What is the worst thing that can happen in a Gospel outreach conversation?

Let’s face it.  The fear of the unknown can keep us from doing many new things we know we should do and hopefully want to do in living out our Christian faith.  We fixate on the worst possibility, and fail to focus on the best.

So I want to help help alleviate that fear and show what would happen were you to dive into the unknown and strike up a conversation with a random stranger for the purpose of sharing the Gospel.  I want to show you what I would consider to be my worst-case scenario, based on hundreds of outreach conversations.

Now, granted, many worst outcomes can happen, and in my wild imagination I’ve considered them all, including being beaten or killed.  But I think these sorts of things can happen at any time, regardless of what we are doing - whether we are driving a car, or walking down a sidewalk - but I wouldn’t say they are a direct result of Gospel outreach.  So I’ll just stick with the worst thing that has happened to me in my experiences so far.

And my worst experience really hasn’t been that bad.  It is what happens when I meet a certain type of person who has a mixture of being both very talkative and so susceptible to crazy conspiracy theories that no truth claims are to be trusted, including the claims of Christianity.  I can’t get a word in edgewise, but if I do or even if I am only able to ask a meaningful question, the person I am talking with quickly moves on to another topic anyway.

That’s what happened in my conversation with a man named Dan at the park, and with others like him in various conversations over the years.  He shut down my ability to share Gospel truths on my part, and left me feeling both frustrated and foolish as a result.

That’s it?  That’s my worst experience?  Pretty much!  I’m sure I could seek out more difficult people or groups to reach out to, but my purpose has not been to find the greatest challenge, but simply to reach out as I go about my everyday business and set an example most anyone could follow.

Of course, Jesus is our ultimate example, and may I point out that He did indeed experience the worst possible scenario, as he was tortured and killed on a Roman cross for his faithful obedience in bringing the Gospel – Himself – to a world that so desperately needs it but often won’t receive it.

How did Jesus overcome His fear of the unknown in carrying out His mission?  It wasn’t by focusing on his fears.  Jesus’ focus was on the best outcome, not the worst - “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12)

I know Jesus generally knew of the fate that awaited him in Jerusalem, but I’ve got to believe also that in His divine humanity He probably didn’t know the details.  And neither do we every time we obediently carry the Gospel forward.  We may fear the unpredictable reaction of a stranger, but how much more do we fear the unpredictable reaction of a friend or loved one, and the relationship we could possibly lose.

As Jesus put his focus on the “joy set before Him”, let us be obedient to the command that formed the first part of that same passage – “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”  Let’s not focus on the worst possibility, but the best, the possibility that both ourselves and the person we are reaching out to may draw a little closer to Jesus – the best possible outcome ever.

Thanks, Dan for allowing me to record our conversation.  It can be seen at https://youtu.be/wVFAGJIQYW4 on my Youtube channel.

Who censors Christians on college campuses?

In my random conversations I don’t often meet strong believers on college campuses. When I do I like to ask about their experiences when it comes to censorship and persecution. So when I met an IIT student named Preston and found out about his strong faith and background in Christian theology and apologetics, I asked what he has been experiencing. And his answer kind of surprised me.

Preston told me he really hasn’t been mistreated or censored for his faith at IIT. He said his professors rarely mentioned it, and seemed to know it was not their place to get involved. I wondered about this, as the impression I’ve been getting is that Christian students in particular have been increasingly unwelcome and discriminated against, but Preston didn’t confirm that narrative.

And it is, indeed, a narrative. We Christians are often rightly criticized for looking for persecution where it doesn’t exist, and playing the victim over perceived slights. I wonder if that’s because we want the blessings Jesus promised when He said “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Or maybe its because harassment, opposition, or ill-treatment are signs that we actually are Jesus’ followers. After all, the Bible does say “ Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

So, applying that verse to a Christian student like Preston, should I conclude that the Bible is wrong about this? Or, maybe, the life they are living isn’t exactly godly?

I’m thinking that maybe that “godly life” in Christ involves obeying His commands, and part of living for Jesus involves sharing our faith in such a public way that we do indeed invite persecution. For his part, Preston told me he doesn’t feel obligated to “Go tell” when it comes to sharing the Gospel, but he’d rather sit quietly and wait until asked.

In Preston I could see myself. That was my default position for most of my Christian life. I strove to present myself as a positive, caring person of faith, but not too radical and nothing like those caricatures of Christian fanaticism the public likes to ridicule. In so doing I was careful to watch my speech, and avoid saying anything that might cause offense or put my “witness” in a bad light.

And there, I believe, is the answer to my question, “Who censors Christians on college campuses?”

We Christians do it to ourselves.

