I was driving down Poplar Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares in Memphis, when I noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of me. In large letters, it said, “I AM A GENERIC CHRISTIAN.” Well, that got my attention. I never thought about anyone being a generic Christian. I saw that something else was written on the bumper sticker and I wanted to know what it was. I’m afraid I got dangerously close to the rear end of the fellow, so that I would be close enough to read what was there. It said, “Ask me what I mean.”
That intrigued me even more. What was this person trying to say, “I’m a generic Christian – ask me what I mean”? My interest was further whetted in the fact that the sticker was on an $80,000 Mercedes. I wondered how anyone driving such a car could be a generic anything. A couple of blocks on down the street, the driver pulled into Mr. Pride Car Wash, and I couldn’t resist. I didn’t need a car wash but I turned in behind him because I wanted to speak to the driver and find out what he meant with that intriguing message on the bumper of his Mercedes.
The fellow told me he was a member of a local congregation, but he was so tired of denominational emphases and sectarian politics in the church that he wanted to proclaim a different kind of message. He wanted the world to know that he was simply a Christian, not any label – just a generic Christian.
Well, the fellow had a point. And I thought about that experience as I began to work on this address. There is a sense in which the man was right. We don’t need to be preoccupied with “brand names” when it comes to the Christian faith. But I wonder. I wonder if we don’t have too many generic Christians, and not enough who are so committed, so sold out to Jesus, that people who know them will know without question that they are Christian.
Paul is the man who gave us our scripture lesson and provides the theme text for The Order of the Flame: “Do the Work of an Evangelist, Carry Out Your Ministry Fully.” Another translation which I’m going to be quoting has it “Do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” There is nothing generic about Paul. He was totally immersed in Jesus, and his calling demanded what most would term a fanatical response. He was a person of one subject. To the Corinthians, he wrote, “I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” His two- sentence autobiography in Galatians 2:19-20 tells us clearly how he sees himself: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me and the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” Nothing generic here.
And there’s nothing generic about our scripture lesson. It is very explicit, very clear, and, I might add, very demanding. The setting out of which it comes does not allow Paul to generalize or to be subtle. Paul doesn’t have time for diplomatic or nuanced speech. He is concluding his letter to Timothy but his conclusions are those of his entire life on earth.
These words are dictated, probably to Luke, perhaps within a few days of his beheading by the executioner . . . For the past 30 years he has traveled, witnessed, worked, and preached throughout the Mediterranean world. He has been loved and hated, supported and attacked, praised and cursed. Whatever else can be said of his life, it certainly wasn’t dull! Anticipating the executioner’s ax, he passes the baton to his young friend, Timothy, and entrusts to him the next lap of his race. [Gary W. Demarest, The Communicator’s Commentary: 1,2 Thessalonians; 1,2 Timothy; Titus (Waco, Texas:Word Books, 1984) p. 285]
These are Paul’s last words, and last words are important. There’s a little country cemetery in Perry County, Mississippi, where I’ll be buried someday. It’s about 300 yards up the hill from the old homeplace. Mom and Dad – in my adult life I affectionately called them “Mutt” and “CoBell” -- his name was Murdock; hers, Cora – they are buried there. CoBell died four years ago, Mutt two years ago, and I still miss them. On CoBell’s tombstone is the last word she spoke to Mutt: “I’ll see you.” Just that: “I’ll see you.” On his stone is his response: “I’ll be there.” A great witness to their confidence in eternal life and heaven as our home.
Last words are important. So here in our scripture lesson are some of Paul’s last words. The words are a charge – a charge to Timothy, and, if you understand scripture as I do, a charge to us.
I charge you. It’s like a judge in the courtroom, or like a general giving orders to his troops as they are about to engage in battle. It’s what it is: a dying man – or one who knows that death is immanent – laying on the heart of his friend the passion and priority of his life. The authority of Paul to make this sacred charge is grounded in Jesus Christ. “I charge you,” he writes, “before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His Kingdom.” Do you believe it? That history will culminate one day with the second coming of Christ? That there is going to be a final judgment and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom? And we are going to be accountable to God, the sovereign judge. Do you believe it? Is this reality impacting the shape of your ministry?
If Paul were verbally speaking to us, after this opening solemn statement of accountability and judgment in verse 1 he would shout, and the five specific commands in verse 2 would ring out like military orders: “Preach the word! Be ready in season, out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching.”
