Preaching The Gospel and Methodologies

Back on November 17, 2007 I promised that I would cover a few more distinctions that may help us in doing ministry.  This is one of the remaining topics.

When asked what the best method/approach to evangelism is, my response is, "Preach the Gospel."  Often the questioner will look at me as if I'm a bit dense in the head, and thinking I've not understood she/he rephrases the question, "But what is the best method for preaching the Gospel?".   Then my reply is, "Preaching the Gospel IS a method - it is THE method - it is GOD'S method."

While you will have to throw out his Anglican sacramentalism, Roland Allen's book "Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours?" (originally written in 1912; 2nd ed. 1927; Eerdmans ed. 1962) will be a refreshing read to many who may have missed it.  How did Paul do missionary work?  He preached the Gospel !  How did Paul plant churches?  He preached the Gospel !  How did Paul carry out his "ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:18)?   He preached the Gospel !  Allen clearly makes the point that preaching the Gospel IS Paul's method.

How does God "save those who believe" ?   Answer :  "through the foolishness of the message preached"  (1 Cor. 1:21).    What is God's "power ... for salvation (including justification, sanctification, and glorification)  to everyone who believes" ?   Answer:  "the Gospel" which Paul was "not ashamed" to preach (Romans 1:15-16).   Paul, even under tremendous pressure,  had no alternate method, no "plan B"  -  only the "boldness in our God to speak to you the Gospel of God amid much opposition"  (1 Thess. 2:2,4).

Paul did seem to have some methodology/strategy for meeting people and deciding how he would spend his time.  He would go "to the Jew first" and if the Jews were not receptive he would preach to others until he saw who would be receptive and preached to them (Acts 13:45-52).  How did he decide who was receptive?  He preached the Gospel to them !   Paul would go to places where he thought people who had some spiritual interest might be gathered, and then he would preach the Gospel to them (Acts 16: 13-14).   There are methods for meeting people, for building relational bridges of love into their lives, but the preaching of the Gospel is not up for methodological variance.
 
 Yes, methods of doing things may and must keep changing.  They are temporal and finite.  I assure you I would not have been writing a "blog" twenty years ago.  We are always preaching the Gospel in the context of culture which is changing.  We want our message to connect with people's receptors.  But, the message does not - must not - change.  The Gospel we preach must be the same Gospel Paul preached or it will not save.

Jesus did not say "go into all the world and be the Gospel" - He said "preach the Gospel".   Paul did not go into Corinth to take surveys to find out what people wanted to hear, but rather with "weakness and in fear and in much trembling" he determined that he would know nothing among them "except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" so that their faith "would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." (1 Cor. 2:1-5). Jesus and Paul did not avoid warning people about eternal punishment and hellfire (Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43ff, 2 Thess. 1:6-10, and many more)  hiding behind some notion that such is not their "purpose" or "ministry".   Warning people to flee from coming wrath is a major purpose of Gospel communication (Matt. 3:7 cf. 1 Thess. 1:10, 5:9).

If you preach the truth that is eternal, you will always be relevant, because the eternal is always relevant.  If you adapt the Gospel to try to be relevant, you preach "another Gospel" (Galatians 1:6-7) and make yourself irrelevant in the process.  Far better a smaller group of faithful believers looking for heaven, than a larger group of make-believers who just want their "best life now", and don't even really get that  (2 Tim. 4:1-8). 

The Gospel IS God's method.

Back From Africa

Thanks so much to all who prayed for the recent ministry in C.A.R. It was truly a fruitful and significant time. 28 evangelists and potential pastors received training in Bambari, the home of Pastor Mboi Andre. These men are on the move to reach eastern C.A.R. with the Gospel (most churches and believers live in the western portion of the country, so there are still unreached and least-reached people in the east). Mboi Andre is currently on a trip to Zemio, an eastern town, where he is engaging in evangelism and church planting. Pray for his ministry, his travels on rugged roads (and sometimes no roads), and for his family while he's gone.

27 students also received training in leadership and communication at Bangui with Hibaile Augustan's CIDEL ministry. This was a great class with some very sharp students. They are from varied professions, so pray for their impact as salt and light in Bangui.