Thanks, Preston, for allowing me to record our conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/dCNIqiuyLpA on my YouTube channel.

How does our understanding of God affect our understanding of ourselves?

I found Andrew, mid 20's, sitting at our local coffeeshop listening to music on his headphones. He was more than happy to share his views on eternity. I quickly found out he is the lead guitarist in his band, about to put out their second CD.

Andrew grew up Episcopalian but felt turned off by church in his teens and is now generally accepting of all religions. He is very passionate about the many problems of humanity and the environment and seems quick to accept his share of the blame, saying that if we want to change the world, we need to begin with ourselves.

Yet when I asked about the specifics of the Gospel, like our accountability toward God and our need for forgiveness, he became evasive, preferring to speak in generalities rather than getting specific. Its one thing to be passionate about sin and its effects in the world, but quite another thing to repent personally.

King David showed personal repentance to God regarding his sin with Bathsheba when he wrote "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge." (Psalm 51)

The crowd Peter preached to in Acts 2 showed personal repentance when they were "cut to the heart" and asked “Brothers, what shall we do?” They were sorry for their sins and actively sought steps they could take in repentance.

Having a general passion against evil, in society and/or in oneself, falls short of repentance. As I talked with Andrew, I think I found out one reason he lacks that personal repentance - he doesn't believe in a personal God. His idea of "God" is more like a general force for good, like Karma, rather than a specific personality like a Heavenly Father.

It's hard to be "cut to the heart" at the thought of personally offending an impersonal "god".

Thanks for allowing me to record our conversation Andrew! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/pxnl1RsTZG8 on my YouTube channel.

Are we going through hell on earth?

3/23    Terence

A very common answer to my outreach question of whether heaven and hell exists is that we are going through “hell on earth”. This answer often comes from people who are bitter and believe themselves to be mistreated and oppressed, but it also came from a very positive and contemplative young man named Terence.

I met Terence during a walk at the park, where he had gone to get away from it all and do some self-reflection. Despite his “hell on earth” statement he was very positive – so positive, in fact, that he couldn’t think of one negative experience in life that he would trade for one more positive. He felt like it’s the negative experiences in life that have helped teach him valuable lessons and make him the person he is today, so in that sense, he views “hell on earth” to be a valuable, character-forming process.

Most people I talk to who make the “hell on earth” comment are quick to agree that, while there are many bad things that surround us, we also experience many good things. Their “hell” comparison is often just a flippant description of the struggles of this life to be tolerated, and for Terence I believe he was referring to life as a sort of halfway existence where we experience both good and bad, a sort of testing ground where we have many valuable lessons to learn.

And, despite Terence’s lack of any sort of biblical foundation, that is the biblical view. We are in the midst of good and evil experiences, and God can use them all for His glory. In James 1 we read “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

If we were to go back in time and erase some of the hardships we’ve faced, we could be less mature and complete than we would be without them, and a self-reflective person like Terence was intuitively able to recognize their value without feeling the need to complain.

But can the rest of Terence’s generation recognize this? A quote I’ve heard often lately describes the cyclical nature of generations, and why some are more tough than others: “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”

I think a quick look at history, in the Bible and elsewhere, reveals the truth of this statement. So where is Western Civilization now in this generational cycle? I’m pretty sure we are in the midst of some good times creating some pretty weak men and women, and I fear for what comes next.

What comes next could indeed be that “hell on earth” so many weak people have prematurely complained about. In the meantime, however, I believe our character formation doesn’t have to be subject to generational tides. Jesus calls us to the tough, character-forming challenges of being His disciples no matter what generation we are born into. In John 15, He said “‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

And Peter, who experienced that persecution as Jesus’ disciple, advised “do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4)

For the sake of Christ and His Kingdom, we may indeed experience a sort of “hell on earth”, but we are promised such a heavenly future that “…our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Cor. 4)

Thanks, Terence, for allowing me to record our conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/uvbZvzW6fa0 on my YouTube channel.

When it comes to church, do you ever feel like you are on the outside looking in?

2/23      Barry, 43

Being an outsider looking in is how I came to see Barry, who has basically “deconstructed” from the strong beliefs and close fellowship he felt as part of the church he attended in his teens.  Now he is at a point of disbelief in any sort of afterlife or that God exists, although he still sees value in Christianity for its ability to provide people with meaning and moral direction.

I wondered about Barry’s journey from faith, and it seems to have digressed through a series of stages beginning with an unusual affair he’d had as a teen with a married woman of the church, the resulting informal shunning he’d experienced, the lack of life coaching or any sort of follow-up by the church, going off to college and the self-reflection brought about by the hard questions he’d faced there, and the re-construction of a new set of beliefs ever since.

