A Witness of the God of Pink

As one who has a passion to reach lost souls, I am often pretty hard on myself when I let an opportunity to share the gospel go by (it happens much more often that it should). I like to carry the books I am reading around with me, hoping to spark a conversation on the topic. Yesterday, just such an opportunity arose.

I have been digging through J.C. Ryle’s Holiness and two people asked me what I was reading. I was excited for the chance to explain the gospel and then quickly frustrated when I stumbled over my own words to the point where the askers were no longer interested. The exchanges lasted no more than 30 seconds and I felt like a failure. All I was able to do was state how awesome and holy God is, but not a thing beyond that. Then a new thought began to creep into my mind.

In my zeal to be faithful in evangelism I realized how many opportunities I had passed up because of my simple failure to be a Witness. Being a witness to me became the goal of explaining the entire gospel to every person I could. If I couldn’t get through sin, righteousness, judgment, heaven, hell, the cross and the resurrection, then it seemed to be a wasted opportunity. I then realized that perhaps I hadn’t failed so miserably; I did manage to voice my love for the powerful and holy Creator of the universe. So I began to formulate some definitions in my mind:

Witness: testifying to the work of God in your life in actions and words, crediting God for that work and being prepared to give an explanation for the hope that lies within (1 Peter 3:15). Webster says a witness is an “attestation of a fact or event” or “one who has personal knowledge of something.” So basically, to be a witness is to simply to serve in your life as an attestation of the fact of Christ’s work.

Evangelism: the term comes from the Greek word Evangelion; meaning “good news.” Therefore evangelism is intentionally explaining the command for all people to repent (Acts 17:30) and faith in Christ who died on the cross as payment for the sins of all who believe (John 3:16).

The distinction is where my frustration tends to occur. I treat every single mention of God as if it had to be a call to repentance. Situations worthy of God’s praise become challenging as I determine to turn it into a proclamation of the gospel. Quickly, a person like me with this outlook becomes perceived in a negative light.

Many people in my life know that I am crazy about my church and they just don’t get it. Whenever the topic comes up they quickly try to change the subject because they are uncomfortable with it. It is true that the gospel is a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 1:23 ) and the aroma of death (2 Corinthians 2:15,16) to those who don’t believe. The message is judgmental (John 3:18) and intolerant (Matthew 7:14), but I should be seen as a satisfied customer, no longer condemned and placed on the narrow way.

During a Q&A session at the 2009 Desiring God Pastors Conference, Matt Chandler discussed how we make Christ look appealing. We don’t water down or ignore the difficult demands of the gospel (sin, judgment, hell), but we also don’t forget to always proclaim the fantastic goodness of God. Chandler shared how his daughter loves the color pink, so he always tell her that God is the God of pink and they thank Him for that. How good, beautiful, and great is God that He gave us pink? He is the God of candy; the God of beautiful weather; the God who gives friends; the God of marital intimacy; the God who gives a giggling infant; the God of chocolate cake and whatever other simple pleasure we receive in life. Those we are trying to reach need to see our joy, the joy of our salvation (Psalm 20:5), and know what a pleasure it is for us to obey God’s commands (1 John 5:3). The more we display our joy in Christ as a witness to the world the more comfortable we will feel when we get the opportunity to explain that hope within by expounding on the details of the gospel. If you are afraid to be faithful in evangelism, simply start by proclaiming your joy in Christ more often.

I do not intend in differentiating the terms witness and evangelism to split any theological hairs, condemn those who don’t differentiate the terms, or start any programs based on the difference between the two. My goal is to encourage believers to live as a more bold witness, clearly living Christ-like lives while telling of His goodness in all things, which will lead to more evangelism opportunities, conversations with a clear unfolding of the gospel message. Too often we are afraid to obey the command to tell the gospel to every creature because we feel we aren’t articulate enough to explain the entire gospel. Instead of opening our mouths and simply testifying to the good work of Christ in our lives, we clam up and say nothing at all.

