Mountain Views Page 3

01 Jun

EVANGELISM FOR SHY PEOPLE

In

Many of us came of age in a generation taught that the requirements for faithful discipleship with Jesus were daily Bible study, prayer, and witnessing. The first two could be done in private, the last required a foray into the public square.

Personal witnessing was the natural outflow of filling the well of one’s spirit with regular prayer and Bible study. It was also a necessary part of mission outreach. When Adventists gathered in a city for a youth conference, a noted speaker would come to inspire the youth, workshops would be held on techniques of witnessing, and the armies of youth, rightly trained, would take to the streets to apply what they had learned. They would sweep through the malls and parks, often in matching T-shirts, to hand out literature to startled shoppers and pedestrians.

It was urgent to get the information into the hands of the public. The belief in the power of the message to persuade was implicit. Our job was simply to spread the literature “like the leaves of autumn” and trust that the Holy Spirit would take it from there. But we were also taught that if we had the opportunity to witness to someone and didn’t take it, the responsibility for their soul would be on us in the Judgment. The sight of people stuffing the literature into the nearest trash bin was not cause for an adjustment of techniques. It simply meant that they had hardened their hearts against the entreaties of the Spirit.

As a summer youth pastor in California in the ‘70s, I received training in evangelistic outreach methods. These were usually modeled after Bill Bright’s Campus Crusade for Christ tactics. Conference youth ministry leaders were constantly refining their methods and creating handouts, brochures, pins, and other materials that could be used in witnessing efforts. I tried my best, gamely going where I had not gone before. But my heart was not in it.

I wasn’t sure why I was so reluctant to witness. After all, I was a religion and journalism double major. I had been involved in religious activities in high school and my year at Newbold College in England working in the Gate, a Christian music and conversation center, had enlivened and confirmed my love for Christ.

My my junior year in college, I knew that being a pastor was not my calling. I hoped to parlay my fascination with religion and its meaning into an academic career, and that my love of writing could somehow be of use in drawing people to Jesus.

In the classroom I found my vocation, my calling. In teaching religion, communications, ethics, and philosophy courses, I was able to speak freely of the spiritual life and, when asked, “give answer to the hope that was within me.” With my students, I got involved with feeding the homeless in Washington, DC, working alongside local activists. Our campus organization also supported students working for Big Brother/Big Sister programs and we often spoke at local churches and academies in the Columbia Union Conference. I found this a solace for my soul because it was personal, direct, and authentic.

I taught a college course on “Persuasion and Propaganda” for many years. It helped me understand why I am crosswise with most public evangelism methods. First, I recognized how powerful crowds can be in swaying individuals to give up their will. The methods that many evangelists use is on the spectrum from persuasion to propaganda, with some tools differing only in degree from coercion. A skilled evangelist can produce ends, no matter the means used.

Second, I was not convinced that television was an effective means of evangelism. I agreed with Marshall McLuhan’s dictum that “The medium is the message.” That is, if television is primarily an entertainment medium, then no matter what goes into it, entertainment will come out of it. The medium itself changes the message. Granting that television can draw millions of people world-wide to the same event and unite them momentarily in sympathy or excitement, it does not allow for the natural intimacy when people honestly share face to face about the Spirit’s movement in their hearts.

I am moved by dramas I see on television. When the writing is superb, the actors fully invested in their characters, the direction, cinematography, lighting, and music are inspired, the experience can bring tears of appreciation to my eyes. Likewise, the concerts I’ve attended in which the musicians are not only consummate artists, but they create a communion for thousands of people—those moments are spiritual ones for me. But I am a spectator, deeply involved, but still a person watching, listening, appreciating—at a distance.

I have realized that Jesus calls us to use the talents we have in the ways that are true to who we are. Like many teachers, I am an introvert. I could walk into a classroom with joy, engage every student as I was able, sparkle, be effervescent, draw them into rich discussions, and then gratefully return to my office where I could study, research, and write. Teaching provided opportunities to be a listener in a natural movement of empathy. When appropriate, I prayed with students and, when asked, gave advice—although the longer I was a teacher, the more reluctant I was to tell students what they should do. That too, was witnessing.

I began this essay recalling how prayer, Bible study, and witnessing were set before us young butterflies while yet in our cocoons. I still believe in and practice the first two, realizing that “practice” is the operative word for my stumbling efforts. But my understanding of evangelism and witnessing has necessarily evolved over the years.

