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Speaking the Truth in Love – Part 3

September 22, 2008

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Dear Friends,

Bro. Tom Farrar continues his series as guest commentator.

It was the apostles’ custom to evangelize by preaching in synagogues (Acts 14:1; 17:1-2; 19:8). When preaching to fellow Jews, there was a lot of common ground on which to build – the same God, the same Scriptures, etc. So rather than reinventing the wheel, they worked their evangelism into the existing custom of Sabbath worship.

When it came to preaching to Gentiles, however, more innovative techniques were used. The venues included the philosophers’ hangout on Mars Hill in Athens (Acts 17:19-31), a trial (Acts 26), and a shipwreck (Acts 27).

The mode of evangelism changed with the circumstances. Jesus encouraged such improvisation: when sending his disciples out to evangelize for the first time, he advised them to “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16 NKJV). The Greek word translated wise here (phronimos) was a term used extensively by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. So Paul fulfilled this principle quite literally in his philosophical oration to the Athenians in Acts 17!

Paul explained his flexible preaching methods in 1 Cor. 9:19-22:

I am a free man, nobody’s slave; but I make myself everybody’s slave in order to win as many people as possible. While working with the Jews, I live like a Jew in order to win them; and even though I myself am not subject to the Law of Moses, I live as though I were when working with those who are, in order to win them. In the same way, when working with Gentiles, I live like a Gentile, outside the Jewish Law, in order to win Gentiles. This does not mean that I don’t obey God’s law; I am really under Christ’s law. Among the weak in faith I become weak like one of them, in order to win them. So I become all things to all people, that I may save some of them by whatever means are possible. (GNB)

The key here is the final clause – to save some by whatever means possible. Paul pulled out all the stops and made all kinds of personal sacrifices, improvising to suit the particular situation. The precise method of evangelism didn’t matter – the important thing was saving souls.

We thus have a license to open our minds (dianoigo) and be creative when it comes to evangelizing. I was recently told of a public lecture in England which was advertised with something like 200,000 leaflets, which yielded two attendees. This demonstrates that traditional preaching methods are obsolete and ineffective.

If we are not catching any fish, we need to cast our nets on the other side of the boat (John 21:6). In order to do this, we must understand our audience and our circumstances, and how they are different from those faced by the apostles, and from those faced by the Christadelphians of generations gone by.

The following list compares the situation in the 1st century Roman Empire to the situation in the 21st century Western world.

  1. THEN, preaching confirmed with miracles (Mark 16:20) NOW, no obvious miracles; love is our greatest asset (1 Cor. 13:13).
  2. THEN, a few individuals ordained to do the evangelizing (Paul, Timothy, etc.). NOW, no ordained evangelists; responsibility falls on everyone.
  3. THEN, little or no social assistance, insurance or public healthcare. NOW, good social assistance, insurance and public healthcare.
  4. THEN, much persecution & poverty among believers. NOW, minimal persecution & poverty among believers.
  5. THEN, most ecclesial resources devoted to caring for physical needs within the body of Christ. NOW, relatively few ecclesial resources devoted to caring for physical needs within the body.
  6. THEN, few ecclesial resources left for caring for those outside the body. NOW, many ecclesial resources left for caring for those outside the body.

In summary, we have more responsibility to evangelize than did our 1st century lay brethren, and we have far more resources at our disposal that we can use to this end.

The English-speaking world in the days of Dr. Thomas might be compared to that of Jews in the apostolic age. In both cases, the Scriptures were widely regarded as authoritative and so the key to evangelism was the interpretation of these Scriptures. There was an existing framework (synagogues in the 1st century, churches in the 19th) in which to reach the audience.

The 21st century Western world is a bit like the Roman world in the 1st century in that most people are completely ignorant of the Scriptures. However, there is a key difference. In the 1st century, Christianity was perceived as a “new thing” (Acts 17:19-21), and like all new things, it was intriguing – it caught people’s attention, if only fleetingly. By contrast, our society is a ‘post-Christian’ one. This means that rather than being seen as a new thing, Christianity is seen as an outdated thing! Outdated things do not catch people’s attention.

In fact, most people around us have already formed their opinion of the Christian religion, and it is decidedly negative! ‘The Church’ is seen as an organization of backward, self-righteous hypocrites. Western society’s drift away from Christianity has probably been fueled as much by cynicism of the Church as by academic skepticism.

This is borne out by the words of leading skeptic voices of the past few centuries. American novelist Mark Twain wrote, “The church is always trying to get other people to reform; it might not be a bad idea to reform itself a little, by way of example.” And again, “If Christ were here there is one thing he would not be – a Christian.”

Henry David Thoreau, a 19th century American activist and humanist, wrote the following:

The modern Christian is a man who has consented to say all the prayers in the liturgy, provided you will let him go straight to bed and sleep quiet afterward — He has consented to perform certain old- established charities, too, after a fashion, but he does not wish to hear of any new-fangled ones; he doesn’t wish to have any supplementary articles added to the contract, to fit it to the present time. He shows the whites of his eyes on the Sabbath, and the blacks all the rest of the week. The evil is not merely a stagnation of blood, but a stagnation of spirit as well.

