By Keith Taylor,
NAMB Evangelism Response Center Intern,
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

“What is the ERC?” That is the question I have the opportunity to answer every time I mention the Evangelism Response Center (ERC) to pastors and students. Despite being in existence for several years, many Southern Baptists have not heard of the ERC. They are not familiar with how regular Southern Baptists are using technology to share the good news of Jesus Christ. The ERC ministry is the twenty-first-century evangelism tool.

What is the ERC?

The Evangelism Response Center is a ministry of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) funded through Cooperative Program giving and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering of Southern Baptists. Dr. N.S.R.K. Ravi is the ERC Coordinator. According to him, the idea had been around for some time. “In 2006 the ERC developed new strategies to help Southern Baptist churches, associations, state conventions and agencies by providing a 24/7/365 evangelism tool to lead callers to Jesus Christ by the SBC volunteers from their own homes. Callers use toll free numbers for spiritual help and prayer needs.”

How does the ERC work?

People seeking spiritual help call 1-888-JESUS-2011 and other associated numbers. They may get this number from a variety of sources. It is used by SBC related ministries on TV, radio, print ads and articles, billboards, subway signs, tracts, t-shirts, handouts, church bulletins, and many other places that groups and churches have come up with to advertise the number. Many of the callers I have talked with do not even remember exactly how or where they got the number.

When respondents call the toll free number, they are connected to a trained volunteer Telephone Encourager (TE). This is where the technology comes into play. TEs log into the system from home or anywhere they want to receive calls and incoming calls are automatically forwarded to them on a rotating basis. The technology even allows callers to select to speak to someone in either English or Spanish. These TEs share the gospel with callers and pray with them.

The process does not stop with the end of the conversation. If a caller makes a decision to receive Jesus, their contact information is recorded and forwarded to the ERC, who then connects the new believer to a local congregation called a Covenant Church. These Covenant Churches across the nation agree to make contact with new believers within 72 hours and report back to the ERC. If no Covenant Churches exist in the vicinity of the caller, the information is forwarded to either the local Baptist Association or the state Baptist Convention. The ERCs goal is not simply to share the gospel, but to connect new believers to local congregations that can encourage and support them in their new faith.

According to Dr. Ravi, the ERC received almost 17,000 calls in 2010, resulting in approximately 1,900 decisions for Christ and 1,400 referrals to Covenant Churches. The potential exists to reach many more through this ministry and the ERC has established and maintained several relationships in an effort to do so. One such relationship is with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. This partnership provides the ability to meet high call volume demands during certain events. Another partnership is with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief efforts. Long after relief workers have returned home, the ERC remains ready to pray and answer questions for many people who are trying to rebuild their lives. Finally, the ERC maintains a faculty contact and student intern at each of the Southern Baptist seminaries to promote this useful evangelism tool among current and future church leaders.

Is ERC available online?

At its annual meeting in September, the ERC unveiled an exciting new means of sharing the gospel – internet chat. The premise is still the same, only instead of talking over the phone, respondents and encouragers communicate via an online chat room. Churches, associations, organizations, and even individuals can place the link to this chat on their websites. The link can even be shared over social media such as Facebook. Smart-phone technology further allows Internet Encouragers to share with others via chat from anywhere they can receive a cell phone signal.

How does ERC bring lost people and churches together?

The ERC is another example of how Southern Baptists can accomplish much more when we cooperate. The ERC provides churches, associations, and convention entities with a resource for personal follow-up that is available 24-hours a day, something that would severely strain a local church’s resources.

The anonymous nature of the service is also a tremendous advantage. Many people who seek help over the phone or internet do so because they either do not know where else to find help, or are nervous about even speaking to someone about Jesus. This is especially true of those from other religious backgrounds. I have had the incredible privilege personally of answering questions about the Bible and Jesus to a Jew over the phone, and listening as he prayed to the “God of Abraham and Isaac” to profess his need for Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Many other volunteers have testified to similar experiences from other religious affiliations as well.

“We need to use technology to reach people for Christ. The tragedy of the church today is that evangelicals are biblical but not contemporary in technology. The world uses contemporary technology more than us. We need both faithfulness to the Word and sensitivity to the modern world,” Dr. Ravi said.

How can the ERC help your church?

There are a number of ways the ERC can help local congregations. Southern Baptist churches that desire to do so can make the commitment and become Covenant Churches. They will then be able to receive the contact information of those that make professions of faith in their local area. These new believers are potential new members that need discipleship and fellowship.

Secondly, any Southern Baptist entity may use the number 1-888 JESUS 2000. This means your church can publish it on materials you hand out such as Bibles or tracts, for outreach or evangelistic events, even on your church website. At times of the day when someone calling your church may get only a voice mailbox, they will actually be able to talk to a volunteer at the ERC.

The ERC is a fantastic tool to use alongside an evangelism emphasis in your church. It provides the opportunity to promote an evangelistic lifestyle. It also provides an opportunity to train your people in evangelism. Finally, it helps encourage people to become more comfortable sharing their faith with others through real experiences doing so.

How can you get involved?

Get the word out. The methods of doing so are limited only by your imagination. The technology, volunteers, and covenant churches are of no use if the lost do not have access to them. As already mentioned, the toll free number and chat link are available for you to use. They are not intended to take the place of sharing Jesus with others personally, but rather are tools available to help support and supplement your efforts.

Become a Telephone/Internet Encourager. Although about 6,000 volunteers have been trained, only 2,000 of those are active and of those, only about 500 volunteers are regulars. This may sound like a lot, but consider that volunteers are needed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks out of the year. The ERC needs volunteers like you to make sure that every caller talks to a real person who can pray and share the gospel with them. Of particular need are Spanish-speaking volunteers.

Become a Covenant Church. If all we do is share the gospel with others, then we are not fulfilling the great commission. Disciple-making involves much more. The ERC needs committed churches to come along side and help nurture new believers at a time when they are most vulnerable. The ERC presents Covenant Churches with the incredible potential to receive new members and perhaps even connect to areas of their community previously unreached.

While there is nothing new about sharing Jesus over the phone or internet, the ERC uses technology in a unique way to allow people to connect from their own home, their office, or even their car. While I live in New Orleans, I had the opportunity to pray with a young lady that called from Oklahoma. The ERC provides another tool as we seek to share the gospel with this generation, one that increasingly communicates and exchanges ideas using mobile devices and the internet. Now that you know what the ERC is, what is preventing you from getting involved?

Contact:

Keith Taylor, ERC Intern, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
kwt.glider@gmail.com

or

Linda Trambley, Ministry Assistant, Evangelism Response Center
770-410-6383 – Voice
678-624-3389 – Fax
www.erconline.net

By Michael Edens, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Professor of Theology and Islamic Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Edens served as an IMB missionary in the Arab world for 26 years.