Barry said he had first come to faith as a teen attending a Christian music festival with the church youth group, and from there he was totally invested in the church, teaching Sunday School and involved in other ministries.  It sounded like the effect of the deconstructing stages above caused him to step back and look at church and his own involvement in it with a critical and self-reflective eye, and he didn’t really like what he saw.

I compared his experience to being “on the outside looking in”, like we might experience when we merely watch people doing church online rather than being caught up in the experience, or when we bring a skeptical friend to church and begin to see it through their eyes, rather than our own.

I would say these critical and self-reflective experiences aren’t necessarily bad but are pretty much inevitable, and because they are unavoidable we need to be ready for them when they happen.  Basing our faith and church commitment on emotional experiences or even social connections shouldn’t be the foundation of our faith, because it will sooner or later crumble through the seasons of our journey.

So what should be the foundation of our faith?  I’m sure there are many ways to look at it, but one answer I see in the Bible is when Jesus spoke to His disciples after He had sent them out into ministry and they basically came back on a spiritual high.  “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

These disciples were caught up in the moment, excited over the spiritual power God had demonstrated through them, with little time for critical analysis or self-reflection.  Jesus affirmed God’s power, but gave them sobering advice: “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

When it comes down to it, whether God chooses to perform great exploits through us or not, or whether He chooses to keep them going for a short time or throughout our life, in the final analysis we are simply blessed to be called children of God.  Our identity isn’t based on our emotions, our fellowship, or our spiritual success, but on the word of God and it’s assurance of our adoption into His family.

And, in light of the great swings of success and failure we may experience in life, that’s a truth that regularly deserves our critical analysis and self-reflection, that we may always have a solid foundation in our faith.

Thanks Barry, for an open, honest, and interesting conversation we all can learn from! It is at https://youtu.be/DtkbjeoYWKc on my YouTube channel.

 

Why Are Non-Christians Often More Moral Than Christians?

I love it when non-Christians pepper me with sincere questions about Christianity. That's what I got from Diego, 24, in a coffee shop conversation, and most of his questions had to do with the nature of morality.

Diego grew up in a non-religious family, but did attend a Christian youth group with some friends, albeit for the social aspects, not the religious. His general belief now is that the only part of himself that will exist after he dies will be the legacy he leaves, good or bad, and he hopes that God does not exist because if he does, he most certainly can't be benevolent.

In fact, it is this fear that a morally evil god exists, one who would not have his best interests at heart, which causes Diego to be cautious in the way he lives and the decisions he makes. He is afraid to make mistakes, and I told him this was in contrast to the freedom I find in believing that God is good and wants the best for His creation. I generally don't fear making mistakes in the decisions I make because, one way or another, I trust that God will guide my path.

Diego had many questions - "Do you believe Christianity is the only path to morality?" "What is the purpose of sin?" "Why does God seem to set us up for wrong choices?" "Didn't morality just evolve?" "Why would Jesus' sacrifice save us?"

Each of these questions gave me teachable moments to explain aspects of the Gospel. Here I'll focus on just one - "Why are non-Christians often more moral than Christians?"

Diego's youth group experience allowed him to see the mixed-motives of young people coming to a Christian event, open to hearing about God, yes, but also looking for a fun time socializing with their peers. Christians aren't above mixed motives in living out our faith, and God is willing to use our often self-centered motives to build His Kingdom. Think about Paul's willingness to accept insincere preachers who were only preaching out of jealousy or self-promotion.

Many non-Christians are moral because they were raised in other religions, and since all people have a God-given moral conscience, they can have a handle on teaching morality just as much as Christianity. Even non-religious people may benefit from a more positive personality or more ethical home training than Christians. "The difference" - I told Diego - "is that when one receives Christ for salvation, they also receive the Holy Spirit, influencing them from within rather than just from the outside through religion or social influence."

The Holy Spirit also helps explain the answer to another of Diego's questions - "But what if people become Christians, only to keep sinning even more because they now believe they are forgiven?" I explained how as believers we begin a process of sanctification - the process of maturing and becoming more godly over time, and how the Holy Spirit gives us the desire to stop wallowing in our sin.

Churches contain people from a wide variety of backgrounds and at different levels of maturity in their faith. In fact, the more faithful a church is to Gospel outreach, the more likely they are to have some pretty uncouth characters in their midst, and they can be particularly open to snap judgements by unbelievers looking to find fault.

I believe Diego's questions were sincere, and that in his caution and fear of an unknown god he truly is looking for a solid moral and ethical code to live by. But it can be so much more than that.

We read in 1 John 4 that "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love." A moral code motivated by the fear of God may be helpful, but how much better it is when motivated by love.

