evangelism

Jesus’ Ministry & Our Call to Follow

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After preparing for ministry through his baptism and time in the desert being tempted, Jesus begins his ministry.

In Matthew 4:12-25, He prioritizes three things in his ministry that should be present in ours and we learn what it looks like to follow him in that.

1. Jesus preached the Gospel (12-17)

Jesus verbally proclaimed the good news of the Gospel. That’s not all He did, but it was an essential part of His ministry from the very beginning. He didn’t simply expect people to view His life and be transformed. Certainly, if anyone had a life that exhibited what true love was, it was Jesus. But He knew that showing others true love required the powerful, life transforming words of the Gospel. We should learn from Jesus’ example that our lives must include sharing the message of the Gospel, for even the one with the perfect life still proclaimed a clear message to be received.

2. Jesus made disciples (18-22)

Jesus intentionally poured into others that they might follow in His way. Though He had a ministry that engaged the crowds, had a wide, inclusive audience, and certainly made a significant impact, Jesus focused his time and attention on a few select relationships that he might reproduce himself in their lives. Are we satisfied with a scatter shot approach that may or may not have a significant impact on particular individual lives, or are we intentionally making disciples of specific people? Let’s follow Jesus’ example that we might not allow our lives and ministries end with us.

3. Jesus cared for the sick and oppressed (23-25)

While Jesus knew words were required, he also exhibited that true holistic ministry involved tangible acts of love that manifest the love and grace of the Gospel message. They cannot be divorced from one another. We should be careful to minister the Gospel in both Word and Deed rather than swinging to either extreme of Word only or Deed only (Let’s be real, we’ve all been on one end of that pendulum or the other at some point in our lives.).

**Following Him Involved Immediate & Drastic Priority Change**

The reaction of the disciples in this passage always hits home for me. Their immediate response to follow Jesus humbles me as I recognize the slowness of my heart to heed Jesus’ call on me. Jesus is calling every single one of us in specific ways to follow him, to emulate his ministry, to show and share His love and message with others, and to multiply disciples. Are we responding immediately? Are we realigning our priorities with His that we see in the passage above? Or are we holding onto our current, comfortable, and safe status quo?

Jesus wants to use each one of us in significant ways. The question is: will we follow Him?

Resisting God’s Leading

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When God saves us, we’re given an incredible stewardship. We are to carry the single greatest message of hope for all the world to the nations. God has mobilized his people to do this very thing throughout human history. One huge example of that from the Old Testament is Jonah.

The only problem is that Jonah resisted God’s mission for him with everything he had. As we read Jonah this week, I began thinking about all the obstacles that get in the way of us sharing the Gospel. Most of the time, we think of obstacles as external things, but I find that the primary obstacles to evangelism are internal. While many exist, I suggest four primary obstacles below with the first two coming from Jonah’s story, and the last two from personal experience.

Obstacles to sharing our faith:

1. A Perceived Offense (and/or Elitism)– Jonah has no desire to share a message of hope with the people of Nineveh. They have been an antagonist to the people of Israel for some time at this point, and he wants nothing to do with them. How many of us allow grudges against particular people or whole people groups from faithfully sharing the Gospel? Maybe we don’t intentionally avoid them, but are we allowing our pride to keep us from humbly sharing the Gospel?

2. A Compassion Shortage – Often, the root of the above obstacle is a lack of compassion. We likely don’t even realize it or would never put it in those terms. The Gospel is the message of hope for humanity. Apart from a saving faith in Jesus, no one will experience eternal life. If we have been given this tremendous gift to steward, and we don’t, I think we have to ask: do we really have compassion for the lost? Or are we like Jonah, self-centered and self-consumed?

3. A Desire for Man’s Approval – Nothing in Jonah gives us an indication that this was a struggle, but I know that I often shrink back from sharing the Gospel due to fear of offending others or a concern of what they might think of me. Certainly, offending others is a possibility when the Gospel is shared… Jesus said it would happen. But the risk is worth the reward. Consider the fact that the payoff of someone hearing and receiving the Gospel is an eternity with Jesus (an infinite good), then the risk of momentary offense or a loss of esteem seems incredibly small—infinitesimal—in the end.