So here is a start; just try to be more deliberate to mention God and thank Him in front of others throughout the day. This may not be evangelism (by strict definition), but it lets the world know who you are and what you are about and may lead to an opportunity to explain yourself more. By then you will be more prepared for it; the gospel will be proclaimed more naturally as you have already established credibility and your joy in His power of transformation. You may be surprised that though you have been trying to reach a specific person for months, you may suddenly find yourself in a gospel conversation with a stranger on the bus simply because you expressed joy in God on a cloudy day.

Accountability

No cutesy pictures today. No eloquent prose. Just the plain and simple fact that we need accountability. A child is accountable to her mother, as a teenager is accountable to his girlfriend. Laws operate to keep us accountable to each other, so that our society doesn't run a muck with murderers and looters. Even our consciences work to keep us in check, and, in the final analysis, we are accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Why? Wouldn't it be a lot more "fun" if we were to simply do as we please, with little consideration of any such thing as "consequences?" I mean, really; why can't anarchy work? Doesn't decadence and self-satisfaction satiate our otherwise unquenchable desires for appeasement?

It doesn't seem so. Life loses all meaning without accountability. If we truly are to "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die," then why don't we simply "eat and drink" until we die? Because these things don't satisfy. A final reckoning, an eventual accounting makes requisite purposeful living.

An eye towards the judgment should spur us on towards purposeful living. But, it's so hard for us to conceive of death and eternity, isn't it, when there seems so much life left to live? That is why God's plan is all the more encouraging, when you consider that "no man is an island," but instead is planted amidst a similar people, on a similar journey.

For the Church, we answer to each other as brothers and sisters. We are to hold each other accountable, that we present ourselves "holy, cleansed by the washing with water through the word, and presented to Him as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:26-27)." I am firmly convinced that our greatest strength as a church is to hold each other accountable, as "iron sharpens iron." Fellowship and friendliness and all that are well and good, but if we are not doing the hard and gritty work of discipleship, then we meet to no avail.

May we allow the natural vehicle for sanctification do its work in our lives, as our brothers and sisters in Christ challenge us to be "accountable before God and men."

When It's Naughty to be Nice

Beloved, it seems we have a problem. It turns out that the Western church is embroiled in a battle; a schizophrenic civil war, to be more precise. This shouldn't surprise you. Dating as far back as the penning of Romans 7, we have done, and continue to do, that which we shouldn't, forsaking that which we ought to do. Shoot, this dates back to the advent of the sin nature, then. More specifically, however, I find that, in my own life, in my reading, and in my daily experience, there is an inner struggle between what is "nice," and what is "holy."



It's a natural tendency, of course. The path of least resistance rarely, if ever, merges with the straight and narrow, and yet, it must be a four-lane highway, with all the traffic it gets. "Now, we don't want no trouble," do we? No, for our own self-preservation, the only thing we fight for is the lowest common denominator, a banal mediocrity that quietens everyone and pleases no one. Yet, when I consider the life of Jesus, I find that He very often was confronting the niceties of established religion, and was consorting with the rough rabble of prostitutes, tax collectors, and lepers. I think His most telling statement to this end was, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Matthew 9:12-13)."

And, let's be honest. Doesn't even our neighbor see through our niceness? If we can see in each other our own insincerities, doesn't God certainly see through it, He who searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts (1 Chronicles 28:9)?" Sincerity of heart is what counts, not appearances. Jesus' track record with the Pharisees and religious leaders should well demonstrate that.

What lies at the root of our ingratiating desire to "just be nice," anyway? Do we fear our fellow man that much, that we sacrifice what we know to be right for what we know to be easy? Do you realize that the nicer your facade, the less relevant you become? Don't we understand that Christ made such an impact precisely because He moved past cliches, past the status quo, so that even the secular voices need respect His impact? People don't want packaged answers and glib diatribes nearly as much as they want honesty. Think back to when you became a follower of Christ. Were you responding to your deep-seated need to simply have a pleasant life? Of course not! You had found in Christ Jesus the answer to your deepest need, and a God big enough to handle any question, even if you can't understand the answer. Let's be real for once, because things aren't always nice. Wipe away the veneer; be geniune, and find true satisfaction.

