Discovering Bible Truth

I have been thinking about the realities of evangelism over the past couple of weeks and have realized several problems inside the church on this issue.  These issues show very clearly that what is seen on the surface as a committment to evangelism really isn’t.  What is viewed as a concern for souls is nothing more than a concern to appear concerned for souls.  Here are the concerns I have.

1- I am concerned that people inside churches are more committed to a method of evangelism rather than to evangelism itself.

The method that a particular church ascribes to is really of no importance, but I will use as an example the method of which most people are probably familiar.  For years door-to-door visitation was a staple in almost every church.  This was the method of evangelism that was promoted because, in the 70′s and 80′s, it was very effective.  However, as times have changed this ‘method’ of evangelism has become ineffective.  Unfortunately, for many churches, their sole method of evangelism is still door-to-door visitation.  Again, there is nothing at all wrong with this method, but there are problems with the line of thinking that is espoused by many.

Anytime loyalty is to a method of evangelism there is no real focus on the message of evangelism.  Whenever there is a loyalty to a method of evangelism that over time becomes ineffective true evangelism becomes non-existent.  Let me encourage you to not confuse methods of evangelism with evangelism itself.

2- I am concerned that people are outsourcing evangelism and thinking doing so alleviates their responsibility.

I have talked with a lot of people who think that because they give money to the missions program of their church they are fulfilling their evangelistic responsibilities.  While I am all for giving to missions, evangelism is not something that we can outsource or pay someone else to do.  It is a personal responsibility in which each believer in Christ must be commited.  The cause for this way of thinking may be found in the next concern.

3- I am concerned that people think that as long as they are involved in corporate  evangelism there is no need for involvement in personal evangelism.

I am afraid that people don’t understand that there are really two types of evangelism.  There is both corporate evangelism and personal evangelism.  Corporate evangelism is what the church does as a whole.  Special services, evangelistic meetings, ministries, programs would all fall under this category.  Personal evangelism is each individual intentionally being a witness to those they come in contact with on a daily basis such as co-workers, family, friends, and neighbors for the purpose of evangelism. 

What we must understand is that involvement in a ministry of the church that can be considered as evangelistic does not make someone evangelistically minded.   Helping out in corporate evangelism is needed, but does not negate our responsibility to be involved in personal evangelism.

What our churches need is a proper view of evangelism that keeps as its focus the Gospel message.

Although I have included this passage on the page with misused and abused Bible verses, these verses would be better classified as misused and partially ignored.  Matthew 28:19-20 is one of the most familiar passages of Scripture.  These verses say:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”  (NKJV)

There are many people and many churches who think they are being obedient to this passage, but really are not.  There are many people who assume that the are fulfilling the great commission, but are not.  There are pastors who think that seeing people saved on this mission field makes them obedient to this passage, but it might not.  Let me explain!

Undoubtedly you have heard that these verses are commanding us to “GO” and win other people to Christ.  While I would readily agree that this is the duty of every Christian, I do not think this is the command that these verses are teaching.  As I have studied these verses in great detail over the past couple of weeks there are several things that I learned that led me to, what I believe to be, the proper application of this passage.

“Go” is not the command in this verse.  The ‘going’ is assumed.  We are not being commanded to “go” to a lost world, it is assumed that we are going to ’go’…that it is natural to ‘go’.  It would be better to translate the first part of Matthew 28:19 as “While you are going…”  or  as Young’s Literal Translation says, “Having gone…”  Once you understand this fact the real command in this passage becomes crystal clear.  Let me offer an outline of sorts that will help visualize what I am talking about.

While you are going…

          …Make disciples or disciple all nations…

                  …by baptizing them…

                            (…in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…)

                  …And by teaching them…

                             (…to observe all things that I have commanded you…)

…I will be with you always…

         (…even to the end of the age, Amen.)

The command in this verse is to make disciples or to disciple all nations.  We accomplish that by (1) baptizing them and (2) teaching them.  Let me offer an explanation about the instruction to baptize.  Baptisim is in no way necessary for or a pre-requisite to salvation.  However, in Scripture baptism is assumed for the believer.  As a result, baptism is many times connected to salvation as a direct and immediate result of that salvation.  Baptism was the sign of their conversion.  So when this passage instructs us to make disciples by the sign of baptizing them, we can understand that to mean that we are to make disciples (1) by seeing them converted to Christ and (2) by teaching them.

So how are these verses misused and partially ignored?