And where does that love come from? Not from a positive personality. Not from ethical home training or the influence of a works-based religion. No, that passage in 1 John continues on to tell us exactly where it comes from: "We love, because He first loved us."

Thanks, Diego, for an interesting conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/M7F5vJ-uMYo on my YouTube channel.

How Many People Who Claim to be Christians Truly Are?

In answer to my question about his beliefs at a McDonald’s, a young man named Alex said “Well. I’m a Christian, so I believe in God and heaven and hell.”

What to say? Should I take that at face value and enjoy the fellowship of another believer?

Not so fast!

One of the first, very shocking lessons I learned when I started to intentionally start Gospel conversations is that relatively few people who believe themselves to be Christians really are. Many have very different and unbiblical ideas about just what it means to be “Christian”.

So I’ve learned to be cautious about extending a hand of fellowship to just anyone who claims to be a Christian, implicitly giving them false assurance of salvation in the process.

For his part, Alex’s definition of being a Christian was “believing in God and trying to be a good enough person”. We talked about this a long time, and one key question I asked was “If you were mistaken and really are not a Christian as the Bible teaches, but are on the road to hell instead, when would you want to know?”

“As soon as possible” Alex responded.

Good answer. When one is headed down the wrong road, the sooner they turn around the sooner they can get on the right path.

Some might say that questioning one’s salvation causes doubt that only discourages any faith they do have. But if one’s faith is in their own ability to earn salvation or anything other than in Jesus, it would be a faith not worth having in the first place.

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” (2 Cor. 13:5)

Good advice from the word of God!

Is Your Church a Status Symbol?

2/23    Eddie

A common theme punctuated an interesting conversation with Eddie, whom I spoke with at a coffee shop. He explained how as a rebellious teen he had been turned off to Christianity at the small-town church his mother attended because it had a rather formal dress code. He refused to dress up for fear that the skateboarding crew he hung out with might see him and laugh, which led him to avoid going to church altogether.

I told Eddie that I could relate, because other than the Bible one of the most influential books in my life is one I read as a young Christian by a sociologist named Thorsten Veblan, called "The Theory of the Leisure Class".

This book was required reading in my college philosophy class, and, as a young man looking to gain social status even as a follower of Jesus, it rocked my world. Veblen coined the phrase "conspicuous consumption", which refers to material wealth and frivolous spending as ways in which we establish our social status in society. Chapter by chapter he describes all the vain forms this takes, even in the use of fashion and free time - "conspicuous leisure" - in which the wealthy demonstrate that they can afford to waste time and money and thus indicate their status.

Many of the ways this plays out in society are actually counterintuitive or use a sort of reverse psychology - such as the practice of rich people showing that they can afford to dress down, or beauty trends favoring thinness rather than at one time a man showing that he can keep his wife well-fed and plump, or a swarthy complexion which was at one time looked down upon as an indication of hard work in the fields, but then began to be favored as an indication of time spent in leisure on a cruise ship or in a tanning salon.

Eddie and I talked about how Jesus' message was compromised when Christianity was no longer persecuted and instead became an official religion in Rome, with public gatherings in fancy buildings. Like Eddie's small-town church, many people went to church to be seen by others and increase their social status, and what people wore to church became more like a fashion show.

As a young Christian I became very critical of churches that spent huge sums of money on what I could then only see as conspicuous displays of wealth, and this is part of what led me to a career serving the poor in the inner-city as a result. But over the years I am developing a better understanding of the fact of mixed motives in almost everything we do.

Were the great cathedrals of Europe in the Middle Ages built just as a "keep up with the Jones's" effort to outdo the next town, or were they truly built to provide a beautiful sacred space to help people glorify God? Do our leaders attend elaborate conferences to hobnob with the successful and well-known in Christian circles, or are they truly interested in learning and growing as effective servants in the church? Do we spend large sums of dollars and man-hours developing our worship music only to worship God, or do we enjoy the approval and praise from one another? A little of both I believe.

For a long time it was hard for me to see beyond my criticism, until I began to understand that there will always be a tension between our mixed motives in everything we do. Even the many who reject the church for its hypocrisy can’t avoid mixed motives. Think of Eddie’s initial rejection of the church dress code. He worried about what his friends would think. What would happen to his status as a rebellious skateboard dude?

But what did Eddie miss out on because his preoccupation with status kept him away from church? What do we all miss out on when we fear losing the status society gives us rather than fearing God? Do we substitute a fancy church building and church programs and the relatively safe status we think they give us for the status we risk losing in just reaching out with the simple gospel?

This is an important issue we can’t afford to ignore. Jesus said “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Let’s admit our mixed motives, and learn to focus on our status with God, rather than our status with men.