And of the famous 18th century French skeptic Voltaire, it was written, “For the last twenty-five years of his life, the superstition, the ignorance, and above all, the cruelty of the church, was constantly in his mind.”

This attitude toward the church has now become the societal norm. Dan Kimball recently wrote a book entitled, “They like Jesus but not the Church,” which nicely summarizes the viewpoint of the current generation. Evolutionary naturalism and unbelief in the Bible, while widespread, are perhaps not the underlying cause of the current generation’s wholesale rejection of Christianity. Rather, the problem is the perception that the Church is a club of self-righteous hypocrites.

Does this perception extend to us as Christadelphians? Listen to the following words of a young person giving one reason for his rejection of the Christadelphian package:

Despite my ecclesia’s commitment to each other, their commitment to the larger community was non- existent. Never in my 18 years in the ‘Truth’ did our ecclesia ever do a community service project or even try to ‘save’ anyone not already in the clique.

Whether we like it or not, we are seen as a church group, and therefore subjected to churchy stereotypes. The traditional Christadelphian preaching approach has been public lectures and leaflets emphasizing doctrinal distinctions from other churches. This method is largely obsolete; because it fails to address the presumption that organized religion is hypocritical. Hypocrisy is preaching without practicing, so the leaflet-and-lecture approach will only reinforce the presumption.

There is a second reason why lectures-and-leaflets is not an effective method of evangelism. Modern psychologists classify human personalities based on four variables (the Myers-Briggs test). In fact, these four variables have been apparent in Scripture for thousands of years! Jesus told us we must love God with heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). The chart below suggests what these four divisions of our being may represent.

Upon reflection, we realize that each person is gifted in some of the above and deficient in others. One person may be very creative and artistic, but not very skilled in practical matters. Another person may be highly intelligent, but unable to connect with other people effectively. And the list goes on.

In Mark 12:30, these four aspects are treated equally, suggesting they are each equally important to God. And yet, our preaching methods tend to focus almost entirely on the ‘mind’ aspect. A person who doesn’t want to sit through a lecture, or read a pamphlet, is deemed ‘not interested in the Truth.’ The reality, however, is that we are failing to engage less intellectual personality types.

A more comprehensive campaign of evangelism would focus on all four categories. As a side benefit, it would also get more people within the ecclesia involved. Those who do not teach – most notably women – have little involvement in group preaching efforts in the traditional approach. But once we realize that evangelism is much more than teaching, we see that everyone has an important role to play.

We Christadelphians are a very studious group – we are happy to be defined as ‘Bible students.’ As a result, our community has a rich knowledge base, which is a great asset. But it is a vain thing if it does not inspire good deeds. As the Preacher wrote:

And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Eccl. 12:12-14 NKJV).

Paul instructed Timothy to study the Scriptures, not so that he could be a walking concordance, but so that he could be “a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God’s truth” (2 Tim. 2:15 GNB). The Scriptures warn against too much learning and too little application. “Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice” (James 1:22 GNB). Later on, James wrote:

My friends, not many of you should become teachers. As you know, we teachers will be judged with greater strictness than others. Are there any of you who are wise and understanding? You are to prove it by your good life, by your good deeds performed with humility and wisdom — But the wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy. And goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace. (James 3:1, 13, 17- 18 GNB).

In summary, the lectures-and-leaflets approach was successful in John Thomas’ day due to an extraordinary level of interest in biblical exposition. But it is unsuccessful today, and should be updated. This is not, of course, to say that teaching should be abandoned; only that it should be accompanied by other things – most notably, agapé love.

Have a great week,

Tom Farrar sitting in for Kyle Tucker

Comments»

1. Colin Green - September 23, 2008

How interesting Tom! I have been a student of marketing for a very long time and it certainly HAS changed. We (marketers) have always used “interuption” marketing where we thrust a pamphlet, TV advert and the like in front of people and hope they accept. Some do… Now though most don’t :-(

Now it’s all about engagement. And the Internet in particular has enabled us to be VERY “niche”. My own speciality is “exhibition marketing” – trade shows and the like. It lends itself VERY well to engagement. But not many people “get it” yet…

What can we do? Internet for sure – LOTS to discuss there! And also WOM – “word of mouth”. Talk to people! It’s amazing how many people we can do that with as we come in contact with them! One Brother near here is a plumber and he uses his opportunities at people’s homes richly. Just doing our readings on the train is a witness – a quiet one and people in the “niche” can see your interest and conversations can start.

I heard of an eclessia in the UK that had a project where they invited friends, family, neighbours (UK spelling…) to an evening and the response was massive!

Our own eclessia had a “garage sale” and many locals came to buy – and some to hear our story. We teach some ethnic locals English, using Scripture as our text book too – and quite a few come along.

Great thoughts! How can we encourage people around us?