A friend of this blog recently wrote, “I was wondering if you could have someone write an article for the SBC Today on what Muslims believe about witnessing.” The reader continued, “I have a . . . friend who is Muslim. When I write things on my blog about God, she writes that she likes what I say, but is always talking about no one knowing about the unseen.” At the time Dr. Lemke sent those comments to my email account, I was leading a seminar among Indonesian Christians on the subject of witness for Christ with Muslim neighbors.

So, what I think our reader is asking is, “What are the pitfalls in trying to be a Christian witness? What are some things to do or be in sharing a witness with Muslim neighbors?” As to what the Muslim lady means by, “no one knowing about the unseen,” I will take an educated guess about what she meant.

Motivational Pitfalls

“What are the pitfalls in trying to be a Christian witness?” These pitfalls are in two groups: motivational and conceptual. Concerning motivations or the abstract pitfalls, you will notice that I am not talking about witness “to” Muslims but “with” Muslim neighbors. There is much witness “to” Muslims. Witness “to” Muslims can take many shapes and forms and be valid. “With Muslim neighbors” is governed and framed. I use “with” to signify several things. The attitude of “with” is coming alongside: caring, compassionate, and understanding. We who by grace have heard and committed to the matchless Savior, Jesus Christ, NEED to be with or alongside of those who have not heard the truth or know it is personified in Him.

In addition, you can expect that a neighbor and person alongside might want to share with you also. “With” assumes and welcomes that sharing for two reasons. First, persons need to be seen and heard. Listening is a good activity for neighbors. Second, the varieties of Muslims are as plentiful as Christians. A witness with a neighbor must be informed as to who that neighbor is. Through this, I have assumed that we are committed to being a neighbor and recognizing a Muslim as a neighbor. In saying these things, I am seeking to define the abstract pitfalls of relating a Christian witness to our Muslim neighbors. Another way to think about this is to examine our motives. I have had friends and team members who were in some way against the Islamic religion or culture, and that was a major motive for their witness. They needed to settle a score or win a competition. “Witness with” is to be more about faith and the transformation that the cross of Christ brings into a human life than religion or culture. If our motivation for witness is that the matchless love of God, personified in Jesus Christ, has gripped us, and He died for our neighbor also, we will overcome obstacles to witness.

Conceptual Pitfalls

The second group of pitfalls are conceptual. For one thing, the concept of gender-specific witness is hard for most Westerners to accept. If your Muslim neighbor is a first or second generation immigrant or a visitor from overseas and of the opposite gender, consider your task to be light seed sowing and introducing that neighbor to a committed Christian of the same sex as your neighbor. Your role then is prayer partner. Don’t desert your neighbor after that introduction.

This leads to the second concept — we are part of God’s outreach to this neighbor. God has been working in our neighbor; join Him along with your Christian friends. Involve others with your neighbor. Trust God to have other contacts for the Gospel with our neighbor. Do and be your part in God’s network drawing our neighbor to Himself in Christ. The third concept relates to the first two. We do not need to “tear down” Islam or Islamic ideas or persons to share Christ and what He has done in our lives. Part of being “with” our neighbors is giving them the freedom to ask probing questions, like: “Have you considered leaving Christianity” (sometimes phrased “Why don’t you become a Muslim?”) or “What do you think of the Qur’an and/or Muhammad?” If we are tempted to give an angry, dismissive, or flippant response, we need to reconsider those first pitfalls again. We need to be able to answer these questions personally and respectfully. For instance, I continue to follow Jesus and trust my life into His hands in part because His love has touched me in every part of my person, and He continues to call me to a closer, more intimate relationship with God; His love forgives, encourages, and transforms me. We have many reasons our neighbor needs to hear.

“What are some things to do or be in sharing a witness with Muslim neighbors?” From all I have written before, it should be obvious we MUST be loving and open. Openly confess you are a follower of Christ or one of the “people of the Book” which the Qur’an mentions. If you identify yourself as a Christian be sure that you qualify the term as one who is committed to constant obedience of God through Jesus Christ. For many Muslims “Christian” just refers to Western culture. Open your family to your Muslim neighbor. Neighbors eventually know us warts, flaws and all. Trust that in our weaknesses they will see God’s mercy and grace. Quote and allude from your Bible appropriately. Few Muslims have any confidence in our Bible being God’s Word. You will learn what they have been taught. When you do, thank God that He brought a neighbor to you so you could live and speak out your respect for the Bible. You do not need to defend it. Just demonstrate that the Bible is your manual for life. Over time your neighbor’s respect for you as a person will be extended to the Book which anchors your life.

Varieties within Islam

As to what the Muslim lady meant by, “no one knowing about the unseen,” I will take an educated guess about what she meant. This Muslim lady is from one of the countries I have lived in; however, in that land several distinct versions of Islam co-exist, which may have much to do with her statement. But I think she is addressing one of the huge problems of witness with Muslims. One if not the central purpose of the biblical God in revealing the Bible, inspiring its translation, and preserving it for us is to reveal Himself. God’s love for lost humanity is a dominant storyline of the Bible. The Qur’an reveals things about deity and conveys decrees for humanity. God (Allah) is spirit, unseen and unapproachable in a relational way. I think this is her conceptual problem. We are talking as if we know God and walk in Him and actually belong to Him. If it were not His gracious gift it could not be; but how is she to know unless she observes a life so lived.

By Joe McKeever, Preacher, former Pastor of seven churches, and retired Director of Missions at the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans.

In the summer of 1964, I arrived on campus at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to work on a degree that would train me to pastor a church. Among the unexpected delights of that multifaceted experience (which would last three years, with another 2 years in the early 70s) was the chapel services. The seminary brought in various outstanding (and a few average) speakers to address the faculty and student body.

That’s where I first heard H. L. Hunt of the oil fortune, Pastor R. G. Lee, Evangelist Eddie Lieberman, Missionary statesman Baker James Cauthen, and Mitsuo Fuchida.

For these forty-plus years, that name has held an honored place in my mind, even though I remember absolutely nothing he said that day. It was who he was that carved out a special spot inside this young preacher’s heart.

Mitsuo Fuchida was a bomber pilot for Japan in the Second World War. In fact, he led the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Once the planes were off the aircraft carriers and in the air headed for their destination, Fuchida was in charge. He became a great hero to his people and was active in practically every phase of that conflict.