Thanks Eddie, for allowing me to record our conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/s0p5BWXd4lw on my YouTube channel.

What About People Experiencing Addiction?

2/2023      Richard

 If there’s anything I like about all the crazy rhetoric I hear from the left, it’s the emphasis on putting one’s personhood before any other identifying characteristics. Phrases like “person experiencing homelessness” or “people of color” or “children with autism” might be more cumbersome to say, but it is worth it to respect others as human beings first with value and dignity as fellow image-bearers of God. This can be carried to an extreme that views people only as victims rather than being responsible for their actions and choices in life, but surely we can find a way to be reasonable about it.

That said, my Gospel outreach on the streets and in the marketplace often has me talking with people struggling with or simply defeated by homelessness and addictions of various kinds, and I am often at a loss in knowing what to tell them.

One could say “Just tell them about Jesus”, but a big reason for my struggle is that they’ve usually already heard the Gospel. I find that their addiction has put them out on the streets, hustling daily to find some cash to feed their habit, and this has given them the street smarts and skills to size people up and tell them exactly what they want to hear in order to squeeze out a few dollars. When approached by Christians they often parrot evangelistic talking points better than most churched people I meet.

But this doesn’t mean some aren’t sincere. Many true believers find themselves defeated by addiction, and are tempted daily by the temptation to just give up. Eventually, they lose sight of the cross, and start to believe they’ve lost their salvation or were never Christians to begin with due to their daily experience of sin and defeat.

During a short conversation, I think I saw all of the above in a man named Richard. He told me right up front about his problems, (before I began to record the conversation) and went on to tell me what he knew I wanted to hear. But he also seemed to have a sincere faith in Jesus as his Savior despite the self doubt that his ongoing experience of defeat brings.

And what Christian hasn’t struggled with this sort of self-doubt during different seasons of life, as we undergo the process of discipleship and sanctification and the struggle against overcoming sinful habits, and obsessive-compulsive and addictive behaviors? I’ve come to realize that the important thing is that we do indeed struggle and not just give up.

I’m so glad for the honesty Paul wrote with when he shared his struggle: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7:19-20)

If we were saved by our good works, this constant defeat would condemn us. Instead, Paul goes on to write of the victory we have in Christ; how there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. But what about those who have experienced so much defeat that they wonder if they are truly “in Christ Jesus”? After all, our changed lives and good works can’t save us, but they sure can be a good sign and positive confirmation that we have indeed been saved.

And that’s where my conversation with Richard comes in. If he’s a true believer, and I think he may very well be, then he’s lost his way and needs fellow believers to come along side him, to encourage him and redirect his path.

We all need constant reminders of basic gospel truths, because we so easily take our eyes off of Jesus. During the course of our conversation, Richard easily transitioned from his initial talk of good deeds and universal religion to talking about faith in Christ alone.

It was easy to remind him, but he will forget again and needs constant reminders, just as we all do. So I not only reminded Richard about Jesus and gospel truths, but also of the importance of regular church involvement and fellowship in a church family.

Please pray for Richard – he won’t defeat this addiction alone. He’s in a housing situation surrounded by negative influences, and the Bible tells us “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” It’s having a bad effect on Richard and he needs a change of residence as well as regular church fellowship.

And pray for the church, that we can see and respect all persons, including the poor, the marginalized, and the down and out, as people and fellow image-bearers before anything else.

Thank you Richard, for allowing me to record our conversation! I'm praying for you and you can be reminded of some of the things I told you at https://youtu.be/lmlwT5pROTc on my YouTube channel.

A Reed Swayed By the Wind

 What did Jesus mean when He said “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind?”

He said this in Luke 7:23, in response to two disciples whom John the Baptist had sent from his imprisonment by King Herod. John had sent them to ask “’Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”

This occurred just after Jesus’ powerful teaching in His “Sermon on the Mount” and in the midst of a wide variety of miraculous signs and wonders. Jesus told John’s disciples “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

Before his imprisonment, John had lived out in the wilderness, far from the sophisticated urban centers and seats of power, so that the very act of hearing his message required a certain amount of humility in coming out to see him. And come they did, not looking for a watered down, man-centered message, a “reed swayed by the wind” of ideological fashion, but the very truth of God, unrelenting and hard as nails.

John’s mission was to prepare the hearts of people to hear Jesus’ good news, preached to the “poor in spirit” as Matthew’s gospel reads. John’s message was one of law, of the conviction of sin, and of the need for repentance, in preparation for Jesus’ message of forgiveness and reconciliation, the “good news” of God’s amazing grace. This good news Jesus preached only made sense in the context of John’s bad news of our sin and our need for forgiveness.