I also had a great time preaching in the churches, being present for the dedication of the Project Hope and Charity orphan center, meeting and encouraging some pastors I had not met before, and fellowshipping with our missionary staff in C.A.R as well as some others who were visiting from the States while I was there.

If you are following the current unrest in Kenya and Chad, you know the importance of praying for the stability of the Central African Republic. Situated as it is geographically, if it is stable it has the potential to halt the spread of unrest throughout the rest of the continent. If unstable, the unrest could spread through C.A.R. like a wildfire. Great days, maybe the greatest ever, could be ahead for our ministries in C.A.R., but this could be sidetracked by any time of turmoil. Let's pray First Timothy 2:1-4 for Africa in these days.

Truth and Relationships...Continued

This will be my last entry before I leave for Africa.  I will try to resume as soon as I can after I return and recuperate.  You may post comments while I'm gone, but I won't be able to respond until I get back.  My blog helper, Dan Kreider, will monitor your comments and clear the helpful and edifying ones (and the vast majority have been great!).

If you have not been reading all the comments on the last TRUTH AND RELATIONSHIPS article, you are missing some interesting stuff.  I am encouraging additional comments on this article because I feel they are surfacing some very important concepts.  To keep up to date you may wish to respond with your comments, even from the previous article, to this article.  That way I will be less likely to miss them when I return.

Now for a few more concepts.

I hinted at this one, but no one went for it.  So, I'll say it more bluntly and you all can kick it around.  Am I the only one, or is professing Christianity/evangelicalism just a lot wimpier than it was 30 years ago?  I remember times when  men of God who disagreed could confront, argue, and edify one another - like "iron sharpening iron" - and still walk away with mutual respect.  Yes, there were some cruel, unloving abuses too.  But it seems that now the pendulum has swung so far the other direction that many just suffer in unloving silence for fear of someone getting upset or disagreeing.  It seems that we have quite a representation of babies (under the guise of postmodernity?).  Consider 1 Corinthians 11:19  -  "there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you."  We need not fear controversy, because controversy reveals those who are approved, and sorts out those who are not.  Controversy can sharpen our convictions!  Exhortation, rebuke, reproof, confrontation  -  these do not have to be bad things to avoid.  They are, in fact, an important part of biblical love.

Next one; does anyone else feel the danger I feel with this mindset of "major and minor doctrines" (or essential and non-essential, or primary/secondary/tertiary)?  Of course, some truths are more central/foundational to our truth claims than others (the Trinity, substitutionary death of Christ, et.al.)  But when other matters are made minor, it appears to me that the "minor compartment" keeps getting larger and larger, swallowing up even these very central truths.  So, now the push (relative to Islam) is "as long as it is monotheistic"- that is to say, the Trinity is not as important (a minor or secondary doctrine!!).  Some may feel I'm being extreme, but this does seem to be the trend.  Where does it end?  I would say apostasy, except for a relatively small, faithful remnant.

Last one; why does it seem that I am being pushed to settle for the "lowest common denominator" instead of "going for the gold"?  Let's learn more and more of God's precious truth instead of settling for less.  All for His glory!!

Project C.A.R. '08

THE MINISTRY OF DR. KEITH A. SHEARER TO THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (JAN. 08 – 25, 2008) –

Please pray . . .
 
1.) for the spiritual health and growth of New Beginnings Grace Brethren Church while Pastor Keith is gone (for ministries, attendance, offerings, and a great spirit of worship.)

2.) for Pastor Keith's family during the time of this project.

3.) for safe travel for Pastor Keith (see Itinerary).

4.) for physical health and strength for Pastor Keith.

5.) for revival among the churches of C.A.R. (over 350,000 believers) as Pastor Keith preaches to their National Conference.

6.) for the lost to be saved and the saved to be edified as Pastor Keith preaches at three churches in C.A.R.

7.) for the success of the pastoral leadership training that Pastor Keith will be doing in Bambari, C.A.R.

8.) for wisdom for Pastor Keith to identify one or more new men to be nationwide/continentwide leaders in Africa.

9.) for the training Pastor Keith will be doing for business and government leaders in Bangui, C.A.R.

