Tag Archives: Evangelism

Too Fast for Good News by Joseph Seger

Too Fast for Good News by Joseph Seger

Sitting with people after their surgeries, I often hear their prescription: slow down and heal. Sometimes, it is true the best thing we can do is just trust the same old story. The reality is that we live in an age where real rewards come from capitalizing in the attention economy. Quick searches reveal dozens, even hundreds of ‘get well quick’ anecdotes. The question raises quickly, which authority, which new story should be heeded?

Hurting churches today often have a similar scenario. They want to live and proclaim good news, but cannot move as they desire. Unresolved conflict lingers from a past Board meeting, ongoing feuds simmer among the members, unseen pain or potential block each other from interacting – the list goes on: something happened in the past and the body finds itself in need of healing. The same old prescription rises from the Master through the scriptures to live out the gospel proclamations within. Only now there are more polished ‘relevant’ experts prescribing modern church growth and fixing church problems. Broken things need time to mend. Voices clamor that the time is now to act.

‘Move fast and break things.’ This motto echoed around the start-ups of Silicon Valley for decades and into our current moment. It speaks to the cutthroat world of capitalist rewards, and the businesses behind them, for advancing technology faster than the user can get used to what the market already offers. It’s part of why we have so many platforms with so much information and news that we are ‘infobese’ and incapable of processing all that comes across the screens surrounding us.

This idea has disrupted the business world and spread into daily living.

Consider this often repeated conversation:

It’s so good. You should try it.

Really? You like it that much?

No, I actually haven’t ever tried it, but I heard it is really good.

Oh.

I used to laugh when a version of this exchange occurred. Seeking out a restaurant, product, or experience, someone gives an enthusiastic recommendation. And just when you get your hopes up, you realize they have no experiential authority for the endorsement. It may be that in good faith they are passing along another’s good word. It may be that they have been conditioned by targeted advertising. It often comes from a desire to be helpful, but almost always has an element of pedantic condescension. For if we move fast to an endorsement, maybe we can get some bonus credit, building our perceived authority with false confidence. I have always found it humorous how we can grab and pass along authority with no inherent knowledge of its truth.

At least it was humorous with a food order or purchase. It becomes more gut wrenching as it moves to other social matters.

One of the pervasive fruits of Silicon Valley’s fast movement has been the perfect tool to occupy our frenetic egos – social media. The ‘right’ to influence others no longer has to wait through the long work of education, experience, or editors. It has been freed for all. The more the talent in wielding it means the more the influencer must comment on anything and everything happening to remain relevant. No matter if it’s good or true or relevant or consistent with yesterday. We have to move fast and break things. Even more so when tomorrow comes.

Enter newsjacking.

Newsjacking has always existed, but has become a different phenomena with our current technology. The current oracle, AI, tells us that it is a “real-time PR and marketing strategy where a brand or individual injects its own ideas and expertise into a breaking news story or trending topic to gain media attention and promote itself.” Or to put it in another light, newsjacking is sharing news not to spread that news, but to gain standing or credit on some alternative agenda regardless of the news. It matters not whether people died or succeeded, were freed or held captive – only that this take was seen by more eyes and through ‘my’ lens.

This further floods all social media feeds with hot takes and reactions and memes and…well, it just goes on until the next event worthy to comment upon. No person can process all the information in time to share sound wisdom. With every post, we become more callous to the realities behind the viral moment. A disconnect forms between what is posted and what the poster feels. We become numb to the realities of each story and gear up for tribal fights rather than rallying to those in need or celebrating with the joyful.

Where is the church in all of this?  Calling us from our numbness to be present to the pain and joy of the events around us? All too often it has become another mouthpiece in this infotainment.

In the church’s desire to be relevant it has sometimes forgotten the news it proclaims should be good to be lived. Many churches, and their leaders, want to be helpful, but often desire to be heard speaking ‘prophetically’ or ‘relevantly’ to whatever issue is raised more than wrestling with the news itself. It can filter out its own pain in a desire to have the answer for others. 

Relevancy overtakes authenticity.

Following the news story can lead away from the GOOD NEWS still to be proclaimed.

There are many reasons why the church today has struggled to evangelise its surrounding neighborhoods. Evangelism at its heart is the sharing of good news. In the church, this good news is that Jesus has not only died on the cross for our sins, but that he is the King of the universe who will make all things new. Fleshed out, this means the sick should become well, the lonely should find community, families should become stronger, the addicted should be freed and connected – that all should come to live more healthy and holistic lives. Unfortunately this is not the lived reality of many in churches today.

Some churches today often declare the ‘correct’ theological, biblical, and evangelical concepts without evidence of belief, understanding, or joy to go along with the truths therein. The good news is no longer news affecting us but rather information to be wielded. Sometimes such hope is exported to other fields. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the church struggles to evangelise today.

In our hurry to keep up, some of us in the church have not taken the time to let the reality of the good news sink in. We repeat the good news without knowing it to be good ourselves. We desire to proclaim the fruits without the long, hard work of breaking the soil, tilling it, and being present for the growth necessary for the buds to begin to form. Maybe this comes from decades of living with instant gratification society. Maybe it comes from some bent desire to not have to live in every time or season of life. Maybe we’re stuffed, full, and tired. Maybe there is nothing new under the sun.

Evangelism does not lead to good news in our lives if we do not live by the truth of the gospel. Unexperienced proclamations of goodness, a lack of alignment of action and word, and a desire to use the gospel for worldly ends plagues us throughout the church today. The gospel becomes truncated in its expression because it has become limited in its effect on the whole of our lives. What is shared is sometimes not known, owned, or lived. What is shared becomes dismissed due to the fruit of the community. Trust is lost. Those who hear then flock to other proclamations.

Good news heard should be good news lived.

I will say it again in another way. Part of the church today struggles to share the gospel because it struggles to flesh out the good news within the body. Members attend worship faithfully, but avoid each other throughout the week. Conversations and plans of action can reveal an ignorance of biblical interpretation, spiritual disciplines, the commands of Jesus, and theological application. Hurting people are not offered wholeness through Christ and the community. Examples abound, but a truncated discipleship program has led to lower expectations for the bride of Christ. Church health and well being within allows for the faithful extension of sharing good news beyond the covenantal community. Churches need to care about the lives and situations of those within as they do their neighbors. They need to be healthy before they become places where the good news wells up from within and overflows to the community. Church should be a place where we can rest, have authentic community, and just be before our God we behold.

Consider Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If one desires self actualization and transcendence, then one first needs shelter, food, rest, safety, belonging, and confidence. The same is true for our churches. If we desire the church to be the Kingdom of God upon the earth and to spread into every community, we need to make sure those within know they have abundant provision from the King, healing from the Master, shelter under the Most High, a Sabbath rest, no coercion within the body, love throughout all of the congregation, unity in Jesus, and an understanding of how the Holy Spirit empowers them for the call.

When we try to share good news that we do not believe, live, or resonate with, it comes off discordant and disingenuous. We sense this with personalities newsjacking on Facebook and Twitter(x). It’s in the back of our mind when all influencers use the latest news story in attempts to be more Instafamous. We see the danger in implanting opinions into the news regardless of whether it is good. We must come to see the problems in proclaiming the Good News without it first being good in our lives.

