EVANGELICAL DILEMA

EVANGELICAL DILEMMA

By William MacDonald

THERE IS A CURIOUS PROBLEM TODAY in the evangelical world-one that poses sobering questions for the church and for the individual believer. The problem in brief is this: a great army of personal soul-winners has been mobilized to reach the populace for Christ. They are earnest, zealous, enthusiastic, and persuasive. To their credit it must be said that they are on the job. And it is one of the phenomena of our times that they rack up an astounding number of conversions. Everything so far seems to be on the plus side.

But the problem is this. The conversions do not stick. The fruit does not remain. Six months later there is nothing to be seen for all the aggressive evangelism. The capsule technique of soul winning has produced stillbirths.

What lies at the back of all this malpractice in bringing souls to the birth? Strangely enough it begins with the valid determination to preach the pure gospel of the grace of God. We want to keep the message simple—uncluttered by any suggestion that man can ever earn or deserve eternal life. Justification is by faith alone, apart from the deeds of the law. Therefore, the message is "only believe."

From there we reduce the message to a concise formula. For instance, the evangelistic process is cut down to a few basic questions and answers, as follows:

"Do you believe you are a sinner?"
"Yes."

"Do you believe Christ died for sinners?"

"Yes."

"Will you receive Him as your Saviour?"

"Yes."

"Then you are saved!"

"I am?"

"Yes, the Bible says you are saved."

At first blush the method and the message might seem above criticism. But on closer study we are forced to have second thoughts and to conclude that we have oversimplified the gospel.

The First fatal flaw is the missing emphasis on repentance. There can be no true conversion without conviction of sin. It is one thing to agree that I am a sinner; it is quite another thing to experience the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life. Unless 1 have a Spirit-wrought consciousness of my utterly lost condition, I can never exercise saving faith. It is useless to tell unconvicted sinners to believe on Jesus-that message is only for those who know they are lost. We sugar-coat the gospel when we de-emphasize man's fallen condition. With that kind of a watered-down message, people receive the Word with joy instead of with deep contrition. They do not have deep roots, and though they might endure for a while, they soon give up all profession when persecution or trouble comes (Matthew 13:21). We have forgotten that the message is repentance toward God as well as faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

A second serious omission is a missing emphasis on the Lordship of Christ. A light, jovial mental assent that Jesus is Saviour misses the point. Jesus is first Lord, then Saviour. The New Testament always places His Lordship before His Saviourhood. Do we present the full implications of His Lordship to people? He always did.

A third defect in our message is our tendency to keep the terms of discipleship hidden until a decision has been made for Jesus. Our Lord never did this. The message He preached included the cross as well as the crown. "He never hid His scars to win disciples." Ile revealed the worst along with the best, then told His listeners to count the cost. We popularize the message and promise fun.

The result of all this is that we have people believing without knowing what they believe. In many cases they have no doctrinal basis for their decision. They do not know the implications of commitment to Christ. They have never experienced the mysterious, miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.

And of course we have others who are talked into a profession because of the slick salesmanship techniques of the soul-winner. Or some who want to please the affable, personable young man with the winning smile. And some who only want to get rid of this religious interloper who has intruded on their privacy. Satan laughs when these conversions are triumphantly announced on earth.

I would like to raise several questions that might lead us to some changes in our strategy of evangelism.

First of all, can we generally expect people to make an intelligent commitment to Christ the first time they hear the gospel? Certainly, there is the exceptional case where a person has already been prepared by the Holy Spirit. But generally speaking, the process involves sowing the seed, watering it, then sometime later reaping the harvest. In our mania for instant conversion, we have forgotten that conception, gestation, and birth do not occur on the same day.

A second question: can a capsule presentation of the gospel really do justice to, so great a message? As one who has written several gospel tracts, I confess to a certain sense of misgiving in even attempting to condense the good news into four small pages. Would we not be wiser to give people the full presentation as it is found in the Gospels, or in the New Testament?

Thirdly, is all this pressure for decisions really scriptural? Where in the New Testament were people ever pressured into making a profession? We justify our practice by saying that if only one out of ten is genuine, it is worth it. But what about the other nine — disillusioned, bitter, perhaps deceived en route to hell by a false profession?

