually heard the words of the gospel that things started to make sense. My life didn’t start to change until someone sat me down and said: “I care about you. And you need to know this.” I experienced God’s love in the fact that he moved toward me when I wasn’t moving toward him in any way. He reached out to me and set my feet on ground that was finally solid, not shifting and unsure. I hope you know that kind of love. That same love is what now compels us to share the great news of who Jesus is, what he has done, and what that means for us.

Missional Living

Living missionally isn’t recognized by spell check but it sure is talked about a lot in our carved out, Christian part of the world. We make missional living out to mean so many things that I wonder if it’s lost it’s meaning. One thing we easily forget in all of our missional talk is the importance of the gospel moving out, verbally, from one person to another. Of course, there are times when a person discovers the gospel on their own. And God is the only one who can change a heart. But most often another person is the medium for the message -expressed through language- in the context of love and trust. When the gospel is shared in the context of a relationship where love has been expressed and trust has been earned (at least in some form) big things can happen. Sometimes love can be expressed and trust can be built rather quickly, as fast as a few minutes on some occasions. Sometimes it takes longer. Somewhere along the way, however, the actual information has to be presented. The gospel message has to come across the wire and be heard by the person on the other end.

I'm part of an organization that talks a lot about going. We like to say that "go" is in our DNA and flavors most of our tactical moves. We work mainly with students who are 18-24, and it’s a privilege to engage a person in that window of time when they are so full of passion but still wondering if they are buying the God (or non-god) that's been sold to them. Sold to them by their parents, taught to them by a pastor, or shared by their grandma on their social feed. Whatever goods on faith they’ve been sold, they’re finally on their own and deciding for themselves what they really believe.

These young people are walking around their campuses with their backpacks full of academia, but life just doesn’t make sense apart from Jesus. Without Christ, they’re in a bad space even if they don’t realize it. Come to think of it, so is my neighbor who leaves their trash can at the curb too long, my kid’s coach who yells too much, and the young person working behind the counter at the grocery store with the tattoo that I can’t read. Apart from Jesus Christ, life is coming off its tracks. They’re in a bad space. We’re in a bad space. And here’s something I wish I thought about the night of that concert with my wife...the same is true for that skinny-jeaned, bouncing guitar guy with wandering eyes.

A heart without Jesus is a dark heart. Darkness is darkness. A dark heart is a sick heart, and a lonely heart. Without Jesus life just doesn’t make sense.

Mission and the Next Generation of Leaders

I like thinking about the future, and I love the idea of being part of a leadership engine for the body of Christ. After all, sometime soon, a creative young leader will make something that will change everything for the rest of us. Do you remember what life was like before seeing a hashtag in the corner of your TV? I have a feeling that right now that future leader isn’t coming up through the ranks of youth group fame. Maybe they are. However, I think it’s equally likely that the future spiritual leader is rushing around their campus dropping f-bombs when they meet with their professors. Or it’s the young lady who last week slept with her boyfriend and can't imagine anything greater. The student organizer who is motivated by self-promotion. Or, the inebriated fraternity guy who is out for revenge. What if, before they changed the world, that young person’s life collided with the grace of the gospel and everything changed for them?

I think that would affect a lot of people. After all, there are certain things that are already reaching the world:  technology, the arts, and media to name just a few. I wonder what would happen if a few of the top leaders in these parts of our culture were Spirit-led leaders with a foundation in Christ and a vision for making disciples? And what might happen if they didn’t use their platform to shout through a megaphone, but instead used it to generate meaningful conversation and intrigue about Jesus Christ? I think we’d see a serious ripple effect of life- change and kingdom expansion. Maybe even one that could change the whole world.

I have a friend who makes reality TV shows. He's good at his job and his shows fill up my DVR. He laughs when he thinks about his work and that's worth something in itself. He also tries to develop a thread of redemption while producing these humorous, real-life dramas. His passion is crafting good art that tells some piece of the story of God. He’s living a life of meaning. Not just in what he’s creating, but in how he loves people, builds trust, and shares with them what he’s learned about Jesus. I think my reality show-making friend is changing the world.

I have another friend who battled cancer early on in his college career. Even before I knew him, I heard stories about dozens of young men shaving their heads to support him through the rigors of chemotherapy. I've always said that my friend understands the urgency of the gospel better than me. He’s tasted suffering and considered life and death in a deeper way than I’ve ever had to do. He wants to love people and share Jesus with them because he understands the brevity of life in a very personal way. Currently, he is leading significantly on a college campus and taking the grace of the gospel to young people every week. He also recently got married. I think my cancer-free buddy is changing the world.

He Is With Us

So where are you with all of this missional talk? Have you really considered how loving it is for God to come after you when you weren’t really that interested? Have you thought about the collision that took place when you first understood what the gospel meant for you? Have you thought through how you might establish (or re-establish) love and trust with a friend? How could you do that in just a few minutes with a stranger, a neighbor, your kid’s coach, the grocery worker? Is there a re-orienting of priorities that you need to make?

Right after Jesus told the disciples to “Go,” he added, “I’ll always be with you.” It’s hard to overstate the calming effects of this part of the Great Commission.  He sent out his people and followed it up with a promise to be with them at every step. When God says, “I’m with you” He means it. That shouts a great shout in the halls of my heart. Thank you, Jesus.

You and I are human. We’re not God. We’re not superstars. We’re also not inadequate ministers of the gospel because Holy Spirit is at work through us. Unfortunately, my humanity can create the feeling that there’s not a level playing field with the people on our platforms and screens. We’re all equally human. Yet, the gospel of grace that has taken root in us has changed everything. That same grace makes it possible for you and me to have the most significant influence that could ever be. Because of Jesus, we’ve experienced the collision of the gospel with our very humanity. And we get to take part in that beautiful collision in the life of someone else, too. Even if they’re in a band. And bouncing.

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Shawn McGrath is a husband, dad, friend, marketer, strategist, baseball coach, and wannabe anthropologist. He serves as National Director for Leadership Development with Cru- giving emphasis in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Follow Shawn on Twitter @shawn_mcgrath and catch his blog at http://ShawnMcGrath.net. 

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To learn more about speaking the gospel in love, read Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson and Proclaiming Jesus by Tony Merida.

Gospel Filibustering

Have you had those conversations, whether they be counseling, coaching, preaching, or evangelism, and you were sure you said everything the way it ought to be said? You wait for that pivotal moment when there is an extra breath between words in the conversation and let off the chain: the immense realities of Christ's preeminence, the sovereignty of God, the glories of Christ's active obedience and even manage to squeeze in a point on presuppositions before the clock runs out, only to look up and see their eyes more glazed over than a Dunkin Donut? You share the truths of the gospel only to find out they heard you, but didn't understand you? Isn't this Christ's established way of growing the Church? Paul testified to speaking the truth to grow the Church into the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:14-15). As opposed to expecting the same outcome from anything contrary to the truth of the gospel-like trying to make a good omelet out of bad eggs.

I can recall frustrations with similar scenarios as a leader to high school students. Until, closer attention to all of Paul's instruction, 'to speak the truth in love.” As Paul has said, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or clanging symbol.” (1 Cor 13:1). I thought I brought gospel content, Paul said I was no more effective than a rim shot without love. This  spoke into the issue at hand that while the truth was shared, the goal at hand (growth in Christ) seemed always to be missed. My mind reached back to my high school government class on “filibusters”. I realized what I had been doing was akin to what is seen in a legislative assembly- someone talking ad nauseum to avoid something being achieved. In the same way, I realized I had been doing that in many conversations with my words.

I had been guilty of filibustering with the gospel.

Filibustering with the Gospel: Indications and Implications

Gospel filibustering happens when the goal of speaking the truth is missed when the role of speaking the truth is switched, from loving others to self. Though this can be manifest in our speech, it's more than a wordsmith issue. It’s deeper. Our speech doesn't emerge from a vacuum, rather from our hearts, both the content and their course (Matt 12:34). In love, Jesus began to confront my method of speech. In challenging my wordiness he first challenged my heart.

Indications: Self-love The qualification to speak in love was alarmingly revelatory for the direction of my speech. I soon realized the questions I had been asking were all wrong. They were centered on the dysfunction of “who I spoke to”. His instruction quickly showed me the dysfunction of my question. Rather than ask, “Who did I speak to?”, I was asked “Who was I speaking for?” If not for them, then for who? Well, for myself. The ineffectiveness of my onslaught of gospel jargon was an issue not with the gospel, but with me. The issue wasn't with the 'isms' and 'tions' themselves, but first with the proprietor of those words. Though my words presented gospel truths, it was merely a baptized way to exalt myself. The selfish direction of my speech was indicative of the love with which they were said. My love was counterfeit, so to was the goal of my words.

Implication: Hollow words = Hollow Power

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, let the cross of Christ be emptied of it's power. 1 Cor 1:17 

The phrase “eloquent wisdom” can be known as “cleverness of speech". This cleverness may have particular reference to the 'wisdom' of the Sophists. A group of Greeks who taught persuasiveness and power through cleverness of rhetoric. Marked by the ability to exalt oneself as powerful, wise, and worthy of fame if they could hog tie imaginations with dilatory tactics. As the gospel came to Corinth, it clashed with this brand of thought. This may have been the backdrop that prompted the Gospel to be critiqued as foolish- echoed in critiques of Paul's public speaking abilities (2 Cor 10:10).

Instead of caving, Paul wanted nothing of making synonymous the power of the gospel with the popular notion of persuasion through prideful, self-exalting speech. He says doing so would be emptying the cross of it's power. Paul's words here are staggering. There is a way we can talk about the what of the Gospel that if our why is inconsistent with the what, it's running on 'E'. Even now I'm hesitant to write that last sentence, but Paul doesn't say “lest our words about the cross be emptied of their power”, but “lest the cross of Christ be emptied of it's power.” This is the dangerous implication of filibustering with the Gospel. When issued from self-love, a plethora of parlance of the cross is actually powerless.