In the past two years, and more, of the pandemic, my social ties were loosened in person and strengthened online. I have only been to church once in more than 120 Sabbaths, and that was for the memorial service of a beloved church member who died of COVID. I write poetry and post it online. I Zoom with a friend in England once a week. I keep up a sporadic correspondence with friends around the world. My family and my online Sabbath School class are my confidants. All this witnesses to the lifelines God throws to me daily.

I leave the science and art of persuasion to others. I reach out to read, understand, and experience the ways and means that people up and down the centuries have used to come into the presence of the holy. When I walk every morning before dawn, I witness the beautiful complexity of life in the forest. I breathe in, I breathe out. What I take in gives me a reason to give back to people as I can. What I learn teaches me what I can pass along.

We witness to and we witness for. We are witnesses to the ways God’s presence shimmers in and out of our lives. We are witnesses to God’s absence also. We are witnesses for Jesus when the Spirit calls us, giving us the words to say that will bring healing and hope to others and to ourselves.

Barry Casey has published in Adventist Society for the Arts, Brevity, Faculty Focus, Lighthouse Weekly, Mountain Views, Patheos, Spectrum Magazine, The Dewdrop, and The Purpled Nail. His collection of essays, Wandering, Not Lost: Essays on Faith, Doubt, and Mystery, was published by Wipf and Stock in November 2019. He writes from Burtonsville, Maryland. Email him at [email protected]

01 Jun

REFRAMING THE FOCUS

In

The Seventh-day Adventist Church prides itself as the custodian of a specific message found in Revelation 14:6-13. The global scope of the proclamation embedded in the Three Angels’ Messages aims to prepare the world for Christ’s Second Coming. The introductory phrase, ‘Then I saw another angel flying in mid-air,’ expresses motivational haste for a dynamic activity encapsulated in the movement’s evangelistic thrust. The Church’s life and exponential growth are entrenched in the message’s spiritual DNA, drawing attention to the proclamation of the eternal gospel, and calling on people of all nations to worship God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth (Revelation 14:6:7).

While the character of the message’s evangelistic proclamation has been adjusted to a more profound and relevant response to human needs in the changing world, the eternal gospel’s spiritually relational quality eludes its life-transforming influence. The traditional, cognitively grounded, and program-oriented sharing of religious information devoid of the spiritual heart-to-heart dissemination of God’s love contributes to the formation of heartless religiosity.

Such an environment opens the floodgates to dogmatism, theological arguments, authoritarian control, a focus on oiling the organizational machinery’s status quo, and congregational attrition. Bosch argues, “If the Church is to impart to the world a message of hope and love–of faith, justice, and peace–something of this should become visible, audible, and tangible in the Church itself.”[1] The eternal gospel’s message has an all-inclusive application – not only to the world at large, but also to the Church. It calls on the Church to depart from the exclusive, judgmental mentality of triumphalism and step into the world of human brokenness, as Jesus did, to proclaim the message of hope and healing, justice, and mercy, not only in words, but also in the service of authentic witness.

The lack of contextualized adaptation of the eternal gospel to life in a progressively changing world confronts the Church with a dilemma. De Waal argues, “We are now living in one of the fastest periods of change in history, and the local Adventist church is in danger of becoming irrelevant, even outdated. The local church is at the crossroads and needs to biblically reinvent itself to stay relevant.”[2] He expands his argument by stressing the change’s impact globally: “While the Church is growing rapidly in the Global South, it is stagnant or experiencing malaise in most parts of the Global North. Many churches are in maintenance mode. Even though transfer and biological growth are steady, kingdom growth is minimal or by only addition. In its mission work, our Church often seems to be servicing institutions more than engaging in frontline work.”[3]

It’s painful and heartbreaking to pose honest, reflectively evaluating questions out in the open because it places individuals at risk of open criticism, silent exclusion, and even loss of employment. However, the contemporary emergence of authoritarian control and the dangerous pangs of fundamentalism in the ranks of the Adventist community, a community defined by Johnsson as “people of dream,”[4] encourages many thinkers to ask genuine questions concerning the state of the Church. De Waal extends the question to the spirit of evangelism: “Will the local Adventist church continue in its same structural mode, resourcing a paradigm of audience-centered and program-oriented ministry?”[5] In the depths of such heartfelt reflections, it’s necessary to refocus on the meaning of Jesus’ way, heart-to-heart proclamation, and sharing the good news of God’s kingdom of grace. In his challenging book Exiles: Living Missionally in the Post-Christian Culture, Michael Frost muses, “All Christian missional and [I add organizational and evangelistic] activities must emerge from our relationship with Jesus…. It is the Spirit of Christ within each of us that gives rise to a missional lifestyle.”[6] How did Jesus announce and proclaim the presence of God’s kingdom of grace?