Good news should give us joy. It makes us cheer and smile, stomp and clap, sing or shout, move and dance. It’s a phone call which incites us to make a dozen phone calls to ensure all know the current event that affects our loved ones. When it resonates within it becomes effortless for it to spill forth.

There is still much hope for the church in our day. Despite the negative claims there remain numerous examples of healthy churches multiplying in the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of the Father. Still the whole of the Church has yet to fully claim the deeper truths within Paul’s letter to the Corinthians – “God has put the body together…so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Cor. 12:24-26) We are joined with other Jesus followers. Our shared lives of pain and good news become the place from which we share the gospel to others. If they are not aligned, there will be no growth.

The world continues to manufacture more regardless of our health. It is easy to get caught up in the busyness of the production. Still, God’s mission to the world rests in the church – the multi-lingual, multi-ethnic movement of God inviting all to live in the reality of THE Good News by bringing together the broken pieces of lives needing rest and wholeness in God’s peace and love.

It is worthwhile to remember Jesus’ question to the invalid who had laid at the pool for 38 years (John 5). 38 years of not being healthy with attention turned to repeated proclamations of manufactured good news that did not bring health. 38 years of others passing by without health. 38 years bridged by a pointed question to the good news of health and joy beyond – “Do you want to get well?”

Christianity has been around for nearly 2 millenia and still there are blind who cannot see, lame who cannot walk, neighbors who are not loved, churches who do not love each other and the masses who do not know Jesus. Still, Jesus calls us to his Kingdom come.

Jesus still reigns. The Holy Spirit still moves. The church still gathers and scatters. Times have changed, and maybe move a little faster, but the good news is still good. Can we still ourselves and hear our Master’s call above the unrelenting noise? Does the church want to get well?

Share the Post:

Subscribe

Get articles about mission, evangelism, leadership, discipleship and prayer delivered directly to your inbox – for free

Related Posts

Shalom and Short-Term Missions by Angel Sigui

Shalom and Short-Term Missions by Angel Sigui

The Deeper Meaning of Shalom: More Than Just Peace

Shalom, the Hebrew word of greeting and parting, carries more weight than many imagine. Often translated as peace, many take it to simply mean ‘no fighting.’ In reality, shalom encompasses a set of values that extend beyond a mere absence of conflict. It’s a state of harmony within and without, something we all strive for in our work, daily life, family interactions, and our world. Jesus, the Prince of Shalom, made this pursuit central in the kingdom life. Whether you’re a Christian or not, you likely recognize the value of creating a better world for us and others. Shalom isn’t something we can buy; we have to pursue it actively.

 

Jesus as the Model for Short-Term Mission Work

When we think about eternity, it’s important to recognize that Jesus came to Earth on a brief mission trip. He exemplified the best approach to engaging in short-term mission opportunities. Key aspects of his time on Earth include cultural adaptation, the principle of incarnation, and lifting people out of their poverty, both spiritually and physically. All these elements contributed to fostering Shalom within the communities and individuals Jesus encountered daily. He did not seek to gain power or dominate the host culture. Instead, Jesus patiently taught kingdom values through both his words and actions.

So, what does Shalom have to do with short-term mission (STM) trips? Let’s break it down.

 

How Short-Term Mission Trips Foster Lasting Change

As a short-term missions leader, I have heard the phrase, “We thought we were coming to help, but we ended up being helped,” repeated by almost every team I’ve come alongside. Full confession, when I was a participant, I said it too. These trips, often in unfamiliar places, change how we see the world.

One experience in a rural Guatemalan village showed me this. A young mother brought her malnourished newborn to our makeshift clinic, her face full of fear. Had she waited another day, her daughter probably wouldn’t have made it. Our medical team provided nourishment and care for the rest of our time there. By the end, the baby had rosy cheeks and was full of life. The mother’s grateful smile lit up the room. Our team felt profound joy. It was a life-changing moment that showed me the implications of serving others in real, tangible ways. While the mother and the baby were the objects of our care and attention, we all felt profound satisfaction in seeing a miracle take place in the lives of that baby and her mother.

Some people question short-term missions, worrying these efforts are more about feeling good than doing good—a kind of “voluntourism.” But when these trips are done with the right motivation—not for my sake but to partner with God’s mission—along with local partnerships and focusing on sustainable efforts, they create real change. In Guatemala, our clinic worked with local leaders who continued to serve families long after we left, planting seeds of shalom that grew beyond our short stay.

 

Why Serving Others Brings Joy and Purpose

The STM experience is counter-cultural. Participants pay their way to volunteer, work hard without expecting a paycheck, and look out for each other, not just themselves. At the end of each day, I see team members go to bed exhausted but smiling, grateful for the chance to serve. Westernized cultures often push us to chase wealth, possessions, or the latest gadget. STM trips shift the focus outward. I’ve seen teams pour their energy into building schools, providing healthcare, and giving time and treasure to others. They call their experiences life-changing, rewarding, and joy-filled.

So I pause and ask, what if the key to happiness isn’t in getting that new fill-in-the-blank but in loving our neighbor—actively willing the good of the other? What if shalom is found in serving without expecting anything in return? What if we were created to put our gifts and talents to the service of others, finding harmony in simple acts like helping someone who can never pay us back? What if we leaned into the data of the studies that show volunteering lowers stress, boosts mental health, and builds stronger social ties? 

 

Finding Shalom at Home: Everyday Acts of Service

You don’t need to cross the world to find shalom. Small acts at home count, too. Find a local place like a rehab center where people are struggling to find their identity after letting drugs or alcohol shatter their lives and their families, and listen to their stories. Tutor a kid struggling in school, giving them the confidence to grow. Or just sit with a neighbor and let them know you care about them, building a bond that strengthens your community. 

When we engage in service, whether through a short-term mission or a simple gesture, we foster shalom. As we actively will the good of the other, harmony takes root in individuals,  families, communities, and beyond. As we look outward, to the other side of the street or  the other side of the world, we repeat the words of the prophet, “Here I am, send me!”

Share the Post:

Subscribe

Get articles about mission, evangelism, leadership, discipleship and prayer delivered directly to your inbox – for free

Related Posts

However We Witness, Witness We Must by Maxie Dunnam

However We Witness, Witness We Must by Maxie Dunnam

One of the privileges and responsibilities too many Methodist Christians ignore is witnessing. We take the way some Christians do it as the norm and that turns us off. We close our minds to the fact that some may never hear unless we share.  

I was blessed to chair the Committee of the World Methodist Council for 12 years. This gave me opportunity to travel the world and meet extraordinary Christians. One of those is Stanley Mogoba, the first black person to be elected the presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of South Africa.

About the time Nelson Mandela was sent to prison, Stanley met with a group of angry students and sought to dissuade them from violent demonstration. Just for that – trying to avert violence – he was arrested and imprisoned for six years on the notorious Robben Island. Mandela was already in prison there. His life and witness led to break the back of Apartheid, the awful governmental system of racial oppression in South Africa. He and Magoba became friends there in prison.

One day someone pushed a religious tract under Magoba’s cell door. Don’t ever forget: most persons who come to Christ do so not by big events, but by relationships and simple actions, like a person putting a tract beneath a prison cell door. By reading that little tract and responding to the Holy Spirit, lives forever changed. Magoba quoted the words of Charles Wesley’s hymn to describe his experience:

“Thine eye diffused a quickening ray
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
my chains fell off; my heart was free

God showed up, and something unexpected happened.