The gospel, it's principles and purpose, is so antithetical to human pride that when our words of the gospel are serving the prideful purposes of self, it renders them useless. If we confuse the power of the gospel with the preponderance of pontification, it is like exchanging a nuclear weapon for a sidewalk popper. Though our words should be full of gospel theology, our gospel theology need not be full of  words.

How does Jesus change our wordiness?

His love: What it is and what it does

What it is: Christ's other-focused love Identifying the counterfeit of self-love comes when you know the real McCoy of God's love. Tim Keller writes about the relationship between Jesus' death and God's love, “Jesus didn't have to die despite God's love; he had to die because of God's love. And it had to be this way because all life-changing love is substitutionary sacrifice.”*. The life changing love we see in the gospel is other-focused. This is characteristic of the love shared in the tri-une God of the gospel. The Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father (Matt 17:5- Isa 42:1, John 3:35, 5:20, 17:26) and the Spirit glorifies the Son and Father (John 14:26). This other-focused love was being shared before creation (John 17:24), “The “picture of God” is of one “whose love, even before creation of anything, is other-oriented”*. From God's love then for us, Jesus' substitutionary life and work wasn't something done to us, but something done for us (Romans 5: 6, 8, 1 John 4:9). Being restored by the Spirit in community, we see our ability to love is from him and for others. The Church is the context where we see this subversive love change the direction of words and the way we say them.

What it does: Christ's other-focused love Only the substitutionary love of Christ can emancipate us from self-love and bring us, as entitled, “The Freedom of Self-forgetfulness” (2 Cor 4:14-15). Our sinful proclivity will unabashedly be toward the self. The Gospel brings to us the love of Christ, severing the power of sin and the momentum toward the self abates. Set free to forget ourselves, we see what love for others does to our words for others. As the priorities of our motives change, the particulars of our method will. When we speak for them, what we say and how we say it will change:

• Prayer: Praying that we are ourselves would be enraptured by Christ's love for us, so that our words will be for those we're talking to.
• Listening: Listening to them, we hear how we can speak into their lives for their sakes (Proverbs 15:23). Not just waiting for spaces to cram in our thoughts (James 1:19), but we can know how to ask questions and how to respond to keep us from making assumptions and speaking over them.
• Humility & Patience : If our words are for them and not for ourselves, then how someone reacts will not seem like an attack against us.
• Hope & Confidence: If our words are the truth of the Gospel spoken in Christ-like other focused love, then we can be hopeful that the power for change doesn't come from us, but from the Gospel- the power of God (Rom 1:16).
• Explain your terms: This had more to do with 'why' than 'what', but there is a relationship between loving others and us making sure we do the heavy lifting in our communication. We want to bring them to Christ, but saying 'Christology' won't necessarily do that.

*Tim Keller, King's Cross, Dutton, 2011, page 141 **D.A. Carson, The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God, Crossway, 2000, pg 44

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Ben Riggs resides in Dayton, Ohio with his incredible and lovely bride Emily. He is Gathering Assistant at Apex Community Church and a house church leader in that area. He is the proprietor of pageflipping.blogspot.com. Ben has a passion to see the power and depths of the God's gospel be drawn out for all aspects of life for God and others in God's world.

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Read more on how to share the gospel in Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson

Also read these free articles: Evangelism has Become a Dirty Word by Matt Brown and The Introverted Evangelist by Seth McBee

The Introverted Evangelist

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 

‘Prepare the way of the Lord; 

make his paths straight.’ ” 

Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. - Matthew 3:1–6

For most of us this is what we think of when we think of an evangelist: the semi-crazy person that we admire for their zeal. We are impressed with their courage, but we know that if that is what we are called to do, we could never pull it off.

When we train in evangelism, this is the picture most either point to or think of. Which is one of the major reasons evangelism and evangelist have such a negative connotation for both the believer and non-believer. Essentially, we train folks to fit into a specific personality type and call it evangelism training. We are training people to be extrovert evangelists.

The Extroverted Evangelist

Extrovert evangelists are the people we see constantly interacting with strangers. They are the life of the party, and they love being around people in general. We’ve seen them doing everything from street evangelism to getting into gospel conversations with someone while riding in an elevator with them. This is not only a joy for them, but comes very natural to them. These folks are the "evangelists."

When I felt the call to tell others about Jesus, I thought this is who I was supposed to be so I went out door to door, handing out bibles, went to community events and handed out tracts, etc. thinking that this is how one is deemed an evangelist and “have beautiful feet by preaching good news.”

The issue for me was this never seemed natural for me. It never felt like this is how God made me. I chalked it up as this was what it meant for me to be a living sacrifice. The problem was it didn’t stop at me, but I preached that others should be doing the same, or they didn’t understand the call to be an evangelist.

However, in the body of Christ, not everyone fits this extrovert mold, yet people think this is how all followers of Jesus must be and live. We must stop calling everyone to be an extrovert evangelist and allow people, specifically introverts, to live out the identity of evangelist and missionary in the way God has made them.

Round Peg, Square Hole

I find it interesting that we have looked past how God has made us, and gone directly to our actions to prove who we are. We should always start with who God has made us to be and out of that find direction for our actions. Even biologically this makes sense. We don’t ask a dude to get pregnant. But, sadly, this is as silly as asking an introvert to be a John the Baptist.

We need to go back to see how the Scriptures speak to us, found in Psalm 139:12-15:

For you formed my inward parts; 

you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 

Wonderful are your works; 

my soul knows it very well. 

My frame was not hidden from you, 

when I was being made in secret, 

intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; 

in your book were written, every one of them, 

the days that were formed for me, 

when as yet there was none of them. 

God has designed each one of us exactly how he wants us. Not only that, but he will use his design of us to reach out and show his glory to the ends of the earth.

Once I realized who God made me, and how he was going to use me, it transformed my thought process on my life and how I lead others on mission.

What I have come to realize is that I am a functional extrovert. Many see me and think I am an extrovert, but in reality, my wife used to call me a hermit because of how much I avoided people.

What this means for me is that I will force myself into situations to meet new people and share stories, but it is not natural for me. I am basically in the middle of the introvert and the extrovert. Because of this, I think I have a unique perspective on how to lead and be an introverted evangelist.

Some Things to Think Through 

• Being an introvert and staying an introvert is not a sin. Many put this on others and in return introverts can feel very alienated and burdened to do what others (read extroverts or functional extroverts) are doing. Allow the introvert to be exactly who God has made them to be, an introvert.

• Do not try to make an introvert an extrovert. This is not your calling. Your calling is not to make everyone in your church look like you or act like you. If this was the case, everyone else on the planet could die and you could take over as king of the world. God has made his body different on purpose, including introverts and extroverts.

• Having introverts in your church is not the same as having immature believers or wolves in sheep’s clothing. It seems as though most of us have treated introverts as though they were a disease that needed a cure, instead of image bearers of God created by him for his purpose. Know God’s creation is beautiful, purposeful, and should be celebrated not degraded.

• Being an introvert does not exclude them from the mission. Do not allow introverts to use their design as a crutch. Instead, shed light into how God is going to use them. Allow them to, and lead them into, what it might look like to be on mission as an introvert.

What Does Mission Look Like As An Introverted Evangelist?

• Introverts, by nature, have a tough time being around people they do not know. So, find an extrovert, or functional extrovert, that loves Jesus and understands introverts. Have the extrovert invite the introvert into their daily lives and functions. This will allow the introvert to be with those they know, yet still be with those they don’t know.

• Allow the introvert to serve at events, parties, activities, etc. in a way in which they are comfortable. We have an introvert in our missional community who started by taking out the garbage, cleaning, and making the food at our BBQs and breakfasts. It was pretty funny because he was like a silent cleaning assassin. People would ask, “who is that?” I’d let them know he was a friend of mine who was here to help, so I could spend more time getting to know my neighbors. Please tell me how that doesn’t speak to kingdom living! After a while, he started to build friendships and started to speak into them and felt very comfortable at our large events, because he knew everyone now. I wasn’t patient at first, but when I started to realize how God had made him and his love for Jesus, I allowed him to live out his identity. When we do this, we become a beautiful picture of the diverse body of Christ.

• Know that because introverts do not like being around people they don’t know or large groups, they will not be the ones who are planning parties, or are the life of the parties. Allow this; it’s okay! Do not force them to do things that they are not made to be. Of course, there is a balance to the call of mission, but at the same time, be patient. I’ve found that the more you allow the introvert time to be around extroverts, or just strangers in general…the more they get to know them and then desire to be around them.

• When an introvert speaks, listen. Introverts don’t want to bother people, because they don’t like to be bothered. But, after they get to know people, they will speak into their lives and their wisdom is usually spot on. First, they listen and watch. When they finally feel the need to speak, they usually hit the heart of the issues at hand. Do not gloss over what they say, but listen and encourage. If you ignore or talk over them, they are stubborn buggers and might never talk again.

• Introverts desire community, they just don’t know it. Most introverts think they want to be by themselves. The fact is, they just don’t want to be around others they don’t know. And it’s not something they need to just “get over”; it’s as real as trying to get an artist to put on a suit and sit behind a desk all day. It just isn’t going to work. So, you can tell when you have an introvert who is an evangelist because they start to gather with those they’ve developed relationships with. My wife is like this. She hates meeting new people; however, once she has developed relationships, she not only makes space for them, they make space for her.

• What is an evangelist anyways? An evangelist isn’t a personality type or a personality disorder, but an evangelist is one who brings good news, both in the proclamation with the mouth and their actions. If this is the case, where does it say that an evangelist is going to be an extrovert or introvert? What if God’s plan was for everyone to do the work of an evangelist? (2 Tim 4:5). Think of the power of the church if we empower both the extrovert and the introvert to be the representation of the good news in the way that God has made them? How many more people would be reached for the sake of Jesus?

