Every Member a Missionary

Every Member a Missionary

Saints, it is good to share a word with you again. As hectic as my weeks get, sitting down to write the Pastor’s corner is always one of my favorite responsibilities throughout the week. Lately, my heart has been stuck on evangelism. Any time that word pops up, it has a dual effect on me. On the one hand, it gets me so excited thinking about sharing the good news with someone and their eyes opened to our savior’s greatness and mercy! On the other hand, there is a conviction that I am not verbally sharing the good news as much as I should. I think about all those people I pass on a regular basis, those sitting at the bus stop near our church, the cashier checking me out at Fred Meyer, and wondering, do they know Jesus? Am I the one to tell them?

Something Different
I had a well-intentioned church member question me about what Pastor Mario of Rescate Church (the Hispanic church that meets in our old sanctuary on Sundays) does differently than we are doing. They wondered how in the four years that he’s been in Juneau, how he has been able to lead 25+ people to the Lord. This person immediately felt the need to apologize, thinking that I thought they were saying I wasn’t doing my job as well as he is, but it was a wonderful prodding from the Lord that I needed to hear. I had to ask myself, what is he doing differently that I need to be doing?

Without wanting to make excuses for myself, I pointed out that Pastor Mario is bi-vocational and works part-time at Home Depot, whereas I work exclusively at the church and our corollary ministries (i.e. VBA). This is one aspect of bi-vocational pastors who work another job in secular fields that I am somewhat envious of. They get to be in contact with unsaved persons more than a pastor that works exclusively at the church 50+ hours a week. I spend the majority of my time surrounded by believers. So, my focus has been much more on the discipleship aspect, which is just as vital to the church as evangelism. It is interesting that many treat evangelism and discipleship as competing values. There is a tendency to focus on one over the other oftentimes, which I personally have to resist.

But even though Pastor Mario is in contact with the lost more frequently than I am, there is something he does that you and I have no excuse to not do. He is intentional. I consider Mario a dear friend and brother. In fact, he refers to me as his familia! So, when I had lunch with him yesterday, I asked him how he approaches it at work, and he told me he is constantly praying and looking for an opening to share the good news. When your mindset is to look for opportunities, you will almost always find them.

When Brit and I moved up here to Juneau, we sold both of our vehicles, an F-150, and a Chevy Equinox, and purchased a Jeep Renegade, a vehicle we have never previously owned before. And it is quite funny when you buy a car that you have never owned before, you suddenly see this make and model everywhere. I swear that there must be at least 100 other people in Juneau that drive a Jeep Renegade. Before, I had never paid attention to this make and model but since I became the owner of one, I see them everywhere. This is how looking for opportunities to share the gospel has to work. It has to become ingrained so much so that you can’t help but see opportunity after opportunity to share! But it starts with taking ownership of the Gospel in your own life!

As Shrewd as Serpents
Before Jesus commissioned His disciples to go out and proclaim the Kingdom to Judea, He told them, “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves,” (Matt. 10:16). Didn’t Jesus have a way with words? I love this imagery! It’s clear that proclaiming God’s Kingdom to a lost world is going to be difficult and dangerous, hence the idea of sheep among wolves. But Jesus encourages them (and us) to be as shrewd as serpents.

Serpents in the Bible tend to have a negative connotation but here it is certainly a good one. In essence, Jesus is saying our evangelism has to be tactful and clever. The New Testament, especially Romans, makes it clear that we are living in a world averse to hearing God’s Good News. So, believers must find a way to penetrate that barrier of repugnancy, like a shrewd serpent. Let me share with you what Pastor Mario does.

Whenever he meets someone new at Home Depot, they almost always pick up on his strong Hispanic accent and ask him where he is from. This is often the beginning of an opening for him that he has been looking for. He tells them that he is from Guatemala. This usually prompts the next question, “so, what brought you to America?” Boom! He’s in! He gets to tell them that he works at Home Depot to help meet some financial needs but his main purpose is that he came here to be a pastor and start a church.

He shared with me that at this point, things can sometimes get awkward. Unsaved people either tend to quickly wrap up the conversation and carry on with their shopping or they make clear that they don’t like religion. To this, Mario responds with, “me neither!” Do you see what he did there? Like a master fisherman, Mario has kept them on the hook because now they are wondering why a pastor doesn’t like religion. From here, he points them to a relationship with Jesus rather than man-made religion. Now don’t misunderstand. Religion is not inherently bad. It is a framework in which we can express our worship and admiration for God. However, typically when the secular world talks about disliking religion, they are usually referring to the self-righteous, hypocritical expressions of faith that are sadly far too common in America. But Pastor Mario is pushing them to the basis from which true religion is expressed, a relationship with Christ.