God who came unexpectedly at Pentecost, continues to show up, in persons, on the streets, in the Church. Some sort of witness shares in the redemptive process. It certainly doesn’t require a printed tract, but, more often than not, it requires some form of witness. That is the task of every Christian. How seriously are you assuming your task?

Share the Post:

Subscribe

Get articles about mission, evangelism, leadership, discipleship and prayer delivered directly to your inbox – for free

Related Posts

The Lost Art Of Testimony by Larry Frank

The Lost Art Of Testimony by Larry Frank

As a teenage follower of Jesus, I suffered from a terrible affliction. It was an ailment that primarily reared its head in communal gatherings. I was heavily involved in things like Chrysalis and camping ministry. My malady would arise whenever there was a time of testimony…I came to realize that I was suffering from a terrible disease called testimonius-enviousness. I would sink deep into my pew or chair and hang my head as people shared how Jesus had rescued them from teenage drug addiction or alcoholism, from a life of partying and sleeping around. They would share how at the lowest point of their lives, Jesus rescued them and they became followers of His. I really was grateful for what Jesus had done in their lives, but my testimony? It wasn’t that. Make no mistake, the change in me was huge after Jesus found me at a week of church camp when I was 14, but no one was ever going to have me highlight the testimony time. My depression, anxiety, loneliness and broken home didn’t make for a powerfully moving story. 

Okay, I made testimonius-enviousness up. But years of ministry have shown me I am not alone in this diagnosis. And, I really did have testimony envy. 

Now, as an older (and thankfully more mature) follower of Jesus, I see clearly the Holy Spirit’s work within me. I’m so grateful for what Jesus did to find me, and what He continues to do to help me reclaim my true, authentic humanity as I discover my identity as His beloved. I’ve also come to learn that the broader spread of testimony envy marks something unhealthy in our church. I’ve also come to believe that our own “church-culture” created this disorder. Far too often, when we need someone to share a testimony, we look for the most extreme and dramatic stories. I’ve been cured of my testimony envy.

It’s my belief that this culture, while likely well-intentioned, has helped us (especially those of us in the Wesleyan tradition) lose an essential practice–the sharing of testimony by everyday, ordinary followers of Jesus. Hear me, I love hearing how Jesus met people at the darkest points of their lives and brought them into His Kingdom–but sometimes I wonder what God has been up to in their lives since their conversion. My inoculation has also been a great revealer. God is indeed working in all of our lives in incredible ways – often more beautifully and powerfully in the days and years beyond conversion. We’ve just lost the art of sharing those everyday testimonies. It’s time to reclaim this lost art. 

From the earliest days of the Wesleyan Methodist movement, testimony was at the very heart of the community. Wesley and his followers understood that personal experiences of God’s grace were not private matters alone; they were indeed essential tools for discipleship, encouragement, and yes, evangelism. Speaking exclusively from my seat as a church leader in the West, testimony-sharing has been relegated to rare and special occasions or overlooked altogether. It is time to recover a practice of testimony in worship, small groups, and spiritual formation. 

The Biblical and Wesleyan Foundations of Testimony

Testimony is deeply woven into the tapestry of Scripture. After the Samaritan Woman’s encounter with Jesus in John’s Gospel, we read, “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’”* Likewise, the Apostle Paul, repeatedly shared his testimony in Acts 22 and 26, using testimony as a tool for evangelism. In the closing pages of Scripture, Revelation 12:11 reminds us that “They triumphed over him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.” 

John Wesley built on this firm Scriptural foundation by emphasizing testimony from the earliest days of our movement. He saw testimony as absolutely essential for spiritual growth and evangelism. The early classes and bands were marked by the regular sharing of experiences of God’s grace. Even Wesley’s key question, “How is it with your soul,” is more than a polite icebreaker but an invitation to testify to God’s goodness and faithfulness. 

Public testimony was also central to Methodist gatherings beyond small groups. At the Love Feast (quarterly communal meals inspired by Acts 2:46), participants were given opportunities to share how God was working in their lives. Kevin Watson, in his recent comprehensive history of Methodism in America, Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline, writes:

The highlight of the meeting was a time where members shared ways they had struggled and testified to triumphs of God’s grace over struggles and temptations. The love feast was a communal event that made visible and vocal how God had been at work in the lives of Methodists in the community that might have been more difficult to see otherwise.**

Wesley himself would write in his journal about one of these love feasts. God’s power was made known through the “honest simplicity with which several spoke, in declaring the manner of God’s dealings with them…[and] set the hearts of others on fire, and the flame spread more and more, till, having stayed near an hour longer than usual, we were constrained to part.”***

Testimony was far from a nostalgic practice, Wesley saw it as a dynamic tool for spiritual formation. Testimony was essential for:

  • Encouragement. Believers were strengthened by hearing others’ stories. Testimonies reminded everyone that grace was available and active.
  • Evangelism. For many, testimonies were more effective evangelism tools than theological argument or presentation.
  • Fostering Community. The act of sharing testimonies deepened relationships. The early class meetings were built on testimony. The sharing that happened in the meetings forged a deep bond between participants that aided in their shared pursuit of holiness instead of struggling in isolation. 

How Testimony Faded in the Modern Church

Despite the scriptural witness and importance in early Methodism, testimony has largely faded from modern worship and Christian formation. While by no means meant to be exhaustive, I’ve observed the following four factors that have contributed to this wane:

  • A Shift to More Structured Worship Services. Sermon-centric, attractional worship has eclipsed participatory, spirit-led gatherings in most churches. The act of testimony has often been squeezed out of worship services for the sake of time and more “trained” communicators.

  • A Cultural Discomfort with Vulnerability. In our age of carefully curated social media personas, a good number of Christians are hesitant to share personal struggles. Sharing testimony requires authenticity and a level of transparency, but our culture often encourages only polished, surface-level interaction.
  • A Fear of Emotionalism. Excessive emotionalism has caused many church traditions to be wary, and with good reason. Unfortunately, this has caused churches to distance themselves from testimony, fearing it could become overly dramatic.
  • A Rise of Hyper-Individualized Faith. The Western Church has shifted toward a privatized faith, where personal experiences of God are seen as exclusive rather than communal. This is contradictory to the Wesleyan movement, where corporate spiritual growth is emphasized.

Practical Ways to Revive Testimony in the Church 

I believe it is vital to revive the practice of testimony in the Church. Here are some practical steps to begin to restore this powerful practice: 