4. A Lack of Confidence – Finally, we often lack confidence. I know I do. Will I have the right words? Will I get asked a question I can’t answer? What if I say something wrong? These questions will paralyze us. The core problem, though, is less confidence in ourselves, and actually is a lack of confidence in God. Certainly, we should get equipped and seek preparation, but God promises to give boldness and words to respond when asked to defend our faith. So the question is: Do we trust that our God is big enough to work through even our weak attempts to share the Gospel?

In the end, we will always be tempted to avoid evangelism, but may we be a people that push those obstacles to the side and share our faith for the good of humanity and the glory of God.

Dry Bones Live

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In the midst of Israel’s exile, God uses Ezekiel to provide his people a message of hope, and he does this through some amazing events. One instance paints a powerful picture of several Gospel truths. Check out the story of the dry bones from Ezekiel 37:1-14 below:

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.

What an incredible picture of God’s life-giving power!

God is teaching us three primary truths through this passage:

  1. We are dead.
    -We aren’t simply broken or weak spiritually. We are dead, deader than a doornail, and there’s no doubt that we are dead because all we consist of are dry bones. We are beyond even the slightest signs of life.
    -Spiritually, we are dead. Sin has destroyed our ability to pursue God apart from a miraculous intervention, but that is just what God provides…
  2. God must act & sustain.
    -God is our only hope. Dry bones can’t move on their own, so God must act to give us new flesh, a new life, a resurrection. He must breathe into us the breath of life: this is the resurrection life we experience in salvation. God is the actor in our salvation. We simply receive and respond to the life he gives with faith and repentance. It’s totally and completely a gift from him (see Ephesians 2:1-10 as well).
    -Also, he must continue to sustain that life through his breath. He not only resurrects us but he sanctifies us as we see at the end of the chapter when God identifies himself as “the Lord who sanctifies.” He enables us to grow and continue in the holiness that he has given to us when he saved us from our sin.
    -We can’t resurrect or sanctify ourselves. God must act first and continue to sustain us.
  3. We must preach these truths.
    -God used Ezekiel as his means for raising the dry bones to life, and he has called each of us to share the gospel as the means for raising our friends, our neighbors, and strangers throughout the world.
    -If we don’t preach these truths that have the power to raise people from the dead, then no one will experience the eternal life that we have come to experience in Jesus (Romans 10:13-17).

We’ve been given a huge stewardship. May we be a people that carry this life-giving message to everyone we meet for Jesus’ fame.

Christmas: A Message of Joy and Peace

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Few times throughout the year in NYC evoke a unified theme throughout this great metropolis. Such diversity that exists throughout our city provides a constant flow of variety. But it’s as a result of this rich diversity—certainly something to be celebrated—that the city experiences few events that impact almost everyone in the city. Even when hosting the Superbowl this past January, the city practically continued on like normal. But there are a few holidays and events that supersede much of this diversity. Memorializing 9/11 is certainly a somber example. On the other end of the spectrum, Halloween is basically a city-wide extravaganza—kids to adults of all ages.

One other holiday overtakes this city: Christmas.

Decorations have filled stores since just after Halloween. Midtown is covered in lights, trees, and ornaments. You can find Christmas trees for sale on practically every street corner. Everyone is brought into the cultural fervor around Christmas: Christians and non-Christians alike (although, there are certainly many who are celebrating other holidays this time of year).

As a result, we have a huge opportunity to easily bring the message of the Gospel into everyday conversations. Why?

The message of Christmas, the reason we celebrate, is a message of Joy and Peace.

The angels in Luke 2:8-21 clearly declare this message.

The message of a baby in a manger is one of eternal joy and peace. Sounds crazy, but it’s so true. When Jesus came his mission was to make a way out of the brokenness of this world, a way to reconciliation with our God, and thus, ultimately, a way to joy and satisfaction in God and who he made us to be.