So it was with this understanding that I spent some time preaching John’s message to a young man named Andy in a parking lot outreach conversation. Andy had minimal church background but some spiritual curiosity, expressed in his interest in various religious videos he’s watched on YouTube. But their message would be fashionable and watered-down, and I knew Andy needed to hear the “hard as nails” truth of John the Baptist.

Andy had also stated “I want to believe, but I just can’t” and we talked about the purpose of some of Jesus’ miracles, such as the raising of several people from the dead.

“Did God make a mistake in allowing them to die in the first place?” Andy had asked.

I explained how Jesus’ miracles were recorded in order to demonstrate his identity and authority as the Messiah, and I gave the example of the paralyzed man brought to Jesus, whose sins were forgiven first, but then Jesus also healed his body as a demonstration of His authority to forgive sins.

Like Andy, John the Baptist, languishing in prison, also experienced doubts as to Jesus’ identity and authority. Jesus responded by referring to his miracles, and then to the good news preached to those who would humbly receive it.

As we receive that good news and then respond by going out to proclaim it to others, let’s not forget to tell it in the context of both John’s message of repentance and our need for forgiveness, and Jesus’ demonstration of His authority to bring that forgiveness, especially seen in his triumph over death and the grave.

And let’s proclaim it not as a “reed swayed by the wind”, but with the unashamed confidence and authority that people need to hear.

Thanks, Andy, for allowing me to record our conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/B_nWuslXaWY on my YouTube channel.

What Can it Mean to “Fan Into Flame the Gift of God"?

 1/30     Paul

That empty chair down the row at church on Sunday, the one that has been empty for weeks stretching into months, belonged to Paul, 32. He hasn’t consistently occupied that chair since the days leading up to his baptism about three years ago, days that were filled with the anticipation and wonder of new life found in Christ as he soaked in every sermon and lesson in preparation for baptism.

His baptism was a joyous affair, a day filled with encouragement and backslaps and man hugs. But the excitement of the day soon died down, the chair sat empty on various Sundays, concerned phone calls were met with excuses, and text messages were gradually met with nothing but the sound of crickets.

The tyranny of the urgent commanded the attention of his former teachers and mentors and friends at church, and the stretches of time that his chair sat empty lasted longer and longer, until they no longer clearly saw his image as they glanced at his empty seat. “Out of sight, out of mind” is a truism, especially for men, and the excitement of those early days of discipleship and baptism were gradually forgotten.

Where did he go? “I go sit down by the Des Plaines river and get away from it all, and I see God’s creation and I think and get closer to God” Paul told me in the aisles of a Home Depot. He described how he has since learned to develop a relationship with God that didn’t include church or time in His Word, how he felt “just fine”. What he could no longer describe was how the foundation for that relationship had begun at the foot of the cross of Calvary. I asked about it in several ways, and he talked about how he had changed his life around, but not once did he mention Jesus. He had forgotten his first love. Out of sight, out of mind.

In 2 Timothy 1, the Apostle Paul reminds young Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God’, referring to the Spirit God had given him in his call to ministry. It is an image of a once roaring fire that has died down to mere embers due to a lack of oxygen for various reasons. The Paul I met at “random” at Home Depot was likewise oxygen starved in his faith relationship with Jesus.

But unlike a more mature believer like Timothy, this Paul couldn’t fan his own flame through the “power, love and self-discipline” (vs.7) he had developed. He wasn’t that mature yet. He had been deceived into believing he could stand on his own without constant exposure to the Bible and church fellowship. He was suffocating from lack of oxygen and didn’t even recognize it.

So what should we do about those empty seats in our churches, once occupied by excited young believers who no longer respond to our efforts to restore fellowship? We should keep trying to reach them of course, but we will likely be waiting until they reach a crisis point in life before they darken the church door once again, and there will be a lot of mess to try to clean up.


If we make a habit of reaching out into the streets and marketplaces we will find alarming numbers of unbelievers who have never clearly heard the Gospel, but we will also find equally alarming numbers of young believers like Paul who have drifted away from various churches and need a jolt of fresh oxygen to fan into flame the gift of the Holy Spirit that has long since died down to an ember.

“Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” - Luke 15

Paul kindly agreed to allow me to record our conversation. It can be viewed at https://youtu.be/2tYSiq0GddQ on my YouTube channel. 

What Qualities are Needed to be a Good Learner?

 

 1/23     Brad

What qualities are needed to be a good learner?

An impromptu conversation at a Menards with Tom, an electrician, showed me he is quite thoughtful and introspective about things of a spiritual nature, seeing life as a great learning experience, but in the end I had to wonder who, exactly, was doing the teaching?