And I must ask this: is all this boasting about conversions really accurate? You've met the man who solemnly tells you of ten people he contacted that day and all of them were saved. A young doctor testified that every time he goes to a new city, he looks in the phone book for people with his last name. Then he calls them one by one and leads them through the four steps to salvation, Amazingly enough, every one of them opens the door of his heart to Jesus. I don't want to doubt the honesty of people like this, but am I wrong in thinking that they are extremely naive? Where are all those people who are saved? They cannot be found.

What it all means is that we should seriously reexamine our streamlined, capsule evangelism. We should be willing to spend time teaching the gospel, laying a solid doctrinal foundation for faith to rest on. We should stress the necessity for repentance, a complete about-face with regard to sin. We Should stress the full implications of the Lordship of Christ and the conditions of discipleship. We should explain what belief really involves. We should be willing to wait for the Holy Spirit to produce genuine conviction of sin. Then we should be ready to lead the person to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we do this, we'll have less astronomical figures of so-called conversions, but more genuine cases of spiritual rebirth.

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JOHN NEWTON ON TRUE PATRIOTISM

From John Newton's Letters: True patriotism!

Dear friend,
Allow me to say, that it excites both my wonder and concern, that a Christian minister such as yourself, should think it worth his while to attempt political reforms. When I look around upon the present state of the nation, such an attempt appears to me, to be no less vain and foolish, than it would be to paint the cabin--while the ship is sinking! Or to decorate the parlor--while the house is on fire!

When our Lord Jesus was upon earth, He refused to get involved in disputes or politics, "Friend, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?" Luke 12:14. "My kingdom is not of this world! If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight!" John 18:36. God's children belong to a kingdom which is not of this world; they are strangers and pilgrims upon earth, and a part of their Scriptural character is, that they are the "quiet in the land." Psalm 35:19.

Satan has many contrivances to amuse people, and to divert their thoughts from their real danger!

My dear sir, my prayer to God for you is--that He may induce you to employ the talents He has given you, in pointing out sin as the great cause and source of every existing evil; and to engage those who love and fear Him, (instead of wasting time in political speculations, for which very few of them are competent,) to sigh and cry for our abounding abominations, and to stand in the breach, by prayer, that God's wrath may yet be averted, and our national mercies prolonged! This, I think, is true patriotism--the best way in which people in private life may serve their country.

I consider the ungodly as saws and hammers in the hand of the Lord. So far as they are His instruments, they will succeed--but not an inch further! Their wrath shall praise Him, and be subservient to His designs!

If our lot is so cast that we can exercise our ministry free from stripes, fines, imprisonments, and death--it is more than the gospel has promised to us! If Christians were quiet when under the cruel governments of Nero and other wicked persecutors, when they were hunted down like wild beasts--then we ought to be not only quiet but very thankful now! It was then accounted an honor to suffer for Christ and the 'offence of the cross'!

Those are to be greatly pitied, who boast of their 'liberty'--and yet they do not consider that they are in the most deplorable bondage as the slaves of sin and Satan, under the curse of God's law and His eternal wrath! Oh! for a voice to reach their hearts, that they may know their true and dreadful state--and seek deliverance from their horrific thraldom! May you and I labor to direct them to the one thing, which is absolutely needful, and abundantly sufficient.

If I had the wisdom or influence to soothe the angry passions of mankind--I would gladly employ them! But I am a stranger and a pilgrim here in this world. My charter, my rights and my treasures, are all in heaven--and there my heart ought to be. In a very short time, I may be removed (and perhaps suddenly) into the unseen and eternal world--where all that now causes so much bustle upon earth--will be of no more importance to me--than the events which took place among the antediluvians!

In the hour, when death shall open the door into eternity--many things which now assume an 'air of importance', will be found as light and unsubstantial as a child's dream!

How crucial then, is it for me--to be found watching, with my lamp burning, diligently engaged in my proper calling! For the Lord has not called me to set governments right--but to preach the gospel, to proclaim the glory of His name, and to endeavor to win souls! "Let the dead bury their own dead--but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God!" Luke 9:60. Happy is that servant, whom his Master finds so doing, when He returns!

As you have forced me to respond--both duty and love have obliged me to be faithful and free in giving you my thoughts.