Let’s at least look at this charge which precedes Paul’s call “to do the work of an evangelist.”
Preach the word. He sounds that first because it is first. There is no higher priority. You know what I miss most in this mob? I miss preaching to the same people Sunday after Sunday.
I remember my first visit to China in 1978. The Bamboo Curtain had been drawn just slightly. The Christian church was still primarily underground. It was dangerous for Christians to meet with foreigners. But we had some of those meetings. I remember being in a hotel room in Beijing with three Chinese couples. They had survived the oppression and were thrilled to have Christian visitors. We talked quietly – then they wanted to sing, so we sang softly their favorites, which they know by heart. “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and “Amazing Grace.” I asked them what they missed most about their life before the Revolution and the outlawing of the Church. Without hesitation, they said, “We miss gathering for worship and hearing the Word of God preached.”
The Revolutionists knew the power of preaching, so they outlawed it. The same thing happened in Russia and the Soviet Union – preaching was outlawed. Why? It is powerful.
Among all the things we do, nothing is to have more of our attention, time, and energy than preaching the Word, be it from the pulpit, in pastoral visiting, counseling, or simply in our common intersections with people from day to day. Nobody else in all the world has access to the minds and hearts of people as does a pastor. Don’t allow yourself to become dull to this great opportunity that is yours. So Paul admonishes us, “Preach the Word.”
The second things he says is, “Be ready in season and out of season.” The verb here translated “be ready” is also translated as “be urgent” and “be instant.” The A.R.S.V. says, “Be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable.”
We think of John Wesley’s advice to his preachers. Be ready, he said, at all times – ready “to pray, to preach, or to die.” Friends, there is nothing about the Christian life, nothing about our calling, nothing about our ministry that we can be casual about. Every single day that you are in ministry carries the potential of a life/death encounter – the possibility of a word or an act that will impact the destiny of a person. So be ready in season and out of season.
“Convince.” That’s Paul’s third instruction. This word is also translated “reprove.” It is related to the word translated “reproof” in chapter 3, verse 16, of this letter. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” ( II Timothy 3:16) The emphasis may be upon the idea of reasoning in order to convince the unbeliever of the truth of the gospel. This suggests the apologetic task of the preacher/evangelist.
There was a day when our apologetic task was to provide a rational, reasonable argument for the faith in order to convince people to believe. I don’t believe that’s where we are today. We don’t have to convince people to believe. People want to believe. Ours is a spiritually starved age. People are searching and they are believing anything. The thriving New Age movement and the shelves of books in secular bookstores dedicated to so-called “spirituality” are ample witness to this fact. People want to believe and they will believe anything. Our apologetic task is to provide a convincing case for Christianity. This case will not be made simply by reason. There must be an apologetic of experience. I’ll come back to this later, but register this now: People must be able to see the difference Christ makes in your life. I believe that a part of the problem of mainline churches today is that we no longer consider ordained ministers to be representatives ministers. We have leveled everybody and in our emphasis on the “general ministry” which is a worthy emphasis, we have diminished the meaning of ordination. There is no call for holiness – for spiritual leadership that requires an authentic piety and spirituality. There is no demonstration of God’s power in our lives, thus we can’t expect that demonstration in others. So Paul’s charge is challenging: Convince.
His next charge is, “Rebuke.” We don’t like this one, do we? It certainly is not “the most sought-after task of Christian ministry.” Commenting on this charge, Gary Demarest raises an intriguing issue: I wonder if the gift of rebuking should not be added to our list of spiritual gifts. Have you ever thought of that? “Rebuking” as a spiritual gift? King David was certainly fortunate that the prophet Nathan had this gift. What courage it took for Nathan to rebuke David through the parable of the unjust rich man. You remember the story. David had gotten Bathsheba pregnant, then plotted the death of her husband, Uriah. Nathan told him the story of a poor family that had only one lamb. A rich man, not wanting to use a lamb from his own herd for a feast, took the poor man’s lamb. When David heard the story he was angered, and called for the death of this calloused man. Nathan confronted him: “You are the man!” (II Samuel 12:7). David came to himself and confessed, “I have sinned against the Lord.” What a high privilege that provided Nathan, the privilege of declaring God’s forgiveness: “The Lord has put away your sins; you shall not die” (II Samuel 12:13).