Not long ago, while reading about Fuchida online (thank you, Wikipedia), I discovered several books tell his story and are available. I ordered “God’s Samurai” by Gordon Prange (published in 1990, so it can be bought used for a pittance) for one reason: I wanted to see what God did to capture such a prize convert for His glory.

Brother, did I find out. The story of how this warrior and Shinto-worshiper came to Jesus Christ is one for the ages. It may be one of the best testimonies of God at work in a man’s life I have ever read.

The first thing that hits you the reader is the numerous close calls Fuchida had. Clearly God was saving this man for something special.

Consider that he led numerous dangerous raids against the U.S. forces and survived them all. He was at Hiroshima on the eve of the atomic bomb being dropped and left town just in time. A day or two after the bombing, he went back into Hiroshima with an investigative team and was exposed to deadly radiation. All other members of the team died; Fuchida was pronounced to be in perfect health.

At the Battle of Midway, the ship on which he was recuperating from an appendectomy was hit and sunk. Fuchida received two broken legs and was rescued.

At other times, a raid that would have been suicidal for him was canceled at the last moment.

So, what did God do to reach this man? Bear in mind that at that time Christianity was associated with the hated United States. General Douglas MacArthur, appointed to govern the defeated Japan, urged Christian missionaries to come in large numbers to reach the Japanese.

Fuchida hated MacArthur for his arrogance.

And yet, within two or three years, Mitsuo Fuchida embraced the message of Jesus Christ with such a passion that he ended up traveling the world as an ambassador of the gospel for the rest of his life. What changed his mind?

The answer is in several parts: 1) Fuchida thought deeply and asked questions. 2) He watched God at work in nature. 3) He heard of an 18-year-old volunteer hospital worker whose story changed him forever. 4) One of the members of the Doolittle Raid had a role in reaching him.

Fuchida thought deeply and asked questions. At the surrender ceremony on the U.S.S. Missouri, which Fuchida attended, MacArthur talked of “freedom, tolerance, and justice.” Mitsuo thought to himself, “Whose justice? The Japanese thought they had justice on their side, too. Japanese justice collided with American justice and neither of them won–superior power won” (p. 176). MacArthur ended his message with, “Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.” Fuchida listened skeptically. He had doubted his own emperor when he spoke of everlasting peace, and he didn’t believe the general now. No, he thought, you are wrong, MacArthur. Peace isn’t coming to the world. More trouble is coming. All Fuchida knew from history was self-serving nations looking out for their own interests. War must always result, he concluded. There was no other way.

Fuchida watched God at work in nature. After the war, finding no other way to earn a living for his family, Mitsuo Fuchida bought a parcel of land and became a farmer. He studied books and learned how to construct a house. He watched things grow, and he was impressed. He had never been spiritual, although by no means was he a pugnacious atheist. He simply had accepted the universe of which he was a part without wondering what made it tick. Now as he looked into the bright night sky and saw the North Star, “so steady, so beautiful, so useful,” he began to see the workings of a supreme intelligence. “That night, there on my farm, God began to come into my heart,” Fuchida said reverently (P. 187).

As he continued reflecting on such things, he thought of how God had protected him during the war. The slow recurrence of the seasons, the plants springing to life, the birth of the baby chicks, all the complex workings of creation wove themselves into the fabric of his consciousness….

As one season passed into another, from “the miracle of spring” to “the patience of winter,” he experienced a revelation: “I began to realize slowly that all things were dependent upon a divine Creator, and that I was living under the grace of God. I could sow the seeds; I could plant the saplings; I could draw water with my hands, but they all came from the benevolence of a kind and far-seeing Creator”(p. 189).

All these insights worked to make Fuchida ashamed of his old independence and self-reliance. He began to see that just as the plant and animal world, he too owed his very existence to the Creator. “As he worked on the farm, he reflected, ‘Ah, the Creator–He is so wonderful’“ (p. 190).

Fuchida discovered the greatest proof of the reality of Christ: a genuine Christian.

Without any evidence to support his prejudice, Fuchida knew beyond any doubt that the Japanese who had been held prisoner by the Allies had been treated equally as horribly as Japan had treated its prisoners. One by one, as he interviewed returning POWs, he discovered his mistake. Some returning prisoners had even fallen in love with the United States. To his astonishment, many returned with amazing tales of kindnesses done to them while in the custody of the American military. Several spoke of one young woman in particular.

Margaret “Peggy” Covell was her name. She was 18 years old and worked in a POW camp as a volunteer social worker. Her story was passed on to Fuchida by a friend who had been touched by her in a prison camp.

The man said, “Something happened at my camp which made it possible for all of us interned there to stop nursing our resentments and to return to Japan with lightened hearts.”

He had Fuchida’s undivided attention.

Peggy Covell, they all called her. She ministered to the POWs with tireless energy and grace. “If you’re uncomfortable or need anything,” she would say, “let me know. I’ll do anything I can to help you.”

Three weeks into her work, finally some of the prisoners could stand it no more. They asked, “Why are you so kind to us?”

They were not prepared for her answer. “Because Japanese soldiers killed my parents.”

Reverend and Mrs. Covell had been missionaries teaching at a school in Yokohama. Before hostilities broke out, all the workers relocated to Manila. Eventually, the Japanese came there too, and captured them. They discovered in the Covell’s belongings a small portable radio which they were convinced was a secret communications device.

The Covells were tried as spies and beheaded.

Peggy, who had been living in the states, did not learn of their fate until near the end of the war. At first, she was filled with bitter hatred for the Japanese. Then, as she thought of her parents and the sacrificial service they had given to bring the gospel to that nation, she became convinced that they would have forgiven their captors before they were executed.

She would have to do the same.

Fuchida was greatly affected by her story. “This beautiful story overwhelmed me and made me ashamed,” he reflected. He had come to Uraga with hate in his heart. What he found was goodness that he could scarcely comprehend.

He began talking to every POW who had known Margaret “Peggy” Covell. In time, he found the members of the military who had executed her parents. What he wanted to know, Fuchida asked, was what exactly the Covells had said or prayed before they were beheaded.

The Japanese considered revenge a beautiful moral. A man captured and awaiting death never forgave his captors. He prayed to be born again seven times, and to exact revenge in each life. And his sons and daughters to avenge him. The Japanese word for revenge, ‘katakiuchi,’ means literally ‘attack enemy.’ Steeped in Japanese history and culture, Fuchida fervently believed in the principle of ‘katakiuchi.’ Now he heard a story of unjust suffering and death, and a daughter left to continue the bloodline. But the tale featured no vow of vengeance from either the dying or the survivor.

In time, as Fuchida began reading the Bible, he came upon the 23rd chapter of Luke’s Gospel. There he found his answer. Hanging on the cross, as Jesus’ life was ebbing away, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24).