  1. Reintroduce Testimony in Worship. Churches can set aside a few minutes in each service for members to share stories of how God is working in their lives. Testimony should not be an occasional event but a regular rhythm. At the Church I serve, we have found that it is quite effective to have someone share testimony when highlighting a recent event, making a financial or volunteer ask, and at baptism services. In so doing, the entire congregation regularly hears testimonies from ordinary people, who, like them, are experiencing God’s grace in their lives. Each follows a basic format that answers 3 questions: What was life like before? What was a turning point? What has been the result? Oh, and by the way, anytime someone is going to share their story, get their permission to record it! Then churches have the option to do something like “Testimony Tuesdays” on social media, featuring short video testimonies of transformation.
  2. Host Testimony Nights and Love Feasts – When I was in high school, one of my pastors attempted to introduce the Love Feast as printed as a service in the book of worship. It was, well…it was bad. Crackers and water, and almost no one said a word. There is a better way to bring back the Love Feast. For example, the Campus Pastor of one of our campuses at Grace Church has revived the Love Feast, albeit without calling it such. Her campus hosts quarterly potluck and testimony nights. She recently told me that they always had a few potlucks a year, but she wanted to be intentional about hearing one another’s experiences with God. So about four years ago, they changed the potlucks from being just about food to being about testimony…with food! Each of their quarterly testimony nights have a theme such as gratitude, or service, or even a current sermon series. Aside from normalizing sharing one’s testimony of what God is doing in their life, she reports that “people get to know each other, find areas that they have in common, discover interesting things, and gain insight into what makes a person tick.” She also shares that deep friendships and even small groups have formed because of these testimony potlucks. This would not be a hard pivot for most churches to make.
  3. Encourage Testimony in Small Groups – Small group leaders should consistently invite members to share their spiritual progress, struggles, and victories. Remember, “how is it with your soul?” is more than an icebreaker. It’s an invitation to testimony. At Grace Church, we begin every meeting with “Glory Sightings” where we see where we have seen God at work since we gathered last. These mini testimony times help us to see God’s continuous work and to share in one another’s successes and struggles.
  4. Teach Testimony as a Spiritual Discipline – Just as we teach prayer and Scripture reading, we should be training Jesus followers how to share their testimony. Not just of their conversion, but of how God is active in their lives right now! The more we teach others how to share testimony, the more they see others sharing theirs, the more of a normalized rhythm it will become. 

Friends, we have the ability to cure “testimony-envy!” When testimonies are shared, we experience that which C.S. Lewis called “the good infection of the gospel” in personal story form:

He came to this world and became a man in order to spread to other men the kind of life He has–by what I call ‘good infection’. Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.****

Testimony is not just a relic of the past—it is a biblical, Wesleyan, and transformative practice that needs to make a comeback! When believers share their stories, the church is strengthened, and lives are changed. The work of God in our lives is preserved best by sharing it in community! If we truly want to see revival in our churches today, we must reclaim the lost art of testimony.

*John 4:39

** Kevin Watson, Doctrine Spirit and Discipline: a History of the Wesleyan Tradition in the United States, 154

***John Wesley, Journal, February 18, 1750, in Works, 20:321

****C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 154.

Share the Post:

Subscribe

Get articles about mission, evangelism, leadership, discipleship and prayer delivered directly to your inbox – for free

Related Posts

Light Stories (Part 3) by James Loftin

Light Stories (Part 3) by James Loftin

For Those who Believed in Christ as a Child, The Straight Highway

This is the final article in a series on offering help for writing an effective light story. Check out the first one here, and the second one here.

 

If you miss the opening scene of a book or movie, you often will not understand or appreciate the rest of the story. Beginnings are important. That is why I believe it is so important for us to create and use light stories (testimonies) that clearly introduce how and why we BEGAN to follow Jesus. In a prior article in this series, I noted that most conversion experiences fall into three categories: 

  1. Unconscious, “The Straight Highway” – when an individual is raised in a caring Christian environment and cannot remember a clear turning point or conversion moment
  2. Sudden, “The Downward Cycle” – when one has a quick and radical turning to Christ with little or no history of exposure to the faith or positive responses to Jesus’ invitation 
  3. Gradual, “The Hilly Road” – when one has had a number of opportunities to follow Christ throughout their life and makes a series of incomplete responses until finally they yield with total commitment.

I think of these categories as three journeys to saving faith in Jesus. Regardless of what path you took to begin following Jesus, your light story (testimony) can be used by God to change lives. The guidelines for writing  a light story I provided in the first article in this series are most helpful for people who had sudden or gradual conversion experiences. But those who were blessed to grow up in loving Christian homes have a different kind of challenge. How do you describe the wonderful reality of Jesus changing your life when you don’t remember how it all began

Have you ever heard or said something like this: “I don’t have a very exciting testimony. I grew up in a Christian home. I can’t remember a time when I did not believe in Jesus.” Take a moment now to reject that attitude. Every path to Jesus, every conversion, every light story is exciting. From death to life, from darkness to light, from loneliness to adoption into the everlasting family of God. What could be more exciting? However, the blessing of believing in Jesus early in life requires us to think carefully about how we tell our faith story, especially the opening scene.

The task of creating a brief and clear introduction to how and why you first believed in Jesus is particularly challenging for those who travel The Straight Highway. Your entire life was immersed in faith, the Bible, Jesus, Christian community and worship. There is no clear and sudden hundred- and eighty-degree turn in your life. When you entered the family of God, the angels rejoiced (Luke 15:10), but there were no headlines or social media posts announcing, “A Wild Sinner is Saved.” 

In my work with Christians around the world, I have seen hundreds of creative and effective testimonies. These friends put in the work, and they involved friends and family in fine tuning their language. I have included some characteristics of those stories here. At the end of the document, I have inserted some excerpts from actual testimonies. I pray that this information will help you craft your own light story.

  1. The biggest temptation is length and language. The tendency is to write your spiritual biography instead of a brief testimony (see #2). Even if the testimony is relatively short, it is challenging for Straight Highway converts to stop themselves from using insider language: Sunday School, our small group, my youth group, our Bible study, “John 3:16,” sin, and the Holy Spirit (of just “the Spirit”). The reason we use the linguistic shortcuts is because most of our conversations are with like-minded people, people who already know people. That language is fine with your Sunday morning small group, but when you take a coffee break with your colleague Mohamed on Thursday, you must adjust your language. Clarity is the key to an effective witness with unchurched or pre-Christian friends. 
  2. Too many details will distract listeners from the central truth: You said yes to Jesus and He has wonderfully changed your life. By omitting proper nouns (names of schools, churches, people, cities, camps, songs, books of the Bible, etc.), you are not creating a false account. It is incomplete on purpose: to help the listener focus on you and Jesus. 
  3. The witness is not designed to answer every question about the Bible, Jesus and faith. Light Stories communicate our love for the listener, our gratitude to God, and our passion about following Jesus. When the witness achieves that goal, the listener will almost always be curious about hearing more. Don’t confuse this Light Story with a gospel presentation in which key doctrines and corresponding Bible verses are used. In future discussions, as God opens that door, you can share much more about the wonderful ways you have experienced Jesus.
  4. It is beautiful to acknowledge your family as a key way you were introduced to God’s love. That is a great blessing that your listener may not have experienced. But only use 2-4 sentences to describe your family and faith background. Focus on your family’s love for Jesus. Their love and attendance at church is neither clear nor compelling.
  5. Consider a structure like this: “Unlike many people around the world, I grew up in a family that loved Jesus, and they loved me. In this environment, it was easy and natural for me to say yes to Jesus at an early age. You may wonder how a child could choose to believe in and follow Jesus. Certainly, a child can’t understand all the aspects of God and the faith. You are correct. A child cannot understand God —- But who can? When I said yes to Jesus as a child, I gave all I understood about myself to all I understood about God. But that was not the only time I said yes. Over the years, I have updated my faith and commitment numerous times. After years of study, I still have questions that are not fully answered in my mind. My faith today is similar to my faith __ years ago. Today, I give all I understand about myself to all I understand about God.” 
  6. Jesus once encouraged a group of adults to come to him like a child – simple faith (Matthew 18:2-4). What does that mean to you? Trust, humility, love, allegiance or what? How does that attitude relate to the yes you say to Jesus every day as an adult?
  7. Statements like “I have always been a Christian” are not helpful and are inaccurate. Since all of us are born in sin, every Christian has some type of conversion. A better way to communicate might be something like: “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t believe in and love Jesus.” 
  8. Consider an opening like this: I have been following Jesus for a long time. It was not a fast decision. It was a process. Have you ever been outside before dawn when the night was almost black? Did you pause long enough to watch the glow in the eastern sky grow until the light was warm and bright. That is a bit like how I came to believe and follow Jesus.  I do not know exactly when the sun rose, but I know this. The sun is shining on me now. Once I was walking in darkness, and now I’m walking in the light.
  9. Is an agricultural illustration helpful for your message? When I was very young, my parents planted this seed in my life: God is real. He loves you. You can know and trust him. I love my parents so I naturally received that seed. Over the years, family and friends watered the seed. Slowly but surely that seed grew into a plant. That plant – my life – continues to stretch toward the sun, the Son. I’m not sure when it happened, but I know it happened. I accepted the truth of Jesus, and I have committed my life to grow toward his love and guidance. 
  10. Consider telling one story that illustrates what Christ means to you as an adult. When you started believing as a child and that meant things to you then. How does belief in Jesus impact your life now, today?
  11. Some people who came to Jesus via The Straight Highway mention things that their early decision to believe saved them from: shame, consequences of sin that could last a lifetime, stress on their parents and siblings, and missed opportunities. 
  12. Although you heard about Jesus and were active in church as a child, was there ever a time that you wandered away – or thought about wandering (in your passion or your actions)? Choose a time that might relate to most listeners: pain, loss, disappointment, fear, failure, lack of meaning, etc. I have heard testimonies that include some pivotal moment in life: the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a major illness or injury, a moral failure, a period when they were preoccupied with materialism or some other challenge. How did you encounter Jesus at that point? How did you choose Jesus again? How did that decision relate to your decision to say yes to Jesus as a child?

