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Friends United Meeting |
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July/August 1999
Evangelism for the 21st Century
By David Brock
Early in the morning on a recent beautiful spring day, I stepped out the door onto the deck that overlooks my back yard. My mind was full of what I had to do that day and how I would get it all done. For several minutes I didn't notice the cheerful sounds coming from the birds nor the beauty of newly leafed trees and fresh green lawn. Suddenly, the wonder of those sounds and sights permeated my consciousness and I forgot all about the work that I had to do. Unfortunately, like the beauty of nature, many times God's voice is lost to us in the midst of our busyness. It is my hope that evangelism among Friends will move past traditional programs and carefully laid plans and into the phase of listening to God and obeying his voice.
The kind of evangelism about which I am talking simply is helping others around you to see that Jesus is interested in their lives. It is becoming pointers toward God. Jesus was so interested that he was willing to die for them, so interested that he is willing to forgive them for any wrong they have done, so interested that he wants to have an on-going friendship with them each day. Today, evangelism often has been reduced to programs, techniques, and special plans. New methods of evangelism have been promoted for this decade, for this year, for this era. Many heated arguments have taken place over the place of altar calls and evangelism within our meetings. There are those who argue you must come forward in order to be a real Christian. That's like arguing that the only way to accept Christ is to fall off a horse and become blind since Paul did it that way and he turned out to be an effective Christian.
We should be grateful that God works in so many different ways to express his love to us. This openness raises many questions. What should I do today to help others know Jesus in a personal way? What should the church/meeting I attend be doing to reach out to the community in specific ways that help others to understand God's love is for them?
As we move into a new century, let's look back at the first century of the church and see if there are some principles that can help us develop our next steps of evangelism. The book of Acts contains the story of the early church and its development and expansion. It is a good model and can teach us a lot about how to move forward as a church. Take a look at this imaginary letter from Philip, one of the seven spirit-filled men chosen to help the apostles.
What I Learned
on the Way to Azotus
I learned so much during those early years right after Jesus went back to heaven. I was fortunate to work with the apostles and others who were filled with the Holy Spirit. I learned a lot about what God wanted from us in those days. Everything was so different from what we expected. We learned to trust God and to look and see what he was doing before we set out on our own plans. We learned to leave the results in his hands.
You are familiar with my trip to the desert as it is told in Acts chapter 8. I want to tell you some of the things I learned from that experience as I look back on it. I remember the day well. I had been helping Peter and John with the ministry in Samaria. Boy, I never thought I would be preaching in Samaria. But the persecution had been so intense in Jerusalem that we felt we must spread out and go to other cities. Jesus had given us this example by going to Samaria himself. I had always been taught these Samaritans were not worth talking to much less sharing God's love, but here we were explaining it all to them and inviting them to join us in the Kingdom of God. Anyway, I was praying when I had the clear impression from God that I should go out into the Gaza desert and arrive at a certain road about noon. We had experienced God's power and Peter and John were going back to Jerusalem. I assumed I would go back with them, but this word from God was clear.
It was not logical and it was not what I expected to do. I guess you can mark that down as principle number one. So often God moves in mysterious ways and has his own ideas that to us seem completely illogical. Almost always his plans are different than our expectations. So I was faced with a choice-go to the desert in the hottest part of the day when no one else would even consider going there or proceed with my original plan to return to Jerusalem and continue preaching.
I decided to obey immediately. I guess I didn't think of it so much as obeying at the time. It was hard to do something that seemed to be such a waste of time. I could think of all kinds of logical reasons to reject that idea. I am sure if I would have taken it to a committee or discussed it very long, I would have talked myself out of going. Remember it was the desert in the heat of the day-nothing but barren sagebrush and a few jackrabbits to see. But the calling was clear and so I went as I was told. That leads us to principle number two: take the first step immediately after God tells you even though you do not know the whole plan.
