Relational Evangelism

“The most effective evangelism – by far – occurs through meaningful relationships between  Christians and non-Christians.”

The list of Church Growth authors who keep reminding us of this truth include,  to name a few, Bill Easum, Lyle Schaller, Bill Tenny-Brittain, and Charles Arn.

Did you also know that over twice as many non-Christians come to Christ through relationships with Christian friends or relatives than all other reasons — combined?

Jesus taught and modeled this approach repeatedly in his ministry.

He told the demon possessed man “Go home to your friends and tell them what wonderful things God has done for you….”

When Zacchaeus had finished hosting Jesus for a meal and conversion, Jesus told him that thus salvation would also come to his friends and family.

After Jesus healed the son of a royal official we learn that he, and all his family and friends, believed.

Jesus taught about sharing God’s love with people we know, and about getting to know new people so that we will be His light to them.  This is THE WAY that the Gospel travels! God’s grace and love are experienced through us as we give to others the love God so freely gives to us.

There is one essential requirement for being an incarnational evangelist: WE MUST BE CLOSE ENOUGH TO UNBELIEVERS FOR CHRIST TO BE OBSERVED AND EXPERIENCED in us. And that is the rub. The longer we are in church, the more friends we have in the church… And the fewer friends we have who are outside the church. Simply put, most Christians have very few close friends who are non-Christian.  Without those relationships, it is impossible to be Christ-like for Christ’s very life modeled what he meant when he said “Go and make Disciples….”

So friends, let me ask you?  How many non-Christian friends do you have and stay in touch with regularly? Is it time to go out and begin making some new friends? Yes, that is Jesus’ voice telling us to go out and befriend the tax collectors and sinners!  To hear it as Biblical scholar Eugene Peterson translates in THE MESSAGE … ” Jesus was spoken of as a friend of the riffraff.”  (Matt. 11:19)

Jesus is saying to us we are to be the salt of the earth, and salt does not season itself.  I guess this means we should  get going and start shaking”  Do I hear an AMEN?  (which means “so be it, I will!” )

Forget the Church, Follow Jesus?

I confess I am behind on my reading. This week I discovered something I had missed.  Last spring in Newsweek Andrew Sullivan wrote an article entitled “Forget the Church, Follow Jesus.”  He began his article by recalling Thomas Jefferson’s “non-standard revised and abbreviated edition” of the New Testament , continued with a candid assessment of both 21century church and state, and concluded with  a pithy conclusion which noted our political and religious immaturity.  Needless to say, his column kick-started a number of scathing rebuttals, many of which are rife with the kind of inflammatory remarks which serve to illustrate his point.  The fact is, his article is way closer to the truth than many of us would like for  it to be.

Jefferson, not unlike many today, was deeply offended by the image into which humanity  remakes Jesus.   As is always the case, no narrative passes down through multiple ears and generations with out being interpreted and reinterpreted with each reading.  Biblical scholars have for some time acknowledged that what we have in the Scriptures, being written by mortals while inspired by God’s Spirit,  reflects the message the authors wanted to convey. For example, each Gospel writer had  different point(s) they wanted to make about Jesus. To Matthew he was, among many things,  the long awaited Messiah while one of Luke’s important themes is that Jesus’ message was and is for everyone, regardless of race, gender, etc.  Ensuing generations have added layers of tradition and interpretation to Jesus and his message. So Sullivan and Jefferson are in good company when the question what Jesus might think of our world today.

Sullivan reminds us just how frequently and easily religion has been used to justify inhuman behaviors and actions. He queries “What does it matter how strictly your proclaim your belief in various doctrines if you do not live as these doctrines demand?  What is politics if not a dangerous temptation toward controlling others rather than reforming oneself?”  As we read we are reminded that we all to easily use religion as the means to help achieve our political ends.  He may just as easily been speaking about the church of today!