It is primarily misused by asserting that the command is to “GO”.  While we are to “go” that is not the primary command in these verses.  The command is to disciple all nations.  This passage is partially ignored by churches failing to make disciples.  So many church are so focused on making converts that the fail to make disciples.  The going is assumed…we are to go, we are to disciple all nations by converting people to Christ and by teaching them. 

Any time we only focus on converting people to Christ and yet fail to teach/disciple them we are not fulfilling the great commission.  The only way to be obedient to this passage is to disciple all the nations (starting in your own church) by BOTH presenting Christ to the lost and then after they are converted to Christ, teaching them.  If either portion is neglected the disciple-making process is brought to an abrupt stop.

Read Explinations Of Other Misused And Abused Bible Verses here.

If you were to ask the average person on the street about what they think about Christianity you would undoubtedly get a variety of answers.  There are those who are confused, those who are antagonistic, those who are open, and those who are committed to Christianity.  However, the problem is not how Christianity is viewed by those outside the church, the problem is how Christianity is presented by those inside the church.

The sad reality is that many people are presenting a Christless Christianity.  This is not just limited to one certain type of church such as traditional or contemporary or liberal or conservative; it is true on both ends of the spectrum.  Christless Christianity confuses real faith for dead faith, relationship for religion, and  worshipping for working.   The focus is on the external instead of the internal, on duty instead of love, and on “what would Jesus do?” instead of ”what has Jesus done?”  Those presenting a Christless Christianity are confusing going to church with being the church, business for true ministry, and activity for effectiveness.  They would rather knock on the door of a stranger in a neighborhood that they will never revisit than build a relationship with the family next door.  They are substituting emotion for knowledge and sacrificing  inward reality for outward conformity.

So what kind of Christianity are you presenting to those outside the church?  Is it a Christless Christianity or a Christ-centered Christianity? 

Yesterday I started a mini-series of posts all under the heading of Misused And Abused Bible Verses.  We are taking a look at verses in the Bible that are commonly used completely out of context.  As I stated yesterday our goal should always be to understand the Bible in context and hold to its biblical meaning not our man-made meaning. 

The verse that we are going to look at today is Proverbs 29:18 which says in the KJV, “where there is no vision the people perish…”  I have heard this verse used numerous times to say that leadership need to have a God-given vision and that when they don’t they are leading their churches to destruction.  This verse is not at all referring to a 5-year plan kind of a vision.   

The word “vision” refers to the revelation that a prophet would receive from God.  It is how God communicated in that time.  It was the method of transferring the word of God to the people.  It can very literally be translated “prophetic utterance”.  The word ‘perish’ is better translated “cast off restraint”.  The intended meaning of this verse is that when the people do not have God’s Word in their lives the result is that all restraint is cast off.  Without the Word of God in our lives all moral restraint is gone.

You may ask, ‘how do you know that the word vision refers to prophetic revelation?’  One way is simply the definition of the word that is used.  The second way is found in the text.  The second part of the verse says ”but happy is he who keeps the law.”  There is an invisible link between the word vision and the word law.  These two ideas are being contrasted and as a result the truths of each point are related.  On one side you have people who cast off restraint because they do not have any revelation (law) from God, and on the other side you have people who are blessed because they are obedient to the law (Word of God/revelation/vision).  The ESV has the best translation.  It reads, “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.”

The way to be blessed and live in agreement with God’s Word is not through having a 5-year plan (vision), its through having more of God’s Word in our lives.  Again, let’s not misuse and abuse Scripture!

Over the next several days I will be taking a look at several different Bible verses that are commonly misused and abused in Baptist circles.  Our goal should always be to understand the Bible in context and hold to its intended meaning not our man-made meaning.

The first verse that I want to look at today is Hebrews 10:25.  It says that we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.  This verse is commonly used to say that we need to be in church 3 times a week…every time the doors are open.  Pastors use this verse as a proof verse of church attendance.  It is used to guilt people into attending church at every possible opportunity.  I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be faithful to our churches.  I am saying that this verse is not at all teaching that and to use this verse in that way is to misuse and abuse Scripture.

In order to accurately understand the true meaning of this verse you must understand the context.  The book of Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christians…people who had left Judaism in order to follow Christ.  These were true believers in Christ who had left Judaism, in which they had been born and raised, to become followers of Christ…believeing that Jesus was the Messiah. 

