Evangelism

25 September 2011

 Dear Phyllis,

About a month ago, Pastor Bayun of the New Creation Church asked me to teach a 10 weeks course on evangelism in his Bible school. I told him I would be glad to teach on any other subject, but the topic of evangelism is one that I know very little about. Had he asked me 40 years ago I would have been delighted as I was an authority on that subject then. I taught a course in soul winning in the Karuizawa Bible school 50 years ago, but since then I have discovered how little I know. When I was young I knew a great deal, but the older I get the less I know. I doubt that anyone else will get much out of my course in Bayun's Bible school but it should be a great help to me.

So far I have spent three weeks on the subject of Why evangelize, and I still haven't gotten to the main point. Hopefully next week I might be able to get on that subject.

The reason I feel so strongly about this subject is that I fear the driving engine for a great deal of evangelism is for the wrong reason. One reason for evangelism, that is very thinly disguised in many churches, is to make the churches bigger. Any pastor wants to be successful, and the index of success is how big his church is. Needless to say this is not a very spiritual or noble motivation, but, frankly speaking, it is a very major engine in encouraging believers to visit and witness.

A slightly more noble motivation is that unbelievers are kawaiso (in bad shape). Evangelists make strong appeals describing the horror of hell and the terrible fate awaiting unbelievers at the end of the road. It would be less than Christian, or even human, to stand by idly and watch friends and family fall into the flaming pit from which there is no exit. Humane instincts should be a strong incentive to drive Christian to do everything possible to save people from that horrible fate. But when looked at that objectively, we must admit that this is fundamentally humanism. This is the same heart-pull that moves us to be concerned for starving children in Africa, or the terrible poverty of Calcutta. This was the driving force of Mother Teresa. She saw the hundreds of street people in Calcutta dying like poisoned rats on the streets, and felt that every human deserved to die with a measure of dignity. Her whole purpose was totally humanism. And this motivation is not totally restricted to Christianity. It is hard to speak against hospice, but I suspect that majority of people involved in hospice care are not saved Christians, and they themselves do not have any answer to what is on the other side of death. Their ministry is exclusively on this side of a flat line on a cardiograph.

As compassionate as that is, it is significant that Jesus never thought or taught that motivation. His purpose was different from just keeping souls out of hell. To try to establish what was the driving force of Christ's life I believe a strong indicator of that would be what He taught about prayer.

I had been saved at least 15 years when I was reading Luke 11 one night. Verse 1 says, “As He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him,'Lord teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples'.” When I read that, my heart leaped. Man howdy, that resonated with me! That was exactly what was in my heart. What a privilege to have Jesus teach us how to pray! But what I read in the next verse stunned me. Reading between the lines, Jesus might have said, “Look, I already taught you one time, but, in case you didn't understand let me tell you again.” Then he said, “When ye pray say ...” I was shocked! He repeated the same prayer He had taught a year and a half previously in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 6:9-13). Because of the perverse liturgical way the Lord's Prayer is used in 90% of Christian churches I had always despised it. But when I saw it in Luke 11:2-4. I thought, “Oh my goodness, this is important!” That kicked off an intense study of the Lord's Prayer that transformed my life.

The reason I despised it so much was because it is mechanically repeated in countless liberal and dead churches every Sunday morning, and it doesn't mean a cotton picking thing. It is just plain empty religion. It is the Protestant version of the Catholic “Hail Mary full of grace”. And how in the world can you honestly pray “Give us this day our daily bread” when the refrigerator is so slam full you can hardly close the door. I don't know anyone who doesn't have several days supply of food – or certainly sufficient money – stored up to keep going for weeks.

I feel it is highly significant that Jesus never said this prayer once. And it is not recorded that anyone in the NT ever said that prayer one time.

The Lord's Prayer is divided into two parts. There are the three “Thys” and the three “Us-es”. Thy Name, Kingdom, and Thy will; and give us, forgive us; and deliver us.

The main point is that the Thys precede the us-es. It is safe to say that the most dominant issue in the heart of Christ was the honor of His Father. His life was totally absorbed in the three Thys. Why did Christ come? To save us from hell? Tonde mo nai! (I don 't know how to say that in English but that is the the only cry that comes to my heart. It is something like– it will never happen, or God forbid!) Jesus didn't come because sinners were kawaiso (in bad shape). Jesus didn't come to provide fire insurance salvation. He came to do the will of God. And what was that? Humanity had been hijacked by the devil. Men that were created in the image of God were totally depraved and grossly dishonoring the Father. What was the solution? They must be brought again into the Kingdom of God – or the government of God. Or rather it was necessary to bring the Kingdom of God to the hearts of sinners. This is what happens when someone is saved. The Kingdom of God becomes resident within the believers heart. That is His government is operative in their life. They quit living for self and sin. They now live to do the will of God. Jesus becomes the dominant force in their lives. The whole purpose of salvation is not to keep sinners out of hell, but to establish God's Kingdom in their heart.