How often do we, in reality, “pray” asking that God rubber stamp our ideas and preferences as God’s will?  What about the judgements we pronounce on one another, inside and outside the walls of the church, while proclaiming that it is God’s will?  How about our failures to love one another and our neighbors? And yes, we certainly do cling tenaciously to our favorite religious norms while often proof texting the scriptures to justify them. In reality we do not look anything like the early church and certainly fail to give the world a true impression of what true Christ-likeness looks like.

He goes on to point out that organized religion is in decline and he has certainly highlighted much of the causes for said degeneration. Then he lays out the line that really sticks in my craw because it drives home the nail.  “The ability to be faithful in a religious space and reasonable in a political one has atrophied before our eyes.”   Now that preaches to us all, secular or sacred in our beliefs.  For in both our churches and our political realms we have moved far afield of the intentions of our founding fathers and our Creator Father: we have become increasingly self-absorbed.”   Ummmm…  I seem to recall my theology classes identifying that excessive selfishness as the core of “original sin.”

Thomas Jefferson called himself a real follower of Jesus. By this, he meant that he sought to live by the values and principles which he could believe Jesus taught rather than by all the additional religious trappings added over the ensuing centuries.  It is a good place to start:  seeking to be as much like Jesus as we humanly can. Such a daunting task will require guidance from the very one in whose Way we seek to walk.

So, Let us pray… a lot, and hard.  And let us remember that prayer is not about talking at God. it is about listening to God and waiting for God’s will to be spoken to us.   Amen?  Amen!

I KNEW it! Don’t you wanna know too?

I had often thought it and occasionally read it.  The Bible seemed to be filled with illustrations of this simple yet profound truth.  Some characters from the Scripture embodied the negative side, some rose above their mere humanity to become a positive illustration.  Jesus clearly epitomized this great truth.  He lived it. He embodied it. He just plain WAS and IS the Truth.  So once upon a time I set out on a personal journey of reading, praying, learning, and being mentored in this way of understanding myself and the people around me. Through the experiences and writings of some good folks to whom God had given this wisdom and insight I began to learn.  I am still learning, and practicing.  And recently a new author has put it into the context of the church in such a clear way that I just can’t help but pass it on. What am I talking about?  I am talking about the link between our emotional maturity and our spiritual maturity.

Murray Bowen pioneered what has become known as Family Systems Theory. Edwin Friedman, a student of Bowen, applied it to church and synagogue.  What’s it all about and why is it relevant to us in church?  It is about why we humans act the way we do, for better or for worse, and how we can learn to understand one another and pursue harmony in our communities of faith, our families, and our relationships. Most recently author Peter Scazzero began to tell his story as a Christian and a minister as he journeyed through life and ministry.  Let me share a couple of quotes from him and I think you will begin to get the picture.

“Sadly, for too long we (in the church) have delegated “emotional” issues to the therapist’s office and taken responsibility only for “spiritual” problems in the church, The two are inseparably linked and critical to a fully biblical discipleship.”

“Emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable. It is not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.  When you understand this, you will walk through a door in your spiritual journey. By God’s grace you will never be the same. And you will embark on an exciting journey toward a beautiful life that will touch everyone around you – in your family, church, workplace, and neighborhood.”                  (the Emotionally Healthy Church, p19, 10)

So let me introduce you to his books, both of which I commend to you.  EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY SPIRITUALITY and THE EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY CHURCH.  And let me tell you that a friend who is a professional therapist teaches an introduction to this at his District Leadership Conference each spring. It embodies what he says he has been trying to say for a long time!  I wholeheartedly concur.

So, I invite you to join me on a journey.  Yes, I am seeking volunteers! Would you like to learn a Biblical and compassionate way of understanding and relating to the people in your life? Your church? Your  neighborhood? Your family? Your workplace?  Then respond and lets begin exploring, and learning, and living.  I really, really, really (can you tell how much I mean it?) believe that we can enjoy much more fulfilling lives as disciples, church members, and people than what we now experience in our congregations.