TFTW – Speaking the Truth in Love – Part 4
September 29, 2008
Dear Friends,
Bro. Tom Farrar continues his series as guest commentator.
Thus far we have discussed the need for evangelism and the shortcomings of the ‘lectures-and-leaflets’ approach. In the previous article we discussed the central importance of love in God’s character – particularly love of the needy, strangers, enemies and sinners. Now it is time to bring it all together by applying the principles of agapé to evangelism. Before we do so, contemplate the following truth: no religion has a monopoly on dogma, but agapé is uniquely Judeo-Christian.
In 1 Corinthians 12:29, Paul asks, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?” (NKJV) The implied answer is no. But this does not mean those ungifted in these areas are useless to the cause of Christ, inside and outside the ecclesia. In fact, the opposite is true – for there is a “more excellent way” (v. 31) – a tool that is more useful than teaching, and even than miracles! This tool is agapé.
Consider how precious the ‘one faith’ is to Christadelphians; how much care was devoted to summarizing it in a Statement. Consider further how we cherish the ‘one hope’ – the elpis Israel. How great a thing must love be then – for it is greater than either of these (1 Cor. 13:13)!
It only stands to reason, then, that agapé ought to be the foundation of evangelism. And never more than now! We discussed earlier how people in Western society have no idea that Christianity, in its ideal form, is a religion of love, goodwill and selflessness! It is essential to get this point across before people will open their ears to the Good News.
As agapé is defined by actions and not by words (1 John 3:18), it cannot be conveyed well via a lecture or a leaflet. Jesus conveyed it to his disciples by washing their feet (John 13:3-17), and then by dying for them (John 15:13-14). Servitude and self-sacrifice respectively! These virtues must be the primary focus of evangelism. The strategy is laid out by Jesus in Matt. 5:16: “Your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven” (GNB).
Agapé is the best apologetic , for there is no argument against it! It heaps coals of fire upon the head of even an enemy (Prov. 25:21-22/Rom. 12:20), inducing remorse and, ideally, repentance. “Conquer evil with good” (Rom. 12:21 GNB). An unexpected, undeserved, but valuable act of kindness begs the question, “Why would you do that for me?” That is the cue to teach the Good News!
Agapé also must influence who we target with our evangelism. Most Christadelphians in the West are middle-to-upper class, English-speaking whites. If this is the only group on which we focus our outreach efforts, we have not fulfilled agapé.
Besides, we know from Scripture that the wealthy and socially reputable are less inclined to the things of God, and the poor and despised more so (Luke 18:24- 25; 1 Cor. 1:26-28). We grow discouraged when our upper middle class suburban preaching efforts yield little fruit, but this should be no surprise. We should expect it from the parable of the Great Feast, and our response should be to “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in..the poor, maimed, blind, and lame” (Luke 14:21 HCSB).
A love-based preaching strategy is clearly taught in Scripture. It is being practiced with wonderful results by the zealous brothers and sisters of South Africa (see www.gnotkog.org). They refer to it as ‘Touch and teach.’ It is high time we adopted a similar approach in the West.
All these words are nothing but a clanging bell (1 Cor. 13:1 GNB) unless we can find ways to implement them. Not being such a practical person, this is where I run into problems. If you are a practical person, you can surely come up with some great ideas. I will propose some general guidelines below.
An overriding principle should be to prioritize those ideas that address a real need (see Luke 7:41- 43). Giving to someone who already has in abundance will induce more puzzlement than gratitude.
One widespread need in Western society is day care for children, and this need is most acute for single mothers, who are implicitly included in James 1:27. A day care service would provide an opportunity to reflect God’s love on both the mother and the children.
Western society is also rapidly ageing, so the visitation of nursing homes, particularly of those residents with little or no family, is another good work. (Of course, it must be secondary to the care of the elderly within the body.)
The care of the poor, a recurring theme in both testaments, provides another excellent opportunity. Although we are an affluent society, Jesus declared, “You have the poor with you always” (Mark 14:7). Let it not be, “Out of sight, out of mind.” I am told that the young people in Richmond, Virginia have been preparing bagged lunches for the homeless. What a great work of charity! If a Bible verse such as Psalm 140:12 is inserted in the bag, then “Touch and teach” has been initiated.
We also have in the West a large concentration of immigrants from all over the globe. Any act of welcoming to such is a fulfillment of Matt. 25:35 and Heb. 13:2. Beyond that, immigrants probably do not have ingrained in them the distaste for organized religion that is so prevalent among the native born. They may, therefore, be “good ground” for evangelism.
Now if we resolve, as ecclesias, to become more evangelism-oriented, we need to think of our Sunday service, among its other purposes, as a preaching opportunity. In fact, this is commanded in 1 Cor. 11:26: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (ESV). The verb translated ‘proclaim’ means “to announce, declare, promulgate, make known; to proclaim publicly.”
So, we need to ask ourselves whether our Sunday service is conducive to outreach. In particular, are the readings, hymns and prayers in a language a visitor could understand, or is it lofty and archaic? Do we say things like, “We all know this verse, so we won’t bother to look it up?” Does the service have an overall mood of welcoming or exclusivity?
These are all things that can be done on the home front. In addition, there are great initiatives happening overseas. In fact, most of the growth in the Christadelphian body is happening in Third World countries, where the lack of workers – not the lack of harvest – is the bottleneck. “The harvest is large, but there are few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest” (Matt. 9:38 GNB)
Three main ways we can help with the above are by praying, volunteering our time, and donating our material wealth. The greatest of these is prayer, for it can be done by anyone – rich or poor, old or young, etc. If we, as God’s children, have special access to His throne, let us use this privilege for good. Let us ask His blessing on all efforts to bring His grace and truth to this world. We can and should plant seeds and water them, but God alone can make them grow (1 Cor. 3:5-7).
Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have. (Col. 4:5 GNB)
Have a great week!
Tom Farrar sitting in for Kyle Tucker