I know of no greater joy – to be able to say to a penitent soul, “Your sins are forgiven.” That’s the other side of the gift of rebuking – declaring forgiveness to one who repents.
The fifth counsel of Paul is exhort. This is the Greek word parakaleo, which is used to mean “encourage” or “to bring comfort.” In fact that’s the way the NRSV hat is: Encourage. It is the word used for the work of the Holy Spirit elsewhere in the New Testament. In this setting, exhortation is clearly intended to mean encouragement and inspiration. “Rebuke without encouragement can be deadly.” (Demarest, p. 287) So Paul urges us not only to rebuke but to exhort – to encourage and inspire.
Let Paul’s charge reverberate through the chambers of your mind, let them settle as guiding wisdom in all the places of your heart. “Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching.”
Let’s move on in the text. Listen to verse 3: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but live according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. . .”
How relevant. That cultural assessment is as up-to-date today as it was 2000 years ago. What a descriptive word – “itching ears.” The phrase literally means “having the hearing tickled.” There are plenty of those who are tickling our ears – and it amazes me that they are getting such a popular hearing.
Marcus Borg, a fellow of the Jesus Seminar, with his book Meeting Jesus Again For the First Time is one who is appealing to itching ears. In his keynote address at Iliff School of Theology’s ministers’ week, he played his normal tune – dismissing New Testament stories of Jesus’ divinity and miracles as myth and metaphor developed by the early Church.
“We need to be clear and candid,” Borg said. “The Bible is a human product.” Ascribing it to divine inspiration leads to “massive confusion.” He cited prohibitions against homosexual conduct as clearly “not God’s law” but human inventions. . .
Borg distinguished between pre-Easter and the post-Easter Jesus. The pre-Easter man was simply a great historical figure who fought for social justice. But the post-Easter figure, which the early church developed in its traditions, became a divine miracle-worker who was raised from the dead. Borg said Jesus could be viewed as the “decisive disclosure of God” without having to say He’s the “only one or without even saying he’s the best one.”
He described the Bible and Jesus as simply a helpful “lens” through which to view the sacred. “If we stop using the Christian lens, then we cease to be Christian and that’s not the end of the world. If humanity lasts 10,000 years, then I expect that if Christianity lasts at all then it will be a tiny sect like Zoroastrianism. We’re not going to last forever in the Christian tradition. The Christian lens will eventually fall into disuse.”
Bishop Spong of the Episcopal Church is another who is constantly going on deconstructionist and revisionist tirades and is tickling itchy ears. Some of you will recall the report of a sermon he preached at the Foundry Church in Washington – one of our United Methodist Churches. It was a celebration of parents and families of lesbians and gays and Spong was the keynote speaker. He suggested that Paul was a homosexual. He said that, “Every image of God is mythological. The resurrection and virgin birth of Jesus did not literally happen but were just interpreted that way. Likewise, the disciple Judas and Jesus’ father, Joseph, were fictional characters whom the early church created.” It is that kind of ear-tickling that is challenging the church.
I have had two experiences recently that have shaken me to the core. One of them came in an all-day “Consultation on the Bible in the 21st Century,” one of the sponsors of which was the American Bible Society. The focus was on technology -- how we will get the Word out in the 21st century and how technology will shape the Word. One session was on authority. I was shocked and dismayed. Let me give you just two quotes:
“The Bible is not essential for critical reflection. In the end I don’t attach much authority on the Bible.”
“Biblical authority needs to be exploded. Sola scripturo gets us all into trouble.”
Those two quotes came from two of the three professors from United Methodist seminaries who were serving on the larger panel of about a dozen.
Is it any wonder that our church is in turmoil when men and women preparing for the ministry are being mentored in the faith by persons who disregard its very founding documents and diminish the Bible as God’s word?
The second experience came in a conference with two of our students who had just recently met their conference Board of Ministry. They had been interviewed by a subcommittee of that conference board. They are a husband-and-wife team and their ordination has been delayed for a year because they were judged theologically inadequate.
Now I am sure some of our students are inadequately prepared and should be “held back” in the ordination process. I would even go so far as to say that a few should never be ordained. But I would put these two up in any arena. The young man is well above average in intelligence and understanding and commitment to ministry. The young woman is exceptional in every way, and is likely to pursue a Ph.D. in Biblical studies at a world-class university.
Between the two, the reasons for holding them back were three-fold.