I recommend you to the care and blessing of the great Shepherd and Savior; and remain for His sake, your affectionate friend and brother,

John Newton

http://www.gracegems.org/Newton/135.htm

A Warning to Christians Tempted by Politics

Sad to say, we have known men who seriously considered abandoning the shepherding of the church in order to run for political office. Is this not like the hireling of John 10 who does not care for the sheep? We have known men and women who would not go door to door doing gospel work, but who would give hundreds of hours to political campaigning, door to door voter registration, and spend who-knows-how-much money and time on the campaigns of their favorite political party. The professing Christian should ask himself, is the hope of the world to be found in politics, and can politics solve the really important problems? Did Christ or the Apostles get involved in politics? Consider the excellent answer of my friend and mentor William MacDonald, who has been promoted to glory.

THE WORLD OF POLITICS

by William MacDonald

Now let us think of the world of politics. We often hear the well-worn argument, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." The trouble is that that is worldly opinion, not divine revelation. We are also reminded that Joseph, Moses and Daniel engaged in politics. Actually Joseph and Daniel were civil servants, not men who ran for office. And Moses was a thorn in the side of the political establishment of Egypt.
What is the scriptural testimony on the subject?
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight" (Jn. 18:36).
Paul said, "No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life" (2 Tim. 2:4).
John said, "The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 Jn. 5:19).
The example of the Lord Jesus is against political participation. He was in an adversary relationship to the establishment. The apostles did not resort to politics. Their order was to go into all the world and preach the gospel.
The Christian's primary citizenship is heavenly (Phil. 3:20). His obligation to earthly government is to pray, pay and obey.
God's purpose in this ages is not political reform, but to take out of the nations a people for His Name (Acts 15:14). The question is, "Are we going to follow His agenda?"
The basic problem in the world is sin. Only the gospel can deal successfully with that. God's method is spiritual -- the new birth.
Politics by its very nature is corrupt. If I participate, I cast a vote of confidence in it. Such confidence is completely unjustified. It has had hundreds of years to prove its effectiveness and what has been the outcome?
The record of Christians in politics has not been good. William Kelly said, "Never have Christians meddled with governing the world except to Christ's dishonor and their own shame. They are now called to suffer with Christ; by and by they shall reign with Him. Even He has not yet taken His great power for reigning."
The time for believers to rule has not come yet. It will come when Christ returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. When the Corinthians acted as if they were already reigning, Paul corrected them. He wished that they were reigning so that he and the other apostles could reign with them. But while the Corinthians were, in a figure, wearing their crowns in box seats in the amphitheater, the apostles were like men in the arena, condemned to death, a spectacle to the world, and treated as the scum of the earth (1 Cor. 4:8-13).
It is a false expectation to think that conditions in the world are going to improve (1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:15). Both the Bible and the daily news refute such a notion.
The Christian finds power in separation from the world (2 Cor. 6:17). We can never move it as long as we are a part of it. Our great resource is prayer. We can do more through prayer than others can do in politics. We can see miraculous transformations of human lives. We can pray men and women into the kingdom of God. We hold the balance of power in the world. Why barter this for a bankrupt system of politics?

from his book WORLDS APART, Gospel Folio Press

From time to time someone would ask Mr. MacDonald who he was going to vote for, and his answer was inevitably the same: "My candidate is not running." He referred, of course, to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our hope is in Him, not in the arm of flesh, human wisdom or methods.
Colossians 3:1-4 teaches those who are risen with Christ to "seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God" (v. 1). This hardly includes political parties or positions. Political involvement is for the earthbound, those who have no heavenly hope. Verse 2 says, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." Politics takes the mind off heaven and absorbs it in the things on earth. It results in unholy union with unbelievers (see 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1), and filthiness of the flesh. We are enjoined to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, and politics is full of worldly contamination. As William MacDonald said, it is by its very nature corrupt.

To be a friend of the world (or world system) is to be the enemy of God. Time to decide whose side you're on and which kingdom you're working for. No man can serve two masters.
The last resort of the undecided is often something like this, "Well, it's a matter of personal conviction." Where does the Bible say that? It doesn't! That's what the fence-sitters say. Scripture tells us that we are not our own, that we have been bought with a price, and therefore should glorify God in our body and in our Spirit which are Gods (1 Cor. 6:19-20). It isn't up to us to have our "personal convictions," because we do not belong to ourselves. We are to obey God, do His will as it is done in heaven. God says friendship with the world is enmity with Him. Those are HIS convictions!