Testimony Language used by Other People who Grew Up in Christian Families

As you consider how to write your light story, it might be helpful to see the language used by other people with similar journeys to Jesus. The following are excerpts from light stories of people I have known. 

Laralee: “When I was a child, my parents took us to church every Sunday. We learned about God, we learned about the Bible, we learned about Jesus. I learned about Jesus, but I didn’t really know Jesus. I learned the facts, but I didn’t really feel Jesus’ love for me. 

“When I became an adult, I began to want all of the things that I thought were important in life. I still remembered Jesus, but I wanted more. I wanted a good job so I would make lots of money and buy nice things. I wanted to be respected by my family and friends. I thought this was what life was all about. So, I spent my life getting all of these things. But something was missing.

“When I was 33 years old, I went to a new church. I met people there who weren’t living for the things I was living for. They were living for Jesus. Not only did they know about Jesus, but they felt Jesus’ love and loved Him back. And they shared that love with me. They wanted nothing more in life than to live for Jesus and to love Him with all that they had. I could see that their lives were different than mine: better, happier, more fulfilling. I wanted what they had. 

“Eventually, I dedicated my life to Jesus. And for the first time in my life, I felt the love of Jesus, and I knew that I had been forgiven for the bad things I had thought and done. I knew that Jesus loved me, and I started living every day to please him. I know this was what I was made for. I was made to be a follower of Jesus. And there’s nothing in the world I’d rather be.”

Madeline: “Growing up, my parents taught me about God and His Son, Jesus. I said that I believed in God and that I wanted to do what was right. But as I got older, I saw that I was really living for myself, for popularity and success, and not for Him.

“My first semester of college was difficult. Away from friends and family I felt lonely, classes were challenging, and my grandfather and a childhood friend of mine died within two months of each other.  I didn’t know where to turn. I remembered the God I had known as a child. I silently cried out to Him, and asked for help.  

“Shortly after that, a friend invited me to come with her to a small meeting of girls who studied the Bible together each week. I had known about God since childhood, but I never really understood that He loved me and wanted to have a relationship with me. I learned that God wanted me to rely on Him through the challenges I was facing. After many deep and honest discussions with the girls, I decided that I wanted to say yes to Jesus – again. I closed my eyes and just talked to God. I told Him that I wanted to live my life for His purposes, not my own. I had learned a great lesson. Without Jesus, my life was empty and without meaning, even self-destructive.  

“After first hearing about Jesus as a child, I have experienced many challenges in life. But I am so thankful for Jesus. He is a friend that I can trust, and He is always with me.”

Bill: “I first decided to follow Jesus when I was 12 years old, but I did not really understand what that would mean until many years later. I have prayed for God’s help most of my life, but only in recent years have I really begun to understand how good God is. He is the source of all that is good for me, my family and friends. The Bible is the source of wisdom and guidance that helps me know how to live day to day. It also helps me keep growing in my understanding of Jesus’ life for me and all those who follow Him. How can I not follow the One who loves me so much that he would give His life for me?”

Joe: “From the very beginning of my life, my parents loved me and taught me that there is one true God. He created the universe, and he is love. Throughout my childhood, I learned more about God and what it means to follow the Son of God, Jesus. 

“As I got older, however, I began to rely more on myself. I never rejected God; I just forgot about him. I thought that I could control my life. But then my life took turns that were complicated, painful, and scary. I began to realize that I wasn’t doing very well at controlling my life. Although I had learned about trusting God all my life, I was not placing my trust in God as an adult.

“It was my wife’s idea for us to start reading the Bible together each morning. These times of reading, discussion and prayer were like cool waters on parched earth. The more I listened for God’s guidance, the more peace and confidence I developed. It was like I had run into an old friend, someone who saved my life a long time ago, but I forgot to stay in touch with him. Despite my faults and failures, I realized again that God accepts me, loves me and has forgiven me. He is with me always, and that gives me confidence and clarity about the future.  

“My life is far from perfect, but I am so glad that God walks with me every day. I know I will continue to face struggles, but God is with me. And that makes all the difference.” 

A Final Invitation

This desire to communicate Jesus is one fruit of the Spirit’s presence in our lives. But we tend to use insider language when we talk about our faith. These testimonies encourage like-minded church members, but the impact on outsiders is diminished. As much as our church friends may need encouragement, I suggest that the greatest and highest purpose of your testimony is to bring light to darkness, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus to those who have not yet begun to believe and follow Him. That kind of testimony takes hard work and preparation. I pray that this series of articles have inspired and equipped you to create a light story that will be effective with friends who are not from your background and know little about your faith.  

In Matthew 5, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.” Receive those words and begin to build a taller lampstand for God’s glory and for the good of the world.

Share the Post:

Subscribe

Get articles about mission, evangelism, leadership, discipleship and prayer delivered directly to your inbox – for free

Related Posts

Light Stories (Part 2) by James Loftin

Light Stories (Part 2) by James Loftin

The Process of Conversion and Choosing Words that Connect

Stories have the power to move people. Authors, the movie industry, educators throughout history, and Jesus have used this method of communication. In my prior articles (here, here, and here), we discussed crafting our testimonies and identifying the three paths most saving faith journeys take. As you begin to create a brief and clear introduction to why you began to believe in and follow Jesus, you quickly discover the difficulty in finding language that is accurate but also effective for your listeners. How do we understand and explain this mysterious but wonderful experience of conversion?