10.) for the missionaries NBGBC supports there – Mboi Andre, Francois Ngoumape, and Augustan Hibaile – that Pastor Keith will be an encouragement to them.


ITINERARY
Jan. 08    Tuesday
·        Depart Myerstown at 3 PM for Newark, NJ airport
·        Depart Newark at 7:15 PM on Air France Flight #0019
 
Jan. 09    Wednesday
·        Arrive Paris at 8:40 AM (2:40 AM, EST)
·        Depart Paris at 10:55 PM on Air France Flight #0880
(4:55 PM, EST)
 
Jan. 10    Thursday
·        Arrive Bangui, C.A.R. at 5:40 AM (11:40 PM – Jan. 09 EST)
·        Depart airport immediately and travel by truck with Mboi Andre to Mbaiki (108 km) which is the site of the national conference
·        Preach at the National Conference of GBC's in C.A.R. at 2 PM (8 AM, EST)
·        Evening – counsel with pastors and leaders
·        spend night at Mbaiki (rainforest)
 
Jan. 11    Friday
·        Morning – counsel with pastors and leaders
·        Mid-day – travel back to Bangui (truck)
·        Evening – counsel with pastors and leaders
 
Jan. 12    Saturday
·        Travel with Mboi Andre and team to Bambari (all day truck trip)
 
Jan. 13    Sunday
·        Preach at the 1st Bambari GBC
·        begin training (formation) of new pastors and evangelist in Bambari
(eastern C.A.R.)
 
Jan. 14-18   Monday – Friday
·        continue training classes
 
Jan. 16    Wednesday
·        Preach at the 2nd Bambari GBC
 
 
Jan.  19   Saturday
·        return truck trip to Bangui
 
Jan. 20   Sunday
·        Preach at the Ngou-Mboutou GBC in Bangui
 
Jan. 21-24   Monday – Thursday
·        SALT training with Augustan Hibaile in Bangui(for key government and business leaders)
 
Jan. 24   Thursday
·        Depart Bangui airport 11:05 PM (5:05 PM EST) on Air France Flight #0883
 
Jan. 25   Friday
·        arrive Paris 5:45 AM (11:45 PM, Jan. 24, EST)
·        depart Paris 1:15 PM (7:15 AM, EST) on Air France Flight #0018
·        arrive Newark, NJ  3:40 PM
·        arrive Myerstown @ 8:00 PM

Comments Appear!!

Readers may wish to recheck the 12/05/07 blog post on Israel and The Church (pt.2). Some new comments have appeared. They are worthwhile and I hope they are not ignored. Thanks to those participants for their contributions.

Grace, Truth, and Incarnation

As a gift for the Remember-the-Incarnation-Season, here is a brief section from D.A.Carson on John 1:14. Can reading good Bible commentaries bless you? I hope this reading will.

-The words "full of grace and truth" may be descriptive of the Word, especially if "pleres" ('full'), is understood to be nominative, agreeing with "logos" ('Word'); but because 'full' is irregularly declinable (that is, it does not formally 'agree' with any particular word form), it seems best to take the expression as a modifier of 'glory'. The glory of God manifest in the incarnate Word was "full of grace and truth". In that case John is almost certainly directing his readers to Exodus 33-34. There Moses begs God, 'Now show me Your glory' ( Ex.33:18). The Lord replies, 'I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, THE LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion' ( Ex.33:19). God's glory, then, is supremely His goodness. So Moses stands on Mt.Sinai, and, we are told. 'the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there before him, and proclaimed His name, THE LORD. And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "THE LORD, THE LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin" '( Ex.34:5-7).

LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS spell out the nature of the goodness which is God's glory. The two crucial words in Hebrew are "hesed" (variously rendered 'steadfast love', 'mercy', 'covenant love' - but it has recently been shown quite clearly that it is the GRACIOUSNESS of the love that is at stake), and "met" ('truth' or 'faithfulness'). This pair of expressions recurs again and again throughout the Old Testament. The two words that John uses, 'full of GRACE and TRUTH', are his ways of summing up the same ideas. The glory revealed to Moses when THE LORD passed in front of him and sounded His name, displaying that divine goodness characterized by ineffable grace and truth, was the very same glory John and his friends saw in the Word-made-flesh.-

Now, as the old saying goes, 'if that doesn't light your fire, you're wood is wet!'. The glory revealed to Moses was "the very same glory" John saw in Christ!! The glory of Christ, the glory which is "full of grace and truth".