A Practice, Not a Program

Below is a great article from sfpulpit.com (the "Magazine" of the Shepherds Fellowship) on how evangelism should work in the church. As one of the "evangelists" of our church, I think this is one of the most important emphases I could make on evangelism at Emmanuel. We are all called to rely on God to share the gospel with everyone we meet. Some are more gifted than others, but they are to teach and encourage the rest. Sometimes I find it frustrating when people are apathetic towards evangelism. They see the team doing the work through various events and programs and feel they don't need to participate or step out in their own lives. The most effective "method" of evangelism is when individuals in the church get involved in the lives of non-Christians and share the message of God's judgment on sin, repentance, and faith in Christ who died in our place and now reigns in Heaven. Our team is only here to support, encourage, and celebrate the individual efforts of everyone in the church. May we all be less complacent about the lost souls in our lives.

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(By Jesse Johnson)

The following is an article Jesse wrote for our church’s weekly bulletin, Grace Today. “What does your church do for evangelism?”

I was meeting with a group of outreach pastors from other large churches in our nation. The topic was what our churches do to transform our communities. When the question about what we “do for evangelism” came my way, I knew the expected answer would look like a list of programs. People around the table—many of them from some of the most program-driven, seeker-sensitive churches in the country—turned to me. They were curious about what Pastor MacArthur’s church does to impact our community.

The man repeated, “What does your church do for evangelism?”

“We evangelize,” I answered. As the group laughed, thinking I was joking, it occurred to me that my answer was more profound that I had intended.

At Grace Church, our philosophy of evangelism hinges on the idea that evangelism is not a program. A church does not transform a community through activities and events. In fact, church-sponsored evangelism programs generally do not produce results. Rather, a church impacts its community through the lives of its members. The kingdom is expanded as believers are faithful in evangelism in their individual lives.

All believers are to be active in evangelism. In fact, all four Gospels end with Jesus commanding believers to bring salvation to the lost (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; John 20:21). Jesus’ last earthly words were another repetition of this same command, to bear witness to the gospel (Acts 1:8). It is not an overstatement to say that all Christians should be driven by a love for evangelism. After all, it is our mission in life.

But while all Christians are called to be active in evangelism, not all Christians are equally gifted at this particular calling. Acts 21:8 and Ephesians 4:11 both imply that some have the gift of evangelism and some do not. But God in His wisdom has still called all Christians to evangelize.

Thus, one of the marks of a Christian is a love for evangelism. If you are fearful, evangelism gives you the opportunity to trust God for courage. If you are timid, evangelism gives you an opportunity to trust God for confidence. Christians are slaves to Christ, soldiers in His service, and sons of God. Our master, our general, and our Father has given us our orders: to reach the lost with the hope of the gospel.

As Christians, we love what God loves, and God loves the lost. As we become more and more sanctified, we become more and more like Christ. This growth causes us to grow in our love for those who are still God’s enemies.

Grace Church impacts our community because our members love those in our community. This love results in us reaching out to the lost, presenting the gospel to them, and seeing some of them saved. As we do this, our church grows, and our evangelism results in changed lives. In fact, 2 Corinthians 4:15 says “that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” In other words, the more we evangelize, the more God’s grace extends to our community. And the more His grace extends, the more He is glorified.
Don’t get me wrong—we do have evangelistic programs and outreaches, and we do have structured events. But what has consistently produced more fruit than any program is the faithfulness of individuals who express their love for their neighbors through evangelism.

So the next time someone asks you what our church does for evangelism, the answer is simple. We evangelize.