For hundreds of years, theologians, philosophers and sociologists have tried to understand the nature and the process of religious conversion. Many have tried to create names for the various stages or steps of conversion. The reality is that conversion is not a simple linear process like driving from Atlanta to Orlando. An understanding of the various components of conversion, however, does help us better appreciate and communicate the beauty of God’s gift of life. Here are the stages of conversion listed by David Hesselgrave (Communicating Christ Cross-culturally):

  1. Discovery. I received a basic knowledge of God and the Gospel. 
  2. Deliberation. I began to think – How will I allow this information to impact my life?
  3. Determination. I made a decision, quickly or slowly. I believed in Jesus and committed my life to him.
  4. Dissonance. I learned that my new life was in conflict with many of my previous values and habits. I decided to follow Jesus no matter what. 
  5. Discipline. I choose to identify with the people of Jesus in his church and participate in God’s mission.

How do these stages match your faith journey? These stages may involve many years or a few minutes, but each stage is vital for a faithful, authentic, biblical conversion. Regardless of the nature of our faith journeys, God’s Spirit was working with us all along the way. A praying mother, a godly professor, a Christian book, a dramatic play, a loving friend, a chance conversation with  a stranger, or a personal crisis may have played a part in your decision to repent and accept Christ’s lordship (1 Corinthians 3:5-10; John 4:34-38). This is the beauty of God’s prevenient grace as the Spirit leading us to the moment we said yes (justifying grace).

My friend Dr. Robert Tuttle often talked about these touches of the Holy Spirit in our faith journeys. He thought of them as links in the chain of grace in our lives. There may be one link that stands out as THE Link. We may give it a date and refer to it as our conversion. That’s fine, but the chain is long, and every link is beautiful and wonderful. It’s all God’s grace.

Word Choices

In writing a brief and clear introduction to how and why you began to follow Jesus, it is critically important to avoid “Christianese” and “churchy” language. This is more difficult than you probably realize. In general, it’s usually best to avoid any proper nouns – the name of your church or camp where you had some experience such as Emmaus, the Passion Conference, or BreakThru Retreat. Here are some recommendations from friends who have rewritten their own testimonies after listening to the advice of people beyond their own culture, faith, and language groups:

  • Instead of “born again” use something like: spiritual birth, spiritual awakening, come alive spiritually, given a new life, or my eyes were opened.
  • Instead of “saved” use something like: rescued from fear and shame/guilt, delivered from despair, or found hope for life.
  • Instead of “lost” use something like: heading in the wrong direction, separated from God, felt so dark, had no hope, or had no purpose.
  • Instead of “gospel” use something like: God’s message to the world, the good news about Jesus’ purpose on earth or God’s message of hope for the world.
  • Instead of “sin” use something like: rejected God, missed the mark, fell off the right path, rebelled against God’s law, disobedient to God, did not respond to God’s love in a way that honored God, did whatever I wanted to, whatever made me feel good or going my own way with no thought of God.
  • Instead of “repented” use something like: admitted I was wrong, changed my mind, heart, or attitude – everything, decided to turn away, turned around, made a 180-degree turn from what I was doing, obeyed God or followed God’s Word.

Please Borrow My Friends

Many Christians are surrounded by people who live, think and talk in very similar ways. Almost all of their friends and family members identify themselves as some type of Christian. They go to a local church or they used to go. They live in a culture where they hear and see Christian language on a regular basis even outside the church world. Consider the messaging Americans often see or hear on billboards and words heard in television and social media interviews with athletes and politicians. And therein is our challenge when it comes to writing our light stories. In our normal lives, we can use language shortcuts and slang because everyone we know “speaks the same language.”

But if you want your faith story to be understood by people outside your group, you have to adjust. That’s difficult if you don’t have any relationships with outsiders. But you have my permission to borrow one of my friends. As your write and edit your Light Story, imagine that your first opportunity to share it will be with one of these friends:

  • Davis, a school administrator in China. He has had no exposure to Christianity other than the negative things he has heard from his government messengers.
  • Hannah, a medical researcher from Iran who moved to Arkansas. She is a devout Muslim who has never been to a church and knows almost nothing about the faith.
  • Keith, a farmer in North Carolina. Although he lived his whole life in the USA, he only went inside a church one time – as a child. He can’t recall even part of one Bible verse he might have heard somewhere. The only Christian song he recognized was the melody – not the lyrics – of Amazing Grace.

Your Job and God’s

To write an effective light story, we need to understand our own journeys to Christ and be diligent about using language that is understood by people who have not had our faith experiences. It takes hard work, but it is fun and very rewarding. 

To be clear, our job is to share; it is God’s job is to draw and convert people. We have a small but important role in God’s glorious mission of light. Sharing our testimonies with grace is a foundational part of Christian discipleship – regardless on one’s training, geography, vocation or temperament. We are – every disciple of Jesus – the light of the world.  

In the next and final article in this series on sharing our light stories, I will provide specific guidance for those who grew up in loving, Christian homes. This is a great blessing, but it requires us to be careful in our language choices if we want pre-Christian friends to understand our stories. 

Share the Post:

Subscribe

Get articles about mission, evangelism, leadership, discipleship and prayer delivered directly to your inbox – for free

Related Posts

Light Stories (Part 1) by James Loftin

Light Stories (Part 1) by James Loftin

Regardless of what type journey took you to Jesus, here is help for writing an effective Light Story.

Every person who has been transformed by Jesus has the desire to communicate God’s grace in a way that others will be curious and motivated to seek Jesus themselves. This desire to communicate Jesus is one fruit of the Spirit’s presence in our lives. 

In a previous article, I invited readers to write their own Light Story, a brief and clear introduction to why and how you first began to follow Jesus. Perhaps you have shared some version of your testimony many times. That’s great, but keep reading. We tend to use insider language when we talk about our faith. These testimonies encourage like-minded church members, but the impact on outsiders is diminished. In Matthew 5, Jesus invites us to build taller lampstands to shine God’s light. In Colossians 4:3-6, Paul asks for prayer so that he might proclaim the Good News clearly, and he invites us to “be wise in the way you act toward outsiders.” In I Peter 3:15, Peter invites us to “prepare to give an answer,” that is to do the work to be effective in communicating the Gospel. With hard work and prayer, a Jesus follower can create a faith story that will be more effective with friends who are not from their background and know little about their faith. 

Over the years, I have worked with countless Christians as they wrote their light stories. The most common comment they have shared is something like, “This was much harder than I expected, but I’m so glad that I took the time.” It is a challenge to know what words to use to describe the miracle of salvation. Part of the difficulty is related to the various paths we take to Jesus. Whatever your journey has been like, this series of articles provides guidance in writing a light story that will be effective in almost any context.

Just as we all have different personalities and fingerprints, our journeys into the family of God also vary. There is general agreement among researchers that most conversion experiences fall into three broad categories: (1) sudden; (2) unconscious – when an individual is raised under the influence of Christian beliefs and cannot document a clear turning point, and (3) gradual. I like to think of these categories as three journeys to saving faith in Jesus.  To write an effective testimony, it is helpful to first think about your specific journey. Which of these best describes your journey of faith?

  1. The Straight Highway (“unconscious”)

Some of us experience Jesus early in life through loving families and friends, and our faith grows and  develops over the rest of our lives. As a young child, they responded to Jesus with all the faith and commitment that a young child can offer. As they got older, their faith grew just as everything else in their life was growing. As a teenager, there were new challenges – and these young believers updated their commitments to Christ. Something similar happened in college. And that pattern has continued season after season. The Straight Highway gently rises before us as we walk with Jesus, grow in our faith, and shine his grace brighter and brighter every day.