As a result of their decision to follow Christ they faced tremendous hostility from their own people.  They were ostracized by their families and received persecution from neighbors.  They were facing real suffering and all of this persecution was a result of their belief in Christ as Savior.

The High Priest was even persecuting them.  He had all Christian Jews automatically banished from the holy places because they were considered unclean.

-          They could not go to the synagogue

-          They could not go to the Temple

-          They could not offer sacrifices

-          They could not communicate with the priests

-          They could not have anything to do with their own people

-          They were cut off from their own society

This was all happening because they believed and clung to the fact that Jesus was the messiah.  They were banished from every sacred thing they had ever known and this was tearing at them.

These Christians had not been saved for very long and were not mature enough to deal with this kind of persecution.  They were in danger of going back to their previous lifestyle…back into the patterns and practices of Judaism.   Many of them were leaving the church (the assembling of themselves) to go back to their previous ritualistic lifestyle.  They were saved, but due to persecution, they still hung on to the habits of the former lives.  They were having difficulty making a clean break …they were in danger of mixing the old with the new.  The writer of Hebrews is trying to get the readers to understand that they have no need to fear persecution….there is no need to go back into their former lifestyles.  The Christ they had committed to is above everything else…He is above the rituals, He is above the sacrifices, He is above the high priest, He is above the law.  He is above everything that their former lives represented.  They had no reason to respond in fear.  They needed to stay committed to Christ in the face of this persecution.

This verse is not teaching about church attendance.  It is teaching that we need to stay true to our faith in the midst of persecution.  We need to resist the urge to return to the sinful lifestyles we lived before committing to Christ.  Let’s not abuse and misuse God’s Word.

As I look at the state of religion in America, I am amazed by how much ground true and genuine Christianity has lost over the past 20 years. I’ve been trying to figure out why this is happening. There can be dozens of answers to this question all of which probably contribute to the overall problem. But there is one thing I see that is not viewed as a problem that in reality is. Christianity has become a sub-culture instead of counter-culture. In an effort to be “separated from the world” Christians have created their own culture…there own greenhouse from which they live their lives.

Last week I was reading an excerpt from John Piper’s newest book entitled Finally Alive, and as usual it gave me something to think about (The book is set to be released in about a month).  Here is the question I have been pondering: Are born again people in our churches permeated with worldliness, or is the church permeated by people who are not really born again?   I in no way ascribe to the idea of perfectionism.  As Christians, we will always struggle with sin and we will always need to fight the desires of our sin nature.  But is the reason why so many church members appear to imitate the world due to the fact that they were never really born again to begin with? 

I acknowledge that it is possible for both statements to be true, but which is more likely to be the real issue?  If we look at Scripture and see the changes that salvation brings to a life as well as the warnings concerning those who claim to believe in Christ but have really never been born again, I think we would have to conclude that the real issue is that our churches are permeated with people who have never really been saved!   

Any thoughts?

The problem facing the Church is centered on this issue. If we focus completely on loving God and loving each other to the neglect of doctrinal instruction, the people in our churches may be moral but will still miss the true message of Christianity. This is a message that can only be found in sound doctrine. What divides and separates true Christianity from other belief systems are major doctrines such as original sin, substitutionary atonement, justification apart from works, repentance, the reality of a Heaven and Hell, and the need of the new birth as the sole means of entrance into Heaven. These are the issues that divide. These are the major doctrines of Christianity that are being left out of many churches. True Christianity cannot be taught apart from these doctrinal truths.

This leads to a mentality that says ‘what I experience and what I feel is more important than doctrine or Truth’. As Horton puts it, this results in a viewpoint where “sin is not a condition from which I need to be saved, but actions that I can keep from doing with sufficient motivation and instruction. Christ’s death is not an atoning sacrifice that satisfies God’s just wrath, but an example of God’s love that moves us to repentance. Hence, ‘What would Jesus do?’ is the main question, not ‘What has Jesus done?’”

I’m not saying that we should not love God and others. Obviously this is a clear teaching in Scripture. The point I am making is this: focusing on love to the neglect of Truth is dangerous and gives people a false view of true doctrinally-based Christianity. The true message of Scripture is divisive and will be rejected by many. When we try to water it down for the purpose of mass acceptance, true Christianity is not what is being accepted. All that is being accepted is a moral code based on love and good works. Morality is important in a Christian’s life, but morality is not the same as salvation nor does it result in it. God is love and Scripture is filled with examples of God’s love, but the greatest illustrations of God’s love are found in understanding biblical doctrine.