Are our churches really churches if...

This Sunday night, I will be arguing that the central mission of a New Testament Church is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ to sinners.

If your average church is filled with a majority of members who either will not share their faith with anyone in the next year or cannot share their faith with someone in the next year, then does a true New Testament Church really even exist?

It seems to me that after four years of pastoring, this seems to be the chief shortfall of many churches, namely the absence of church members sharing the gospel with unrepentant sinners. And if this is, as I argue, the chief mission of the Church, I do not think God's blessing will ever fall until the Church is willing to proclaim the gospel outside of our Sunday meeting places.

Excellent Audio Resources

The following sermons and conference addresses are very powerful. I suggest you take the time and download these to your MP3 Player and listen and be challenged and be edified.

Church Planting Evangelism by Mark Dever. Given at an Acts 29 Boot Camp in Chicago.

I have listened to this talk about four times so far. This talk has great application regardless of whether you are a church planter or not.

Adoption by C.J. Mahaney. Preached at Capitol Hill Baptist Church.

This sermon opened my eyes to the significance of this truth and the joy to be found in this truth. I do not recall hearing enough sermons on this topic.

Pastoral Character and Loving People by C.J. Mahaney. Given at the National Resurgence Conference titled Text and Context.

Mahaney in this address gives great application in how to look for God's presence among church members.

How My Pastoral Ministry Shapes My Pulpit Ministry by John Piper. Given at the National Resurgence Conference titled Text and Context.

In the first part of the address, Piper gives examples of how the Bible and Theology shape his pulpit ministry. Then he gives pastoral care examples that shape his pulpit ministry. Many of these are extremely moving.

Calvinism: A Cause for Rejoicing, A Cause for Concern by Jeff Noblit. (Just scroll down to the appropriate message) Given at the Building Bridges Conference sponsored by The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and The Founders Organization.

I have also listened to this address multiple times. This is not only a good address for those who share Noblit's theological convictions, but would be great for those who know little about Calvinism, maybe those who have only heard negative comments by others and have done no research themselves.

The Role of Men, Part I
The Role of Men, Part II
The Role of Men, Part III by Matt Chandler. (Just scroll down the 2007 sermon archive to find these three sermons) These sermons were preached at The Village Church.

These sermons are great for engaging men, which the church so desperately needs today.

Note: Most of these sermons may still be located on ITunes.

Book Review: The Gospel & Personal Evangelism

Book Review: Dever, Mark. The Gospel & Personal Evangelism. Wheaton: Crossway, 2007. 124 pp, $9.99.

Mark Dever’s plan for biblical evangelism is summarized as “A God-given commission and method, a God-centered message, and a God-centered motive. We should all evangelize. Evangelism isn’t all those other things we considered; it is telling the good news about Jesus, and doing it with honesty, urgency, and joy, using the Bible, living a life that backs it up, and praying, and doing it all for the glory of God (p 107).

In seven chapters, Dever asks and answers seven crucial issues concerning the issue of evangelism:

Chapter 1 Why Don’t We Evangelize?
Chapter 2 What Is the Gospel?
Chapter 3 Who Should Evangelize?
Chapter 4 How Should We Evangelize?
Chapter 5 What Isn’t Evangelism?
Chapter 6 What Should We Do After We Evangelize?
Chapter 7 Why Should We Evangelize?

The most important chapter in the book is “What is the Gospel?” No issue rises above getting the gospel right for the Christian because the gospel is what makes us Christian. It is the message that God uses to forgive, reconcile, and redeem sinners. If the Gospel message itself is confused, evangelism will not take place and God will not be honored.

Dever tackles common modern misconceptions about the gospel. The gospel is not God saying we are okay (pp 32-35). The gospel is not a message that “God is love (pp 36-37).” The Gospel is not simply “Jesus wants to be our friend (pp 37-39).” The Gospel is not a message about right living (40-43). Dever writes, “One of the early stages of becoming a Christian is, I think, realizing that our problems aren’t fundamentally that we have messed up our own lives, or have simply failed to reach our full potential, but that we have sinned against God (p 35).”

Dever closes the chapter by presenting the gospel. “The good news is that the one and only God, who is holy, made us in his image to know him. But we sinned and cut ourselves off from him. In his great love, God became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law himself and taking on himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn and trust in him. He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us had been exhausted. He now calls us to repent of our sins and to trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness. If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God.”