 Tragically this driving passion that characterized Jesus is seldom mentioned in Christianity today. Jesus told us the main point when we pray was to have an obsession for the honor and glory of God. That is why He said, “When you pray say,“Father hollowed be Thy Name!” This issue is almost totally ignored in our prayer meetings. What is the dominant concern in our prayer meetings? Somebody is sick. Somebody has financial needs. Somebody is in trouble. Somebody needs to be saved. Where is the concern for the glory of God? The only time I ever hear anyone praying for the honor of the Father, the promotion of His Kingdom, and the execution of His will is when people stand in church and mechanically mouth the Lord's Prayer on Sunday morning' But that is the last thing they are concerned about.

One of the rare glimpses we get inside the heart of Jesus was what He said in John 12:27,28 – “Now is My soul trouble; and what shall I say? Father save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father glorify Thy Name.”That is the driving factor in the heart of Christ. That is praying the Lord's prayer. In that famous prayer of Jesus in John 17 we see the first thing that came out of Christ's mouth was, “Father, the hour has come: glorify Thy Son that Thy Son may glorify Thee.” That is praying the Lord's prayer.

 In my personal devotions, as I am concerned about various problems, I try to hammer the central point,“Lord, hollowed be Thy Name, Lord, Your Name is being dishonored here. Lord, You have got to work that Your Name be glorified.”Sometimes I can't get past that point. The solution to most problems is for the government of God to become operative in those areas where His Name is being dishonored. And the bottom line is that the will of God is done.

This is the whole point of evangelism. This is what we are praying for, and this is what we are working towards. As noble as it is to have compassion and concern for lost souls, the main point isn't that they need to be saved so they can quit drinking or living a bad life. And it isn't to keep them out of the flames which wold be the righteous consequence for their sin. But the point is that the Father is being dishonored in that unsaved person. Jesus came to turn that around and the salvation from sin needs to be made a reality in that sinners life.

There is another motivation that is extremely powerful. In 1736 there was a wealthy man who owned 3,000 black slaves on St. Thomas Island in the Caribbean. He vowed that the Gospel would never be preached on that island. There were two Moravian young men who felt called of God to carry the Gospel to those slaves who had no chance of being saved. The only way these men could get on that island was to sell themselves as slaves to that salve owner. He was so wicked that he wouldn't even provide the means of transportation to get there, and they had the use the money they got from selling themselves to him to pay their passage. A group of family and friends gathered at the dock to see these young men off on a mission that they all knew they would never return from. This was one way. As the ship pulled away to sail out in the harbor one of the young men called out across the water to the weeping crowd, “May the Lamb receive the reward of His sufferings!” That famous remark became the rallying cry of the Moravian revival for the next one hundred years. Thousands of Moravian missionaries went out at tremendous cost to “Win for the Lamb the reward of His sufferings.” That is a message that has almost been totally forgotten in modern evangelism.

 It is tragic that the emphasis for evangelism and Christian living has been placed almost entirely on the needs of the sinner or saint. But where is passion for the honor of the Father? Jesus came to undo the damage done in the Garden when the devil hijacked humanity and to bring humanity back the Father. The focus is placed on the purpose and honor of God – not the needs of the sinner. And the Christian life should be lived under the same spot light.

It was a costly thing that the Father did when He sent His Son to shed His Blood to delivers sinners. And it was an unthinkable sacrifice that Jesus paid for our salvation. Surly He deserves the reward for that sacrifice. Oh that that would grip our hearts and we would be willing to lay done our lives, and pay any price to see that the Lamb receives the reward of His suffering. How can we remain silent? How can we remain indifferent and still call ourselves followers of the Lamb?

 I don't know if I will be able to get this point across to the few students in Pastor Bayun's Bible school. But before we talk about how to evangelize, I feel it is vital to get the motivation set forth first. If the Holy Spirit is able to get that point across to us, perhaps that might motivate us see a few people brought to Christ, and see His Kingdom extended here in northern Thailand.

When you speak with Jesus this week, you might mention to Him that He has a very needy, inadequate, servant trying to lift up His flag in Chiang Mai.

Arigato (thank you),

bill