May God shine in your heart to give you "the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2. Cor.4:6).

Truth and Relationships: A Distinction?

I've been asked to write about what I will call a "perceived distinction" between doctrine and relationships. I don't really like doing this because it should not be necessary to "reconcile friends". The question I've been asked to address is, "Which one of these two is higher?". Ideally, the question should not have to be asked. But, we do not live in ideal situations, even in churches, so it evidently takes some work to understand how the friendship between these two works. So, here goes! (I've learned over the years that a lot of patient participation is needed to have this discussion, so I hope there will be a few comments).

Two Bible passages have inevitably been used whenever I have been in this discussion: John 1:14 (grace and truth) and Ephesians 4:15 (truth in love). Somehow a dichotomy gets superimposed over these verses. The dichotomy gets expressed in ways like this: (1) "There are 'truthers' and there are 'lovers'", or (2) "There are 'gracers' and there are 'truthers'", or (3) "We need to keep truth and love (or grace and truth) in balance" (kind of a 50/50 thing). The assumption seems to be that people who are more focused on truth do not tend to be loving or gracious, and, conversely, people who are grace/love oriented are not very concerned about truth (usually meaning doctrine). I suspect the reason for the imposition of the dichotomy is that there ARE people who tend to neglect one side or the other. Then the idea of "balance" is suggested as the answer to the problem. But "balance" actually makes bad matters worse because it implies the lessening of one for the increasing of the other ( i.e. "Don't be so concerned about doctrine - you need to become more relational" - which is usually the way it goes these days; or "Don't be so involved with people - you need to be studying/reading more"). In reality, both sides of these verses are to be viewed as one whole, not a dichotomy. If there is a "balance" it better be a 100/100 one - to be 50% truthful suggests that the other 50% is something other than love. The believer in Christ should never seek to be less than completely truthful, loving, and gracious.

Another way to reveal that there should not be a dichotomy would be to juxtapose terminology in our common usage. We could (and should) refer to the mass of biblical data on relationships (like most of the book of Proverbs, Ephesians 4:25-6:9, Matthew 5-7 as examples among hundreds) as "The Doctrine of Relationships". Wouldn't this be great as a necessary part of the systematic theology curriculum (instead of dividing it off into counselling or some other department)? Or, as we live out friendships, why do we not think of our times together as "theological occasions" ( what a great name for a party! - OK, you may think I've gone too far now:-))? In this light, check out Section Four of my book "Childlike Faith" dealing with communal interpretation < www.bmhbooks.com>.

But, what happens when this is not working properly, which may be a lot of the time? I have asked myself many times, is there any biblical precedent/teaching for rightly sacrificing doctrinal truth in order to save relationships? I have not found any. I also have asked, is there any biblical precedent/teaching for rightly sacrificing relationships in order to save doctrinal truth? I have found, with tears, significant models for this. In a real way, the intent of this sacrifice of a relationship is ultimately to save the relationship too.

Titus 1:9 - 2:1 People who contradict sound doctrine are to be rebuked
Romans 16:17-18 People who cause division by differing from approved teaching are to be avoided
Proverbs 28:23 Rebuke is necessary to preserve relationships
II Corinthians 6:17 - 7:1 "come out"/ "be separate" - "having these promises"

There are negative examples, too, of times when a separation does not occur and one's life is damaged as a result (i.e. Lot not leaving Sodom in a timely fashion). Enough said about this for now.

The result of this line of thought is that doctrine and relationships must go together. But, when there is a breakdown in this whole, truth (including the Doctrine of Relationships) must assume the highest priority. One might ask, "But isn't love the greatest?" (1 Cor, 13:13). Yes, love is the greatest out of faith, hope, and love! But, love "rejoices with the truth" (1 Cor.13:6). Love is higher than faith and hope, but it must be governed by truth, which makes truth greater. The prophet Amos asked this question - "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3). It is shared truth that builds shared love.