Adjusting the Lenses

Space does not permit a detailed analysis of Christ’s Messianic entry into the domain of human life, but a brief, thoughtful reflection highlights the waves of inspirational motivation that enrich the meaning of the ‘eternal gospel’ and its application to God’s last invitation, calling people to step into the safe haven of God’s kingdom of grace. Frost defines such moments as “God’s songs.” Such songs dispel notions of fear, judgment, and condemnation, for they “give birth to a new world and a new way of being his followers.”[7] This succinct rumination suggests that God’s songs enhance the vision of healing, inspiration for life, and an unconditional acceptance.

Jesus announced the pathway of His redemptive ministry as “the good news for the poor. It aimed to proclaim freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and release of oppression” (Luke 4:18,19). His proclamation’s evangelistic thrust was short and sweet: “Today, the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (4:21). John’s gospel summarized its theological significance in another profound statement: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Christ’s proclamation of the good news was not a top-down imposition of information shared from a distance. Moffett argues that in the kingdom’s context, the evangelistic proclamation was never so narrow that it became isolated from the immediate pressing needs of the imprisoned, the blind, and the oppressed.[8] It may be added that the presence of God’s kingdom of grace extended its healing influence beyond the realm of physical needs, grounding its healing power in the spiritual domain of human experience. Christ’s physical healings provided just a microscopic taste of the future glory, in which death and suffering would reign no more (Revelation 21:1-4). However, His journey to the cross displayed His attitude toward marginalized, spiritually wounded, and homeless people.

The selected narratives in the first three chapters of John’s gospel are significantly intentional. He is the only gospel writer who refers to Christ’s miracle at the wedding in Cana (2:1-11). While the other gospel writers described Christ’s cleansing of the temple during the Passover Feast just before His death, John includes the story at the beginning of Christ’s Messianic mission (2:12-23). The story of Nicodemus appears only in the gospel of John. The listed narratives outline the scope of Christ’s relational attitude that guided the human heart to the place of spiritual healing–the cross.

First, life in Jesus’ presence generated a spontaneous willingness to witness (1:35- 51). Jesus knew that His disciples did not understand His Mission’s real purpose.[9] Nevertheless, He was not hesitant to change Peter’s name, for he knew his potential and uniqueness. Jesus was not afraid to provide encouragement, motivation, and unconditional acceptance, rather than criticism. He knew and understood Nathaniel’s struggles with doubts, yet he encouraged him with a greater vision (1:51). The entire story opens our minds to the welcoming environment of acceptance that ignites human value.

Second, the wedding miracle at Cana reminded the disciples to focus on the unfolding presence of God’s grace, for the best was yet to come (2:10). As Leon Morris suggests, “He [Jesus] changed the waters of Christ-lessness into the wine of the richness and the fullness of eternal life.”[10] Christ’s miracle of changing water into wine unfolded the pathway of creative inspiration for life, reminding the disciples that the best comes last. Even though the disciples did not understand the spiritual significance of the miracle, they “put their faith in him” (2:11).

Finally, Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus confronts all with the challenge of decisions – the challenge to be born from above to receive the healing and life-transforming power of God’s grace (3:10-17).

This brief reflection suggests that the outlined character of unconditional acceptance, inspiration for life, and the life-transforming and healing power of the cross represents the spiritual depth of the “eternal gospel” to be shared with the people of all the nations (Revelation 14:6-7). Furthermore, the attitude role-modeled by Christ’s witness safeguards God’s message from any form of fiery and critical condemnation of the world (John 3:16-17). Instead, it challenges the community of faith to mold the footsteps of God’s mercy on the pathway of human life, focusing on the victorious liberation accomplished by Jesus, the Lamb of God (John 1:35; 3:16; Revelation 5:6-13). So reciting Frost, “Why can’t our corporate singing summon up a world where the poor are fed, and the marginalized are welcomed to the table of the Lord? Why can’t we sing about the world that Jesus dreamed of on the side of the mountain? Why does our singing so often seem so trivial?”[11]

Jesus is not just another story among many stories; HE IS THE STORY–He is the home of hope, peace, and inspiration in the messed-up world.

John Skrzypaszek, DMin, a retired director of the Ellen White/Seventh-day Adventist Research Centre, is an adjunct senior lecturer at Avondale University College, Coranboong, NSW, Australia. Polish by birth, John takes a keen interest in heritage, spirituality, and identity studies. He is married to Brenda and has two sons Raphael and Luke. Email him at: [email protected]

 

[1] David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1995), 414.

