Just listened to a sermon by Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church, titled Slowing the Pendulum Swing. In it, he unpacks what it means to “walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time” (Colossians 4:5). He makes the point that, oftentimes, the Bible does not say much with regards to how Christians are to practically engage the culture that we are in (e.g. school, family, friends, etc.) with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Am I to be just like my non-Christian friends and do whatever they do so that they don’t think I’m some kind of religious freak?”
“Am I to hang out with them, but just not do the ‘bad stuff’? If that’s the case, then what exactly are the ‘bad stuff’?”
“Am I to not hang out with my non-Christian friends at all? But then, if I do that, how can I reach them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”
These are a few questions that may or may not arise when we start thinking about exactly how we, as sinners saved by grace, are to relate to non-Christians whom the Bible clear commands us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with.
To help us out, Matt Chandler referenced in his sermon a list of 11 questions to ask ourselves before we decide to engage culture – especially when it involves doing something the Bible doesn’t explicitly call out as sin.
This list of 11 questions comes from Mark Driscoll‘s book titled, Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out – a book I would highly recommend to all thoughtful Christians on how we are to – well… reach out without selling out. Below is the list of 11 questions:
Is it beneficial to me personally and to the gospel generally? (1 Cor. 6:12)
Will I lose self-control and be mastered by what I participate in? (1 Cor. 6:12)
Will I be doing this in the presence of someone who I know will fall into sin as a result? (1 Cor. 8:9-10)
Is it a violation of the laws of my city, state, or nation? (Rom. 13:1-7)
If I fail to do this, will I lose opportunities to share the gospel? (1 Cor. 10:27-30)
Can I do this with a clear conscience? (Acts 24:16)
Am I convinced that this is what God desires for me to do? (Rom. 13:5)
Does my participation proceed from my faith in Jesus Christ? (Rom. 14:23)
Am I doing this to help other people, or am I just being selfish? (1 Cor. 10:24)
Can I do this in a way that glorifies God? (1 Cor. 10:31-33)
Am I following the example of Jesus Christ to help save sinners? (1 Cor. 10:33-11:1)
This past Sunday, looking at Mark 13:32-37, I made the point that Jesus Christ is calling us to live each and every single day of our lives with the following mentality: “Today could very well be my last day here on this earth before I stand before a holy and righteous God.”
Jesus, in Mark 13:32-37 essentially says, “Be on guard, keep awake because you don’t know when I’m coming back!” Also, James, in James 4:13-17, admonishes us to not boast about tomorrow because we have absolutely no guarantee that we’ll even live to see tomorrow. Instead, we “ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’ (James 4:15).
For Christians especially, this shouldn’t produce fear in us, but rather a deep joy because, in the end, this is a clear reminder that our good, gracious, and loving master, who paid for our freedom with his blood, is coming back (1 Corinthians 6:20; Mark 13:34-36). And because he’s coming back, we want to do everything to please our master and hear those glorious words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:21).
And so, this is a clear principle laid out in Scripture: live each day with the mentality that today could very well be the last day on this earth before we stand before a holy and righteous God.
But the question that inevitably comes up, then, is this: “Does that mean that we don’t plan for the future? Is it wrong to plan to go to college; to get a job; have a family; etc?” Simple answer is no.
Though the Bible is clear that we should live our lives with this mentality (mentioned above), the Bible is also clear that we should plan as best as we can. For example, the book of Proverbs is filled with practical advice about planning (e.g. Proverbs 3:29, 12:20, 15:22, 21:5, etc.).
And so the issue, then, isn’t “Do we plan at all?” – because the Bible is clear that we do. But rather, “After I’ve planned, am I living each day with the mentality that says, ‘Today could very well be the last day here on this earth before I stand before a holy and righteous God?’”
In other words, do I plan with the clear understanding that God can call me even before I achieve those plans? If not, then could it be that we’re living not “to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), but for our own?
May we live each day in anticipation of seeing our good, gracious, and loving master – who is infinitely more satisfying than even the biggest dreams that we plan.
Here are some reflections that Greg Stier made at the end of an article that he wrote titled, “Does Street Evangelism Work?”:
Street evangelism can be effective in making converts but is rarely effective in making disciples.
I believe that thousands of people have trusted in Christ over the years through our door-to-door outreaches at Dare 2 Share. But very few of these people have been integrated into local churches. This has not been due to a lack of trying, but a lack of relationship with them.
