Wednesday, 30 November 2011
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Evangelism: Allowing Christ to Work Through Us
Often times, there is too much noise in Christianity. We argue and bicker over proper theology and how the Church ought to be run. There are those of us who are more vocal than others in these aspects, myself included, but often times, it takes away from our purpose as Christians.But what is our purpose as Christians? I guarantee you, if you ask 10 Christians this question, you'll get 10 different answers. There is nothing wrong with that; these opinions are just different emphasis on equally important issues. If you ask a person who subscribes to a more "evangelistic" denomination, they will probably say something along the lines of, "To go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit." This is an important part of Christianity, but in my understanding, not our goal. My interpretation is that our goal as Christians is to allow Christ to manifest Himself in us, so that we can allow God's kingdom to be built on earth. This is not to say that the former is a terrible approach, but rather, that when we are doing the will of God, people want to follow.
The line is fine, but it is there. As a result, the different emphasis often causes disputes among the Christian community. Those among us who are more evangelical get upset at the ones who are more mainline and claim that we don't disciple enough. Those of us who are more mainline, like me, accuse those who are more evangelical that they don't allow God to do the work that only God can do. These two sides don't really see eye to eye all the time, but they are equally valid and equally important. There can be consequences to each, however, if one can not see these as equally important. For example, if we don't go and make disciples, we are ignoring an important role of the Church, commanded by Christ. The "how" makes all the difference though.
Many people ignore the man standing on the soapbox with a megaphone telling us to repent. We laugh at those with signs, picketing and telling others they are going to hell. We throw away tracts, handed out by people who really want us to know God in the same way they do. These, in my opinion, are terrible ways of evangelizing. The way I evangelize is by letting God do the work for me -- after all, I am a vessel -- I'm a tool to be used by God.
Everything we do, everything we say, everywhere we go is directed by God. In humility, we simply surrender to his will.
God's revealed Christ to me. This is why I am a believer. He's shown me that Christ's way works.
This isn't about heaven and hell, folks. This is about the here and now. This is what Christ tells us to live for -- allowing Him to create heaven on earth, because we don't want to see others go through hell on earth.
So lets think about this for a second. What makes hell on earth? Bitterness, resentment, jealousy, gluttony, murder, deceitfulness, disease, disobedience, injustice, hatred, and all these things that separate us from God.
What makes heaven on earth then? Well, we can start by the fruit of the Spirit as read in Galatians. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. And the fruit of the spirit is not limited to this either. Humility is another one for example.
But all of these are birthed by the Holy Spirit. This is not of our own doing. The only part we play in this is our willingness to be used by God.
So though some may read my blog and say things like, "Why can't more Christians be like you?", to that I would say,
I don't want Christians to be like me. I'm terrible, through and through. But what causes you to ask me this question is what you see in me: the work of the living Jesus Christ, our God and Savior. These are the things he does to me through His Holy Spirit. I simply obey -- sometimes. I'm not perfect as nobody is. And it is this that is my only proof that God came to us in the form of man, died, rose from death, ascended into heaven, and gave us His Holy Spirit. It's not by what I do, but by what He does in me. I can't love perfectly on my own, but God certainly can -- and it is the Christians He chooses to use to show this love. Some, unfortunately, are not open to His guidance, though.
This is why I don't push God in others faces. First of all, God is at work in everyone's lives. We call this prevenient grace. It is our responsibility to respond to this grace. Some have chosen not to. I've chosen to respond to this. Some have not yet responded to this, but will. But this is all in God's guidance, not our own.
So I'd love to see people come to know the Christ who has changed the world and continues to do so through us. But this doesn't come with force, threatening, annoying, or anything like that. Nor does this come from pamphlets passed out, soapbox sermons, door-to-door witnessing, or picketing. This comes from the work Christ does in us, and in return, Christ does the work of the Kingdom through us, to make His world possible.
What do you think defines evangelism? Who does the work of evangelism, man or God?
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- From: jmallory@xanga
- Name: Jimmy
- Location: Dayton, Ohio, United States
- About Me: Jesus is alive and working in me. I'm just trying to manifest his glory.
