Because of the passing of the holidays we are now faced with a new year, 2009. As with many years previous, men and women will be making New Year’s Resolutions. The most popular will be to lose weight, better manage household finances, eat healthier, etc.
I will be partaking of the festivities this year, unlike any year before. Until this past weekend I had not planned to join in, but have since felt the need to make a life decision. This time it is not to get married, have children, buy a home, or anything of that sort, but it is solely devotional in nature.
My goal is to impact 12 men for the gospel in a personal way before I die.
I don’t really have a clear strategy or really any type of plan other than to get to know 12 people, spend a significant amount of time with them teaching and molding (and hopefully being blessed by reciprocation) them into disciples of Jesus, and then let the Lord move in their lives to pay it forward.
This idea is not novel; I have heard it proposed before. This doesn’t bother me in the slightest. The reason is because it is archaic: this is the method of discipleship used by our Messiah. He chose 12 men to follow him (I think it is interesting how many modern disciple relationships begin with the opposite being the case), spent significant amounts of time with them, and let Yahweh’s Spirit move in their lives to pay it forward.
Paul and his colleagues continued to use the same strategy. One passage from his writings that has stayed with me for the past month or two has been 1 Thess 2.19-20 (TNIV):
19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
N. T. Wright has said that as good Evangelical Protestants we would expect Paul to say something to effect that Jesus’ blood and righteousness is our hope, joy, and crown. Instead, however, he claims the disciples he has made (through the power of Yahweh – 1 Cor 3.7) as his reward in the presence of his Master. The believers in Macedonia are the evidence that Paul has been a faithful follower of Christ. He has proclaimed the message of the Kingdom; he has been focused on heralding only the matters concerning Christ’s death and resurrection; he can now claim these things in the presence of the One whom he proclaimed.
These verses have moved my soul into a lifelong resolution, one I am sure I will repeat until I die, to impact 12 men for the gospel in a personal way before I die.
Filed under: Discipleship and Evangelism
Matthew 28:18-20 is probably the most often quoted passage of Scripture about the topic of evangelism. In the Southern Baptist Convention, of which my church is a part, we have placed a large emphasis on evangelism, personal and cooperative. Many SBC pastors have preached sermons from this text in hopes of making their people more evangelistic.
Personal evangelism is emphasized many times from this passage to be the main point in Jesus statement to his disciples. But this is simply not the case. The main point is to make disciples just as Jesus had made disciples. Jesus would even empower the disciple making process. These disciples, new believers, are to be baptized in the name of the triune God and taught to observe all that Jesus had commanded them. Again, Jesus comforts them with the promise of his everlasting presence.
My thoughts recently have been asking the question, Why haven’t we been emphasizing the teaching part as much as the converting part? There is no such thing in the New Testament as evangelism without discipleship. If someone walks down an aisle, prays a prayer, or gets baptized and is never assimilated into the church’s discipleship process, they are not a disciple…maybe a convert, but not a disciple. There must be teaching to make disciples.
The problem with an overemphasis on personal evangelism is that we forget that Jesus doesn’t want us to just convert people. He wants us to make disciples, which means spending time teaching people the Bible, rebuking them when they are in sin, rejoicing with them, mourning with them, and so on.
So, the question I am asking is, Are we doing this right?
The church is not an institution. It is a movement and is to be conducted and viewed accordingly. This is the emphasis of my latest read, The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch. The subtitle of the book is fitting: “Reactivating the Missional Church”. And then the back flap reads, “A Call for a Complete Reorientation of the Mission of the Church.”
In summary, ‘traditional’ ways of doing church with buildings, paid, professional clergy, passive worship services (people listen to music and sermons with no interaction), and programs have simply missed what the Church is all about; they have lost the “Apostolic Genius.” The models for this reorientation are the first Christians and the current Christian movement in China. These movements embody the real way of doing mission.
Hirsch is gifted in communicating the pitfalls of contemporary methods, but I am not in agreement that a wholesale abandonment of ‘traditional’ church is necessary. The reason for my disagreement is simply that I have seen ‘traditional’ churches succeed in the areas he wishes to change with small church, missional communities.
Disciple making (mission, evangelism, etc.) is the center of our Christian task and I do agree with Hirsch that we have neglected this area most of all and because of this have failed in our mission. There is a necessity for a more communal form of discipleship processes in our churches in which there is safety, trust, and authentic relationships that are characterized by sacrifice.
But what about these buildings? Are church buildings helpful or harmful? Both. They are harmful because they pervert the meaning of church. Church is not a place you go or something you do. It is something that you are. The church are those who are called out (which is what the word means anyway) for God’s mission to the world. A building with services times and programs can hurt this focus. This is the main critique of traditional buildings from guys like Hirsch and other emerging leaders.
However, church buildings are also very helpful if used appropriately. If a church, emerg(ent/ing) or traditional, chooses to use a building for church gatherings and functions it should do so in a way that cultivates an attitude towards service and mission. The first step is to decide that the building is not just for you and your church; it is for the community. Your church building should function in missional ways throughout the week. This will limit the degree to which your church members view the church as the special spiritual place and boost your church’s impact into the community by hosting events (music festivals, block parties, basketball tournaments) and services (childcare, tax help, counseling). Their is a de-sacredization that needs to take place in our church buildings. The building is not the temple where the presence dwells; it is the people where the Holy Spirit lives.
When this happens and churches pull together funds to build not for themselves but for the community, church buildings will begin to function in more missional ways. Simple ways could be starting a cafe in your church building that is open 6 or 7 days a week with coffee, music, and other activities that people are involved in. The church can then become a third place. A third place is not your home or your workplace, but is another place where life happens. This is usually something like a bar or a coffee shop where people get together to do life together and share moments and memories. The church building should be used similarly. The building is a safe place where unbelievers can come to be loved with real gospel love and can be told the story of how Jesus loves them and can save them from their sin-filled lives that are filled with depression and despair.
If you choose to have a church building or currently have one, ask yourself the following questions:
- How are you currently using your building(s)?
- Are these uses congruent with mission?
- What are you doing or planning to do to increase missional pathways re: your building?
- How are you empowering your members to get involved?