Surely these words were the source of the love that . . . Peggy Covell had shown. It came to Fuchida that, as they knelt to die, Peggy’s parents had prayed just such words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Tears sprang to Fuchida’s eyes; he had reached the end of his “long, long, wondering.”

By the time he had finished reading Luke, Mitsuo Fuchida recognized Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. At this time, he had no Christian friends, no one to help him; no one to share his new experience.

God sent Fuchida an angel: one of the Doolittle Raiders.

After the April 18, 1942, bombing of Tokyo, Jacob DeShazer and his crew had to bail out over China due to a malfunctioning plane. There they were captured and sent to Shanghai. Three officers were executed; the others spent the duration of the war in prison camps in China. Beatings and starvations were commonplace.

As DeShazer reflected on his hatred of his captors, it almost drove him crazy. Little by little, he began thinking about the source of so much hatred in the world. That’s when he remembered truths taught by his Christian parents years earlier. One day, he was given the use of a Bible for a short time. In that prison camp, he surrendered his life to Jesus Christ and promised to return to Japan as a missionary.

Sometime in October 1948, in downtown Tokyo, Mitsuo Fuchida was handed a leaflet by an American man. “I was a prisoner of Japan” was the heading. The four pages, written by Jacob DeShazer, whetted Fuchida’s appetite. Eventually, he located a full-length book DeShazer had written and devoured its contents.

The former Japanese pilot was impressed by the force of DeShazer’s testimony. In time, Fuchida and DeShazer became friends and the former Doolittle Raider helped him learn to stand before crowds and give his story. DeShazer told him that until the day they met, he had concluded that his Japanese ministry had been a failure. In fact, the day the two ex-warriors connected, DeShazer was in the middle of a fasting and prayer vigil during which he was pleading with God to send some evidence that He was using their work. Fuchida was the answer.

Mitsuo Fuchida died in 1976. For the final 25 years of his life, he told crowds all over the world of Jesus Christ who had protected his life and sought him out and saved him. Large numbers of people, especially in Japan, turned to Christ as a result.

Anyone familiar with how these things work will not be surprised to learn that as soon as news of his conversion spread, religious and political groups tried to get a hand-hold on his life and use him for their purposes. Two stories in particular are interesting.

The Catholic Church of Japan tried to get him to join their church. They would help him write his story and he would make much money for their causes. It took this Samurai only a short time to see through this. He was turned off by the wealthy, showy displays of the church’s elaborate and ornate cathedrals at a time when the Japanese people were starving.

The Communists wanted to use him. They recognized that with his great fame in that country, he would be an important spokesman. When the leader of the Japanese communists invited him to investigate Lenin-Marxism to see for himself, Fuchida answered:

I acknowledge your most cordial letter. As you have surmised, this is my first step in searching the Bible. In my forty-seven years of life, I have learned that a dose of hydrocyanic acid, if taken internally, will lead to death, yet I have never seen this poison. Therefore, I have not the faintest idea of its form, color, or odor. But if someone should hand me this deadly poison, it would be ridiculous for me to experiment by taking it just to see if it was poison or not! To me, Lenin-Marxism is like hydrocyanic acid. Thank you.

What a privilege to be serving on the same team as this champion warrior. How I wish I had paid better attention in 1964 when he visited New Orleans. But then, I shall see him again . . . and the questions I plan to ask him then!

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

The highest service of man on earth is sharing the gospel. From The Biblical Illustrator by Rev. Joseph Samuel Exell (1849-1909) we read, “The services of men on earth embrace a large variety. There is the service of the agriculturalist, the mechanic, the mariner, the merchant, the scientist, the legislator, the king, &c. Men esteem these services as differing widely in respectability and honor; but the service referred to in the text stands infinitely above all.”[1]

Some are ashamed of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They attempt to water it down to make it more palatable to this generation. The Apostle Paul shared the gospel willingly, wittingly and winningly. Lexicographers provide the following definitions.

Willingly means, “Having the mind favorably inclined or disposed”. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 9:16-18,

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.

Wittingly means, “Done consciously, with knowledge and responsibility, deliberate”. Paul boldly declared,

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Romans 1:16).

Winningly means, “Capable of winning or charming, attractive, winsome”. In the words of our text, 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul writes,

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

From our text we discover three things we need.

I. A God-given Mission

To win others to faith in Jesus Christ is our God-given mission (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 21:47; Acts 1:8). This God-given mission extends in outreach “to the Jews” [or to the Gentiles (implied)], “to those who are under the law” or “to those who are without law,” as well as, “to the weak” [or to the strong (implied)].

Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1898) wrote a helpful book titled The Soul Winner: How to Lead Sinners to the Savior. Spurgeon affirms the fact that, “He who wins souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30). Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe explains, “The word translated ‘wins’ means ‘to capture,’ as a hunter captures his prey. Wise people seek to capture the ignorant and disobedient by sharing God’s wisdom with them.”[2]

We are to be on a mission from God and we are to be on a mission for God. Paul states his mission, “that I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22) and “that I may be a partner with you” (1 Corinthians 9:23).

II. A God-guided Method

To become all things to all men is our God-guided method. Paul writes, “I have become all things to all men” (1 Corinthians 9:22). This is to meet people where they are with the message of the gospel. Dr. Jerry Vines explains, “Paul is simply saying that in order to win people to Jesus Christ, he relates to them in their particular culture. He is saying, ‘If I am around a Jew, I’m a Jew; if I’m around a Gentile—someone without the law—I’m a Gentile.’ In other words, when Paul talked with a Jew, he said, ‘Oh, I’m a Jew too. I’m a Hebrew, born of the tribe of Benjamin, and I can speak Hebrew.’ But when he talked with a Gentile, he would say, ‘Oh, is that right? I was born in Tarsus, one of the great Gentile cities.’ When he met a weak Christian who didn’t believe in doing certain things, he wouldn’t do them.

Someone may say, ‘Paul is being inconsistent. He says one thing over here and another thing over there.’ When we examine Paul’s actions, we learn that he is not inconsistent; he is compassionate. He is simply saying, ‘I find sinners where they are, and I identify with them in order to win them to faith in Jesus Christ.’”[3]

The phrase “All things to all men,” according to the Rev. Joseph Butterworth Owen (1809-1872),

Implies no sinking the Christian to meet the worldling. The Christian is no chameleon, taking his hue from every incident he feeds on; but rather like the sunlight of his heavenly Father—the evil and the good are the better for his shining. Apply the rule to places of amusement. Can we imagine ourselves meeting Christ there, as He sat at the festival in Cana, &c.? We can realize His presence on occasions of innocent festivity, but there are others at which, if we could suppose His eye falling upon us, as it did on Peter in the hall of his denial, we should be ashamed to meet Him. I noticed in France pictures of the Crucifixion in streets and public galleries, in Hotel de Ville and Palois de Justice, but never in a Café Chantant or the opera. As believers, you are Christ’s living images, and would be as much out of place in a Casino or a playhouse.