I think this is God’s preferred plan – healthy, loving families who consistently demonstrate and communicate the grace of Jesus. One of the many benefits of the Straight Highway is that converts and their families do not have to suffer through the wild disobedience of adolescence and the related consequences.

However, people who have this journey sometimes whine a bit when they begin to write their testimonies. “But my life has been so boring.” “I never had a wild period.” “I grew up in the church.” If that sounds familiar, take a minute to thank God for the miracle of your salvation. He has a vested interest in helping you craft a witness that honors him and creates curiosity in your listeners. There is nothing boring about Jesus. If this is your journey, I provide some specific guidance on writing your stories later in this document.

  1. The Downward Cycle (“sudden”)

There are those who were unaware of God’s grace for a long portion of our lives. Although God had been loving us and working in our lives all along our journey, we never knew this, or we just rejected the thought. Finally, at just the right time, God broke through to our heart of hearts. God may have used the voice of a friend or a preacher or a family member. God may have used the Bible or other Christian literature. God may have used a crisis in your life or a supreme joy. But something woke you up. Perhaps you received new knowledge about God, or something you had previously heard suddenly became True in your heart. You realized that you had a need and desire for God, and you said yes to God’s grace with belief, repentance and gratitude. You entered the family of God. The direction of your life changed quickly and radically. Your priorities and behavior took a hundred- and eighty-degree turn. 

Those who experienced The Downward Trail before conversion may have less trouble focusing your testimonies on a relatively concentrated period of time. In a moment or over a period of hours, days or weeks, you moved from darkness to light. You may, therefore, be able to relate to the radical and quick change that Jesus worked in Paul’s life that is described in Acts 9. You too suddenly began walking with Jesus on a new road toward a wonderful destination.

Sometimes this instantaneous or sudden type conversion has been seen as the norm or even the only true conversion. This narrow thinking is biblically unfounded and can cause authentic Christ followers who have different journeys to doubt their salvation. 

  1. The Hilly Road (gradual)

James Engel describes this journey of conversion as:

…the most common manner in which those with little or no prior exposure or meaningful Christian background come to faith in Christ. It can extend over quite a period of time and encompass a progressive change from rejection of Christianity to acceptance. It may climax in what appears to be sudden conversion, but the act of turning or decision is secondary to the process itself. (The Road to Conversion: The Latest Research, posted by MissioNexus https://missionexus.org/the-road-to-conversion-the-latest-research/)

People on this journey were exposed to the grace of God in various times and places over a period of weeks, months, or years, but our responses to God were fickle. Sometimes we acknowledged God’s grace with gratitude, but our dominant responses were procrastination or rejection. There were many ups and downs in our journey. At times, we are sorry for our sins and pledged to do better. At other times, we ignored God and willfully made wrong turns. But the Hound of heaven persistently pursued us. Eventually we came to our senses and said yes to our Savior with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength. Our lives were transformed, we began to follow Jesus, and our journey has become more purposeful, peaceful, and joyful. The road of our lives has become straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

Regardless of what type of conversion journey you have had, there is only one way to enter the family of God. Jesus is the way. In response to his grace, we believe, repent, and pledge our unwavering allegiance to follow him. 

The Lord was with You All Along the Journey – Even When You Were Unaware

In a sense, there are actually no instantaneous conversions. All of us are converted through a series of holy touches by the Spirit of God. One beautiful aspect of Wesleyan theology is the concept of prevenient grace. This term relates to the persistent love of God focused on a person prior to their conversion. God moves, protects, and guides every life prior to justification when they say yes to God’s grace. We are unaware of most of these holy touches as they happen, but after conversion, we can appreciate many things we did not see earlier. 

Take a minute now to review your journey. As you look back, there are many obvious moments when God broke through to you and you responded in some way. But linger a bit longer in sanctified remembering. What were some of the less obvious occasions when the Spirit was guiding, protecting or revealing grace? Take a moment now to thank God for those events and persons. As you sing Amazing Grace, remember to include these acts of prevenient grace along with the way you experienced God’s justifying grace.

Regardless of what path you took to begin following Jesus, your light story can be a powerful and effective tool that lifts high the light of Jesus. Empowered by the Spirit, your brief testimony will lead people from darkness to light. This is your most basic and important ministry tool. In the next two articles in this series, I will provide guidance on how to make language choices related to your specific journey to Jesus and examples that might inspire your own writing.

Share the Post:

Subscribe

Get articles about mission, evangelism, leadership, discipleship and prayer delivered directly to your inbox – for free

Related Posts

What Is Our Worth? by Rob Haynes

What Is Our Worth? by Rob Haynes

I am often fascinated with stories of people who unknowingly purchase rare and valuable items at a second-hand sale. A small bowl bought for just $35 at a sale in the US State of Connecticut has turned out to be a rare 15th-Century Chinese artefact from the Ming Dynasty. It was one of only seven such bowls ever made and was worth nearly one-half million dollars.

How exactly the bowl found itself being sold at a Connecticut outdoor sale remains a mystery. To the average person, the untrained eye, any object appears to be normal, unexceptional. That’s because all we can do is look at the outside. What is presented before me? What do I know of my very short encounter with it. I make value judgments on what is seen, not what is unseen. However, to the authority, the expert, to the one who knows the object better, it is of great worth. So much so, that it would be considered to have value beyond measure.

This is just an echo of what James is trying to convey to his hearers, and to us, in James 2:1-13. In this passage, some people are looking at others and deciding their value based upon external appearances. James writes to a gathering of Christians who encounter struggles in their society that favors some people of wealth and certain ethnicities. The culture represses the outsiders and these habits are seeping into the young church. 

To put it in a scenario that might happen today: Someone with fancy jewelry and expensive clothes is greeted warmly by the ushers at the door on a Sunday morning. They say, “Hey, right this way. Sit on the front row so we can show you off to everyone.” And the wealthy person is thinking “Good. That’s where I wanted to be—where everyone can see me.” And the ushers walk away saying, “Wow, I can’t wait to see what he puts in the plate!”

They go back to the door to greet someone else. This time, it is someone with poor clothes, maybe they are dirty, a little smelly. The ushers say, “You go sit in the back, over in the corner. As a matter of fact, pull up a piece of the floor and sit there.” James points out that they have a case of spiritual nearsightedness. One person arrives late because he wants to be seen by everyone. The other one arrives late because she does NOT want to be seen by everyone.

We forget that the people we see before us are more than what we see on the outside. Verse 4 tells us that this sort of favoritism, discrimination is from our own motives, and James points out that this is not of God. Rather, it is evil. He says that when we make distinctions, we are operating not in God’s direction, but our own. We are judging when it is up to God to be the judge. 

Jesus gave us what many call the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31) Too often, we have accepted the corrupted version of that: “The one who has the gold sets the rules.” In our culture, we look too much to celebrity status or fame to give us our direction. The culture may look to someone who has made lots of money, and think their value is more than another’s. Or maybe is the one who can hit the ball the furthest, score the most goals, entertain me the most, and so on. 