AMERICA ADRIFT

by Tal Brooke
written in 1992

As we plunge through the 1990s to cross the year 2000. let us assess where we have come as a nation in the last 150 years. One telling indicator of our 'accumulated moral and intellectual capital. would be to see how far we have gone beyond the old one-room schoolhouse and its biblically based (or, these days, “biased”) McGuffey's Reader Modern educators tell us that legions of gifted minds in the higher academy have spent a century and a half since that simpler era producing a wealth of impressive facts and discoveries. from quasars to lasers. Great universities have taken on the great questions, (Issues of the whys and wherefores of existence have had a more open-ended “back-seat” treatment). Today's education has inherited this mountain of accumulated knowledge. To fully appreciate where modern advances have taken us. we should consider what high school students were studying 150 years ago in some sample classroom reading:

If you can induce a community to doubt the genuineness and authenticity of the Scriptures; to question the reality and obligations of religion; to hesitate, undeciding, whether there be any such thing as virtue or vice; whether there be an eternal state of retribution beyond the grave; or whether there exists any such being as God, you have broken down the barriers of moral virtue and hoisted the flood gates of immorality and crime. I need not say that when people have once done this, they can no longer exist as a tranquil and happy people. Every bond that holds society together would be ruptured; fraud and treachery would take the place of confidence between man and man, the tribunals would be scenes of bribery and injustice: avarice, perjury, ambition, and revenge would walk through the land and render it more like the dwelling of savage beasts, than the tranquil abode of civilized and christianized men. - McGuffey's Reader 1854

Naturally today's liberated students would jeer at such moralistic absolutism. When I last wrote you in the early summer I shared that “my deep sense is that we are entering an era of escalating. perhaps irreversible, anti-Christianity.” I also noted that the opposition will not play fair and that we must be strategic and effective. Now that our national government is about to have a radical changing of the guard, it is clear that change is all around us — change that seems determined to veer away from the old America into uncharted territory.
If America has been hospitable and respectful to Christians in the past, outward indications are that we can no longer expect this tolerant mood to continue. The new America that is emerging from the quiet cultural revolution taking place all around us is rapidly banishing Christian evidences from public display, from crosses and manger scenes to prayer and bibles, while opening the way for an alien anti-morality.
In the McGuffey's Reader era of the 1800's. slovenliness, whispering in class, and lack of attention headed the list: of high school delinquencies. Today's list of high school delinquencies include cocaine abuse in the school, gang rape (bathrooms, empty classrooms, gyms), and killing or maiming teachers and fellow students.
McGuffey's era first grade classroom material was as innocent as snow. Compare that with first graders in hundreds of schools in Greater New York City who by the late fall of 1992 were railroaded through an “anti-bias curriculum” to read books introducing them to the lifestyles and realities of homosexuals and lesbians. Required reading has included illustrated children's books that superficially resemble the old DICK AND JANE series but have such titles as DADDY’S ROOMMATE & HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES. Daddy and his male lover roommate are portrayed smiling in bed together while little Johnny looks on in an understanding” way. These tender first graders cannot even read or do simple arithmetic yet they are forced to learn about a subject that is years ahead of their own sexual development. and a form of behavior that their own nation declared a criminal perversion only a generation ago. Moral relativism has indeed reaped a swift and bitter harvest. If Christians still believe they can amble along in today's self-proclaimed “morally neutral” climate, they are in for a violent shock.
America has lived off the borrowed posterity of its once rich Christian past, and has almost devoured what little goodness remains. it is a national wound far more deep and insidious than the worst case scenarios of the cold war, when all that might happen was a fleet of missiles coming over armed with nuclear warheads. That would be a mere surface wound compared to our deconstructton from within. When a nation has abandoned its moral roots and lost its will, its devastation Is complete. Be assured that when first graders are made to study homosexuality as a required subject, we have already fallen into captivity.
Before such bankruptcy of our spiritual capital. the American church had a comfortable pew on which to slumber when it vas not taking on the causes of its choice. Hard choices were not necessary. Its gaze might wander occasionally to brethren overseas surviving in hostile cultures. It would see these Christians living at times with more passion and commitment, perhaps even envying their apparent purity of faith and zeal, but it did not envy their hard choices. Those choices are upon us now.
But there may be a good side to this. I believe that opposition will strengthen the true church, while fair weather churchgoers, who never counted the cost. may end up vacating their once comfortable pews. Christianity with a price will have a different face, a different look in America.
In my own lifetime, I remember when America once proclaimed and practiced its Christian heritage through public ceremony. Then one day, in elementary school, I noticed that we were no longer singing “America the Beautiful” or hymns or saying prayers. Something great and noble, something good, had suddenly been erased from our lives. quietly, insidiously, leaving a tangible vacuum. After that. the lights kept going out steadily. May God use each of you in standing against the mounting waves of anti-christianity.