Rev. Owen also states, “Paul was a cosmopolitan in the best sense, the world was his country, mankind his brethren, truth his business, the church his family, and Christ his Lord.”[4]

Paul exhorts in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

Dr. James A. Stalker (1848-1927) warns, “When a weak or insincere man attempts to be all things to all men, he ends up by being nothing to anybody.”[5]

Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 10:23-33,

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience sake; for “the earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness.” If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience sake. But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience’ sake; for “the earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness.”

“Conscience,” I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks? Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

III. A God-glorifying Motivation

To know Christ and to make Him known is our God-glorifying motivation. We are to live “for the gospel’s sake” (1 Corinthians 9:23).

These days it is important to ask, “What is the gospel?” Reportedly, someone interviewed people at a Christian book store convention and asked that question. Regrettably, only 1 out of 60 people got it right. Paul clearly defines the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, where he writes,

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon cautions, “To keep back any part of the gospel is not the true method for saving men.”[6]

On the road to Damascus we see one converted from a self-satisfied persecutor of the church named Saul to a God-glorifying preacher of the gospel named Paul.

Rev. Edward Meyrick Goulburn (1818-1897), Dean of Norwich, shares, “While never sacrificing truth or principle, yet, so far as truth and principle admitted it, the apostle wore the guise and spoke in the accents of the persons whom he addressed.”[7]

Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon recalls,

Mr. [J.] Hudson Taylor [(1832-1905) [founder of the China Inland Mission] finds it helpful to dress as a Chinaman, and wear a pigtail. This seems to me to be a truly wise policy. To sink myself to save others is the ideal of the apostle. Never may any whim or conventionality of ours keep a soul from considering the gospel.[8]

Conclusion

Stan Guthrie, author of many books including Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21^st Century, senior associate editor for Christianity Today and a regular commentator on Moody Radio, states, “Good news is no news at all if it’s not communicated.”[9]

Larry King of CNN’s Larry King Live found himself wading through a sea of sentiments from sympathetic viewers after heart surgery. One package stood out from the others. In fact, it contained something he prizes most of all those received. It contained a leather Bible with his name engraved on the cover with a letter that read:

“Dear Larry, I am so glad to hear that everything went well with your surgery. I want you to know that God was watching over you every minute.

And even though I know you question that, I also know that one day it will be revealed to you. My prayer is that you will remain open, and that God will touch your life as He has mine.

Once I was a disbeliever. When I could not fill my life with basketball, I would simply substitute sex, drugs or material things to feed my internal, shell-like appearance. I was never satisfied.

I have finally realized after forty years that Jesus Christ is in me. He will reveal His truth to you, Larry, because He lives.

Pete Maravich, Pistol Pete.”[10]

Larry King received this package on January 3, 1988, the day before Maravich died. Pete Maravich [1947-1988] was one of the youngest players ever inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Dr. Jerry Vines observes,

I don’t know how some Christians can go a lifetime without realizing that the Lord Jesus brought them into this world and put them where they are so they might meet lost people and bring them to faith in Him. The ambition of our lives, the passion of our lives, the whole thrust of our lives should be to win people to faith in Christ, and that ambition changes our whole attitude toward life.[11]

May we live for the gospel’s sake!

By Ron F. Hale, Minister of Missions, West Jackson Baptist Church. Jackson, TN

Does God have a universal saving will that desires the salvation of all people who will believe, or was our Lord’s atonement only sufficient for some?

Should the Gospel be preached to all indiscriminately with the purpose of calling everyone to repentance and faith?

Is God’s love and saving desire equal or unequal? Does God extend effectual (saving) grace to one group and a common grace to the other?

Is salvation sure and certain of all whom God gave to Christ before the foundation of the world and is in no way conditioned on a sinner responding to the preaching of the gospel?

Is the gospel invitation just a modern method instituted by Evangelist Charles Finney in the 19^th century and has no biblical support?

These are questions that relate to the “free offer” or “well meant offer” of the Gospel.  The aim of this article is give some definition to the term, share different perspectives, add some personal views, and ask more questions.

One definition of the term is:

The bona fide (“in good faith”) offer of salvation to all who hear the gospel and will repent of their sins and trust in Christ for forgiveness.  Some non-Calvinists do not think that Calvinists can freely offer the gospel to all persons since they believe in a definite atonement of Christ for the elect alone.  Calvinists respond that the extent of the atonement does not come into play in the preaching of the gospel, for the call is to sinners to repent and trust in Christ; the evangelist need not preach that “Jesus died for you.” The only group that denies the free offer to all sinners indiscriminately is hyper-Calvinism (Shawn D. Wright, “Glossary of Some Important Theological Terms,” in Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialogue, Nashville: B&H, 2008, 281).

Our Baptist Faith and Message 2000, does address this topic in the following statement:

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord (emphasis added; available at http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp).

In thirty-five years of preaching the Gospel, I can honestly say that I’ve never struggled with the questions that I mentioned in the opening statements.  As stated in the Baptist Faith and Message, the Gospel of our Lord is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour!  Yet, it seems that some Christians and Christian groups have struggled with these questions in history.

The teachings of the Protestant Reformed Churches of America (PRCA) on this subject are:

The well-meant offer teaches that God’s grace is universal. The Protestant Reformed Churches maintain that God’s grace is particular, specifically now in the preaching of the gospel. The truth that God’s grace is particular is essential for a confession of the sovereignty of grace. If God’s grace in the preaching is for everybody, it is not sovereign grace. And the truth that God’s grace in the preaching of the gospel is particular, sovereign grace is the very heart of the Reformed faith…

It is indisputable that the Protestant Reformed Churches’ rejection of a well-meant offer and a conditional promise is not and never was motivated by hyper-Calvinism, that is, by a refusal to preach the gospel to every creature, a refusal to call every hearer to repentance and faith, and a refusal to proclaim to everyone the promise that whoever believes shall be saved. This was simply not the issue. Rather, the issue in the doctrine of a well-meant offer of the gospel is this: does God love and have a gracious attitude toward everyone who hears the preaching, and does He in the preaching desire to save everyone? As Hoeksema never wearied of asking, “What grace does the reprobate receive in the preaching?” (emphasis is original; Reformed Free Publishing Association website, “Doctrines We Believe, Well-meant Offer” available at http://www.rfpa.org/catalog/well-meant-offer.php).