One problem with this sort of thinking is that all of those things are fleeting. They will not last.  Another problem is that we might get the idea that our own value is less than another’s if we do not have one of those attributes that the culture values. These are not the ways that God sees us.

In God’s eyes, our worth is not in our abilities or esteem that the culture values. Our worth is not in our performance or ability to look presentable before others. God didn’t start loving you when you got your act together. God doesn’t stop loving you when you feel like you’re coming apart at the seams. God’s love for you isn’t based on your perception of your performance for him. He simply, completely, undeniably, and extravagantly loves you. If you feel like you’re found in a museum or a second-hand sale, it doesn’t matter. Embrace the extravagant offer that Christ makes to each of us to find our worth in him.

Share the Post:

Subscribe

Get articles about mission, evangelism, leadership, discipleship and prayer delivered directly to your inbox – for free

Related Posts

Upon Arrival by Rob Haynes

Upon Arrival by Rob Haynes

My favorite part of any airport is the arrivals lounge. Everyone in the arrivals area seems to be full of happiness. Travelers are happy that they have arrived after their journey. Their friends and loved ones are happy to see them. Shuttle drivers are happy to see their passengers. The place is full of smiling faces.

In some airports, you see travelers get picked up outside the terminal building on the curb. A long line of cars moves along as travelers jump into cars and speed off. Surely, those people are happy as well. But there is just something about the inside arrivals area that warms my heart. You might see signs welcoming a loved one home from military service or from medical treatment or from a time of study in a far away place. To see those loved ones eagerly awaiting someone from my plane makes me smile. They look past me to see the one they expect to greet with great celebration. They want to welcome the long-expected one home.

In Luke 4, we see Jesus arrive home to teach in the synagogue. Luke records it this way:

16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 

20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

Luke 4:16-21

To those in the synagogue that day, the Isaiah passage would have been a familiar one. It speaks of the long-expected One who would set things right. This prophecy of the Lord’s anointed was the impetus for great hope for anyone who is poor, captive, blind, or oppressed. He is saying, “The one you have been waiting generations to see has arrived! Time to celebrate!” The people could be holding up signs and carrying balloons and shouting for joy. They only meet him with confusion and disregard. However, we see in the gospels that Jesus delivered on these promises. Was it only in his time on Earth that delivered on these promises? Let’s take a closer look at each of these.

Who are the poor? The Greek text here says: “To evangelize poor people” A look at the text tells us that the meaning of the phrase is “Poor in Spirit” and is the same that we see in the Sermon on the Mount.

Who is captive? The Greek here for “release” used here can be translated “forgiveness” or “remission.” And the word for “captives” means a “prisoner of war.” We are captive to our sin and need forgiveness and remission from that which separates us from God, ourselves, or from others. Jesus is the only one that can release us from captivity to our sin.

Who is blind? There are many accounts of Jesus healing both physical and spiritual blindness. This helps us see that Jesus can give us all the sight to see the world as it should be. 

He also sets the oppressed free. The meaning of this phrase could also give the idea of “bruised now have liberty.” Who are the ones in your community who are bruised by others, by society, and by circumstance? 

There is another important and related account where Jesus arrives on the scene quite unexpectedly. The evening of the first Easter, the disciples are locked in the Upper Room. The last 72 hours have been tumultuous, at best. They are POOR, spiritually. It’s been an awful few days.

They are BLIND, it’s night and their future is dark. They are CAPTIVE: they’ve locked themselves in. They are BRUISED, all their hopes have been dashed by Jesus’ death, and there are only rumors of his resurrection. They haven’t seen it for themselves. Then Jesus arrives on the scene:

21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

John 20:21

Did you catch that? As the Father sent Jesus, he sends his disciples. That is any who would follow Jesus. That means we do the things he did and teach the things he taught. Though the world may not realize it, they are looking for Jesus’ message. They are standing at the arrivals lounge of their hopes, dreams, and expectations. They are setting their gaze on things that are making them poor, captive, blind, and oppressed. In the pattern of Jesus, we are called to let them know that the One they are waiting on has arrived. He has what they are looking to see. It is our job and privilege to announce the arrival of One they seek. Who will you proclaim that today?

Share the Post:

Subscribe

Get articles about mission, evangelism, leadership, discipleship and prayer delivered directly to your inbox – for free

Related Posts

The Congregation As Evangelist by Maxie Dunnam

The Congregation As Evangelist by Maxie Dunnam

It’s interesting to note that Jesus’ final commandment to evangelize never mentioned ministering to the hungry and sick. Before his crucifixion he had pictured the last judgment as a time when his true disciples would be separated from the unfaithful. He made one distinction between the faithful and the unfaithful. The true disciples would be those who have carried out his great commission to care for the distressed (Mathew 25: 31-46): “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Yet his test of true discipleship never referred to evangelizing. Did Jesus not know his own mind? George Sweazy insists there is no contradiction here. “There is just one commandment by which all will be tested – the commandment to care for those in need. There is no great commission without the great commandment.” Looking out over the city in all its misery, it was physical suffering that Jesus mentioned. At his departure into the heavenly glory, it was spiritual needs of which He spoke. Each implies the other. Those are the twin aspects of the Gospel. 

“Our talking so much about a polarization between personal evangelism and the social gospel is absurd. The church was born out of concern for the whole person, the whole world, the whole gospel. We are not allowed to choose whether to be an evangelistic or a social gospel Christian. The world can never have enough of either.” (The Church as Evangelist, San Francisco: Harper and Row; 1978. p. 21)

Throughout my ministry I have reminded my congregations and the students at Asbury Seminary that Methodism at its best has always held these two aspects of the gospel together. John Wesley said, “The Gospel of Christ knows of no religion but social; no holiness but social holiness.” There was no holiness apart from the community. It doesn’t hurt us to be redundant and keep telling the folks that well-known historians believed that England escaped a revolution like that in France only because of the Wesleyan combination of evangelism and social action. The English trade union movement started in Methodist meeting houses. The Wesleyan revival roused concern for public health, hospital care, prison reform, public education, and the abolition of slavery.

So, again, maybe the local church needs to be evangelized to evangelize. We need to be deliberate in our churches in “making disciples” who will in turn “make disciples.” We must nurture and cherish the bond between word and deed, ideas and consequences, beliefs and actions. And the primary place where this kind of evangelizing can and must take place is the local congregation.

I think of the last congregation I served. A young man, Don, was converted, made his profession public and was baptized. During the Christmas season, soon after his profession he played his guitar and sang,”Gentle Mary Laid Her Child.” What a witness! On the following Sunday, he was singing, “There’s one who is greater, there’s one who is waiting, just let Jesus take your hand”- singing about the Messiah. 

When he sang for us in that worship service, I thought about how he came to be in our church. It wasn’t this preacher who won him to Christ. It was Martha and Don, a young lay couple who had had a transforming conversion experience in our church. They were this young man’s neighbors. Their lives were so transformed by Christ that they captured Don’s attention; their performance and their profession spoke to this young Jewish person, and their witness is really what won him.

Martha and Don embodied the personal kind of evangelism as a crucial part of what we have talked about: the congregation as evangelist, with persons witnessing in word and deed, centered in Christ, waiting on the power and timing of the Holy Spirit, growing in the grace of full discipleship, sharing in the congregation as evangelist.

Share the Post:

Subscribe

Get articles about mission, evangelism, leadership, discipleship and prayer delivered directly to your inbox – for free

Related Posts