Through the course of our conversation Tom showed evidence of his spiritual curiosity with references to reincarnation, advice about overcoming adversity with a positive perspective, the spiritual nature of physics, and the nature of evil along with an acknowledgment of Gospel truths such as the importance of confession, repentance, and faith in Jesus.

But Tom's openness to spiritual things was lacking in both coherence and authority, and it has me thinking - is an openness to new things really all that is required to be a good learner? Or does a good student also need a certain amount of humility and respect for the authority of a wise teacher?

Toward the end of our conversation, Tom showed me why the Gospel truths he'd been exposed to hadn't taken root in his life - he saw no need for church involvement and he didn't believe the Bible to be God's authoritative word.

Proverbs 10:17 tells us "The one who follows instruction is on the path to life, but the one who rejects correction goes astray." This says a lot about what it takes to be a successful learner. It's a goal Tom showed me he aspires to, but in the end exactly whose "instruction" is he willing to follow?

The corollary to the first part of this passage is equally important. In order to truly follow instruction, we need to be careful not to reject correction. A true learner must accept the authority of others over us, and also have the humility to accept correction.

How many people avoid church and the Gospel truths they can learn there simply because they reject the idea of a more experienced believer teaching them with the kind of authority that only the Bible as God's word can give them?

Thanks, Tom, for allowing me to record our conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/77hZ6GX5oCM on my YouTube channel.

What happens When We Ignore Parts of the Bible We don't like, or add to it ideas of our own?

 12/22          Stephen

In the last few verses of the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, we find a warning not to add or take away from the words written therein. It says “... if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.”

The primary focus of this passage was on the book it was written in – Revelation – but I find its placement at the end of the whole Bible to be no coincidence. It follows a pattern set early in the Bible - that we are not to add nor take away from God’s word. Early in the Bible, in Deuteronomy 4:2, we read “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.”

This makes sense, if the Bible is indeed the “Word of God” as it claims to be. Who would have the right to add to or diminish God’s Word?

In a sidewalk outreach I met a young man named Stephan who should know this from his strong Bible church background. But Stephan has added some beliefs to his biblical belief in Jesus as Savior in order to accommodate all those people who don’t believe in or know of Jesus. 

The way he explains it is that there is a final judgement involving forgiveness for those who trust in Jesus, but in the meantime, Stephan believes there will be the possibility of many reincarnated lives before people get there.

Stephan must dismiss Hebrews 9:27 which reads “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment”, even though it would contradict his belief. In this way he would be “taking away” from God’s word.

And his beliefs in reincarnation and people being forgiven without faith in Jesus aren’t taught in the Bible, so he would in effect be “adding to” the words of the Bible.

I sympathized with Stephan's hope that somehow people might be saved even without specific or obvious faith in Jesus, but I would have no right to adopt that belief outside of what Scripture states.

In my experience, every time I've met someone who changes or compromises a core biblical doctrine like this, it has a ripple effect on other doctrines and ultimately leads to great misunderstanding or confusion about the Gospel.

So I asked Stephan some additional questions about how one might be saved who hasn’t heard of Jesus. Although he agreed that people are basically sinful at heart and, as he put it, must “learn to be good”, he also stated that if a “righteous man” grows up in a culture with no exposure to Jesus, he still might be saved by somehow miraculously finding out about Jesus or having the righteousness of Christ apply to him regardless that he doesn’t have conscious faith.

I wondered at this and found it to be an attractive, but unbiblical, belief that leads to contradiction with the Bible. In this case, why is it that a person who has never heard of Jesus must be a “righteous” man in order to be saved regardless? Isn’t that just a repackaged version of salvation by works?

Or, put another way, maybe it IS true that “good people” can be saved without repentance and faith in Jesus but it is ALSO equally true that there are no “good people”. We may see people as good by our own standard of comparison, but God in His holiness has a much higher standard. “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory”

I worry about the “ripple effect” for Stephen’s beliefs. If he believes others are saved through being good people despite never hearing of Jesus, would he not have the same belief for himself if he were in their shoes? And wouldn’t he then just be trusting in himself rather than Jesus the same way most unbelievers do?

Let’s be careful, brethren, never to add to or take away from God’s word, lest we too experience the promise given with this warning: that “God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.”

Thanks, Stephen, for allowing me to record our conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/Hj3AdUEbFz0 on my YouTube channel.

Is It Okay to Bargain With God?

Is it okay to bargain with God?

Can we have a “transactional” relationship with God based on a sort of barter system, where you give a little here in order to receive a little there?

A man named Richard told me he grew up with that understanding, and as it turned out that was the beginning of the end for his belief in God’s very existence.