Finding Relevance

I have been hearing a lot lately of the church needing to be more “relevant” in sharing the gospel with the world. I think I understand that the sentiment is coming from the idea that people are just sitting around in their churches enjoying their pot lucks and not trying to share the gospel with other people they normally wouldn’t come across. I would partially agree with this thought, but it seems like it is becoming more of a mantra than a legitimate concern. Trust me, although I love to digest the meat of God’s Word, and hear verse-by-verse sermons, and enjoy reading books on doctrine and church history, I have a passion for obeying the Great Commission. I am a leader in my church’s evangelism efforts and have spent time on the streets “meeting people where they are at” to try and share the gospel. However, I have a couple of concerns about this push to be “relevant.”

My first issue is that the gospel is already relevant to every culture. There is no need to make any adjustments for the listener beyond speaking in the same language as they do; and as far as I can tell, the majority in the United States already knows English.

This video clip from a John Piper sermon explains better the point I am trying to make. We were all born sinners who offend God with everything we do, but God came to earth as a human to redeem us from our fallen condition by dying on the cross and rising from the grave. How is that not already relevant? Everyone in every culture is a sinner. Everyone in every culture can be saved.

Another thing that caught my attention with the push for relevancy is the language calling us to “change lives” or “have an impact on the culture.” We aren’t called simply to do these things, but to faithfully preach the Word of God and be living proof of transformation by God’s Holy Spirit, which as a result by God’s blessing will change lives and cultures. Noah preached for a hundred years and didn’t have any positive impact on the culture. Not one person responded positively to his preaching; but he was faithful. Many of the Old Testament prophets lost more followers because of their faithful preaching than they gained. Stephen wasn’t fortunate enough to see lives changed by his preaching when he was stoned to death from his refusal to preach the hard truth to a stiff-necked people. It doesn’t matter how “relevant” you are, there will always be hard-hearted people who hate you because of the message you carry.

My last concern is that in an effort to be relevant, we accommodate the culture more than expecting them to have their minds transformed. The church, instead of being a place of worship for people from every culture, becomes an evangelism tool focused on a sub-culture. We have “relevant music” that the target audience will be comfortable with. We preach “relevant sermons” that sound like self-help guides on how to love Jesus but still be cool. Our first goal of sermons should be to understand what is says, to whom it was written, why it was written, who wrote it, and how it compares to other scriptures. Our last step should be how it applies to my life, but the trend to be relevant seems to put the life application first in the steps of biblical interpretation. If we want to see lives changed, we need to preach God’s coming kingdom an alternative to the culture, not something to be added to an existing lifestyle.

How do we reach the culture with the message of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ? Go to work, meet some people, and tell them about Jesus as you evidence your faith by being a kind, dedicated employee. Go to the gym, meet some people, and tell them about Jesus as you evidence your faith by controlling your pride in taking part in a delightful competition. Go to the mall, meet some people, and tell them about Jesus as you evidence your faith by displaying your commitment to modesty and purity in the things you purchase. Go to the homeless shelter, meet some people, and tell them about Jesus as you evidence your faith by sacrificing your time and money to help a person in need. Go to your family gatherings, and tell them about Jesus as you evidence your faith by your love for them, joy in all situations, peace in your difficulties, patience through trials, gentleness with the truth, goodness in your deeds, faith in His promises, meekness in sharing, and self-control. We make too much of culture differences. There have always been separate sub-cultures, and the beauty of God’s Word is that it applies to all nations. So let’s get out there and share it with them.

I don’t mean to come across as overly critical or hateful in any manner. This is not an attack on anyone, but more of a plea for right understanding and right motives, and a request for guidance in my efforts. I have a passion for both a deep understanding of God’s Word and a desire to share Christ’s transformation of my life with everyone I have met and will meet; and I fall short on both of them way too often. As a newer believer (~4 years) I know I have a lot of growing to do and am willing to accept correction from wherever it may come, and I simply want to make sure my efforts and those of my own church are grounded in Scripture and solely for God’s glory. Please share with me any misunderstandings I may have presented or ideas we can use to be more effective at preaching the Word to a lost world and teaching new believers how to grow in Christ. Soli Deo Gloria!