I arrived on time and looked to see what God was going to provide. Jesus had taught us to look carefully at what was happening around us to see if God was specifically at work and was inviting us to get involved. I saw a chariot with some kind of important person in it. He was a foreigner. Then God seemed to impress me to go up to the chariot, walk along side, and engage this person in conversation. Since we were the only people around that didn't seem too hard. But I wondered who he was and if he would be interested in seeing me or not. As I approached I discovered that he was from Ethiopia and was the treasurer of the country. Certainly someone a lot higher in his station in life than I was. I wondered if God knew what He was doing. As I approached I heard the man reading out loud to himself. The words were familiar; I listened more closely and recognized they were from Isaiah. God was at work and He was inviting me to get involved with Him! That would be principle number three.
I had studied Isaiah a lot and knew the passage he was reading-from chapter 53. I was excited as I heard the words read. I began to think of a sermon I had preached on that very passage. I could hardly wait to explain it to him and give him all the knowledge I had on that passage and how it applied to Jesus. But I felt a quiet check from the Holy Spirit. So I just asked a simple question, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He said no and asked me to explain it. He was a spiritual seeker and had been to Jerusalem to try to complete his search. He had purchased the Isaiah scroll and had talked to religious leaders, but had not found the answers. He was open to my explanation-he had directly asked me. Now I knew why God had me go out there. I knew why God had me ask a question instead of launching my sermon-this man had been listening to people expound their ideas, but no one had listened to his questions. That's another principle for your evangelism effort: listen to the questions being asked. Hear what they are really saying. Spend enough time with seekers to understand their lives and their problems before jumping into your ideas of a solution. I see a lot of today's churches providing answers to questions no one is asking.
As we talked together in his chariot I explained to him how Jesus had come to earth to experience our life and he was interested in loving each one of us including this man. His love extends forgiveness to everyone no matter what his or her situation. As we tied the literature he had been reading together with the scripture he had been given and the story of Jesus' life and ministry, he found the peace for which he had been looking. By the power of the Holy Spirit in his life he allowed God to transform him, and the answers he had been seeking became clear. He even asked me to stop and baptize him when we came to some water. That step seemed important to him as he proclaimed his solid belief in Jesus as the Son of God and his Lord and Savior. I felt like I was being pulled along each step of the way. This man was responding to God's voice and I felt like a willing guide. The last principle may be found here-leave the results up to God. We don't know what God will do with our activity or who will respond to God's invitation. Even though that was the last contact I had with this man, I hear that he went home to Ethiopia and started a church, which led to many others following Christ.
As we came up from the water, I started to say goodbye wondering how I would get home when suddenly the Spirit of God took me and I found myself in Azotus. Don't ask me how-I was just there and I began to preach. I continued to preach as I worked my way back to Caesarea. I was rejoicing in what God had done right in front of me. I was thankful that I took that one small step of obedience by going out into the desert at noon. Just think what would have been lost if I had not gone right then when God asked me to go.
You may not find yourself in the desert and you may not find yourself suddenly being transported to another town, but you are a follower of Christ who should be hearing from God regularly and obeying him. It takes time to seek God in order to get in tune with him enough to hear his voice. But another barrier is our reluctance in taking the step of obedience when we can't see how it will all work out. You must be willing to risk encountering other people's criticism as you invest your time, your money, and your reputation following the instructions of Jesus. All this is necessary if you are to be an effective evangelist.
Your Friendly Evangelist,
Philip
At the turn of the last century Friends found themselves surrounded with hundreds of new converts. Those people forever changed the face of Quakerism. Pastors were added, music became a part of worship and new programs were started like Sunday School and other methods of teaching the Bible. My hope is that we will again find ourselves surrounded with new converts and our churches will be flexible enough to change their ways to accommodate these new people with new tastes, new ideas, and new insights.
It will take an attitude of hospitality of the heart. We are familiar with the need to open our home to unexpected guests. But Jesus went deeper than just our home. He taught an openness of heart that is willing to risk being seen with people with whom we don't usually associate, willing to make major changes in our schedules and priorities to accommodate others, and willing to open our lives and our faults to others.
David Brock became a Quaker 25 years ago this summer. He was attracted to Friends because he saw the Fresno Friends Church in California doing effective evangelism with young families and young adults. Many people who had no church background were attracted to the church, saw God's love in action and became active Christians. He joined the Fresno Friends ministry, later started a new Friends Church in Bakersfield, and then came to Indiana to be superintendent.
Copyright (c) 1999 Friends United Meeting
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