He also came as a King to bring peace. He accomplished peace by the blood of the cross (see Ephesians 2:11-22). He made a way for peace between God and man and among humanity itself. He didn’t establish a political peace, but one day he will provide eternal and complete peace when he returns and makes all things new (Revelation 21).

During Christmas, everyone is talking about the holidays. People are talking about their traditions and asking others about theirs. We have an opportunity to share this message of joy and peace by asking simple questions that can spark conversations.. We can ask why Christmas is such a big deal? We can simply talk about our traditions and how Jesus is involved in those.

Take advantage of this season when people are connected to such a Christian event, and use conversations about Christmas as bridges to the Gospel.

Challenge: Show His Love to the World

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There is no tangible resource to give this week. That’s not because there aren’t great resources available in abundance, but instead, it’s because each and every person who has faith in Jesus with the Spirit living inside them has what it takes to accomplish the theme for this week: love one another.

Instead of a resource, I’m giving a challenge to all my readers: Find one tangible way to love two people this week.

First, love another brother or sister in Christ by serving them, encouraging them, or even going old-fashioned and sending them a thank you note.

Second, love your neighbor. Find one person in your life who doesn’t know Jesus and clearly and tangibly show them the love of Jesus.

That’s your mission: Tangibly love two people this week.

Now go out and do it!

Displaying the Gospel

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Everyone reading this post is viewing it on some sort of computer screen. The millions or billions of images you can see on your computer is pretty amazing. They captivate our attention, and many of them stun us visually. These displays aren’t some magic mirror on the wall, but they are controlled by the computer code feeding into them.

Turn off the display, mask the code. It’s still present within the computer, but it’s effect on the outside world is limited.

Change the code, change the display. It’s that simple.

In a similar way, God has given us a code to be displayed. He has given us the Gospel: the good news that Jesus has lived, died, and rose again for our sake. We are to be displays for this Gospel.

If we do not display the Gospel by the way we live, then the message of the Gospel will be rendered ineffective. God has made us to be the conduits through which his message is spread throughout the world.

This week’s passage, 1 John 4:7-12, makes this perfectly clear.

God made his love known through Jesus’ love, and now we are called to be the displays of that love for the world around us.

In verse 12, John writes: “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

Though, no one has ever seen God, one of the major ways we know and experience Him is through the love shown by fellow Christians. This can also be extended to the world around us. Those who don’t know the love of God can see and experience who God is when our love for one another is evident in our churches.

A major way the Gospel is communicated is through the love we display in our everyday lives.

In addition to this, as I said before, if you change the code in a computer, you change what is on the display. If we aren’t receiving this Gospel message on a daily basis by spending time in God’s Word, and if we aren’t communing with God regularly, then our lives will look differently. For instance, according to verses 7-8, those who know God will love others. There is a very specific characteristic that our lives will display if we are truly connected to God’s Word: Love.

But if we aren’t connected to God through the Gospel, we will not display the fruit of the Spirit, and so prove ourselves to not know God.

However, if we know God, but fail to dwell upon His great love in the Gospel, our lives will fail to display God’s good news for all of humanity.

So let us be plugged into His Word, and most importantly, let us love others that God’s Gospel might be rightly displayed through our lives.

Know & Share the Gospel

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We’ve been focusing a whole lot on sharing our faith lately. We can talk strategies and provide tools for sharing the Gospel all day long, but if we do not know the Gospel deep inside our hearts, then we will not be able to share the Gospel in a natural and contextually appropriate way.

So, this week’s resource is Tell the Truth by Will Metzger.

This is a heftier resource than normal, but it’s worth every moment of investment. Metzger not only provides a thorough explanation of the Gospel and common misconceptions, but he also provides great insights on how to share the Gospel as well. It’s a holistic resource for evangelism, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Check it out here.

