This is another book I have been enjoying for the last week or so. They Like Jesus but not the Church is a book by Dan Kimball which talks about the impression many non-Christians have of the church and of Christians. Again, an important and fascinating thing to think about.
What I have been thinking on at the same time is this whole idea about preaching the gospel and how to do it. I rightly admit that the truth claims of the good news of Jesus Christ are His death, burial and resurrection…that is not the question here. The question is exactly how that message is to be preached. Jesus preached it via His verbal teachings, but it was also communicated via His miraculous actions. If we think actions are not a means of communication we are mistaken. But it seems to me that a verbal and practical communication of the gospel have to go hand in hand. For too long Christians have thought they can barge into people’s lives, tell them they are going to hell via a gospel tract, and when they “reject Jesus” these Christians assume they are actually opposed to God. I would say that more often than not they are not opposing the real God, they are opposing a false God. They are opposing a false God because the true God has not properly been revealed to them. What do I mean???
When Jesus introduced Himself it was through acts of mercy, healings, exorcisms, through a meal or a kind word, and it was in that context that He could teach His message (verbally). Today, however, many operate in a different paradigm. Interestingly, this is not a Biblical paradigm but a recent invention. The business model for church, mixed with the modern idea of apologetics (which is simply an assumption of modernism’s idea of the discovery of truth through objective means) has come to dominate the Western church such that we feel we can tell people God wants a relationship with them without ever having a relationship with them ourselves. If they, therefore, “accept” this truth they are a Christian. Amazingly, when we do this we unintentionally communicate that faith is primarily a knowledge about something rather than a relationship to someone. But for those who have heard this packaged message all too many times through TV preachers and zealous dogmatists, they cannot even hear the message because of the messengers. Kimball is helpful here.
Kimball challenges the typical bridge illustration used by many for many years (including myself). He shows here that there is another chasm that exists in the postmodern world. People no longer readily hear the message of God’s son Jesus purchasing salvation for us through bridging the chasm of sin because of the debt the Western Evangelical Church has created for itself. When people hear this typical presentation, which they have heard many times, they do not respond. At least I would say that in my context (New England) people would not respond and in Kimball context (West Coast) they don’t either. The reason why is because they see Western Evangelicalism…they don’t see Jesus. They see the “Evangelical Right”, they don’t see Jesus. They see the claims of Jesus being used for political gain, they don’t see Jesus. They see someone who doesn’t even know them telling them how to live and what to believe, they don’t see Jesus. And so the message of the chasm of sin falls on deaf ears, not because they reject Jesus, but because they reject who they think Jesus is, or more specifically, what they think Christianity is. Kimball says this is the chasm of “Christianity and the Christian subculture.” It is this gap we must bridge through establishing relationships and showing people Jesus in the way that He Himself did. It is in this context and this context alone that verbal communication of the good news should be communicated.
So I guess the moral of my story is this. Do we need to open our mouths to preach the gospel? Typically….yes. However, I was actually saved in the back of a room, by myself, while praying and weeping as the Holy Spirit Himself preached to me. So, I don’t think it is necessary for humans to open their mouths. However, I admit that it is most typical. So my experience aside…Do we need to open our mouths to preach the gospel? Typically…yes.
But…but…and this is a big but…if we do it in the absence of genuine relationship and acts of the reality of the kingdom of God, something Jesus and the Apostles did not do, my guess is that our fruit will be little. Based on the known statistics of the North American church, it is safe to say that the fruit is growing less and less. It is high time we began to tackle this new and first chasm by establishing relationships, praying for miracles, and ministering like Jesus did. It is then that the gospel moves beyond a mere argument and incarnates into a relationship.
Thanks for the book summary. I’ve seen the book on the “on sale” section but haven’t been too interested.
I agree that personal relationships with one another are important. This is where the Church, as an institution, needs to broker those connections through festivals, outreach programs, charitable events, and the like.
If someone at work or a stranger knocks on my door, or wants to talk to me, – i’m going to be a bit skeptical. But if I see that there’s a Sunday Family Fest at the church a few blocks from my house, — I may go and check it out. The Catholic church by our house does this every summer and I see all kinds of people there. if we had enough events like this (not just once a year), we would build relationships and get to know each other.
Thoughts?
Thanks for the thoughts E.I. Good stuff. I would completely agree…but go a step further.
In this new and post-modern world, people don’t go to church. I don’t mean everyone everywhere, but the majority of people. They know what Christians believe, they know what they will be offered, and so they don’t want to go. So though the festivals and outreach programs and such are good, they need to be reshaped. Most of those programs tend to draw Christians from other churches, who are open to going to church. But if our desire is to truly reach the unreached, we need to begin to “rediscover the church”.
Darrell Guder’s book “Missional Church” reminds the church of how we ought to be functioning. We need to move from “sending to being sent.” The church ought not have a “come in” but a “go out” mentality. The “come in” thinking has been effective thus far because we have existed in the world of Christendom. But as we move into the post-Christian or Post-Christendom or Post-Modern world, we need to reclaim the true calling of the church which is not ecclesiocentric but Theocentric. Our purpose is to BRING the gospel to the world, not simply offer it.
In bringing the gospel it has to manifest itself in real relationships where people see that we care about them, not simply because of an agenda we have. We love merely to love. When we do that with our neighbors and our coworkers, that breaks down the walls of what Jesus is perceived as, and reveals Him as He truly is.
Thanks so much for the thoughts E.I. Good stuff.
This was a wonderful post. Thank you. These are exciting times for evangelicals. Some of the changes taking place are more bold than anything I thought I would ever see.
A piece I wrote last Sunday for the Dallas Morning News talks about somewhat the same things you’re discussing. I got more than 1,000 hits on my website after it ran, and many emails. Astonishingly, most were positive and the most positive came from Baptists.
If you’re interested, maybe this link will get you there. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-wicker_01edi.ART1.State.Edition1.46dace2.html
Thanks Christine,
Sorry it took me a bit to respond…I have been away for the last 2 weeks. I so appreciate your comments. I checked out your article and really appreciated it as well. I also have heard about “The Fall of the Evangelical Nation.” I will be sure to pick up a copy.
I do appreciate your comments in the article. Permit me to make one comment. I would say that sin does not change. It never has. Why? Because God doesn’t change. The things like slavery and such that you mention are not a change in what sin in, but rather a change in humanity’s inability to see sin for what it is. Since God doesn’t change, sin doesn’t change. He has always known slavery was sin, we just fail to see as clearly as God does. Thus, if our starting point is God and not culture, our inclinations, or our theology, then God has always known sin from beginning to end, and it thus has never changed.
Nevertheless, I pray that Evangelicals (myself included) realize our inability to live life as true Jesus Followers and return to the true gospel. Books like yours may help to accomplish that.
Thanks again Christine!