evangelism:through the local church

Evangelism: mission through the local church
- Decade of evangelism…. to evangelize “is to make known by word and deed the love of the crucified and risen Christ in the power of the holy spirit so that people will repent, believe and receive Christ as their Saviour and obediently serve him as their Lord in the fellowship of his Church.
- Not a modern idea, in 1571 Bishop John Jewel of Salisbury, “if any man be a Christian and not profess his faith he gives men occasion to doubt whether or not he has the grace of the holy spirit within him because he is tongue toed and doth not speak
Forms of evangelism
- It takes different forms, Jesus with the Samaritan woman and Philip with the Ethiopian this is Personal evangelism, which is still our duty today to share with those near to us who do not know Christ
- Mass evangelism, despite some American tv evangelists, this method has been blessed by God, Jesus spoke to the masses, Paul to the pagans of Lystra and the philosophers of Athens, Wesley, Whitefield, Bily Graham, millions have found faith and grown in their faith through their ministries.
- However local church evangelism can claim to be the most normal, natural and productive method of spreading the gospel today.
- 2 reasons for this, 1 argument from scripture, according to peter the church is a royal priesthood that is to offer spiritual sacrifices to God (worship) and a holy nation to spread God’s praises (witness), so every church is called by God to be a worshipping and witnessing community
- If we truly worship God, acknowledging him and adoring his worth, experiencing his presence and his pleasure, we find ourselves impelled to make him known to others, so they can worship him, so worship leads to witness and witness leads to worship, Perpetual cycle
- Example of Thessalonians, the message came to them, they welcomed it, the message rang out from you, every church must pass the gospel on, it is still God’s principal of evangelism, if all churches had been faithful to this, the world would long ago have been evangelized!
- 2nd reason, argument from strategy, every church is set in a certain place, it’s first mission is to the people who live there. Any political party would be hugely jealous of the resources we have in terms of buildings, personnel, we have so much that if it were fired up for local mission much of what we complain about wouldn’t happen because the Church would have stood in the breach.
- Bill Hybels, the local church is the hope for the world, Stott the local church is the primary agent for evangelism, but it must understand itself, organize itself, express itself and be itself
The church must understand itself: it’s theology
- many churches are sick because of a false self image, they do not know who they are or what they are called to be (identity and vocation), the importance of having an accurate self image is vital for mental health in humans, it is equally true of churches
- at least tow false images of the church today, the first is the religious club or introverted Christianity, like a golf club but God instead of golf, they enjoy doing religious things, pay their fees and so are entitled to certain privileges, in fact they concentrate on status and the advantages of being part of the club and forget the world
- William temple, the church is the only co operative society that exists for it’s non members, instead they are introverted, like an ingrown toenail, of course we have a responsibility to one another, the NT tells us this, but our main job is worship and witness for and to God.
- The opposite extreme the secular mission, or religionless Christianity, this really began in the 60’s were understandably Christians were exasperated with the self centered nature of the church, and so they exchanged the worship services for the secular city, no longer interested in worship services only worship service, worship was mission, love for God as neighbour, prayer to God as encounter with people.
- An over reaction undoubtedly, but they have a point, all this naval gazing the church does as the bible tells us sickens God, but we must never confuse mission with worship, there is overlap but they are not the same.
- There is a third way which combines the two, where we realise there is a duty to worship God and witness to the world, this is a double identity, incarnational Christianity, Holy worldliness, we are called out of the world, to be separate, but God calls us back to the world to let them know of Jesus.
- In the world but not of it, best example is of course Jesus, fully human, but never sacrificed or compromised his own unique identity, he was the perfect example of holy worldliness
- He sends us out as the father sent him, to enter into the worlds of others, their thinking, feeling, living, this is costly, but we do not pay with our integrity, we are called to maintain the standards of Jesus.
- Seldom has the church managed in history to maintain it’s God given double identity of holy worldliness, sometimes it has withdrawn, at other times conformed to the world, but to maintain it’s calling the church must faithfully hold both it’s holiness and worldliness in balance so the will of God is done.
- The bible shows us the way to go, and what to say but we have nothing to say if we are compromised by the world, but also we have no one to serve because we are insulated and cut off, be in the world but not of it, and we can only do that in the strength of Christ
The church must organize itself: It’s structures
- too often we are organized for holiness rather than worldliness, our church is not for itself it is built for others, the centre lies outside itself, too often we are a waiting church, waiting for people to come in and then conform them to the way we do things.
- If our structures are inflexible and self centered then we I believe are heretical, because we need to be in here to accommodate us going out there, if all we do is stay in here then we are living a lie.
- Too often our structures mean that we spend all our time in here, with meetings and business, with our church, our people, we become occupied with church when being a church actually means bearing witness to Christ in the world.
- Sometimes I wonder if we should simply meet on a Sunday for worship, fellowship and teaching, then scatter for the rest of the week to get our hands dirty for Jesus. Then we follow our double identity of holy worldliness
- How then can we organize ourselves, well should we not be conducting a survey, examining ourselves, testing ourselves to see if we are reflecting our identity our vision, of asking the hard questions. To see if we are organized for ourselves or do we serve God and the community
- In fact we should also have a community survey to see whether our church is penetrating the community for Christ (that is a job for outreach!)
- Ask questions like an outsider, what does our Church building look like? Chapels in France, keep out! Church services what are we saying to visitors, Church membership do we leave everything to the minister and a few others, or do we realize that the NT teaches everyone of us has a ministry church programme do we tie people down to do things or release them to be active for Christ in the community? Do we provide training? Do you get an idea and run with it or say what a shame no one has ever done that? What changes do we need to make, many many things have come out of our vision supper, but we need to keep casting the vision to let people know that Jesus is alive and they can find him here
- Let’s make the tough decisions to step out of our comfort zones so that others are with us in eternity.
The church must express itself: it’s message
- not enough to understand and organize, we need to articulate our message, evangelism means sharing the good news, the essence of which is Jesus Christ, Philip, Paul spoke of the good news of Jesus, we must speak of him, his death and resurrection
- How do we do this? Two extremes to avoid total fixity where you have a set talk and you cannot move from this and often the words you have make no sense
- Total fluidity where people just discover it by entering into a Christian event or service.
- Middle way we have to think, see everyone we meet as a person with a need to meet Jesus, but in the same way that Jesus treated everyone differently so do we, and some will believe and others will not, but that should never stop us from telling of the hope that we have in a sensitive and loving way.
The church must be itself: it’s life
- The church is God’s new society, a taste of what is to come, the good news seen, people learn by what they see and experience much more than they hear, people have to see that the gospel we preach has transformed us!
- It is people who communicate, not primarily words or ideas, authenticity. If our life contradicts, our evangelism will lack all credibility.
- 1 john 4 :12, no one has seen God but if we love one another God lives in us and his love is made complete in us
- The Lord is invisible………he is spirit, it is still a challenge for faith today, science has shaped our age, we will believe when we see him.
- How does God overcome this? The world shows his glory, he revealed himself in his son, the third way? He is seen in Christians, God is seen through the quality of our loving of one another, if we do not love one another we do not love God, that simple.
- Nothing so damaging as a church torn apart by jealously, rivalry, slander, malice or selfishness, a church like that needs to be renewed by love, or die, image of dry rot!
Conclusion
- Church must grasp double identity, organize itself developing a mission strategy to reflect being in the world but not of it, it must express verbally the gospel by being faithful to scripture and relevant to the world today and fourthly it must be itself, transformed into a community of love that makes the invisible God visible to the world