The problem, according to Richard, is that God didn’t seem to hold up His end of the bargain when it came to keeping his parents together during his teens, and he became increasingly skeptical as he experienced more and more disappointments in life.

It often seems we are surrounded by skeptics as more and more people are learning to cherry-pick what seem to be broken promises from the Bible and to put a negative spin on the rest, and Richard indeed listened to those negative voices, first from his skeptical older brother and then from others.

I wanted to be a positive voice of faith speaking into Richard’s life and pushing back a little on those negative voices, so first I wondered where he might have gotten that idea that our dealings with God should be conducted as if we are equal trading partners.

But we are not equal partners, and we should not act like we are in a position to make demands or impose our expectations on God. The Bible is clear from the start that God is God and we are not, that He holds every card as Creator, and a right relationship with God begins as we begin to fear Him, especially since in big and small ways we have rebelled against His rule and authority in our lives.

The Bible also tells us that while a right relationship with God must begin with “the fear of the Lord”, it doesn’t have to end up there. We may not be in a position to barter with God as an equal, not to mention a relationship conducted entirely on our own terms, but the One who is in the position to dictate the terms of that relationship offers much more than a business deal.

Listen to how Paul describes it in Galatians 4:4-7: “But when the right time finally came, God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might become God's children. To show that you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who cries out, “Father, my Father.” So then, you are no longer a slave but a child. And since you are his child, God will give you all that he has for his children.”

This is not a description of a business relationship. This is family, and for those who are on the outside and not yet adopted into God’s family, you are reading a letter written and intended for those who are. And if you’ve had the patience to carefully read thus far, you may just be headed in that direction yourself. Not to a transactional business relationship, but to a family of millions, all in varying degrees of maturity and immaturity for sure, but all able to be in a right relationship with the Father through Jesus the Son.

Thanks Richard, for an interesting conversation. It can be seen at https://youtu.be/XMm5w9cPfp4 on my YouTube channel.

Our Heavenly Karma?

 How does your view of God affect how you relate to Him?

I don't usually interrupt parents spending time with their children when I'm out initiating gospel conversations. But the young father on the park bench seemed to have some extra time while his toddler was sleeping, so I thought I'd make an exception. As it turned out, as soon as Isabel, his young daughter, woke up and realized she had an captive audience during our conversation, she really turned on the energy and the charm.

John seemed like a great father during our conversation, in my opinion. He wasn't overly protective, but he wasn't negligent either. He let his daughter explore her world, test the boundaries, and reeled her in or chased after her when needed.

With little Isabel's antics as part of our conversation, it was interesting to me that much of our conversation revolved around God as our Heavenly Father, the negligence of John's earthly father, and John's resolve not to follow in his father's footsteps with his own children.

However, John's first statements about God showed that he viewed God as less of the "Heavenly Father" Jesus teaches us to relate to God as, and more of an impersonal force like karma.

"Heavenly Father", or impersonal "karma" ? Is it really that important that we make the distinction?

It is an important distinction. If we compared parenting styles, I think if "karma" had been sitting on that park bench, then little Isabelle would have been on a rigid leash tied to the bench, more like a puppy than a child. That leash would be inflexible, lifeless, and unforgiving. She wouldn't benefit from the loving discipline and life lessons that only a loving parent can give.

But the Bible presents God as our heavenly Father for many reasons, and one is that we can begin to recognize and appreciate His presence and involvement in our daily lives.

For example, we wouldn't expect to pray to an impersonal force like "karma", but prayer is to be part of the life of God's children. Despite his absolute sovereignty over all aspects of creation, we are invited and commanded into the personal dialog with our Creator that prayer is. Sending our "thoughts" or "good vibes" is a cheap substitute for the ongoing fellowship we can have with our Heavenly Father.

And we should expect fatherly discipline from God. Hebrews 12 tells us to "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?" I think one reason we fail to recognize the Father's love is that His love must be tough, with an emphasis on preparing us for eternity rather than the fluffiness of our ideas of "love" in the here and now.

It's not all about you or I. Our western culture may emphasize the imortance of the individual, but so much of the emphasis of the New Testament is about our relationships with the family of believers, both universally and local. Some of the most visible evidence of the Kingdom of God that outsiders have can and should be seen in the way the children of God relate to one another.

I learned a lot about John in the way he related to his daughter, and from what I could tell, he is learning to overcome the poor legacy his father left him. But no matter what our childhood experience is of our earthly parents, God can be "a father to the fatherless"; "an ever-present help in time of trouble".

And just in case we feel He is nowhere to be found, maybe we just need to turn around and discover He was right there all along like the prodigal son found when he returned home: "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate."

Thanks John (and Isabella) for allowing me to record our conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/C4Uy5s559wE on my YouTube channel.