A Final Warning

Don’t let the introvert use their design as a crutch for mission. “God didn’t make me that way” is a crutch. Instead, show them what mission could look like. Find another introvert, or functional extrovert, that can aid them in steps of what mission might look like for them. Don’t just tell them; have someone model it. The introvert is an image bearer and desires to see disciples made; they just don’t know what it looks like for them. It's not because they're stupid, but because the church has historically modeled what it looks like to be an extrovert evangelist.

Don’t give up on the introvert. Just because they don’t live out the mission as you might, does not make them any less a child of God, nor does it make them any less of an evangelist. You’ll have to be patient with them, that’s okay, God has been patient with you your entire life and you still suck.

The point of this short article is that the introvert is designed by God, not by the lies of Satan. The lie of Satan is that we need to make other people like us, whomever “us” ends up being.

If you have introverts in your church, empower them in the ways God has made them.

If you are an introvert, live out the mission to make disciples in the way that God calls you based on who you are. Don’t use your design as a crutch, and don’t let anyone else use your design as a crutch.

Start small. Ask the Spirit “what’s next?” and he’ll give you exactly what you need to do in the way that he has designed you. It might be the smallest and dumbest thing you’ve heard of, but it’s a step. It could be to help pick up garbage at the next party--you could be the next cleaning assassin for Jesus.

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Seth McBee is the adopted son of God, husband of one wife, and father of three. He’s a graduate of Seattle Pacific University with a finance degree. By trade Seth is an Investment Portfolio Manager, serving as president of McBee Advisors, Inc as well as a missional community leader, preaching elder with Soma Communities in Renton, Washington, and executive team member of the GCM Collective. Twitter @sdmcbee.

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Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson is an excellent read on sharing a gospel worth believing.

 Read more free articles on this topic: Evangelism has Become a Dirty Word by Matt Brown and Mission is Where You Live by Jeremy Writebol.

Show Them What He’s Like

Before we ask how or what we are supposed to do, we must ask why. Why do we interact with the world? Why are we on mission? Questions like these can be dangerous because they can bring clarity--life-changing clarity. I experienced it myself in a powerful way two years ago. The Spirit used a question to change my life.

It happened in May of 2011 while I was visiting my friend, Seth McBee, in the Seattle area during a Soma School. Seth and I spent one day in Seattle just walking and talking while he showed me the sights.

Seth was already familiar with the "dangerousness" of asking the right question at the right time. Asking the Spirit, "What's next?" has been as life altering for Seth as it has for me (read more about Seth's experience in this GCD article). However, there was a question I needed wrestle with before I even got to "what's next?" I needed to struggle with the question: "Why am I interacting with the world?"

It's a question that asks "Why am I missionary?” You see, the "what's next?" question is about how and it is a good question. Before the "how" we must ask the "why". Two years ago I thought I had a pretty good answer for why I was a missionary. My answer was to make disciples for God's glory. Pretty decent answer, right? At least it sounds right.

Two Christians Walk into a Muslim’s Smoke Shop

Seth and I’s trip to Seattle had took us to Capitol Hill in search of a cigar shop. We walk into a smoke shop owned by a Pakistani Muslim and engage in conversation with the owner. Quickly our conversation moves from business to religion as the shop owner shares his views about who God is and what we have to do to be right with him. Neither Seth or I say much of anything, we just listen. While the owner shares lots of rules with us, another customer comes in to buy a pack of cigarettes but stays to eavesdrop on our conversation. Seth looks to him and asks, "What do you think about all of this?" Keith, the tall, African-American man with dreadlocks says, "Man, I just don't know how you guys go on like that. Why do you keep trying to convince people about God? I'm Native American and think you guys cause more problems trying to convert people than if you lived at peace, man. Besides, how do we even know if there is a God?"

Before Seth or I could respond, the shop owner began to explain the evidence he had as a Muslim of why there is a God. He used lots of arguments we've heard before and drew upon his own experience. As he was sharing, I watched the newest member of our conversation, Keith, listen and look completely disinterested. It was as if he had heard it before and was totally unmoved. His reply was something like, "So, I've gotta believe that this God I can't see is real so that I can obey his commands and be accepted by him?"

I could sense the Spirit challenging me at that moment. "Gino, does your telling others about me sound like this? Does it sound like a burden to people or does my gospel look and sound like good news to the people around you? Are you pointing to God’s commands or God’s love?” Conviction came over me like a cold shower. I was speechless.

Immediately after the conviction was my repentance to God. "Forgive me Father. Please, I don't want to burden people. I want to show them the hope found in you. I want them to find joy in the gospel. Spirit, show me how to do that."

All of this happened quickly as if time stopped around me because the next thing I heard was Seth's response to our new friend. It went something like this:

"What if we weren't trying to convert you or anyone else but just loved you regardless of your beliefs? What if we just loved you and others because we've been loved by God and want you to see what he is like?"

Keith had a wide smile on his face and the look of happy disbelief. "Well, I guess we'd hang out a lot and get to know each other," he said.

"Yep," Seth replied, "we could have meals together and just share life without any barriers."

Keith said he had to run and thanked us as he left. I'm really not sure if the questions had much of a lasting impact on him or not, but they opened my eyes.

What if we didn’t try to Convince People?

The rest of the afternoon, I must have driven Seth crazy, because I just kept thinking and saying, "We don't try to convert people, we just show them what the Father is like." I may have heard those words before but I had never heard those words before.

God is so gracious and faithful to teach us. He didn't just leave me convicted that I was in danger of burdening others rather than sharing good news. Instead, he met me there and used my brother to provide an answer for why we are missionaries: we aren't here to convert people, that's the Spirit's work. We are here to show the world what God is like through our words and our actions.

Please read that again. Let the words be an encouragement to your soul. If you, like I had been, are stuck trying to convince people of who God is and what Jesus has done, relax. Let these words ease your burden and remind you of your job description. We aren't here to convert people but to show them what God is like. The Spirit opens blind eyes to reveal the glory of the gospel in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). We show people what God is like through both demonstration and proclamation. We show our neighbors the gospel is real by experiencing it ourselves. There is great freedom in this! The heavy weight of trying to do more to convince more people of the truth is gone. That weight isn't ours to carry anyway. Jesus says,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. -- Matt. 11:28-30

The work of a missionary is hard. Actually, impossible apart from the Spirit. Yet with the Spirit, this same hard work is filled with joy because the burden of "success" is carried by Jesus.

The Pressure is Off with the Gospel

The pressure is off when we make disciples in the Spirit's power. We are filled with God's love and we allow it to flow into others’ lives. We are freed up to enjoy people and love them rather than struggle to change them. Gone is the desire to control their beliefs and behavior. Gone is the pressure to convince them that God's ways are best. In its place is the desire to love them because we are convinced God's ways are best!

I said it before, questions are dangerous. They can lead to conviction and clarity which will necessitate change. God used the simple questions of my friend to call me to dramatic change as a follower of Jesus. If you are ready to see some Spirit-led change in your life, consider the question, "What if we aren't here to convert people but to show them what God is like?" Then, ask the Spirit, "What's next?" Watch the Spirit do his work. In your heart. In your family. In your neighborhood. All the while, praise God for it all.

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Gino Curcuruto is a disciple of Jesus, husband to Jill, and father of four. He is a chiropractor by trade and missionary by calling. Gino enjoys making disciples in the everyday: at home, at work, on the block, and within the church. Twitter: @ginoc

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Read Proclaiming Jesus by Tony Merida.

Continue reading on the topic: Mission is Where You Live by Jeremy Writebol and Missional Living in a Complex World by JD Payne.

Evangelism has Become a Dirty Word

Evangelism has become a dirty word. This is probably because of situations like my wife and I ran into in San Francisco a couple years ago. We spent a few days traveling up and down the Pacific Coast Highway before working at the Oracle Conference, a technology conference attended by more than 30,000 business people from all over the world. As we walked to the convention center from our hotel one day, I noticed a short, stalky gentleman on the street corner in the midst of all the hustle and bustle. Suddenly, the man on the street corner began to scream. It was not your average yip or yell. It was a high pitched, throaty kind of scream, one that would cause you to lose your voice within a few minutes of unleashing it. He began to wave his Bible back and forth in the air. Between his gasps for breath, I could tell he was saying something about Jesus, repentance, and God. The crowds quickly skirted around him, crossing the street as fast as they could, adding one more reason to their dislike of the “E-word.”

As I’ve gone back over this experience in my mind, my main deduction is that this stalky street preacher was using the wrong bait.

Jesus talked to his first followers about “fishing for men.” I’m not much of a fisherman myself, aside from the occasional sunny day in Minnesota (we have 10,000 lakes in here, so it’s almost a sin not to do all that fun lake stuff). If fishing has anything to do with the “E-word,” we can easily assume that “different strokes work for different folks.” It doesn’t take a brain scientist to discover that screaming at a businessman (or 30,000 of them) is among the most unsuccessful sales pitches in the history.

I get it. I understand why evangelism has become a dirty word, but I want to believe God can do something different with it through my life. If I don't scream the gospel, what can I do? How can I care about people more authentically, and love people more unconditionally, share the gospel more faithfully?

So What Do We Do?

We have to put ourselves in the apostles' shoes. When they traveled with Jesus, what did they say? What did they do?

I’ve done my fair share of street evangelism. It took me many years to realize something profound: the first followers of Jesus did not witness to every person they met on the street. In my mind, I had somehow come to the conclusion that the more we witness to strangers, the holier we become. I used to think if I could just witness to literally every person I came into contact with throughout my day, I would have made it into Kingdom greatness (I seriously thought this).

It took some time and some years to understand Acts 17:2: “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.” What did Paul do on the days in between? We don’t exactly know, but we see on every church day, he took opportunities to speak of Christ, proclaim Christ and call men and women to Christ. Paul wasn’t rabidly evangelizing every single person he met throughout the week (although he did personal evangelism at times), yet in the power of the Spirit, the spread of the gospel was the driving force of his life.