Of course, this isn’t a 100% fool-proof way of sharing the Gospel. Some people will walk away and reject it. But the principle behind this is that when we are looking for those opportunities, we have to use our intelligence and discernment in those conversations to keep the conversation going, direct it to Jesus, and understand the other person’s meaning of certain words/concepts (i.e. secular meaning of religion). In other words, just be shrewd!

Going on your Way
There is one tiny verse in Acts 8 that is one of my favorites. It’s not one that you will see tattooed on a hipster pastor’s forearm and is probably one you’ve read over without giving much thought to it. But it is nonetheless a powerful statement on evangelism. Acts 8:4 says, “So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the Word.” For context, Saul, who would late become Paul, had just overseen Stephen’s martyrdom and was now beginning widespread persecution of the church. This caused the persecuted church to be scattered.

What I love so much about this verse is how nonchalantly Luke describes them doing things. They didn’t organize big events. They didn’t have one of the apostles headline a revival. In fact, Luke doesn’t even name names. It was just a bunch of anonymous believers so enraptured by the Good News of the Gospel that they couldn’t help but talk about it even when being forced from their homes. It was because of this faithfulness that churches began to pop up in areas that the apostles had never visited. The church in Rome, to whom Paul wrote the epistle to the Romans, was one such church.

What if the church today did this? What if we just went on our way sharing the Gospel? As a pastor and preaching, I love the opportunity to preach the Gospel from the pulpit and am very comfortable doing that. But what if I couldn’t help but talk about the Gospel with my mailman, Jake, who I see regularly? Or Juan, the guy who is regularly checking Costco cards as people enter? Or you, what about that co-worker you sit in the cubical next to? Or the parent you strike up a chat with as you wait for your kids to get out of school?

Sadly, I think a lot of people have come to feel that inviting someone to church is the same as sharing the Gospel. But it’s not. While it is good to invite someone to church, Christ called all of His disciples, not just the pastor, to go and make disciples. You have people in your circle that don’t know your pastor from Adam. They don’t have a relationship with him. They haven’t established trust with him. In fact, they may have a dark history with a church or pastor. But they know you. They trust you. God likely put you in their life, as Esther says, “for such a time as this.”

Be Bold in Christ
I won’t lie, just starting a conversation about the gospel can be awkward in our culture. There are two things people don’t like to discuss publically in our culture, faith, and politics. However, these two things perhaps affect our lives more than just about anything else. It is interesting though that one’s personal politics are becoming more vocalized by people lately while their faith is not. But I digress. The thing that should have the greatest impact on your life should be your faith. It should consume every decision and relationship in your life. But when that opportunity arises to share the gospel and you inevitably are gripped by the fear of awkwardness or rejection it’s good to remember a couple of things.

One, ask yourself this question, what is a greater worry that you are rejected or stumble through an awkward conversation, or that that person could die without Christ and be separated from God for all eternity? Let our love for our lost neighbor outweigh the fear of rejection or awkwardness. Put things in an eternal perspective.

Two, remember they aren’t rejecting you, they are rejecting Christ. While it is heartbreaking to see people reject the savior that brought us to life from the death of our trespasses, Christ is no stranger to this. Our Savior went to the cross knowing that millions and possibly billions would reject His sacrifice. Yet He did it anyway.

Three, we are called to be faithful seed sowers. The thing about sewing seeds is that it typically isn’t a one-and-done kind of thing. It often takes time and care. That is not to say that some people can’t hear the gospel one time and respond. Praise God when that happens! But most times, coming to saving faith is a process. When we are faithful to share the gospel we may be the first sower of the gospel seed in someone’s life or we may be the harvester who reaps the work that other believers have labored for years on. We just need to be faithful. It is God’s Spirit that is working behind the scenes. He just desires faithful Christians to love their neighbor by sharing God’s good news.

Lastly, it takes practice, lots and lots of practice. A big fear many people have is being challenged with a question they aren’t prepared to answer. Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” But don’t let it stop there. As part of keeping the conversation going, say, “let me look into that and get back to you.” And set a time to get back with them. Let it be an opportunity to continue a gospel conversation and also, hone your own understanding of your faith. Some great resources for this are good apologists like Lee Strobel, William Lane Craig, and Ravi Zacharias (while his recent scandal is reprehensible, his work is nonetheless valuable). Some of my favorite books are Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig, and To Everyone an Answer by Francis J. Beckwith. William Lane Craig has a website with audio and video resources concerning apologetic topics as well. You can find the link here. But the best way to grasp these skills is to practice them. I’ve had my fair share of terrible gospel presentations. However, we know that it is ultimately the Holy Spirit that draws people to God. So we can take comfort in the fact that God is able to work in spite of us!

Saints, we have the best news in a world full of bad news. We have a God that loves us and did not abandon us to remain dead in our sins. He sent Jesus to take our deserved punishment all for His glory! Let’s be faithful and bold to share this wonderful news. If someone had not shared it with us, how terrible would it be? Be intentional. Be shrewd. Be bold.

In Christ,
Pastor Trenton