The PRCA refuse to see themselves as hyper-Calvinists, while resisting the belief that the gospel is meant to be offered to everyone!

In fighting hyper-Calvinism among English Baptists of the 19^th Century, Charles H. Spurgeon indicates his fervor toward offering the gospel to all in the following quote:

Brethren, the command to believe in Christ must be the sinner’s warrant, if you consider the nature of our commission. How runs it? “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” It ought to run, according to the other [Hyper Calvinist] plan, “preach the gospel to every regenerate person, to every convinced sinner, to every sensible soul.” But it is not so; it is to “every creature.” But unless the warrant be a something in which every creature can take a share, there is no such thing as consistently preaching it to every creature. (Spurgeon’s sermon on 1 John 3:23: “The Warrant of Faith.”)

There seems to be a growing number of Southern Baptists that believe the public invitation is based on defective theology and 19^th century gospel gimmicks.  I would ask if the rise or resurgence in the belief of a “limited atonement” fuels the opposition to the public invitation or altar call.  Dr. David L. Allen does a masterful job in his chapter entitled The Atonement: Limited or Universal? (Whosoever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism) in pointing out that limited atonement creates serious problems for God’s universal saving will; it provides an insufficient ground for evangelism by undercutting the well-meant offer; it undermines the bold proclamation of the gospel in preaching; and it contributes to a rejection of valid methods of evangelism such as the use of the evangelistic altar calls (p.107).

Dr. Allen asks a powerful and pertinent question: When is the atonement applied to the sinner (p.65)?   He gives three possibilities:

• It is applied in the eternal decree of God.
• It is applied at the cross to all the elect at the time of Jesus’ death.
• It is applied at the moment the sinner exercises faith in Christ.

I contend with Dr. Allen that the atonement is applied when the sinner exercises faith in Christ.  This reality gives me a sense of peace and freedom as I look into the eyes of a crowd or congregation and know the Holy Spirit is going to work and woo as His Gospel is preached.  It still gives me chill bumps to know that God has called me to this high and holy calling.

Are you seeing signs that the “free offer of the gospel” is being questioned or quenched in SBC life?

Throughout the Bible we see where God sometimes leads individuals into the desert to teach them some powerful spiritual lessons. Whether it was the Israelites, John the Baptist, or Jesus Himself, the desert experience was always powerful in bringing to life spiritual truths.

I had my own experience in learning spiritual lessons in the desert, but this particular trip was because of my role as a military chaplain while I was deployed to Iraq in 2010. I serve as a chaplain with the Louisiana National Guard and deployed with the 1-141 Field Artillery out of New Orleans, Louisiana. We served in two locations of Iraq during the year. In the first part of our deployment we were stationed in Tallil, near the Kuwaiti border. Our soldiers performed convoy operations all over Iraq, starting from our base in Tallil. The second half of the deployment we were stationed in the International Zone, Baghdad. We provided security for areas of the International Zone and the US Embassy.

Though we went through loss of life and other difficult situations, I had wonderful deployment. I loved being with my soldiers and ministering to their needs. In the midst of the incredible ministry with the soldiers, God not only used me to touch their lives, but God used them to teach me a few lessons of my own that I would use when I returned to the States as I returned to my teaching ministry and church plant.

Lesson 1:  Engaging the Lost — The first lesson I learned early in the deployment was during the convoy operations. As a chaplain, I did not have to ride with my soldiers on the convoys, but my commander allowed me full access to our operations. To understand the danger they went through, I felt as though I needed to go through the same experiences. After being out on a few missions, I had a soldier that came up to me and said, “Wow, Chaps, you are one of the best chaplains we have ever had!” As we talked, he began to explain how many chaplains would just stay in their office and not go out with the soldiers. He respected me for placing myself in the same circumstances as them.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:22, “I become all things to all people so that I might save some.” God used this soldier to show me that as Christians, we must go to where the people are. In our post-Christian society, we know well that people are not flocking to churches. The only way we will reach them is by going to where they are. Jesus Himself went to the places of the “unchurched,” even to the disgust of the religious crowd. Returning from deployment, I am bolder in going to those places where I can meet non-believers, even if other Christians criticize me for doing so.

Lesson Two: Strengthening the Inner Man — The next lesson I learned was not so easy. We had several hard situations in our unit as well as on the bases I covered as a chaplain. We had one officer in our brigade killed by a road-side bomb. We had another soldier in our unit who committed suicide. I counseled several soldiers concerning marriage and relationship issues. During the last part of my deployment I was one of the few chaplains providing coverage for my area, and so I received a large load of counseling issues. I now look back and realize I had caregiver fatigue and should have set stricter boundaries for my own spiritual health. The last two months of my deployment I went spiritually numb.

During those months, however, I realized what it meant for God to give me a spiritual strength that only He can give. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” literally became my theme in prayer (Philippians 4:13). A person never realizes exactly what that strength is until they have to absolutely depend upon it. I believe I was at that point because even though I had never been so emotionally and spiritually exhausted in my life, neither had I really experienced such a spiritual and emotional strength from the Lord.

Lesson 3:  Entering into the Harvest — The last lesson I learned came in the form of humility as well as blessing. I received a call from a soldier at a remote base in Eastern Baghdad. She asked me to come perform some baptisms on my last Sunday that I would be in Iraq. A civilian from Uganda had been doing some evangelism and discipleship with both the international civilians as well as the American military on this particular base. They needed a chaplain to come and perform the baptisms and offer the Lord’s Supper. Of course I was not going to refuse, but I had no idea what was going to happen in the next few weeks. Originally I was told there would be a few persons being baptized, around 10 to 15. The day I arrived, the number had risen to 57! I had several soldiers and civilians that had accepted Christ during the deployment, but due to various circumstances, these persons were not baptized. So, to be able to baptize that many my last Sunday in Iraq was quite a gift from the Lord.

In reflecting upon that last Sunday in Iraq, I was reminded of Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 3:7 of how God causes the growth of His kingdom, though all of us play a small part. Someone else was able to do the evangelism, I was able to do the baptism, and another person has already started discipling the new believers in Baghdad. Nevertheless, God caused all the growth and I was privileged to have but a small part of what God was doing. As I have returned to the States, I am reminded that I am but a small part of what God is doing in this world to grow His kingdom on earth.

My time in the desert was not as long and perhaps as severe as some of the biblical characters we read (at least I had air conditioning!). Nevertheless, the lessons learned in Iraq will be with me for a lifetime of ministry.

