I've been reading through the minor prophets. Much of the prophecy deals with the indictment by God upon His people Israel. What has struck me is that the very same things describe the church of our day--superficial religion, little concern for God, religious practice as an end rather than a means, disdain of the things of God, compartmentalized lives with religion kept in its place, lack of appreciation and even awareness of His amazing grace and love. For example, I was reading this morning in the book of Amos where the prophet expresses the hearts of the people in these words: "When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale."
The picture that comes to mind is people in the Sunday worship service looking at their watches, shifting restlessly in their seats. turning to look at the clock on the back wall so the preacher knows the noon hour has come and it's time to punch the clocks and get out of there. Stomachs are rumbling. The game's almost on. They've put in their time, done their duty.
Where is worship as the highlight of the week, a re-centering on God and His glory, finding refreshment in His grace and love and a renewed commitment to Him in every facet of our lives, every fiber of our being? I know this convicts me personally and it troubles me as a pastor for the well-being of the sheep and impact of the church on the world. What is even more troublesome is that this appears to be symptomatic of the prevalent strain of Christianity with a lack of spiritual depth and godly desire and thorough commitment to Christ.
Pray with me that God pours out His Spirit upon us, to shake us from our slumber and to restore us to the delights of relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, animated by His amazing grace.
The Essential Ingredient to Effective Evangelism
What would you say is the essential ingredient to effective evangelism? Your Lord Jesus Christ has draped the mantle of witness across your shoulders. You carry that call into the comings and goings of everyday life. What will make your witness work? It's got to be the power of the Holy Spirit, right? Yes, but what about the presentation of biblical truth--God's love, the cross, their need? True, but what about the importance of prayer. God hears and uses prayer.
All these answers are undoubtedly correct. But what is the essential ingredient to effective evangelism? All these are indispensable facts or indisputable facets but what makes them work? The answer has to be the sovereign purpose and providence of God. That's true, but what does that look like in you as the evangelist? The key characteristic in your evangelism for its effectiveness is humility.
Humility adopts the posture of the fear of the Lord, giving Him the glory, the sway, the ability, the right, the timing, the power and everything else necessary to be an instrument of God in the communication of the gospel of life in Christ.
For example, listen to what Paul says about the effectiveness of his gospel message. "I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (1 Cor. 2:3-5) You can hear Paul living up to the meaning of his name and becoming smaller and smaller that the power of God might be prominent. The encouraging thing for us in our witness is that we can stutter and stumble but God even uses that. That's not to invite carelessness in doctrine or communication but to incite a confidence in God and not self.
In evangelism we are instruments in the hand of God. According to James, humility is what brings us to rest in that hand (see James 4:5-10). Paul's prayers reek of humility as he recognizes his inability at every point, whether in him as the evangelist, in the message of the evangel or in the hearts of the evangelized.
In other words, humility enables us to keep all those facts and facets mentioned above prominent. Humility eschews self and exalts Christ. Humility waits on the Lord, trusting Him, serving Him, submitting to Him. Humility provokes prayer and patience and perseverance, because it operates on Christ rather than self.
Humility, Christ's not ours, reaches to the heart of the evangel. Just read Is. 53, Phil. 2:3-11 and Gal. 4:4-5 to see what I mean. Humility, ours not Christ's, reaches out in heart of evangelism. Humility is even the Spirit-induced posture of those who would be reached with the Christ. The humble heart stands filled with both belief and unbelief: belief in the gracious trust of saving faith that rests in Christ alone for salvation; unbelief in the incredulous state of the saved sinner wondering, "Who am I that my Lord should come to me?" And so our prayer is:
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel.
All these answers are undoubtedly correct. But what is the essential ingredient to effective evangelism? All these are indispensable facts or indisputable facets but what makes them work? The answer has to be the sovereign purpose and providence of God. That's true, but what does that look like in you as the evangelist? The key characteristic in your evangelism for its effectiveness is humility.
Humility adopts the posture of the fear of the Lord, giving Him the glory, the sway, the ability, the right, the timing, the power and everything else necessary to be an instrument of God in the communication of the gospel of life in Christ.
For example, listen to what Paul says about the effectiveness of his gospel message. "I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (1 Cor. 2:3-5) You can hear Paul living up to the meaning of his name and becoming smaller and smaller that the power of God might be prominent. The encouraging thing for us in our witness is that we can stutter and stumble but God even uses that. That's not to invite carelessness in doctrine or communication but to incite a confidence in God and not self.
In evangelism we are instruments in the hand of God. According to James, humility is what brings us to rest in that hand (see James 4:5-10). Paul's prayers reek of humility as he recognizes his inability at every point, whether in him as the evangelist, in the message of the evangel or in the hearts of the evangelized.
In other words, humility enables us to keep all those facts and facets mentioned above prominent. Humility eschews self and exalts Christ. Humility waits on the Lord, trusting Him, serving Him, submitting to Him. Humility provokes prayer and patience and perseverance, because it operates on Christ rather than self.
Humility, Christ's not ours, reaches to the heart of the evangel. Just read Is. 53, Phil. 2:3-11 and Gal. 4:4-5 to see what I mean. Humility, ours not Christ's, reaches out in heart of evangelism. Humility is even the Spirit-induced posture of those who would be reached with the Christ. The humble heart stands filled with both belief and unbelief: belief in the gracious trust of saving faith that rests in Christ alone for salvation; unbelief in the incredulous state of the saved sinner wondering, "Who am I that my Lord should come to me?" And so our prayer is:
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel.
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