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Comments (7)
As an Atheist; this is the most non hypocritical and genuine post I have read from a Christian.
I agree with you. I think that the best way to "evangelize" is to first develop a deep relationship with Christ, and as your relationship with Him grows, the more you will be like Him and the more He will be able to work through you. The more that you are like Him, the more that you blossom the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and will be able to genuinely love everyone without judgment. Americans have heard the gospel many times, but rarely do we see genuine, unconditional love. That is what should set us apart and what should draw others to Christ. "By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35
i agree. as an agnostic, the only thing that'd even have a chance of converting me is showing me how being Christian could improve me as a person.
Beautifully written truth, Jim. If I only had a dollar for every time I have felt queasy in my own spirit because of witnessing the spirit of religion at work, masquerading as Christ, I would be a wealthy man. I will also say, however, that I have experienced the Holy Spirit prompting me to hand out a track or to knock on the door of someone I didn't know very well. I regret sometimes I failed to obey the Holy Spirit out of fear of rejection but also out of disgust, remembering having seen those evangelistic approaches so badly misused on other occasions.
I have learned to my astonishment that God really is in control of everything, and that He allows things which I find abhorrent for His own purposes. Sometimes that includes the falsehood of religious zealots' approaches to unbelievers. Sometimes in the midst of that unbelievers somehow actually recognize the workings of satan and then become more interested in hearing about how the real God really works, eventually coming to know Christ.
Now all us Wesleyans recognize that is prevenient grace at work. God working despite my opinion of how He ought to work. Ya know, God hardly ever even bothers to ask me for my opinion! What's up with that!
I might suggest that you cannot fully substantiate any claim of what our singular "goal" in Christianity is- however, we have directives and purposes, and as you have seen, we get many answers to this particular question because God has placed the many parts of the Body where He wishes them and they may be stating what their function is... if indeed they are faithful to the Lord and His will.
As to evangelism, however, this is a more clearly defined concept within the scriptures, and even the word itself originally meant, "to proclaim royal tidings".
Evangelists are people. They proclaim the gospel of God wherever they are (in the church, or in the streets- it makes no difference to the function of evangelism). It is not, however, what we make it out to be, which is a giant sales pitch.
Many modern evangelists are nothing more than "holy salesmen". Which is one of the most saddening things to me. We aren't supposed to be trying to convince people through any means necessary to become Christians- we're supposed to preach the gospel with love and boldness and allow the Lord to draw them.
Which brings me to that part of your post- if by evangelism you mean "converting people", then yes, that is the Lords work. He gives us a new creation and changes our heart as He teaches us through the Spirit. But if you mean proclaiming and preaching the gospel as parts and functions of the evangelist... well, just like Romans 10 says, how blessed are the feet who bring the word of good news. That is the job of man.
I think the next question to ask: can you justify withholding the gospel from someone because you are afraid of being labeled pushy? Which, by the way, I know is not what you personally were saying. But it's a feeling many people struggle with.
@FearofGodandPerfectLove@xanga - I agree with you 100%. Though, don't misunderstand. I would never not preach the gospel because I fear being labeled pushy. All I'm saying is that I wait for the right time to tell others about God. If it doesn't feel right in my spirit, I'll stay silent, but sometimes, you have to ease it into a conversation, I think. There is a time for everything, I suppose.
Evangelistic churches have the capability of causing more post traumatic stress than bad living situations. The worst PTSD I've ever suffered came from being asked to leave a Baptist church, after worshipping there for 6 years. It was the year of the first election of George W. Bush, and someone in Sunday school asked me what my political opinion was. The following week the pastor called me into his office to tell me I'd be happier elsewhere. The whole point of being a Christian is to love your neighbor, and fundamentalists get so caught up in deciding how critical to be of their neighbors, they actually think they don't need to love them. They actually think Christ was an American, and was political. They believe that Christ would ask for an insurance card before healing them. It's gotten that vitriolic, that mean spirited. It shouldn't be about politics. It should be about putting our arms around each other, because let's face it, we all hurt.