Dr. Ted Traylor, Pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida and member of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, shared his perspective about GCR on the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary campus recently in a GCR Pastor’s Conference, an event sponsored by the Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health of NOBTS. Traylor made his presentations in 3 one-hour settings, each of which is different in content.  Dr. Traylor’s remarks probably address questions or concerns you might have had about GCR.

Traylor, whose church hosts an NOBTS extension center, also preached an excellent sermon at the NOBTS Missions Commissioning service, as has become a tradition for the last few years.

Some have asked for these videos, and they have been provided by the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry, with Dr. Traylor’s permission.  You can see these three presentations and Dr. Traylor’s Missions Commissioning service sermon by clicking the links below.  These are rather large m4 video files, so please be patient while they download.  It may take a minute or more, depending on your connection speed.

Here are the links to the three videos:

The Missions sermon — http://media.nobts.edu/chapel/2011/2011.05.05.message.m4v
GCR Presentation #1 — http://media.nobts.edu/GCR/GCR-1.m4v
GCR Presentation #2 — http://media.nobts.edu/GCR/GCR-2.m4v
GCR Presentation #3 — http://media.nobts.edu/GCR/GCR-3.m4v

Heilsgeschichte (Holy History)

My seminary class was just after lunch and I was already suffering from sleep deprivation due to late nights of study and long days of labor.  As my professor articulated this German theological term my eyes and mind awakened to the realization this was probably the first time in history that anyone in my line of descent had ever heard such an utterance.

I immediately underlined the word in my textbook entitled Introduction to the New Testament, written by Dr. Everett F. Harrison, Senior Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary. After 28 years, I have remembered the term and have uttered it in a few conversations wishing more to impress than impart wisdom.

Dr. Harrison’s use of the word goes as follows:

“The theme of salvation gives ample scope for the development of Heilsgeschichte (history of salvation, or the sweep of the divine purpose down through the ages as set forth in Scripture).”

Everett F. Harrison, Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids:  Eerdmans, 1971, rev.ed.), 312.

He mentions this term while writing about the book of Romans and how the Apostle Paul deals with creation (chapter 1) and other unfolding events in God’s salvation history.

As Dr. Bruce Corley described it:

“Biblical Theology seen from this perspective [Heilsgeschichte] interprets the revelation of the acts of God in saving history that fulfill the divine purpose to redeem humanity though Christ.  So history is viewed with the eyes of faith.”

Bruce Corley, “Biblical Theology of the New Testament,” in Foundations for Biblical Interpretation: A Complete Library of Tools and Resources, ed. David S. Dockery, Kenneth A. Mathews, and Robert B. Sloan, (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 553.

This salvation or redemptive history is the mighty acts of God recorded in the Bible and are seen as special redeeming events of history beginning first with the story of Creation.

Several years ago after studying the Apostle Paul’s Mars Hill sermon and realizing how our American culture has changed over the last fifty years, I knew that I needed to learn how to share the gospel beginning at the creation and show how the One True God of history began with a plan for His world and our lives.

The following is a plan of salvation that I have used to win over fifty men to Christ in my Saturday morning Bible Study over the last three years.  It is called . . . The Story.

The CREATION

The Bible begins with these words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1; NIV).

God’s Word gives us the entire creation story including how the first two persons, Adam and Eve, were created and placed in a beautiful garden where all their needs were met.

The Bible says, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27; NIV).

Adam and Eve were free to enjoy everything in the garden, except for one thing. God’s instructions were clear about one tree. They must not eat its fruit.

Life was wonderful until Adam and Eve did the one thing they were told not to do. We call that sin!

The CRASH

The crash happened when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God.

Everything changed as sin came into an innocent world.

Adam and Eve had the freedom to enjoy everything, but they willfully chose to break God’s one simple rule (law).

Spiritual death and physical death came into their lives. For the first time ever, they felt separated from God and hid themselves from God. Eventually, they would die physically because of their sin.

The Bible shares how sin messed everything up!

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12; NIV).

The crash messed up the entire human family. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Roman 3:23; NIV).

The COMMANDMENTS

In the middle of our mess, God gives us the Ten Commandments to help us love God and respect our fellow man.

Like a mighty moral mirror, the Ten Commandments also reveal our dark side; that we’re sinners.

The Eighth Commandment says, “You shall not steal.” If I were to ask you if you’ve ever taken a pencil, a pen, or a piece of candy from a brother, sister, or stranger, would you plead innocent or guilty?

The Ninth Commandment says, “You shall not lie;” little or large, have you ever told a lie?

Just by breaking these two commandments reveals a simple fact, you and I need God’s forgiveness!

The Bible teaches, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10; NIV).

If God were to judge your life based on the Ten Commandments, would you need mercy and grace?

The CROSS

The Story of Salvation has good news! God wants to change our hearts through a personal relationship with Him!

Many years before Jesus was born, a prophet foretold how God wanted to establish a new relationship with His people. “I will write my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33; NIV).

God’s plan for changing our hearts from the inside out was to send His Son Jesus!

By shedding His blood on the cross, Jesus became the full and final sacrifice for our sins. He died for us to pay the penalty for our sin.

The Bible says, “For what the law [Ten Commandments] was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering” (Romans 8:3; NIV).

By turning from our sins (repentance) and trusting Jesus (belief) to forgive us and save us, God establishes a personal relationship with us. God writes our names into the Book of Life, His Story!

The COMMITMENT

Your personal story can have a happy ending for all eternity; here’s how . . .

REALIZE THE CONSEQUENCES

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23; NIV).

Life and death, heaven or hell is the eternal choice God has given you.

REPENT BY TURNING AWAY FROM A LIFESTYLE OF SIN

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:19; NIV).

TRUST IN JESUS AS YOUR FREE GIFT FROM GOD!

“For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many, but even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17; New Living Translation, 2007).

As you turn from your sins and turn to Jesus in faith, you can receive the gift of salvation by asking Him to forgive you and save you!

Dear Lord Jesus,

I thank you for dying for my sins on the cross. Lord, I turn from my old life and look only to you for a new life. As the risen Lord, I ask you to forgive me and change my heart and life. Lord Jesus, I place my faith in you. Empower me to live the rest of my life for you. I love you, Lord Jesus, Amen!

A friend told me last Sunday, “I want to take the country back.” He meant by this, I think, that he wanted to return to a time when the United States seemed to operate within a Protestant ethos.

My own sense of Christianity and the church is that we will always be a minority in a hostile culture, even when we think we are not. I never experienced a culture that I would call “Christian” in my upbringing. This includes my Bible-belt experience at a school in Central Texas in the late 60s. I was shocked at the behavior and conversation of my new “Baptist” friends. I couldn’t believe they claimed to be Christians.