The gospel frees us from the notion that the evangelization of the world falls on our shoulders alone.

I believe in reaching the world. I believe that God has placed each of us in the time we live in, growing up where we grow up for a reason (see Acts 17:26-28). But it is God alone who draws men and women to Himself (John 6:44), and it is the Church collectively that is called to reach the world. Not me. The Church together. With every part working its unique strength (Ephesians 4:16) that God can use for his glory.

We can play a small part in God’s grand story:  the rescue and redemption of the world. Our role is led by the Spirit and focused on Christ. We carry it out by setting apart Christ as Lord within our own hearts, to give an answer to anyone who asks for the hope we have received, and to always share of Christ with gentleness and respect for our hearers (1 Peter 3:15). Our role is to be faithful to the leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit in the large and small stages of our lives. If we are to “do the work of the evangelist,” we must study the life of Christ, and also the story of Philip the Evangelist in Acts 8. He was led at key moments by the Spirit, where to go, what to do, what to say. He was prepared with a proper understanding of the Word of God and how to point a seeker towards Jesus.

We Don’t Go Alone

Evangelism becomes a dirty word when it is done religiously out of human motivation (often guilt and aiming to earn God’s pleasure by works) and attempted to be accomplished through human strength. The antidote comes from understanding our proper role as simple tools in the hands of God.

“One says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.” - 1 Corinthians 3:4-8

The message of evangelism is not just “go,” but also, “I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:19-21). It is Christ’s presence that heals. It is Christ’s presence that saves. It is Christ’s Presence that delivers. We are needy of his Presence every day in every way. Unless God moves, and does through us what he loves to do best, hearts will remain darkened to the light of the gospel.

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Matt and Michelle Brown are evangelists and founders of Think Eternity, an evangelistic nonprofit. Matt is the author of several books, including Revolutionaries: Men and Women in Every Century Who Advanced Christianity and a frequent blogger. You can connect with them on twitter @evangelistmatt and @Thinke

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Read Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson (available as e-ebook and in print).

More free articles: Being Ministers of Reconciliation by Brandon Smith and A Jesus-like Church by Scott Sauls

A JESUS-LIKE CHURCH CULTURE

In a very real sense, the work of Jesus is complete. When it comes to our standing as beloved, forgiven, delighted-in children of God, “It is finished,” just as Christ said. His sinless life secured for us a new and irrevocable status—holy and blameless in God’s sight. His death fulfilled the requirements of God’s justice toward our sins. Jesus lived the life we should have lived, and he died the death we should have died. Therefore, we are free. What a wonderful and humbling reality in which we now live—God does not treat us as our sins deserve, because on the cross, he has already treated Jesus as our sins deserve. This being true, there is still much work that Jesus intends to do! Acts 1:1 indicates that the work of Jesus on earth was not completed with His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating at the right hand of God. Luke writes, “In the first book (the Gospel of Luke), O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” Began to do and teach? How could there be more for Jesus to do than he what has already done? That’s where we, as Christ’s “ambassadors,” come into the picture. We are sent into the world, filled with his Spirit and enriched by his grace and truth, to represent him. In short, the work of Jesus continues through Christians.

WHAT ARE CHURCHES SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT?

As Jesus’ ambassadors, Christians have been set apart to faithfully mirror him in our neighborhoods, our places of work and play, and our realms of influence. Therefore, our calling is to labor in every way possible to model our ministry and message after his. We are to live as those who are “full of grace and truth,” whose churches and ministries, because we are walking in the path of Jesus, will attract the types of people who were attracted to him, and, by unfortunate necessity, will draw criticism from the types of people who criticized him.

The purpose of this article, then, is to consider what constitutes a ministry that is full of both grace and truth. In other words, our task is to align our collective life and ministry to the life and ministry of Jesus.

CULTIVATing an Atmosphere that is “Full of Grace”

What does it mean to have a ministry atmosphere that is “full of grace” (John 1:14)? We will consider this question from a few different angles.

First, we must address the barriers created by Christians—barriers that have hidden the real Jesus from the world.

Gandhi was once asked why He never became a Christian. His answer was, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Gandhi had an admiration for Jesus, but could not reconcile how Christians were such poor representatives of their master. In his mind, this is what kept him from becoming a follower of Jesus.

If we are serious about being Jesus’ ambassadors, we need to listen very carefully to statements like this one. We must examine the most common barriers that stand between the real Jesus and people’s false impressions of him—impressions which, unfortunately, have been projected to a watching world by many sincere yet misguided Christians. These barriers include:

Condemnation. Philip Yancey often asks people he meets what they think of Christians. The answer he hears, with very little exception, is that Christians are judgmental, intolerant, and holier-than-thou. When the September 11 terrorist attacks took place on the World Trade Center, one very well-known Christian leader confirmed this stance by saying on national television, “If you are a homosexual, a member of the ACLU, in favor of abortion, or part of the People of the American Way, then I point my finger in your face and say you did this. You made this happen.” A Christian friend of mine who is an actor once invited a gay friend over to have dinner with him and his wife. Their guest soon realized (from the Bible on the coffee table) that they were Christians. He then said to my friend, “You are a Christian, and you actually like me?” This is tragic, yet all too common.

If we are serious about being Christ’s ambassadors, we must humbly own the fact that many people believe that Christians dislike them. Whether this is actually true or not, it is our starting point in the minds of most non-Christian people. If we are not guilty ourselves, then we are at the very least guilty by association with believers who have misrepresented the biblical Jesus to our culture. So we must take personal responsibility, as far as it depends on us, to reorient people’s perception of Christians, and especially of Christ himself.

Separation. In a day when many Christians want to separate themselves and their children from people and things that are considered secular, Christ’s ambassadors must resist this “us against them” mindset. We must do everything in our power to become friends with as many non-Christians as we can—no conditions attached. This must be a central value of our Christian communities. It is helpful to look at the life of Jesus in this regard. Luke 15:1-2 says plainly that all of the “sinners” made a habit of hanging around Jesus. They wanted to be near him, and they wanted to hear what he had to say. Meanwhile, religious folk were accusing Jesus of being a glutton, a drunk, and a friend of sinners (Luke 7:34). We know that these accusations were false—Jesus was tempted in every way. However, he was unapologetically a true friend to the lost, to all who were alien to the religious communities of his day. He seemed to welcome parting ways with religious folks if that was necessary  to get close to sinners. The one who “welcomed sinners and ate with them” now insists that his followers assume the same posture. “God’s grace is for real sinners” must be more than a statement on our church websites. It must characterize the life and practice of our ministries.

Reputation. There is a price to pay if we get serious about cultivating atmospheres that are full of grace. In becoming a friend of sinners, as Jesus did, we should expect some resistance. When we pursue friendship with those who are outside the faith, some fellow believers will be suspicious of us. Consider Luke 7, for example, when a “sinful woman” enters the home of Simon the Pharisee. In the name of love, and in the spirit of demonstrable grace, Jesus received her very un-orthodox display of affection toward him. He breaks with religious customs, allowing the woman to touch his feet (feet were considered unclean—one could not even ask a slave to touch them for this reason). He breaks with social customs also, receiving her as his disciple. It was scandalous in Jesus’ day for a rabbi to receive a woman as a disciple, much less a woman with a scandalous history. Most scandalous, however, is the way that Jesus breaks with moral customs. The woman lets down her hair (this was grounds for divorce in that culture—a woman could do this only in the presence of her immediate family). She touches him with the tool of her trade, a prostitute’s perfume, and kiss him with a prostitute’s lips…and he allows it! Of course we know the rest of the story—Jesus was shunned as a man of ill repute. Giving positive attention to this woman, who to them was clearly “a sinner,” was evidence enough of moral compromise.

This has serious ramifications for those who wish to follow Jesus in a modern context. We must come to terms with the fact that if Jesus were a 21^st century American, he would not associate godliness with membership in a political party. He would not tell a lesbian she was outside of God’s will without also offering her a personal, no-strings-attached friendship. He would not talk about how smoking destroys God’s temple while simultaneously devouring his third piece of fried chicken at a church potluck. He would not condemn adultery as being any worse than studying the Bible for the wrong reasons. If we are accustomed to setting up our own Mishnah, our own set of “clean laws” that define one’s worthiness to be received into Jesus’ company, we need to give serious re-evaluation to our methods and priorities!

Pride. Becoming a friend of sinners begins with the understanding that we are much more like the “chief of sinners” than we are like Jesus Christ. Our approach with all people, no matter who they are or what their history, must assume the posture of “fellow beggars humbly telling others where to find the bread” (Steve Brown). If we really want people to be impacted by the Gospel and to enjoy the riches of God’s grace, they must first see in us the humility of those who have been, and continue to be, genuinely impacted by grace ourselves. Our humility must be authentic and not just an act. Paul was not above humbling himself. In Romans 7 he gives us a window into his personal struggle with the sin of coveting—a sin nobody would see unless he told them—and the ways in which the Gospel heals that sin. In 1 Timothy Paul identifies himself as the chief of all sinners. If we intend to be the aroma of Jesus in our ministries and our messages, we need to move past our love for reputation and image. Without realizing it, we can begin to build our identities on how good we look—on being “model Christians” that people are supposed to admire because of how put-together we appear to be. This is a trap and it will rob our ministries of power. If people in our midst are going to be changed by the grace of Jesus, they must regularly witness the Gospel working effectively in our lives—healing us of our sins and deepest wounds and fears.

our communities must be sinner-safe

There was a reason why all the sinners ran to Jesus on a regular basis (Luke 15:1-2). Though they knew he was against their sin—he never watered down the law’s demands—they wanted to be around him because they knew the reason why he was against their sin—because he was for their flourishing! If we want to be his ambassadors, therefore, several commitments must characterize us, our ministries, and our message.

