In May I had the great joy of attending the True Church Conference. It was so encouraging to meet fellow soldiers in the "Truth War".
Today, I was forwarded a letter from one to his pastor. With permission, and with names removed, I'll be publishing excerpts from this letter.
" So where does that leave me? You and I don't speak the same language. We're not on the same page. And for the last 8 months, I've struggled with that; trying to fit in amongst a church that is not anywhere close to what I was led to believe it was when I joined. Maybe that's a foolish thing to do - it's certainly a crippling thing, personally, to do. But I can't reject something out of hand - even if I am right to do so per se - without offering an antidote to the problem.
The antidote is hinted at in a few verses of Scripture:
-Romans 1:15 & 10:14
-1 Corinthians 1:18
-2 Timothy 4:2
God doesn't need programs. God doesn't even need us. But converts, and churches will grow and multiply through the means God has ordained. It is preaching (not surveys) that lost people need to hear. It is preaching that the converted need to hear to inspire them to go preach themselves. Not using the Bible to coach or lead, but taking the Bible and preaching it. Preaching is mentioned 134 times in the New Testament (If my count is correct).
Modern church wisdom says otherwise. I'm sorry, but I can't abide with it anymore. So what is the solution?
If a church wants to see personal soulwinning, lay evangelism, growth, and all of the other things men place a value on today, programs aren't the way to do it. There's a biblical model. That one is the best.
Matthew 28
18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost :
20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen
The great comission. So often we start in verses 19 nowadays, but Jesus started in verse 18.
All power is given unto Him - therefore, GO! We don't need a program, we don't need gimmicks, we don't need unGodly compromise and begging people to 'give their heart to Jesus'. We have a High Priest, a King, a Prophet, a Savior....and He is in charge. Lift His name up. We don't go because we want to improve upon God's justice by warning poor ignorant sinners of God's wrath. We don't go because people need friends or help with their felt needs (what they need is God...). We go because God is in control. We go because people need the Gospel, because they live life with their back to God, and an all-powerful God justly demands that men everywhere repent - and He has chosen us, the base, earthen, foolish, and weak, to preach, so that people might hear (Romans 10) . We go because God is in control.
And when we get there, we teach. We don't tell them how they need to avoid a mean old devil and his hell, or how their life won't be fulfilling without Jesus, or how God has a wonderful plan for their life. God's plan for life didn't do Pharaoh much good, did it? Our commission is first to teach men. What do we teach them? We teach them the Glory of God. We teach them about their wicked, vile nature, and their just condemnation before God. They may well hate us - but so what? God is, remember, in control. Praise His Name if people hate us. Praise His Name if people repent!
When they have been taught (ultimately not by us, but by a Sovereign work of God, John 6:45, Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10-11), then we baptise them. We do so not to celebrate church growth, but to celebrate the testimony of God saving another wicked, vile sinner such as ourselves from the depths of Hell (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Why do churches beg people to be baptised? Genuine converts will come running for the waters of baptism - as Peter said, the answer of their good conscience towards God.
Then we teach them to observe all of His commandments. We teach them a life submitted to the law of Christ, by His Grace (Ephesians 2:8), for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). Then we send out another generation of truth-bearers, sending them with the promise that God will never leave us; we can go out and live and work and witness amongst a heathen, pagan world because He has promised to be with us (Deuteronomy 31:6). God has spoken His promise to be with us. We can rest in this truth as we go forth.
Why will this work? Why will evangelism succeed if we start not with a man-centered approach, a man-invented program, but with God on His throne, sovereignly in control, as in Matthew 28:18?
It will work because true, genuine conversion ALWAYS includes an encounter with God. The truth we carry isn't to convince men to follow a religious system; the truth we carry is to be a path for the Holy Spirit to change man's wicked heart. How does this work? What Biblical assurance can we have of this?
Isaiah 6 "
Well said fellow soldier!