1) Too strong an emphasis on the transcendence and holiness of God.
2) An unwillingness to surrender a “Father image” of God.
3) What the committee called “too exclusive claims for the person and work of Jesus Christ in our salvation.”
Now to be sure those students may have been too brittle in their unwillingness to nuance language and metaphor – the language of God. But on the other two issues the committee would have turned me down – and the vast majority of presently ordained ministers I know.
Earlier in this second letter to Timothy (II Timothy 2:17), Paul warns his young friend that “false doctrine will spread like gangrene.” We are seeing that in our day, aren’t we? Not only in such obvious expressions as the New Age movement about which we spoke a moment ago, the Jesus Seminar, and in the extreme radical feminism that turns to Sophia worship and preoccupation with goddesses – but also in the mainstream of the church, leaders who would diminish scriptural authority and denigrate the doctrine of a triune God – God who is our Father, God’s son who is our Savior, and God the Holy Spirit, who guides, gifts, and empowers us for ministry. In I Timothy 6:20 Paul says, “Oh, Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.”
Judgment is upon us. How well Paul knew. Listen to him, in verse 4, “And they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.” It is in this kind of ear-itching world, where there are plenty of ministers who will give themselves to “ear-tickling,” that we’re called to do the work of an evangelist.
Now move to our key verse -- verse 5. Paul says four things in this verse. One, be watchful in all things; two, endure afflictions; three, do the work of an evangelist; and four, fulfill your ministry.
I’m not sure those are necessarily distinctive calls. I believe Paul’s conviction was that we could not fulfill our ministry without doing the work of an evangelist. And to do the work of an evangelist we must be watchful and willing to bear affliction. So, let’s center on that call – do the work of an evangelist.
Do we need to remind ourselves of what the work of an evangelist is? An evangelist is one who shares in word, deed and sign the good news of Jesus Christ – the good news that redeems us from sin, makes us whole, and transforms us into participants in God’s Kingdom enterprise. I like the way Paul expresses the work of God in our lives – Col. 1:13-14: “God has rescued us from the power of darkness, and transferred us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
That is the work of an evangelist – to make that good news known, to win a hearing for that good news, to demonstrate its power – and for the pastor who is an evangelist, to lead a congregation in allowing the Holy Spirit to create a community where that good news is a vivid reality in word, deed and sign.
So I want to concentrate that – I want to concentrate on you -- you who are called to fulfill your ministry by doing the work of an evangelist. I can only outline and comment briefly on what I believe is necessary for each one of us if we would do the work of an evangelist.
1) Keep your calling clear.
2) Be certain and confident of the good news.
3) Be able to critique the culture in which you share that good news.
4) Identify with and have compassion for those with whom you would share the good news.
5) Depend on the Holy Spirit to provide the power and the harvest.
Let’s look at those.
First, keep your calling clear. Paul is our model here. He was moved by an irresistible compulsion. You remember his word to the Corinthians (I Cor. 9:16b) “I am compelled to preach. Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” That compulsion placed Paul in an impressive line of people through the centuries whom God appointed to be his mouthpiece. You remember Jeremiah? Listen to him: “His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones, I am weary of holding it in: indeed, I cannot.” (Jeremiah 20:9)
Then there was the prophet Amos. “The lion has roared,” he said. “Who will not fear? The sovereign Lord has spoken – who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8)
It was of this same dynamic that Jesus was speaking: “I have a baptism to undergo, and what stress I am under until it is completed!” (Luke 12:50)
How easy it is to settle into ministry as a profession, as a job – forgetting that it is a calling, a vocation. I am challenged by that word of Mother Teresa to a young man – a member of a religious Order who came to her complaining about all the work that the Abbot of his community was demanding that he do. He felt that he was being diverted from his call. He said, “My vocation is to serve lepers – I want to give my life to serving lepers.” Mother Teresa looked at him with those sharp brown eyes and with a smile on her face she said, “Your vocation is not to serve lepers – your vocation is to love Jesus.”
If we could remember that – if we would burn with the love of Jesus – those to whom we minister would hear what we have to say.
I have on my desk a beautiful carving of the hands of Jesus held together in prayer. There is an inscription on the base of the carving, which says, “The hands of the carpenter, Jesus, intercedes for us.” (Hebrews 7:25)
These carved praying hands were a gift to me from Jeannine Brabon, one of our Asbury graduates, who is a missionary in Medellin, Colombia. One of her primary ministries is within a prison, Bellavista, one of the worst prisons in Colombia. That prison was built to hold 1500 – the inmates now number over 5,000. It has been one of the worst prisons in Columbia, holding many of the most dangerous criminals in that country.