Respecting and valuing all people. People must sense us relating to them on the basis of their God-given dignity, not on the basis of their shortcomings. If we are not careful, we can easily fall into the trap of diminishing the worth of a human being by thinking first of the ways they need to be fixed versus valuing them as bearers of the divine image, made for glory. The following quote from CS Lewis offers helpful perspective:

It is maybe possible to think too much of your own potential glory hereafter. But it is impossible to think too often or too deeply about that of your neighbors. The weight of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back. So heavy a weight it is that only humility can carry it. It’s a serious thing to live in a society of immortals. To remember that millions of years from now, the dullest and most uninteresting person you meet may one day be an incredible creature, who if you saw him now you would be strongly tempted to worship. - CS Lewis, The Weight of Glory

 A biblical view of sin. Treating people with dignity does not imply a reluctance to challenge sin. If we are going to love people as Jesus does, we will be committed to their flourishing, which means we will deeply desire that they be obedient to God! So, the question is not, “Will we challenge sin?” but rather “How will we challenge sin, and with what motivation will we challenge it?” We must be on God’s agenda here. God is vehemently opposed to sin both for his own glory and very much for the person. God’s desire is that we live by his design, which is life to us.

A grace-filled posture toward sinners like ourselves. Whenever we challenge sin of any kind, our motivation must be because we care so deeply for those, like ourselves, who sin. Otherwise, we shouldn’t say anything at all about sin. You are no doubt familiar with the group from Topeka, Kansas who picketed the funeral of Mathew Sheppard, a young gay man who was beaten to death by some of his peers, with signs that read “God hates fags” and “Thank God for AIDS,” among other horrible, evil things. This example is certainly extreme. However, there are going to be seeds in our own hearts that are prone to look down on those to whom we feel superior. It is an evil thing to desire or celebrate someone’s harm instead of his or her well-being. As Jesus stood over Jerusalem, which had rejected his love, he wept for them. Do people, especially people who are “not like us,” sense this kind of love from us? Jesus did much more than merely tolerate sinful people in his midst. He cherished them and pursued their hearts that they might become free indeed. We have no option but to do the same.

we must keep first things first

Jesus, and nothing else, must be our “main thing” at all times. Our main emphasis must always be on the person and work of Christ. We must follow the example of the Apostle Paul who decided to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Therefore, everything else takes a back seat to Jesus. Often, we will equate “outreach” to converting others to the norms of our particular tribe (our political views, our theological tradition, our dress code, our ethics, our parenting philosophy, etc.) instead of converting them to a love and adoration of Jesus. But the norms of our tribe must always be secondary to, and in many cases discarded because of, a greater vision for people to see Jesus and know him for who he really is. Additionally, in all things we must lead with the grace of God versus with the law of God. When we require people to “get their act together” before we give them access to Jesus and his grace, we fail to follow the methods of the Lord, who welcomed and “graced” people before he called them to change (Luke 7:36-50, Luke 15:1-2, John 8:1-11, etc.). A cosmetic, outside-in, second-things-first approach to change contradicts the inside-out, first-things-first approach of the gospel.

Cultivate a Ministry of Grace

In cultivating a “full of grace” ministry atmosphere, we must carefully consider how we are presenting Christ to people who are either not Christian or somewhere along the journey of overcoming sin. That’s all of us, isn’t it?

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Scott Sauls, a graduate of Furman University and Covenant Seminary, is foremost a son of God and the husband of one beautiful wife (Patti), the father of two fabulous daughters (Abby and Ellie), and the primary source of love and affection for a small dog (Lulu). Professionally, Scott serves as the Senior Pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to Nashville, Scott was a Lead and Preaching Pastor, as well as the writer of small group studies, for Redeemer Presbyterian of New York City. Twitter: @scottsauls

Editor’s Note: This is a repost of A Jesus-Like Church Culture  by Scott Sauls. It appears here with the author’s permission. Website: cpcblogs.blogspot.com.

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Other helpful writings on this topic are: An Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson and Religion-less Spirituality by Timothy Keller.

Being Ministers of Reconciliation

In a world of subjective truths, tolerance, and acceptance, Christianity has become nothing more than 'another' religion in the eyes of many. Western culture, in particular, is grievously enamored with the idea of self-reliance, self-dependence, and self-worth. Christianity is extremely counter-cultural because it teaches the actuality of human depravity, the necessity for a savior, and an eternal focus for our temporal lives. For unbelievers at-large, this can be something that can seem intolerant and outdated, a tradition steeped in rigid tradition, and a stumbling block to the progress of the society and the world. For Christians, however, depraved humanity in need of a savior is true reality. This is life for the human race. As we consider our calling to be “ministers of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18-20), we must understand the people we are living around, their view of the world, and the journey they are on. Likewise, we have to continually allow the Spirit to draw us to repentance in areas of life where we fail to “let the love of Christ control us” (2 Cor. 5:14). Though loving others is often difficult and even scary, the pressure is not on us to change hearts, for only God can save through the transforming power of the gospel (Acts 4:12). As a friend of mine says often, “We do the ministry, God does the miracles.” The ministry of reconciliation acknowledges two truths: humans are sinful and we need a savior. The message of reconciliation is God dealt with sin himself and saved humanity. This is the Christian's message.

How Can this Message be Rejected?

Perhaps a substantial reason for the negative view of Christianity is the attitude and actions of Christians themselves. As a world religion, the stigma of dependence on something outside ourselves is already a built-in excuse to reject believers. In addition, Christians have a tendency to mistake their salvation as license to be self-righteous and judgmental, wondering why unbelievers are not intelligent enough to “figure it out.” Like the Pharisee in Luke 18, we often look at the people around us exclaiming, “Thank you God that I’m not like these tax collectors!” As the story goes, the Pharisee has much to learn from the tax collector whose only justification is in the mercy of God and not in his righteous (or unrighteous) works. I have encountered many non-Christians and de-churched Christians who use Christian hypocrisy as the chief reason for their unbelief. Often times there is a deeper issue at hand, but just as often this objection is simply as real to them as Jesus is to us.

For Christians to be catalysts for change in the world, we must first wear his name with humility, dignity, and fervor. As Jesus so clearly states in Luke 19, even if we do not worship him, creation itself will cry out his name. He doesn’t need us to change the world but, nonetheless, he uses us as ministers of reconciliation. It is our duty and obligation to speak truth into the lives of others (Matt. 28:18-20), and there is no “out clause” for the Christian. We are to be salt and light (Matt. 5:13-16), loving God and others because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). There is a story going on all around us, a story that God has been writing since before the foundation of the world. Acts 17 tells us that God has appointed to every person the time and boundaries in which they live so that they will find him. So, for the Christian, this means that not only are you in the time and place that you are to find God, but those around you are in a similar position. Again, you cannot save anyone, but it is your burden as a Christian to treat everyone as though they will turn to Christ in that instance. As Charles Spurgeon once said (and I paraphrase), “I believe that God will save his elect and I also believe that if I do not preach the gospel, he will lay the blood of the lost at my doorstep.”

Hope

In the end, we do not know the answers to every question about how and why God saves anyone, but his Word is very clear that the proclamation of the gospel is a key component to transformation (Romans 10). People’s hearts cannot be ultimately changed for the better by new legislature, war, personal enlightenment, or secret philosophies; it can only be changed by the sin-stomping, life-altering life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through him and by him (John 6:44; 14:6).

This is our hope, and this is hope for those who are far from God. God is reconciling all things to himself and as reconciled people, Christians are to reflect Christ in a way that is not self-righteous and proud, but rather humble and sacrificial. Perhaps one of the most telling verses in the entire New Testament comes in Acts 2. After hearing the preaching of the Word, the early Christians went about their daily lives following the apostles’ teaching, sacrificing for one another, and spending genuine time in community. The result? They were loved by those around them and “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (2:47). People were being saved through the Spirit of God just by watching these Christians live their lives! This is the gospel at work, changing lives through lives that love God and love others. The Word being preached is extremely important, as seen earlier in Acts 2, but there is so much more to it. Christians can make an eternal impact by obeying and worshiping God the way these early believers did. The truth, and only the truth, sets hearts free (John 8:32).

Toward Being Ministers of Reconciliation

As someone who is in constant prayer and repentance about my own selfishness and propensity to avoid serving others, there are a few ways that I personally seek to love my neighbors as Christ calls me to:

1. Pray, Pray, Pray – Nothing of this magnitude can be accomplished without the Spirit’s work (1 Cor. 2:12). When you share the gospel and when someone receives it, there is supernatural power weaved throughout the entire process. Knowing that I need – and have – God’s help encourages me to worry less about my own fear of man.
2. Remember Christ – Though WWJD? bracelets have largely come and gone, this slogan is actually highly missional. When speaking with others, praying for others, and serving others, I have the perfect model in Jesus. When I don’t feel like being generous, I am reminded of how generous Christ is to me on a daily basis. When I don’t feel like serving, I am reminded that God himself stepped into human history and suffered the cross with joy (Hebrews 12:2).
3. Go – Loving and reaching my neighbors is frequently a better idea than action. Upon relying on the Spirit and remembering how Christ lived, I am finally reminded of the Great Commission’s call to literally take this good news to the lost (Matt. 28:18-20). This may be the hardest part, but an understanding of who Christ is, what he’s done, and what he calls me to propels me into his mission. May we all trust him with this responsibility.

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Brandon Smith is Editor of Project TGM and Pastoral Resident at CityView Church in Fort Worth, Texas. Connect with him on Twitter @BrandonSmith85.

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To read more about how sharing the message of reconciliation read Jonathan Dodson's book, Unbelievable Gospel.

The Podcast Church: A Plea for Spiritual Fathers, Not Just Guides

Editor's Note: This is a repost of Discipling: More than a Podcast Preacher by Jonathan Dodson. It appears here with the author's permission. Website: www.9Marks.org. Email: info@9marks.org. Toll Free: (888) 543-1030. © 9Marks ---

Preaching and hearing the gospel is not enough.