Tal Brooke, Chairman/President of SCP (Spiritual Counterfeits Project)

NOTE: This was a quarterly letter from SCP, an organization which is no longer exists, but in it’s day provided a lot of good material on cults. The introductory paragraph, the final salutation, and a “p.s.” appealing for financial support are all that have been omitted. The letter is “as is” with those exceptions which were omitted because they have nothing to do with the issues discussed. Carl Knott

A Saint

"Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb ... and he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword" (Isaiah 49:1-2).

A saint is made by God, 'He made me.' Then do not tell God He is a bungling workman. We do that whenever we say 'I can't.' To say 'I can't' literally means we are too strong in ourselves to depend on God. 'I can't pray in public; I can't talk in the open air.' Substitute 'I won't', and it will be nearer the truth. The thing that makes us say 'I can't is that we forget that we must rely entirely on the creative purpose of God and on this characteristic of perfect finish for God.
Much of our difficulty comes because we choose our own work – 'Oh well, this is what I am fitted for.' Remember that Jesus took a fisherman and turned him into a shepherd. That is symbolic of what He does all the time. The idea that we have to consecrate our gifts to God is a dangerous one. We cannot consecrate what is not ours (1 Corinthians 4:7). We have to consecrate ourselves, and leave our gifts alone. God does not ask us to do the thing that is easy to us naturally; He only asks us to do the thing we are perfectly fitted to do by grace, and the cross will always come along that line. "

From DAILY THOUGHTS FOR DISCIPLES by Oswald Chambers

THE STRANGER

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Texas town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.
If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.
Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)
Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished.
He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.
I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?...

We just call him 'TV.'

(Note: This should be required reading for every household in America!) He has a wife now... We call her 'Computer.'

Author Unknown

MEASURING THE CHURCH

by James Cymbala

Have you noticed that whenever you ask a fellow Christian these days about his or her church, the subject invariably goes to attendance. Question: "Tell me about your church. How is the Lord's work coming along there?" Answer: "Well be had three hundred on Sunday, I'd say."
When I ask pastors the same question, I get the same answer—plus two others: "Membership is at five-fifty, we have just finished a new education wing, and our gross income this year will top out at about four hundred thousand." Attendance, buildings, and cash. A-B-C: The new holy trinity.
Such a thing would never have happened in Peter and Paul's day. For one thing, they had no buildings to call their own. They met in people's homes,in public courtyards, sometimes even in caves. As for a budget, they seemed to have dispensed most of their funds in helping the poor.
How large was the attendance in the Antioch church? Berea? Phillipi? Rome? We have no idea. How large was the congregation at Philadelphia, one of the seven churches addressed in the book of Revelation? Apparently not very big. The Lord says, "I know that you have little strength." Yet He proceeds to give them a glowing review (Rev. 3:7-13). By contrast, how large was the congregation at Laodicea? One can get a hint from the fact that the church was "rich and in need of nothing." For all we know, it may have drawn 7,000 on a Sunday. Their bills were certainly paid—yet they received a scathing spiritual rebuke.
This leads me to say that no church should be measured by its attendance. Then what kind of spiritual things do matter a book-of-Acts church? The apostles prayer in Acts 4 provides a benchmark: "Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness " (v. 29). Listen to Peter on the day of Pentecost: "You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross" (Acts 2:23). This is the last thing the crowd wanted to hear. But Peter's preaching did not drive the people away. Instead it stabbed their consciences. At the end of the day a huge group had repented of their sin and been converted.
New Testament preachers were boldly confrontational, trusting that the Holy Spirit would produce the conviction necessary for conversion. They were not afraid. The apostles weren't trying to finesse people. Their communication was not supposed to be "cool" or soothing. They aimed for a piercing of the heart, for conviction of sin. They had not the faintest idea of asking, "what do people want to hear? How can we draw more people to church on Sunday?" That was the last in their minds. Such an approach would have been foreign to the whole New Testament.
Instead of trying to bring men and women to Christ in the biblical way, we are consumed with the unbiblical concept of "church growth." The Bible does not say we should aim at numbers but rather urges us to faithfully proclaim God's message in the boldness of the Holy Spirit. This will build God's church God's way.

Taken from Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, ch. 8 The Lure of Marketing, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997), pp. 121-124