Thank you for coming on this journey of mission with me that will take us to the start of January 2021. This first letter will set the direction for the next 40 weeks. If you know anyone who is eager to be more wise, creative, and effective in sharing the message of Christ—forward this to them! At the bottom of the letter I’ll include the link to subscribe to the weekly letters.
Just like the 100 Days of Pursuit that we just completed, the reason I’m doing this initiative is to stretch us in the great task of trying to share Christ with the people around us. This call to spread the news about Jesus is part of what it means to follow Jesus.
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16
Clashing realities
There are two clashing realities that are a constant source of tension for many of us. The first reality is that, at least in this part of the world, most people have very little interest in the gospel. Or, if they have a nominal form of Christian faith, they are not interested in going deeper. One of the biggest reasons for this disinterest is the terrible reputation Christianity has in this generation because of weirdness, scandals, shallowness, and political entanglement. In addition, the media and movies regularly portray Christians in a caricature as wacky, out of touch, narrow, judgmental, and so on. They pick up on the worst examples of Christianity and hold that up for everyone to see. The public image of Christianity—especially evangelical Christianity—has become so marred that now even some Christians don’t want to identify as Christian. It’s a mess. And it has made it extremely difficult to even talk to people about Christ. This problem is even more pronounced in a progressive city like Providence where many don’t merely have distorted views of the Bible but have strong feelings against it.
The second reality is that the “gospel is the power of God for salvation.” In other words, if people are going to find new life in Christ they need the message of the gospel. In order to be reconciled to God they must hear and receive the gospel (the good news about Jesus). There are cases of people encountering Christ through a dream or some other special means, but it’s rare. Most people who have a relationship with Christ, first hear the gospel message in some fashion. What I’m saying is that if the people around us—who we dearly love—do not hear and understand the message of Jesus—they will not find Christ.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:13-15
These two realities—that most people are not interested in the gospel, and the gospel alone is the means to save them—create a bothersome tension, right? If the only hope for people is the gospel, but people aren’t interested in the gospel, then what are we supposed to do?
We feel responsible, bothered, broken and burdened. Many of us have wept rivers of tears. We’ve pleaded with the Lord to show us what to do to reach people who are lost.
Certainty
It makes me happy when people I love are happy. You know, when they have a baby, get a good job, get into college, or buy a house. When they get married I’m excited for them. But what I cannot get out of my mind, especially the older I get (I’m 53), is that this present life as we all know it will one day be behind us. We are going to die. Death is actually one of the few certainties we all agree on. We don’t know when it’s coming, but we all know it is most certainly coming for us at some point. It may be when we’re 19, or 27, or 44, or 60, or 90. The moment of our death is not something we can predict. Here’s what the word says about that.
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment … Hebrews 9:27
This one small verse tells us that God Himself appoints the day of our departure when we shed these earthly bodies and return to the Creator. In a sense, that day is already on His calendar. We aren’t reincarnated; we don’t live nine lives; we won’t have a second chance at life. This is it. This is our life. It’s a mist that appears for a little while and vanishes. We are like the flower of the field that sprouts in the morning and by evening has withered. And then the verse says, “and after that comes judgment.”
The Day
Judgment. Not everyone’s favorite topic! It’s hard to even bring up the topic with Christians, never mind unbelievers. But eternal judgment is one of the greatest themes running through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. There are many theories and interpretations of what the future will be like for those who are condemned on the day of judgment. That’s for another day perhaps. But the point I want to make is that there will be a great judgment day when all will stand before the blinding light of God’s glory and give account for their life.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. Revelation 20:12
This is the awesome and terrible reality that keeps many of us up at night. We know this will happen. We are fully persuaded that the Word of God is truth and the dangers of eternal wrath are real.
Christ alone
We are also convinced that there’s only one possible way for things to go well for any of us when we appear before God. We must know Jesus Christ and be covered in His perfect righteousness. There’s just no other way to be saved. No amount of good works or religious devotion can save. No amount of reform, or tears, or prayers can save us. No amount of charitable giving or serving can save us. All have sinned and the only way to survive the judgment is by being in Christ.
… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus … Romans 3:23-24
I don’t pretend to always know who is in Christ and who isn’t. With some it’s obvious; they are filled with the Spirit and live godly lives. Some are clearly not in Christ and brazenly love sin and even use the name of Christ as a curse word. But there are a lot of people who profess to know Christ and who identify as Christian. Whether they are truly in Christ is not easy to figure out, since we can’t see the motives and secret things of a person’s heart.
But how?
The truth is that multitudes around us in our relationship circles are (very likely) not ready to stand before God on that great day of judgment. Knowing that the message of the gospel is the means for their salvation, our hearts long to communicate this message to them.
But how?
That’s what these 40 weeks will be all about. I’ll be sharing things I’ve learned since I first started talking to people about Jesus in 1989. I’ve tried so many things. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, and I’ve had some successes. I’ll share both. I have hundreds of stories to draw from.
More harm than good
There have been times in prayer when the reality of eternal things hit me so strong that I wanted to run out into the crowded streets and start shouting, “Repent! Jesus is real! Hell is real!” I’ve wanted to just start knocking on doors and pleading with people. I’ve wanted to call up everyone I know who isn’t a Christian and warn them to “flee the wrath to come.”