Jesus didn’t just preach the gospel—he mediated it. As he taught and modeled the gospel of grace, it was mediated through his flesh and blood relationships. He didn’t rely on mountain top airwaves alone. He always came down the mountain, right into the mess of everyday sinners. Jesus was attached to disciples who were attached to one another. The gospel went viral through flesh and blood not silicon and megabytes. He mediated the gospel of the Father, Son, and Spirit through father-son-like relationships with others. His incarnation was not only to bear the cross but also to become a person his disciples could imitate.

Paul, too, brought the gospel down to earth when he faced factions and over-realized eschatology in Corinth. The church was more oriented toward personalities than actual persons, guided by personas rather than “fathered” by mentors they could imitate. Writing to the church, Paul contrasts guides with fathers: “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me” (1 Cor. 4:14-15). Guides were hired tutors bound to their students by money. But fathers are relational leaders bound to their children by love. Paul also called the church to mediate the gospel through close, imitable relationships.

Therefore, it is not enough to identify with a gospel guide. Favorite authors, preachers, and teachers are not sufficient for discipleship. Relationally detached, hired teachers cannot replace attached, loving fathers. In the tradition of Jesus and Paul, the church desperately needs to recover a relationally mediated gospel. We need fathers, not just guides.

WHO’S TO BLAME: PODCASTS OR PASTORS?

Today, many Christians identify themselves with specific preachers through podcasts or online sermons. Listening to these sermons can be a tremendous benefit to Christian growth and spreading the gospel. However, in the hands of sinners, podcasting can also become a detriment to growth. Listeners can be so beholden to a preacher outside their church that they identify less with those inside their church. They possess a technologically mediated gospel, not a relationally mediated one.

When this happens, disciples stunt their growth and the mission of the church. They settle for doctrine over life instead of “watching their life and doctrine closely” (1 Tim. 4:16). When discipleship is doctrine-dominated, it tempting to act like an armchair quarterback. Disciples try to call the shots, criticizing local pastors for not being like other “celebrity” preachers or for not “doing church” like certain practitioners. Podcasting comparison (not podcasting) undermines the centrality of the local church. Instead of actively pursuing local leaders for discipleship, church members passively listen to other preachers’ sermons. While “countless guides” are assembled in podcast playlists, local discipleship declines. This “podcasting comparison” compromises the discipling impulse of the gospel. It produces more guides and groupies than fathers and sons. Worst of all, it misrepresents the gospel of the discipling God.

Who is to blame for this famine? Technology? Media mogul General David Sarnoff remarked: “We are too prone to make technological instruments the scapegoats for the sins of those who wield them.” Podcasts are not to blame. We are. Technological blame-shifting will not help our churches raise up spiritual fathers to disciple others. Pastors and non-pastors mistake a diet of theological information for whole-life discipleship. As a result, we face a disciple-making famine amidst a homiletical feast.

Both pastors and churches will need to repent.

REPENTANCE FOR CHURCHES

There are disciples in local churches who need to repent of celebrity-leader comparison. Some will need to confess to their leaders. Others will simply need to change. Setting a new course, they should turn to affirm the leadership of their local pastors and look for ways to join the disciple-making mission of the church. Recognizing God has appointed elders and leaders for their good, disciples should search for a local father, or fathers, in the gospel. These gospel fathers will help them grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. Look for a “father” among those older in the faith, small group or ministry leaders, or pastors.

Instead of looking to countless guides for information, disciples should seek out (and eventually become) fathers who disciple for imitation.

Although technology itself is not to blame, “I” technology certainly caters to the individual consumer. Ken Myers notes that, in the West, the identity of “disciple of Jesus” has been replaced with “sovereign consumer.” As sovereign consumers, we select our influences without regard to God’s sovereignly appointed influences. We seek podcast theology over pastoral discipleship. We prefer isolated information instead of relational transformation. While the sins of individualistic consumerism and evangelical comparison are ours, the podcasting medium, relied on excessively, does carry a message: “All I need is informational discipleship.”

REPENTANCE FOR PASTORS

Pastors who offer theological information at the expense of genuine relationships also need to repent.

Fellow pastors, our theology should disciple. It must express itself in intentional, mentoring relationships. Our calling is to shepherd not only through preaching but also with people. Our flocks hear our countless sermons, but do they have many fathers? Are we favoring theological information over fatherly imitation?

Jesus could have transmitted the gospel by dropping a Bible from the sky, launching an infallible podcast, gathering Twitter followers, or projecting holograms of himself in every village and city. But he didn’t. He chose flesh, human touch, sight, smell, and presence. The Son of God became a spiritual father to twelve disciples in order to transmit the gospel through flesh and blood. He calls us to do the same. Technologically mediated preaching—and even preaching in person—isn’t enough. People need to see the gospel live and hear it in relational stereo. They need our bodily presence, faults and all. Disciples need encouragement that breathes and correction that has a heartbeat. We all need gospel fathers to help us imitate Jesus.

WHO TO IMITATE: GOSPEL FATHERS

You’re probably wondering: “What is a gospel father?” Paul viewed himself as one: “I became a father to you in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:14). A gospel father (or mother) is someone who takes spiritual responsibility for a disciple’s growth (Thes. 2:7-14). This relationship happens by relating to someone through the gospel. It does not begin because the father is morally, experientially, or spiritually superior. It begins by a common, joyful commitment to the superiority of Jesus and his unmatched grace towards us. The gospel connects father to son, mother to daughter in a shared identity in Christ Jesus.

When we repent and believe in Jesus, we are converted not only to his lordship but also into his family. This family is like interconnected circuits, rewired into a new network of relationships energized by grace. When grace is absent, the network drags and gets disconnected. Fathers are separated from sons, mothers from daughters. Guides dominate. Family dysfunction creeps in. The gospel, however, offers an endless power supply of grace to strengthen family relationships. This is why we need not just fathers, but gospel fathers.

Gospel Fathers are Templates of Christ

Gospel fathers take responsibility for others by giving their disciples a template to imitate. As a gospel father, Paul exhorted his disciples: “I urge you, then, be imitators of me” (1 Cor. 4:15; cf. 2 Thes. 3:7, 9). The author of Hebrews reminded the church: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7).

Imitation is hardwired into family. My one year-old daughter bends her lip in like I do when I’m thinking. My seven year old son loves to explain things like I do, using hands and all. As gospel fathers, we have a responsibility to show the church what it is like to follow Jesus. We are to be templates of Christ. In order for people to imitate us, we must spend time with them. An occasional meeting won’t do. People need to share our life as well as our faith. They need to see our struggles as well as hear our sermons.

As a pastor, the people with whom I spend most of my informal time often go on to become gospel fathers, leaders, and pastors. Why? Because shared time exposes them to a template of Christ that, by God’s grace, they can confidently imitate. They see through the template into Christ. They observe how desperately I need the gospel of grace to reflect the image of Jesus. They see me frustrated and full of faith, discouraged and confident.

When gospel fathers share their lives with others, the template becomes tangible and attainable.

Tell the Gospel Truth & Offer a Template

Fathers also tell their disciples the gospel truth. They instruct their children and give them something to imitate. Guides cannot offer imitation, but fathers can. Fathers who are present are fathers we want to hear from. When we are present, our words have more meaning. Gospel fathers get deep into people’s lives to struggle with and for them in life. Our experience and example is not enough. They need the gospel of grace applied in concrete, practical areas of struggle.

One of the men I spend regular time with is a professional in the tech field. In his new position, he found himself continually frustrated. As we peeled back the layers through shared meals, prayer, and life, we discerned that he was most frustrated when his boss disapproved of his work. This demanding boss made it difficult for him to work in peace. As a result, he oscillated between a sense of overconfidence or under-confidence depending on how his boss related to him. I shared how my confidence in preaching sometimes rises and falls depending on how the church responds. He was surprised. I also shared how I have found great confidence in Christ because Scripture reminds me that, though I am inadequate for preaching, the Spirit of God has made me more than adequate (2 Cor. 2:4-6). He reminds me that my approval comes through Christ not the church. Similarly, his approval is secure in the gospel, which frees him to work from approval in Christ not for approval from his boss. As a result, our confidence doesn’t rise and fall with what people think but rests securely in what Christ thinks. Working through 1 Corinthians together we seized upon this promise: “all is yours, you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 3:23). We have everything we need wrapped up in the love and approval of the Father and the Son! Now we encourage one another regularly with this gospel truth. Sharing my life as a template along with telling him the gospel truth, my “spiritual son” has since weathered unemployment remarkably well, drawing from deeper confidence in Christ.

When discipling others, we must be present enough to provide a template but truthful enough to point them to Christ. As good fathers, we must assure our disciples they are loved and accepted regardless of their success in imitating us. Through these kinds of relationships, others can see that the gospel of grace is enough to get us through both failure and success.

WHAT WE NEED

If the church is to grow, fathers must be present to be imitated. Disciples must seek them out. We must find time with men and women who can mediate the gospel to us. Pastors and church leaders must move beyond dispensing truth to offering a template. The church needs gospel truth and relational templates. We need the gospel mediated through fathers, not just guides.

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Jonathan K. Dodson (MDiv; ThM) serves as a pastor of Austin City Life in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Gospel-Centered Discipleship and has written articles in numerous blogs and journals such as The Resurgence, The Journal of Biblical Counseling, and Boundless. He has discipled men and women abroad and at home for almost two decades, taking great delight in communicating the gospel and seeing Christ formed in others. Twitter: @Jonathan_Dodson

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For more information on cultivating fresh faith in the gospel, check out Jonathan Dodson’s Unbelievable Gospel. Now available in print.

For more free articles on missional living read: Invite & Invest to Make Disciples by Greg Gibson, Theology is for Everyone by David Fairchild, and The Gospel & Our Neighbors by Alvin Reid.