Chapter 5, “What Isn’t Evangelism” complements nicely with chapter 2 because here Dever gives examples of how well-intentioned Christians fall short of evangelism. One of the most common ways I have seen this personally is in the giving of personal testimonies. Personal testimonies are often full with ways God has blessed, but far too often the gospel itself is never spoken. Jesus is often completely left out.

An additional confusion when it comes to evangelism is the lumping in of decisions made or not made after the presentation to a sinner. Many believe evangelism occurs when someone hears the gospel and embraces it. However, evangelism is simply sharing the gospel. Dever writes, “We don’t fail in our evangelism if we faithfully tell the gospel to someone who is not converted; we fail only if we don’t faithfully tell the gospel at all. Evangelism itself isn’t converting people; it’s telling them that they need to be converted and telling them how they can be.”

A great strength of this book is its practicality. Chapters 1 and 4 are filled with helpful suggestions for how a Christian can evangelize more frequently and more faithfully. Particularly helpful was the author’s teaching on balancing honesty, urgency, and joy in presenting the gospel (pp 55-60). First, be honest about the cost of following Jesus Christ. Those who follow Jesus will live a cross-bearing life. Sins will need to be repented of and forsaken. Second, be urgent in your presentation of the gospel. No one knows the day or hour when Christ shall return therefore we should not harden our hearts to God’s gospel. We do not become coercive in our urgency, but we should plead with men for Christ’s sake. Third, we should infuse the joy of salvation into our gospel presentations. Talk much of the love of God. Talk about the joys of eternal life. Talk about the joys of being reconciled to our Creator God.

The book alone is worth the price for the great stories concerning evangelism. The opener about John Harper is truly remarkable. But perhaps the most encouraging is found on page 81 in the context of trusting in God for conversion.

“It took a long time for the conversion of Mr. Short. He was a New England farmer who lived to be one hundred years old. Sometime in the middle of the 1700’s he was sitting in his fields reflecting on his long life. As he did, “he recalled a sermon he had heard in Darmouth [England] as a boy before he sailed to America. The horror of dying under the curse of God was impressed upon him as he meditated on the words he had heard so long ago and he was converted to Christ—eighty five years after hearing John Flavel preach.”

We thank Mark Dever for this helpful contribution concerning the oft neglected duty and privilege to evangelize sinners. Let us glorify God by being more faithful and diligent to tell others the greatest news ever.

BF&M: Evangelism and Missions

Here are my notes on a recent exposition of article 11 of the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.

Great Commission Churches

Historically, the great cause around which Southern Baptists have cooperated and united together are Evangelism and Missions. In fact the Southern Baptist Convention itself was organized in part for the purpose of sending out missionaries.

Southern Baptists have rightly identified evangelism and missions as part of the central tasks of the local church. We believe the Great Commission command to make disciples goes to the very core of what it means to follow Jesus. As Jesus made disciples, so too does Jesus command us to follow in his steps and make disciples as well. And discipleship does not happen apart from evangelism.

Evangelism

Evangelism is a word that means to proclaim the good news concerning the work of God through Jesus Christ. Evangelism is a word transliterated into the English language from the Greek language much like Baptism. Euaggelion (the gospel, good news) and euaggelizw (to proclaim the gospel or good news) were terms often used by the gospel writers to explain the ministry of Jesus. Jesus came to preach and proclaim the goods news of the Kingdom of God. God ushers in his reign and rule through Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sins is offered and reconciliation with God is attainable.

The first line of Article 11, in the BF&M states, “It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.” Southern Baptists affirm the necessity of every believer to participate in the work of spreading the goods news about Jesus Christ.

The responsibility of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ is not only for pastors, good communicators, evangelists, or deacons. The command to share the good news about Jesus Christ is given to every follower of our Lord.

Often times we seem to make evangelism much harder than it really is, however evangelism is the proclamation of a handful of truths to sinners.

Mark Dever writes concerning what evangelism is not:

Evangelism is not an imposition of our ideas upon others. It is not merely personal testimony. It is not merely social action. It may not involve apologetics, and it is not the same thing as the results of evangelism. Evangelism is telling the wonderful truth about God, the great news about Jesus Christ. When we understand this, then obedience to the call to evangelize can become certain and joyful. Understanding this increases evangelism as it moves from being a guilt-driven burden to a joyful privilege.