Evangelism should start with our immediate circle of influence, our friends, family, co-workers and neighbors.
I am guilty of sometimes using cold-turkey evangelism as a cheap substitute for the “meat and potatoes” of relational evangelism with my own neighbors. Don’t get me wrong. I have witnessed to many of my neighbors. But if I applied the same relentlessness I have with my street evangelism to my neighborhood, then I believe many more of those who live around me would not only know Christ by now, but be plugged into healthy, growing churches.
That changes today.
I choose to make my primary base of evangelistic operations my neighborhood and the Starbuck’s that I frequent. These are the lost people that I know. No longer will I use my spontaneous conversations with strangers as a salve for my hit-and-miss evangelism with my neighbors and barista buddies.
As God allows, we should share the gospel with the strangers we encounter and do our best to disciple them if they accept Christ.
Jesus was constantly sharing the good news with strangers, but He did this in the context of meeting their needs and engaging them at the deepest level. He never hesitated to turn a conversation from water to “The Living Water,” from bread to “The Bread of Life,” from the earthly to the heavenly. He was immensely relational and undeniably relentless.
With this in mind, I will still share Jesus on the plane, in the streets, anywhere and everywhere as God opens the door. But I will do my best to make sure others genuinely understand the message of Christianity. My goal is not for them to say “yes” with their mouths so I can feel good about my witnessing opportunity, but to genuinely say “yes” in their hearts. After all, Romans 10:9-10 reminds us, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
Our evangelistic efforts should be done relationally and relentlessly.
Whether we are sharing Christ with our friends, family, neighbors or strangers, we must depend on the Holy Spirit to give us balance. Some situations require more relentlessness and some a more relational approach.
Stier’s main point in this article seems to be that yes, street evangelism still “works.” But, it is more geared towards making converts rather than disciples. And hence, the logical flow of numbers 1, 2, and 3 above. Here are some questions to consider:
a. Who are those in my immediate “inner circle” that I could be sharing my faith with?
b. Am I asking the Holy Spirit everyday to lead me towards strangers whom he would have me share my faith with?
1. Stand on the corner and scream “REPENT!” at others. If it didn’t work for Jeremiah the prophet, it won’t work for you.
2. Break into a public high school and shove gospel tracts into the lockers. Trust me on this. I’ve done it…seriously.
3. Wear a “Ready to die…ask me why” T-Shirt. I’ve done this too. It’s not effective, but it did scare people.
4. Go into a bookstore and secretly slip gospel tracts into all of the New Age/Witchcraft books. Have I done this? Maybe…okay, yes.
5. Put gospel tracts in the hands of the manequins at J.C. Pennys. While it looks like the fashion dummy is offering the gospel tract it’s the real dummy that gets thrown out of the mall. Suffice it to say that I’ve met many security guards this way and they are nothing like the guy in “Mall Cop.”
6. Use fake $100 dollar bills with “the gospel” on them to get people excited that they found a $100 dollar bill and then get them ticked off when they realize that they didn’t.
7. Go on Christian television and offer the gospel as a way to get rich on earth. Does anybody have a barf bag?
8. Sky dive from 3,000 feet into an outdoor Atheist’s convention with “John 3:16″ painted on your parachute.
9. Yell out “I love Jesus how ’bout you?” in the middle of class.
10. Any kind of Christian bumper sticker (especially if you’re a bad driver!)
Read the rest of the article here to see, then, how we are to share our faith. I hope you all are encouraged by this as I was.
Michael Oh spoke at our 2009 Desiring God Conference or Pastors. I love his vision for Japan. As a Korean this commitment has the Christ-like flavor of reconciliation and risk. I would like for you to know him and, if God leads, support his vision. He is president and founder of Christ Bible Seminary in Nagoya and a cluster of other ministries under Christ Bible Institute. Here is a short video where Michael presents the amazing opportunity for this seminary and church to be housed in downtown Nagoya.
Click here for information on how to support this ministry financially.
Just listened to a sermon by Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church, titled Slowing the Pendulum Swing. In it, he unpacks what it means to “walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time” (Colossians 4:5). He makes the point that, oftentimes, the Bible does not say much with regards to how Christians are to practically engage the culture that we are in (e.g. school, family, friends, etc.) with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