A book which came out recently tells the story of the ministry of Jeannine and a number of others in that prison in Medellin. It is one of the two books that have impacted my life the most during the past year. The title of it is The Lord of Bellavista.
That prison has been a hotbed of drugs, killings, suicides, and homosexual rape – the worst, most oppressive kind of existence. Inmates would have their throats slashed. The heads of inmates would be cut off and kicked about in the exercise yard as though these heads were soccer balls. Awful, awful unimaginable things were going on.
But something has happened in that prison over the past few years. About 5% of the population has become Christian – and transformation has taken place. There is a sense in which it is presently a place of peace compared to other prisons in Colombia.
The person who carved the hands of Jesus was an inmate in that prison. His name was Carlos Velasquez. He carved the praying hands of Jesus from a cedar tree that had been struck by lightning. When you look at those praying hands on the left hand, you can see the black streak going up the hand and along the fingers – the black streak left by the lightning.
In a note to me when she sent me the gift, Jeannine said, “There is nothing struck by disaster or devastated by sin that cannot be transformed by the Master’s hands.” Then she added, “The hands that carved these praying hands once processed cocaine for one of Columbia’s big drug lords. Praise God – with Him nothing is impossible.”
Now that is a powerful story within itself – but the story goes on.
This man, Carlos Velasquez who was converted in prison has been released and is now preaching the gospel. Let me read you a portion of a letter that Jeannine wrote in which she talks about Carlos.
Many know Carlos, an ex-prisoner, through his gifted woodcarvings. Released from prison four years ago, he has in the past year raised up a church in one of the most violent areas of Medellin. Three other churches have tried evangelizing the area, but the danger drove them away. In obedience to the call of God upon his life and with the support of his wife, Aleida, Carlos moved their family of six to dwell among the people of this barrio (suburb).
One night at four a.m., they were awakened by screams of anguish. They went to their bedroom window, only to witness the vivid drama of a 16-year-old slowly being murdered by gunfire in front of his family.
How would you expect Carlos’s wife to respond? “Honey, we’ve got to get out of here. We can’t risk our lives and the lives of our children this way. What can we do in this hellish place, anyway?” That kind of response would have been normal. But
With tears Aleida responded, “Oh honey, we have got to be more urgent in sharing Jesus. We have got to reach them and tell about Jesus before they die, and it’s too late.” Amazed at this wife’s courage in the midst of evil, Carlos was strengthened to continue in the battle. . . “We desire to be found faithful with whatever He entrusts to us,” he says.
Don’t you feel it? Carlos is clear about his calling. He is crazily in love with Jesus, and so he keeps his calling clear.
But not only must we keep our calling clear, we must be certain of the good news. Someone has said that Jesus came preaching the gospel in order that we might have a gospel to preach. Be certain of the good news – the good news of Jesus Christ. We must have confidence in the gospel. I spoke earlier about how that is being challenged in our day, so I don’t need to revisit that – just let me underscore it:
1.) What you think about Christ determines what you will do about missions and evangelism. If you don’t have confidence in the Gospel, and are not solidly convicted about the uniqueness of Christ, it is not likely that evangelism will have much priority in your personal ministry and/or your church.
2.) What you do about missions and evangelism will be shaped by what you think about grace. If you think that grace is limited, or that all people are automatically saved, you will not be likely to proclaim the message of grace with any urgency to all people. If, on the other hand, you realize that grace is unlimited, and that salvation can be rejected, you will share urgently and with all.
3.) What you think Jesus can do for a person will determine what you do about missions and evangelism. If you believe with Carlos Velasquez that Jesus can transform any life – that he can save to the uttermost – and redeem from the darkest pits of hell – if you believe that Christ can do that for persons, then you will do the work of an evangelist.
There is an old story about a church in Ystad, Sweden. Back in 1716, King Charles XII announced to that little town that he was going to come and visit them, and that he would worship in the village church. The pastor of the church got all excited about the presence of the King in his congregation. He decided that he would put aside the prescribed text for that Sunday, and he would deliver a sermon in the form of a eulogy on the greatness of the royal family. He did that.