Connecting the Gospel to Our Culture: A Lesson from Paul

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If I started this post off with a significant news story or lyric from a couple centuries ago, most of you, outside history or literature buffs, would have no idea what I was referring to. But if I started off by referring to Ebola or wondering if you wanted to build a snowman, then you’d immediately recognize what I’m talking about. I don’t think anyone can forget the Frozen craze—and yes, I’ll be going to see Frozen on Ice in just a couple of weeks, and no I’m not complaining.

The point is communication hinges upon knowing your audience, and this is certainly true for evangelism.

Relevance is vital to communicating the Gospel clearly, and the key to being relevant is contextualizing the message to the person you’re talking to. Paul understood this reality as well as or better than anyone, and he makes that abundantly clear in Acts 17:16-34 as he addresses the people of Athens. In a city that had very little framework for even beginning to understand the Gospel, Paul was able to communicate the Gospel clearly and watch God bring many to faith.

We experience much of the same reality in our culture, especially in NYC. So what can we learn from Paul in this passage?

Know & Connect

Know
1. The Gospel – We must know the full message of the Gospel and continue to grow in our understanding everyday.

2. The Culture – We must observe and listen to the culture so that our knowledge of the culture would equip us to be relevant and contextual. Paul observed their idol to an unknown god, and he knew the poets of their day.

Connect
1. Stories to Truth – Having listened to the Athenian culture, Paul is able to connect their cultural artifacts to the truth of the Gospel. The partial truths that they understood were bridges to the whole truth of the Gospel. We must utilize our culture’s stories to illustrate and connect to the Gospel.

2. Needs to Provision – Paul also recognized that the Athenians were fearful of messing up religiously, so much so that they created an idol to an unknown god in case they had missed one. He ultimately points them to the only lasting hope and peace for their fears: the assurance that God has given to all by raising Jesus from the dead (v. 34).

Let us be constant students of the Gospel and our culture that we might be able to connect their stories and needs to the truth and provision of the Gospel.

Death by Silence

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Silence can be deadly. You’d think something as passive as silence would have very little effect on anything. For instance, think about when someone is getting bullied. Silently standing by can be just as harmful as actually bullying. Another example, if a doctor gets your results back from a test, yet fails to tell you anything, you could very easily be heading toward your death and never know it.

On an even more significant level, churches possess the life-giving message of the Gospel apart from which people will experience eternity apart from the glorious goodness of our great God. When churches are silent concerning this message, people will die, and ultimately, the church will die. This is made crystal clear with the church at Sardis.

G.K. Beale  argues that the church at Sardis has developed an incomplete witness. Based upon the introductory image, which alludes to the idea of witness, and the idea that the church has a good reputation but incomplete works, the church at Sardis appears to have failed to complete their witness and conquer.  (The Book of Revelation 273-274) In whatever form their compromise took, they clearly were lacking in their evangelistic witness to the world. Satan wants nothing more than for the church to fail in this area, and Jesus will not endure a church who refuses to repent of this sin.

The passage isn’t clear whether Sardis was lacking in their verbal or physical witness to the Gospel. Whether their words or their actions were silent does not matter, their witness was incomplete. We must recognize that our witness must be holistic. We cannot allow any part of our lives to be silent when it comes to the Gospel.

Without works that portray the Gospel, our message will likely fall on deaf ears.

But even worse, without the message of the Gospel flowing from our lips, our works will only provide temporary healing and lead people to eternal torment.

May our churches flee death by completely and boldly proclaiming the Gospel through our words and deeds.

Shaping & Sharing Your Story

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On Monday, we considered the power of story both in our culture today and in the story of Paul in Acts 26. I encouraged everyone to consider how you would share your own personal story in order to communicate the Gospel. But many of you may be at a loss as to how to share your story in a clear way.

So, here’s a resource from InterVarsity. This tool provides questions to spark your thinking about how to shape and share your story. It hits the same basic plot points that I discussed on Monday: life before Jesus, how you met Jesus, life with Jesus.

Check it out if you need help shaping your story, and pay close attention to their advice at the end: Keep your story short so it’s easy to tell. You can always expand on something when people ask questions.

 30 Minutes to a Shareable Testimony Worksheet