My family and our faith always felt like a minority view everywhere we lived. So the desire to turn back the clock to some previous era when America was Christian and we prayed and read the Bible in public schools does not resonate with me. I experienced public education hijacked by the local Catholic establishment. They wanted nothing to do with Christianity as I understood it. The local priest opposed our Bible study and warned students not to attend even though the cafeteria served fish every Friday and everyone came to school with ash crosses on Ash Wednesday (except me).

I am still working on the idea that the church is responsible for Christianizing the culture. I don’t see this approach in the ministry of Jesus or the Book of Acts. I see Jesus as almost nonpolitical. He didn’t join any of the existing political groups. He did not seem to have a social agenda that I can identify. His “render unto Caesar” remark seems to represent the summation of his political activism.

Instead, he was focused on preaching the good news and gathering together a group of people who would carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. The gospel always has social implications that are to be lived out and preached.  He announced his ministry in Luke 4 as focused upon the blind, the broken-hearted, the captive, and the poor. He healed the sick and cast out demons. He did not arm himself or his followers. He never took up the sword. He did not befriend the powerful elite of his day. He did not engage in social engineering.

Our Baptist heritage is bifurcated at this point. Some people tend to be more Calvinist in their approach to culture. They want to organize a Christian society, as Calvin tried to do in Geneva. That experiment most historians would judge a failure.

Other Baptists tend to follow the Anabaptist heritage of our forefathers. This is the heritage of a “free church in a free state,” the notion that being the authentic church is the most powerful social strategy we can implement in any culture.

The Book of Revelation may in part be seen as a philosophy of history. You have the Beast trying to devour the people of God. The people of God are mistreated, hunted, and murdered. But their blood cries out for justice and their tears are remembered by God. God himself brings about justice when he intervenes in human history, defeats the devil, and brings a “new heaven and a new earth in which dwells righteousness.”

This is not a very hopeful view, I know, in terms of this world. And it does not energize a social reform movement, so to speak. So I am trying to rethink the eschatology of the Bible and see how I might correct my perceptions.

Chuck Colson has suggested that we have a “cultural mandate” in the Bible that goes hand in hand with the Great Commission. He finds support for this, not so much in the death and resurrection of Jesus, but in the doctrine of Creation. In this view, everything belongs to God and should be under his dominion. The doctrine of creation may be where this fits, but I have always been “pre-millennial” about this matter. God made the world, and he will bring it under his authority at the end. I would be more satisfied with an understanding of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that calls me to engage the principalities and powers of my time, including the political structures that are unjust and ungodly. Some biblical teachers have taken this approach.

I believe I am a citizen of two kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the human society of which I am a part. My citizenship in heaven is of far greater importance to me. My citizenship on earth is a stewardship. It is a gift to live in a nation where government is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Therefore, I should be participating in this government as a Christian responsibility. I suppose this is my major motivation for political action–the doctrine of stewardship.

When I think about using the political process to further my Christian agenda, I develop a sobering hesitation. The sword of the Spirit is an extremely sharp and fine instrument. It will discern even the intentions of the heart. The sword of the magistrate is a very blunt instrument. It will strike often where it is not intended. If I choose to use the sword of the magistrate to accomplish the will of God, I may be disappointed with the result. I may discover that my efforts to Christianize my society have only resulted in confusing people about what it means to be a Christian. People may begin to think that they are Christians if they maintain certain political viewpoints or vote for a certain party. That is part of the danger of seeking to use coercive power (the government) to impose my viewpoint on the culture. Authentic Christianity cannot be coerced. So whatever I achieve in the culture is a “middle axiom,” somebody said, not a perfect manifestation of the Kingdom of God.

I guess part of me wants to say to Christians, What do you really expect? They hung Jesus naked on a cross. You think now that you’re going to get the power to execute? “A servant is not better than his master. A pupil is not better than his teacher. If they did this in a green tree, what will they do in the dry?” I expect the culture to scorn me, ridicule me, persecute me, and marginalize me. I don’t want to be a doormat. But I don’t live under the illusion that somehow I am going to receive accolades and the Key to the City because I stood for righteousness and truth (though I did receive the Key to the City from the Mayor one year, accidentally). More likely I will be tarred and feathered or run out of town.

These questions remain before me: What will lift the light of the gospel higher in this city? What is the most effective way to bring people to Christ? How can I do a better job of making disciples for my Lord? How to I express faith through love (Galatians 5:6)?

But, what I really want you to see in this post is some of the reasons that the CR had to be, and where the SBC would be today if it had not happened.  The ABP is a good place to look when trying to see what the SBC would’ve been.  Look at this article:    http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/5411/53/   and this one:   http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/5410/9/      So, clearly going against the teaching of the Bible does not seem to matter  to these people.  They could care less that the Bible clearly teaches that only men should be Pastors/Elders in a church.  This just shows their total disregard for what the Bible teaches.  They’d rather fit in with society.  And, this is where the SBC was going before the CR.

Also, I’ve always thought that winning souls and worshipping Jesus was at the heart of Christian ministry?  I always thought that fulfilling the Great Commission was at the heart of what a Christian should be about?  I’ve always thought that people knowing God and loving Him would answer the problem of man.  Is that not what the Bible teaches?  But, according to the ABP, the heart of Christian ministry should be something else.  Now, please, dont come in here telling me that I dont believe in helping the sick and the poor.  Of course, Christian compassion should lead us to help people in need, and we’re commanded to do that in the Bible.  But, is this the “heart” of Christian ministry?  Is this the core of what we should be about?  Look at this article:   http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/5410/9/    Also, notice that it’s a woman that’s “preaching” it!  lol.  And again, this is where the SBC was going before the CR. 

Also, the ABP has shown how the liberal/moderate crowd of  the former SBC’ers disregard the clear teachings of the Scripture concerning homosexuality.  Look at this: http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3469&Itemid=9   and this one:  http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/5001/9/  And then, look at this one:   http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/5281/53/  This is where the SBC would be today had not the CR taken place.  This is the way we were going before the CR. 

Folks, we need to thank the Lord that the leaders of the CR had the courage and the faith to lead our SBC back to the Bible.  We need to thank God most of all for doing this great work in the SBC.  God has blessed us in the SBC in great ways.  God is using the SBC in tremendous ways to carry out His work on this Earth.  And, we need to realize that being a people of the BOOK is the reason that God uses us and blesses us so greatly.  The fact that we preach the Gospel and teach His Word is why He continues to choose to bless us and use us.  And, if we ever drift away from a true faith….based on the Bible….then we’ll go the way of the other denominations and churches that left the faith.  You dont have to look far to see how dead and dying these churches and denominations are.