Three months later, a gift arrived at the church, a big box. The pastor was thrilled. It was a present from the King. But he wasn’t ready for that particular present. Inside the box was a life-size crucifix, a life-like statue of Jesus on the Cross, with this instruction: “Place this on the pillar opposite the pulpit, so that the one who stands in the pulpit to preach will always be reminded of his proper subject.”
If we would fulfill our ministry by doing the work of an evangelist we must be certain of the good news – and stay centered in our proper subject.
Three, if we would fulfill our ministry and do the work of an evangelist we must be able to critique the culture in which we share the good news.
People like George Hunter and Darrell Whiteman in our seminary are doing a lot of work on cultural anthropology these days. There is a sense in which all of us need to be cultural anthropologists – we need to know the setting in which we serve, the life of our community, who are the people that we might be able to reach. I don’t have time to talk about this, so I simply urge you to read George Hunter’s two books, Reaching Secular People and Church for the Unchurched. But it is not enough to be able to critique the culture. We must identify with and have compassion for those with whom we would share the gospel.
There are people all around us who are dying for lack of meaning, enslaved by addictions that offer short-lived relief, immersed in getting and spending, seeking happiness that always eludes them – dying and going to hell – so we must pay attention, look and listen, welcome strangers, seek the marginalized, and graciously share the grace of redeeming love in Jesus Christ.
Do you remember that word of Paul to the Corinthians: (I Cor 9:19) “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible”?
How does that fit? To what degree can you say that? “I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.”
What was Paul saying – that in order to win an alcoholic we need to join them in drinking – or to win an unfaithful person we should experience unfaithfulness. No. Neither was he saying that we must become chameleon-like – taking on the coloring of the context in which we are – indeed not! He was describing his willingness to relate to people, to identify with them, to have the kind of compassion that would cause others to have confidence in him. Instead of being alienated, they would feel accepted to the point that they would hear the Word.
The truth of the matter is, it is all centered in that core doctrine of our Methodist way – grace. We must be gracious and graceful people if we would do the work of an evangelist. And we must lead our churches to being places of hospitality. I love to think of the Church as the home of grace. As the home of grace, it is a home for all. If it is not a home for all, it is not a home at all.
My friend Harold Bales is now a district superintendent in North Carolina. At one time he was the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Charlotte. That old church that had been large in its membership and influential in its witness for many, many years, found itself in a changing neighborhood, with a diminished membership. All of a sudden they had poor people living all around them – alternative lifestyles – a number of different subcultures.
Harold tried to lead the church to minister in that setting – especially reaching out to the poor. That caused a lot of tension and conflict within the membership.
One day Harold was going into the church when he met a very respectable woman in the congregation – a wealthy woman, “a pillar in the church” -- having been a member all her life with parents and grandparents who had been a part of that congregation. She could hardly walk through the hallway because of all the poor people who had come to get a meal.
With a degree of anxiety, consternation and judgment in her voice she said, “Dr. Bales, what on earth is going on here? What are you doing to our church?”
“I am trying to save people from hell,” he responded.
“Well then that’s all right,” she said. “I guess we do need to save people like this.”
“No,” he said, “that’s not the way it is. I am not trying to save them. I am trying to save us – and people like us.”
Do you get it? Not only must we be able to critique the culture in which we share the good news, we must identify with and have compassion for those with whom we would share the Gospel.
We talked a little while ago about knowing the setting in which you do ministry. We need to keep asking ourselves as individual pastors – and we need to lead our congregations in asking:
1.) Do we really want to know these people who are all around us?
2.) Do we want them in our church?
3.) Are we willing for our church to become their church?
4.) Are we willing to go where they go and engage them on their turf?
5.) Are we willing to spend time with them, identify with them and show genuine compassion?
The fifth necessity for fulfilling our ministry by doing the work of an evangelist is to depend on the Holy Spirit to provide the power and the harvest.
I mentioned earlier that one of the two books that has impacted my life the most during the past year is The Lord of Bellavista. The second book is Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire – a book by Jim Cymbala – the pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York City. The book is the story of that church and the transforming power of God’s love – strong enough to convert prostitutes, pimps, drug addicts, homeless people, and transvestites. Strong enough to draw professional men and women, blacks, whites, and Hispanics together in worship. Strong enough to rekindle our own dull hearts and flagging spirits.