Evangelism is not merely our involvement in good deeds. Social action is surely a part of obedience to Christ, but apart from the proclamation that in Jesus Christ sinners can be forgiven of sins and find peace with God, it cannot be categorized as evangelism.

Testimonials, which are wonderful and common in Southern Baptist life, can even fall short of evangelism if they do not include the call for sinners to believe in Jesus Christ and to repent of their sins.

Evangelism becomes more of a privilege for us rather than mere duty when we understand that defending the faith or answering every critic’s questions or objections about our faith is not necessary for evangelism to be accomplished. As Dever again correctly points out, “We do not fail in our evangelism if we faithfully tell the gospel to someone who is not subsequently converted; we fail only if we do not faithfully tell the gospel at all.”

One result arising from our own conversions is our growing love for others. As 1 John 4:20 emphasizes, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” Thus the BF&M article states concerning evangelism, “The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others.” If we cannot love our brothers and neighbors, then the love of Jesus is not within us.

Let us look at the next sentence in the article. It reads, “Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ.”

One cannot faithfully carry out the task of making disciples and proclaiming the saving gospel of Jesus Christ without first having been born again from above by the Spirit. Apart from the life giving Spirit, we remain in the bondage to our sins and we remain unconcerned for the mission of God to redeem the lost world.

Additionally, evangelism and missions is not a periphery issue to Jesus. Both go to the core of why Jesus came. It is through the evangelistic proclamation of the good news concerning Jesus that men and women gain entrance into God’s unshakable Kingdom. And it is through mission activity that the world is partially redeemed. Mission activity also brings glory our Father in heaven and leads to his glorification by his creation (Matt 5:16). Through faithful mission activities, men and women are drawn to the love of Christ as often it provides the context by which Christians gain a hearing with unbelievers.

Here I am defining evangelism and missions differently. Evangelism is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Missions is any Christian activity done with the aim to glorify God and participate in redeeming this fallen world and making right of any wrong.

Mission activity should always try to include evangelism, however mission activity can often be the bridge by which we get the chance to evangelize, but we must be patient and refrain from turning people off to the gospel by being overly pushy.

Mission activity includes (not exhaustive) the following:

--NAMB emergency aid relief in major crises.
--Building projects
--Donations of food, water, clothes to those deprived of basic needs.
--Payment of bills which cannot be paid
--Cleaning projects in our communities
--Medical relief for the sick

The objects of evangelism and missions are the entire world population. As the Article states, “The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations.” God’s desire is to see every man, woman, and child repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins (1 Tim 2:3-4). The gospel of Jesus Christ is a universal message. It is intended to draw men, women, and children from every tribe, tongue, and people.

The message is universal because there is only one exclusive savior for mankind (1 Cor 15:22).

It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.

The drive to evangelize must be one in which we are consistent. The need of lost sinners to find Jesus is of the utmost concern. It should be central to our personal lives, the life of our local church. It is the central task to which Jesus called us.

But our lives should not only consist of the gospel proclamation. We should also undergird our gospel witness with a faithful and holy lifestyle so not to compromise the integrity of our message. Hypocrisy is one of the chief obstacles for sinners when viewing our message and weighing its worth. We must strive to live a life in harmony with the gospel and in harmony with the life of Jesus Christ. Our lives should be full of both love and truth, not just one or the other.

While our lives cannot express the gospel completely, words are needed, nevertheless the entirety of our witness can have positive or negative effects upon those whom we are trying to reach.

Lastly, the methods we use in order to reach men and women with the gospel of Jesus Christ need to be commensurate with the spirit and teaching found in Scripture. In other words, we are not free to use any method in order to reach people for Christ. We do not believe that the ends justify the means. We believe the entire pursuit of seeing men and women come to saving faith in Jesus must be god-honoring.

For example some churches entice youth to come to events by promising to give out playstations and large sums of money in order that they get kids to come and then they tell them the gospel.

The question we always should ask is: Are our methods revealing to others the true power in the Spirit of God and his ability to change hearts or are we confident that our tactics will reap success?

Conclusion/Questions

How is LRBC doing with evangelism?
How is LRBC doing in Missions?
How can we get better?
How can we fix our problems?