The problem with these types of methods is that they often do more harm than good, right? If I started yelling at people to repent when they were standing in line for a movie, I’m pretty sure most of them would think I’m a religious nut. They would be so repulsed by my method that they would completely tune out my message. That’s why methods matter. We don’t want people to tune out the message. So how can we bring the message of Jesus in a way that is gentle, respectful, natural and compelling? That’s the challenge!
Evangelism in 1989
When I first became a Christian in the late 80’s I was taught certain methods of evangelism: door to door witnessing, passing out tracts, and street evangelism. Some of you are so young that you have no clue what I’m even talking about ha! But this was how it was done, and I did all of these. There were other methods, as well, but these were the big three I remember.
“Door to door witnessing” was done two by two. We’d literally just walk up to the front door of the house or apartment of a total stranger and knock. When they answered we’d say something like, “We are followers of Jesus and are here to share with you the good news about Jesus. If you die tonight are you sure you’ll go to Heaven?” Slam. Next house. Repeat. Slam. Sometimes we’d find a very polite dear soul who’d talk with us for a while, but most wanted nothing to do with us. We were also taught that the reason we were rejected over and over again was that people hate Jesus. We were encouraged to carry our cross and endure persecution. Looking back, the rejection wasn’t a rejection of the gospel but was simply the fact that we were strangers invading their privacy. I admit I do not like when strangers knock on my door pushing politics or products. As soon as I see them coming, a dread comes over me and I think—how can I avoid talking with them?
“Passing out tracts” was usually done by church groups. We’d meet at the church, pray, and then go out to some busy intersection. We’d go outside Grateful Dead shows or some other place where large numbers of people gathered. We carried with us what were called “Chick tracts,” which explained the gospel message in illustrated form like a tiny comic book. We’d pretty much just hand them out and say some cliche Christian phrase like, “God bless you.” Almost no one talked with us. As we headed home, feeling proud that we had “done God’s work,” we noticed hundreds of tracts thrown onto the ground or in the trash. I’m sure the tracts impacted some but was this the best way to spread the message of Jesus?
“Street evangelism” was also done in groups. We’d go out to the street where the nightclubs were or to Washington Square Park in NYC and just approach random strangers and attempt to engage them in a spiritual conversation. Some people would talk with us and play “devil’s advocate.” Some would share their life story that we’d listen to for a while until we realized they have no interest in hearing the gospel. Sometimes we’d get through to someone and even pray for them. But in all honesty, of the countless times I’ve done this, I can think of only a handful of people that received Christ, started coming to church, got baptized and discipled and are still living for Jesus today. There must be a better way!
Babe Ruth and BB King
I think these methods had their “day” maybe in the 1950’s when most Americans believed in the Bible. Or, maybe it was the late 60’s during the Jesus movement amongst hippies. I’m not really sure. But it became apparent to me, especially when I started doing college ministry in Boston, that these methods weren’t working well anymore. It’s not that they weren’t working at all, but they just seemed outdated and largely ineffective.
One thing I noticed too about these methods is that only a small handful of church people were crazy enough to do these things. The average Christian was terrified of talking to random strangers about something as personal and private as religion. Anything could happen! The rejection experienced in just one evening was utterly draining and unbearable for most to even consider. So usually what you’d have back then was an evangelism team. It would be a small band of crazy evangelists, maybe 4% of the church, who would do the evangelizing. This clearly was not working.
If those methods didn’t work well 30 years ago, they work even less effectively today. Again, I’m not saying they don’t work at all or that the Lord doesn’t occasionally use these methods. Babe Ruth could probably hit a home run with a lame bat. BB King could probably entertain using a cheap guitar. But if it’s really true that multitudes of people are not yet reconciled to God, and the instrument of their reconciliation is the gospel message—then should we not use the absolute most effective methods possible?
Creativity and imagination
That’s what 40 Weeks of Mission is all about. I trust that you are like me and you really want to be effective in reaching people who are lost. Being effective at sharing Christ is not simple in our complicated world. We must understand the issues of our day and know the questions people are asking. We must understand why people are opposed to Christianity. We can’t just throw the Bible at people or shoot them with a Bible verse. Bringing the gospel to people who don’t seem to have an interest in it is more like an art. There are no one-size-fits-all approaches. Every human being we meet is unique, and we must artfully be led by God in how to show them love.
In this present generation it seems like most Christians have realized that door to door evangelism, passing out tracts, and street evangelism are not the best methods to spread the message of Jesus. These things have been almost entirely abandoned. The problem is that old ineffective methods are often not replaced by anything fresh. Many have abandoned the Great Commission entirely. What is needed today is a baptism of creativity and imagination in this challenging work of making Christ known. Being silent about the faith is not an option. Too much is at stake for people we love.
Lastly, I don’t want these weekly letters to be merely something we think about. Let’s make this a season of really developing the art of engaging people around us with the gospel.
Homework
Let me give you a little homework assignment. Make a list of all the different relationship circles you have where you interact with people who don’t know Christ. It may be family, coworkers, old friends, and so on. I know these are the people in your little world that you care for so much. You dream of them being awakened to the love of God and filled with the Holy Spirit! What I want to ask you to do is start praying for them more intentionally. Don’t stress over how to share Christ with them. Just pray for them. That’s always the best place to start.
-Pastor Scott