From Moralism to Evangelism

When people hear the story of my family and how God has rescued us from the American Dream into a sacrificial calling of discipleship, after spending almost 6 years in my neighborhood doing nothing for our neighbors besides condemning them, they often ask “Why?” What was it that caused me to change from a self-centered life to one that seeks to show off who Jesus is and what he has done? This question has to be asked. Not only asked but answered. If we just give the “how tos” of discipleship, we'll only help foster moralists who can follow the new “rules of discipleship.” If we express an understanding of why we're called to discipleship, then we'll move the discussion away from moralism and dispel the myth that the church is only an institution, another corporation in need of investors. By boldly offering our reasons for following Christ on mission, we can inspire movement, multiplication, and joy - a genuine dialogue with the Holy Spirit.

Basically, we need to ask, “Why does the gospel change us from inward love of self to outward love of God and neighbor?”

Kill Moralism Or It Will Kill You

When I moved to my neighborhood almost 9 years ago now, I was involved with a local church and became a champion of moralism. I seriously won the gold medal of moralism. I could have easily battled the best of them and come out on top as I built up my Ebeneezer of pride, thumbing my nose at those who weren’t as holy as I.

Then I woke up one morning at around 3am and asked myself, “If I died tonight, would I go to heaven?”

I thought through my works of righteousness and knew that all my best works on this earth were simply fodder for sermon illustrations. All my righteousness pointed to how great I was and how lacking the hearers were. Basically, my works were to create disciples of Seth who would be ready and willing to follow me and parrot my every word. Realizing this early that morning, I was no longer sure if I would go to heaven. In fact, the more I thought about heaven, the more I was sure I wasn’t going. All my best works were muddied with self.

Then I read a verse that made me angry with God. I mean not so angry that I’d swear because my holy tongue would never utter such disgrace. Anyways, here was God's word to me that morning:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. - Matthew 11:28

I had to laugh. For me, being a Christian was anything but easy. It was a burden. My life was so heavy, so difficult. Maybe Jesus died for my sins, but it was my job to “get to it” so I could be sanctified. Whether it was praying more, reading my bible more, using people as a checklist/project to feel better about myself, or serving the church more... whatever these things were, they weren’t easy or light.

I took holiness to mean that it was us versus them.  Saints versus Sinners. God's people versus the World.  Me versus Them.

The only reason I interacted with neighbors was to knock on their door, give them a bible, tell them they were going to hell, and be glad I did my work. I was sure they'd never repent because the road is narrow. I was the only one on it. Lonely. Hurting. Weary. Heavy-laden.

Be Rescued, Rest, & Then Work

My good friends weren’t taking super-holy lifestyle to kindly. Praise God for them. They asked me to listen to some preachers they knew were godly and gospel centered.

Then, one of them asked me: How do you know you are saved and one of God’s children?

I responded: By testing my works

He asked: How is that going? Do you ever pass that test?

I somberly answered: I’ve never passed that test

He then showed me this from Calvin:

If we have been chosen in him, we shall not find assurance of our election in ourselves; and not even in God the Father, if we conceive him as severed from his Son. Christ, then, is the mirror wherein we must, and without self-deception may, contemplate our own election. For since it is into his body that the Father has destined those to be engrafted whom he has willed from eternity to be his own, that he may hold as sons all whom he acknowledges to be among his members, we have a sufficiently clear and firm testimony that we have been inscribed in the book of life (cf. Rev. 21:27) if we are in communion with Christ - John Calvin - Inst. III.xxiv.5

My friend asked me: What if your works weren’t the barometer of assurance of salvation but the works of Jesus were?

I exclaimed: That would change everything!

What ended up happening throughout this conversation and throughout my journey out of legalism is the word of God became powerful to my heart.

Jesus says in Matthew that those who hear his words and put them into practice are wise, and those who listen to his words and do not put them into practice are fools. That passage rings true in every aspect of missional living.

I thought back to the words of Jesus when he said that his yoke was easy and his burden was light. Either Jesus was a liar or I wasn’t understanding the gospel and didn’t understand that it was actually good news.

If I lived in light Jesus as the mirror of my election, then the gospel would be very good news. The yoke of missional living would be easy and the burden would be light. God rescues moralists. So rest... then work with his power.

Old Hearts Die Hard

God took me and my family out of that church and landed us with Soma Communities. This was like being taken out of slavery into not only freedom but a palace. It wasn't the old church’s fault, it was completely my heart's fault for desiring self more than God.

As we moved to another church family and Soma started to speak what it looked like to live on mission, all my wife and I heard was "do this, do that." We again felt as though moralism was being piled on. We were still hearing what we wanted to hear instead of what was actually being said. Moralism doesn’t die quickly. The gospel must be applied by the Spirit over and over again.

At this point in our journey, we were just sitting back and taking everything in. We were asked to lead in certain ways, but I still didn't trust the moralist living inside me. I didn’t want to open up the cage to let him out quite yet. He needed to be slaughtered by the sword of the Spirit.

One day, we finally heard what our brothers Jeff Vanderstelt and Caesar Kalinowski were actually saying. Jeff was preaching and he said the following:

When Jesus was at his baptism, the Spirit descended like a dove and God said, “This is my Son with whom I am well pleased.” Do you know that if you trust in the works of Jesus that God says the same thing about you because of his Son?!  God is well pleased with you! Not because of anything you have done or will do but because of Jesus. You can do nothing to gain his acceptance. You can do nothing to please him any more. You can do nothing so that the Father will love you more. Jesus has done everything on your behalf so that you are accepted and loved.

When I heard this, the scales off my moralistic eyes were shattered. I was now starting to understand what God meant when he said his Spirit would replace our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19).

It wasn’t just this one time but every week. The good news was being preached to my heart and to my wife’s heart. The gospel wasn’t just a term, but it was now good news. We saw that the gospel wasn't something that happened 2000 years ago. It is for us today. It gives us hope for tomorrow:

1. We have been saved from the penalty of sin (justification)
2. We are being saved from the power of sin (sanctification) and...
3. We will be saved from the presence of sin.

Our justification (by Christ) leads to our sanctification (by the Spirit). That’s glorification.

It is all by the work of God. It is nothing we do! This is good news. In Christ, the yoke of discipleship is easy. Support by the Spirit, the burden of missional living is light. I could do nothing for the rest of my life, and God would love me the same. This freedom gripped my heart and caused me to finally worship God in Spirit and truth (and stop worshiping myself).

Discipleship Models Collapse Without the Gospel

The “Why?” of changing from internal living to sacrificial living came about because the gospel was finally good news to my heart.  When this happened, my wife and I couldn’t resist… our natural reaction, our natural inclination, our natural conclusion was this: People need to hear and experience this gospel.

We had no idea where to start, so we went to my now close friend, Caesar Kalinowski, and asked him, “We want to make disciples of Jesus, how do we start?”

He said, “Go home and ask the Spirit, ‘What’s Next?' It’s his mission and it’s by his power, so he’ll let you know.”

The rest is history. (To get a better idea of where I’m coming from, you can read this article: A Story of Gospel Community.)

When we are so gripped by good news, we don’t need an evangelism class, we naturally desire to share it. The reason people don’t want to share the gospel is because it’s not good news to them. It’s not today’s news. It's like telling folks we landed on the moon, old hat, distant.

But, when you preach, teach, live, and disciple others how the gospel is good news for them today, they become instant evangelists.

Caesar didn’t give me some model to follow, some class to attend, or some pre-written conversation to follow. He, along with my brothers, gave me the gospel. The water that never runs dry. The bread of life. The Alpha and the Omega. When a thirty soul receives water, he’ll go and tell the other thirsty souls where to find life.

Here are some questions to consider asking yourself and of your community:

• Do you believe you were saved by God's work and not your own?
• Do you still believe you have to do more to be saved from God’s wrath and loved as God’s child?
• Do you work hard at religious activity to be accepted and loved by God?
• Do you work tirelessly at your job in order to gain significance and security?
• What happens when you disobey God? Do you live with guilt and shame? Do you beat yourself up endlessly?
• Or do you go to the cross and receive the grace of the gospel?
• How's your "yoke" feeling these days?

May we believe the wisdom of God when he says: My yoke is easy and my burden is light!

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Seth McBee is the adopted son of God, husband of one wife, and father of three. He’s a graduate of Seattle Pacific University with a finance degree. By trade Seth is an Investment Portfolio Manager, serving as president of McBee Advisors, Inc as well as a missional community leader, preaching elder with Soma Communities in Renton, Washington, and executive team member of the GCM Collective. Twitter @sdmcbee

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To go more in depth into the gospel centered life, read Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson. Now available in print.

For more free articles about missional living, read Mission is Where You Live by Jeremy Writebol and Revival: Ways & Means by Tim Keller.

Mission Is Where You Live

“I just don’t know any lost people.” “I find it so hard to meet people that don’t know Jesus.” “Sharing my life and faith with unbeliever is so difficult. Apart from going to a bar I don’t know where they are at.” These are all excuses I’ve made for my failure to know, bless, and share Jesus with unbelievers. I hear these statements regularly among other Christians as well. It’s as if unbelievers are actually physically lost, and finding them is like finding a unicorn or a white elephant--exceptionally rare. Underneath these excuses is a common reality: I haven’t really been present in the locations where I've lived. Recently, it occurred to me that I’m not really thinking about the whole concept of mission and evangelism in a clear light. A friend asked me a pointed question once that brought me to repentance and helped me rediscover an important tool in living a life “on mission.” The question was this: how could I live in the same house for over three years and not know the stories and situations of the people that lived within 100 yards of me? Several answers were apparent (lack of love, disobedience, etc.) but the real answer that stood out was that I wasn’t really present in my neighborhood.

Oh sure, I was physically there. I ate, drank, slept, played, worked, laughed, cried, and did everything a physically present person would do. However, none of my neighbors would have known it or cared about it. To them I didn’t exist. And they didn’t exist for me either. So when I said, “I don’t know any lost people,” I was technically right. I had failed to live my life in their life. And this was the beginning of the awakening for me. How did I come to know God? He actually came and lived in my life. How can I find lost people? Live my life, where I am at, in their life.