Twenty-five years ago, the Brooklyn Tabernacle could barely draw twenty people to a Sunday service. Today it is six thousand strong, a testament of what God can do when men and women begin to pour out their hearts to God.
I worshipped there on a Sunday morning a month ago. It was as dynamic as I was led to believe it was by reading the book.
Let me read you one of the stories.
“I shall never forget Easter Sunday 1992 A homeless man was standing in the back of the church, listening intently. At the end of the evening meeting I sat down on the edge of the platform, exhausted, as others continued to pray with those who had responded to Christ. The organist was playing quietly. I wanted to relax. I was just starting to unwind when I looked up to see this man, with shabby clothing and matted hair, standing in the center aisle about four rows back and waiting for permission to approach me. I nodded and gave him a weak little wave of my hand. Look at how this Easter Sunday is gong to end, I thought to myself. He’s going to hit me up for money. That happens often in this church. I’m so tired…
When he came close I saw that his two front teeth were missing. But more striking was his odor – the mixture of alcohol, sweat, urine, and garbage took my breath away. I have been around many street people, but this was the strongest stench I have ever encountered. I instinctively had to turn my head sideways to inhale, then look back in this direction while breathing out.
I asked his name.
“David,” he said softly.
“How long have you been homeless, David?”
“Six years.”
“Where did you sleep last night?”
“In an abandoned truck.”
I had heard enough and wanted to get this over quickly.
I reached for the money clip in my back pocket.
At that moment David put his finger in front of my face and said, “No, you don’t understand – I don’t want your money.
I’m going to die out there. I want the Jesus that red-haired girl talked about.”
I hesitated, then closed my eyes. God, forgive me, I begged. I felt soiled and cheap. Me, a minister of the Gospel… I had wanted simply to get rid of him, when he was crying out for the help of Christ I had just preached about.
I swallowed hard as God’s love flooded my soul.
David sensed the change in me. He moved toward me and fell on my chest, burying his grimy head against my white shirt and tie. Holding him close, I talked to him about Jesus’ love. These weren’t just words; I felt them. I felt love for this pitiful young man. And that smell … I don’t know how to explain it. It had almost made me sick, but now it became the most beautiful fragrance to me. I reveled in what had been repulsive just a moment ago.
The Lord seemed to say to me in that instant, “Jim, if you and your wife have any value to me, if you have any purpose in my work – it has to do with this odor: This is the smell of the world I died for.”
David surrendered to the Christ he heard about that night. We got him into a hospital detoxification unit for a week. We got his teeth fixed. He joined the Prayer Band right away. . .
Today David heads up the maintenance department at the church, overseeing ten other employees. He is now married and a father. God is opening more and more doors for him to go out and give his testimony. When he speaks, his words have a weight and an impact that many ordained ministers would covet.
As Christians reach out to touch everyone, including the unlovely who are now everywhere in our society, God touches them, too – and revolutionizes their lives. Otherwise we would just be circling the wagons, busying ourselves with Bible studies among our own kind. There is no demonstration of God’s power because we have closed ourselves off from the need for such demonstration. (Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim Cymbala with Dean Merrill, Zondervan Publishing House, 1997, pp. 141-143)
Hear that last sentence again: “There is no demonstration of God’s power because we have closed ourselves off from the need for such demonstration.” How does that fit? Are you indicted by it? If we would do the work of an evangelist, we must depend on the Holy Spirit to provide the power and the harvest.
Rehearse what I have said. If we would fulfill our ministry and do the work of an evangelist, we must
1) Keep our calling clear;
2) Be certain and confident of the good news;
3) Be able to critique the culture in which we share the good news;
4) Identify with and have compassion for those with whom we would share the good news;
5) Depend on the Holy Spirit to provide the power and the harvest.
I close with this. Who is worthy and able for such a calling? Non, absolutely none. You are in trouble when you get the slightest notion that you are worthy or able. I propose the proper attitude and stance of anyone who would do the work of an evangelist. The attitude? “I am hopelessly in love with Jesus – and helplessly dependent upon Him.” Get that – “I am hopelessly in love with Jesus and helplessly dependent upon Him.”
The stance? One of two position: on your knees praying, “Lord, have mercy” or standing erect and ready saying, “Here am I, send me.”
It is that attitude and stance that will make you a member of The Order of the Flame, Faithful Leaders As Mission Evangelists.