I’m willing to bet that if you are reading this, you have a similar situation. Most of the world lives in highly dense, urban areas, surrounded on all sides by neighbors. Over eighty percent of Americans live in what is classified as an urban area. All of that to say the lost are out there; you probably live next to them. But do you really live in their lives? Would they be able to affirm your existence?

God is Everywhere---God is Here

As a parent my kids often ask me questions that have stumped philosophers for centuries. One of the questions my kids would ask early on is, “Where is God?” This always gives me an opportunity to talk about the character and attributes of God. One of the things I share with them is the “omnipresence” of God; God is present fully everywhere at all times. For creatures that are limited to seeing only the physical, trying to comprehend a being who is everywhere all the time and fully, is a recipe for making your brain explode. Most Christians would affirm that God is everywhere just the same as they would affirm that the lost are everywhere. The only problem is “everywhere” often means “no where.”  We can’t see God, so we really wonder if he is here. We don’t know the lost, so we really wonder if they exist.

But the Bible gives us a greater perspective regarding the presence of God. Not only is he everywhere and present at all times, but he has uniquely and clearly disclosed his presence with his people all through history. The story of God’s presence with his people begins in the garden. God made a good place for his people and dwelt with them (Genesis 2). The Scriptures tell us that God lived in the presence of our first parents. As sin entered the picture the relationship broke. No longer was humanity in the presence of God. Instead, distance and separation from the place of God was the consequence of rebellion against him (Genesis 3:23-24). Though God evicted Adam and Eve from the temple of his presence, he continued to be present with his people as the story of redemption unfolds. Through burning bushes, the ark of the covenant, pillars of cloud and fire, tabernacle tents, and temple buildings, God effectively, but not fully, displayed his presence with his people. Until, that is, he lived in our lives.

Jesus, fully present

John’s introduction to his Gospel brings this aspect of the presence of God fully into view. Jesus, as John writes, became flesh and dwelt with us (John 1:14). God with us. Jesus is the one who fixed the break between God and man. He is the presence every shadow-symbol of the Old Testament points toward. As John put it, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he [Jesus] has made known” (John 1:18). God became a man and lived among us. He lived in our lives. God with us.

Not only is God with us, but he is God for us. Jesus came not just to hang out in our ghettos (as compared to heavenly realms, that is); he came to live the life of righteousness we failed over and over again to live. He came to die the wrath-deserving death we were entitled to because of our rebellion (Galatians 3:13). He came to live again so that the reality of rebirth would be ours and his power would be shown to encompass all things.

Now push-back is natural here. Where is this Jesus? How is “God with us” because I don’t see him in my living room or across the street? These are honest questions. The reality, however, is not that God has once again left our lives. No, the reality is that he has doubly reinforced his presence in our lives. He has given us two ways of seeing his glory and knowing him on a daily basis:

1. We’ve been given the promised Holy Spirit. The fullness of God dwelling within us daily. By virtue of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, he has sent his very presence and nature to be our Helper, Comforter, and Advocate (John 13:15-17). He has given every believer everywhere his life to live in ours. Paul confessed this by saying, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives within me” (Galatians 2:20). Christ lives in our lives through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
2. He’s also given us the church. Jesus has given us community in himself. As believers, we have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit in order to live the life of Jesus in the lives of others. We are the tangible, physical demonstration of the invisible God (John 13:24-25). We are the reflection of his glory to the lost world. The story is being written right now. To the lost, God’s existence is debatable unless they’ve seen the life of a person inhabited by the Holy Spirit lived in front of them. As the church lives its life, it must live in the life of the world (1 Peter 2:12). This is how the presence of God is made real and manifest to the world.

Living In the Lives of Others

My neighbor, Herb, walks his dog up and down our street daily. Usually in the early evening right before dusk, I see Herb plodding along with his dog. Does Herb know I exist? Would he care?

If we see that God has not abandoned us, and has not withdrawn his presence from us, but actually has done the exact opposite and inhabited our world, then we can begin to see how to live among our neighbors. Herb knows I exist, but that’s because I’ve gone out to Herb. I’ve lived in his life. I’ve invited Herb into my life. When Herb walks his dog, he stops and talks and tells me his story. As I learned how God has always placed his presence in the midst of His people, I began to see how I can meet and befriend and know lost people. I must live in their lives.

This might sound daunting. It certainly is, mainly because we don’t want to give up our comfort. Going outside and walking with Herb while he walks the dog and talks doesn't always feel normal. But it happens. Inviting my neighbors into my home can be risky. Letting my children meet people that probably don’t share the same values as we do is dangerous. Yet this is exactly what our Savior has done. He has lived in our lives.

So how do we live in the lives of our neighbors? How do we inhabit their world so that we can show them a God who has inhabited our lives?

1. Be present in your neighborhood. For so many, especially in the suburbs, it’s easy to come home after work, pull into the garage, and disappear into our homes. We must be intentional to be outside our homes. Use every opportunity to leave the garage door open, be in the front yard, out in the open amongst your neighbors. Talk with them, learn their names, invite them into your space, go to their space.
2. Bless your neighborhood. It used to be that when a new person moved into a neighborhood, a few neighbors would go visit the new neighbor and bless them with some cookies or pie or something as a way to meet and get to know the new folks. I’ve moved into three different houses in the last seven years and have yet to see a plate of cookies. I use this as a small example to challenge us to live in a neighborhood intentionally to bless and give. You don’t have to take cookies to the new neighbor, but do something to bless a neighbor. Walk over and give in some way, bless and be kind to them.
3. Bring in your neighbors. When was the last time you invited a neighbor over for dinner or barbecue? We can live in the lives of our neighbors by inviting them into our homes, into our spaces, and letting them see our lives up close. How will our neighbors know what the love of Jesus is like if they don’t see the love of Jesus lived in our homes and families. What would happen on your block or in your apartment complex if you invited a neighbor over for a meal on a frequent basis?

Being, blessing, bringing are three simple strategies toward living in the lives of our neighbors. As we pursue Christ and bear the image of a God who has lived in our lives by living in the lives of the lost we will find the lost.

Try It---It works

Not too long ago we hosted a block party for our neighbors. We did it with our missional community because we want to reach the neighborhood of Wichita where I live. Several neighbors we didn’t know stopped by, had a hot dog, and did something I thought was unexpected. They stayed in my front yard and talked. For hours. As they talked, I began to learn their stories, hear some of their griefs, laugh at their jokes, live in their lives. As my wife and I were cleaning up, she looked at me and said, “I finally feel like I know lost people in my neighborhood. I finally feel like I know my neighbors.” We rejoiced and praised God that for once “the lost” were real people that we could put names and faces to. And they’ve now put a name and a face with “Christians.” We’re praying that they become the disciples of Jesus we are seeking to be.

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Jeremy Writebol is the husband of Stephanie, daddy of Allison and Ethan, and lives and works in Wichita, KS as the Community Pastor at Journey the Way. He is the director of Porterbrook Kansas and writes at jwritebol.net.

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To go deeper into living a gospel centered life in your neighborhood, read Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson.

For more free articles from Jeremy Writebol about missional living, check out Discipleship in the Sporting-Life and Redeeming Fantasy Football.

Defining Gospel Centered Mission

Editor's Note: This is a repost of Mission. It appears here with the writer's permission. ---

A lot of Christian terms get thrown around. "Mission" is defiantly one of those terms. Mission is key to the church, and should be valued and practiced by a church that wants to be faithful to Scripture.

Gospel centered mission can be defined as: Glorifying God by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus for the sake of gathering God’s people to him.

There are four key truths about mission throughout the gospel of John that will help us be better missionaries for Jesus in our context.

1. Incarnation (Example of Mission)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. (John 1:14-16)

Jesus is the greatest example of a missionary. The incarnation of Jesus (God becoming a man) gives us the example of contextualization. Jesus came from the culture of heaven to the culture of earth. He ate their food, wore their clothes, spoke their language, went to parties, had friends, and worked a job. He learned the culture, and engaged the people in his context. He also helps us understand we are to come in grace and truth. This means that we come humbly and full of compassion. We listen to people, show interest in them, and care for them just as Jesus did. However, this also means we will call out sin, hate sin, fight against the culture's idols, and proclaim the redemption of God through Jesus. We need to dwell among the people in our city, proclaiming God’s grace and truth.

2. Salvation (Heart of Mission)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

These two verses show us God’s heart behind his mission. He wants to see people saved. God desires that people believe in the life, death, and resurrection of his Son for eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to condemn us (for we already were because of sin), but to save us.

3. The glory of God (Purpose of Mission)

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)

Our purpose for mission should be aligned with Jesus' purpose for mission: to glorify God. Our main motive for spreading the gospel is to see people come under the rule of Christ. We want to see the glory of God made known to the world. God desires that the world be full of the knowledge of his glory. When we join him on mission we faithfully desire to see him glorified through the proclamation of the gospel.

4. Spirit empowered (Power of Mission)

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending “you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21)

We receive authority from Jesus himself because he himself has all authority (Matthew 28:18-20). Just as the Father sent the Son, and the Father and Son send the Spirit, so the Son and the Spirit send and empower us for mission. This is our source of power for the mission. We have the Holy Spirit of God to empower us to witness to the nations of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

Faithful in Mission

Gospel centered mission is key to the vibrancy and health of the local church. We are commanded by Jesus to be faithful missionaries who understand our context, have passion to see the lost saved, for the glory of God, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Garrett Ventry is a church planting intern at Vintage 21 Church in Raleigh. He serves under the regional director of the Acts 29 Network's southeast region. He is also a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife Megan live in Raleigh. Twitter: @GarrettVentry

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To read more on sharing the gospel, see Unbelievable Gospel, by Johathan Dodson.

For more free articles on gospel centered missions, see Missional Living in a Complex World, by JD Payne, and What is Missional Culture & Why Does It Matter? by JR Woodward.