[2] Kayle de Waal, “A question of mission,” Adventist Record. (August 1, 2017), 1

[3] Ibid.

[4] William Johnsson, The Fragmenting of Adventism (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1995), 105.

[5] De Waal, 1.

[6] Michael Frost, Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006), 29.

[7] Frost, 23.

[8] Samuel Moffett, “Evangelism: The Leading Partner” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, Eds. Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1992), D-208.

[9] Luke 18: 31-34; Mark 9:32; John 12:16; Luke 22:18-21.

[10] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1971), 176.

[11] Frost, 23

 

01 Jun

“A PLACE THEY MADE UP IN THE BIBLE?”

In

Writing a book can be an all-consuming endeavor requiring an intensity of focus and an amount of energy that seems absurd for the amount of energy needed to simply sit still for long enough. Even more so when the book is based on an intense personal experience.

But that was the task I had set for myself: two weeks traveling with a tour group through Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories, exploring many of the key places and stories of the Bible, writing in my hotel room late into the night and early in the morning, as well as on the bus in between. Then writing for most of a day during a long wait in the back of a Starbucks in the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, on much of the long flight home and then more writing, re-writing, and revising across the following week.

Wanting to share as much of the experience as I could with those who might never be privileged to take such a trip, I was trying to get it down while the reactions were fresh, the details sharp, and the reflections at their most intense, even if it resulted in being as jumbled as the experience itself. As well as telling the stories of travel in exotic and interesting places, I was wanting to share some of the insights into reading Bible stories that can be gained from visiting the places where they happened and to reflect on how such experiences might change how we understand those stories. And at the end of that intense three weeks, I had completed the manuscript that would become Of Falafels and Following Jesus: Stories from a Journey Through the Holy Land,* with additional reflections to be added from two friends with whom I shared the journey.

It was close to the end of this time that I shut the computer for a break and headed to my usual Thursday-evening “old man’s” basketball game. I play in an over-30s league—and have done so for quite a few years with many of the same teammates. Because of the life stage of people in this league, some of us will miss games from time to time because of work and other commitments and some of the team will regularly bring their kids to help keep score and to cheer us on, even if with only occasional enthusiasm.

As I have missed games from time to time because of my travel for work, that Thursday evening, one of my teammates asked about where I had been the previous week, perhaps chiding me about what could be more important than our basketball team. I thought back to where I had been the previous Thursday and told him that, at that time the previous week, I had been walking the stone-paved streets of the Old City in Jerusalem. That’s quite a thing to be able to drop casually into conversation. And, with increased interest, he started asking about my trip and what I had been doing there.

But our conversation took an unexpected turn—for both him and me—when his elementary school-aged daughter tapped him on the arm to get his attention and, speaking more to her father than to me, half-asked, “But I thought Jerusalem was a place they made up in the Bible.”

We paused for a moment, before the father began gently teasing his daughter about what she was learning at school. And I pulled out my phone and began showing them photos of a few of the places I had a visited with a brief travel narrative, interrupted by the previous basketball game coming to an end and our team needing to begin our warm-up shoot-around.

But the brief exchange left me thinking. Consumed as I was with crafting profound reflections on the stories of Jesus and my intense experiences and focus on these stories over the previous three weeks, for that girl—and perhaps for her family as well—the most relevant thing I had to share was a few photos of real places that might move her a step closer to beginning to think about the possible reality of some of the stories of the Bible or even the potential credibility of the Bible itself.

We might lament the growing biblical illiteracy in our societies. This is real and no less a relevant concern even within some of our church communities. But we should also embrace this challenge and note the opportunity that comes with it.

The challenge is that we need to meet people at a much lower level in their knowledge, experience and understanding of what our faith is about. My teammate’s daughter is a long way from a Bible study, much less a detailed explication of each of the 28 Fundamental Beliefs, the finer details of an obscure prophecy, or an argument about the day on which she “should” be going to church. Let’s not assume that our concerns are the things other people most need to hear. My literary reflections on the contested nature of holy places and the politicization of the temple, from the time of David and Solomon to its rebuilding by Herod the Great, would not answer this girl’s query about whether Jerusalem is a more believable place than a fairy-tale kingdom.

If we really want to share our faith, rather than merely saying what we think we ought to say, we need to begin by listening, asking careful questions, and then listening some more. This is modeled in some of the key “witnessing” stories in the New Testament—for example, the woman at the well in Samaria (see John 4), the disciples on the road to Emmaus (see Luke 24:13–27), and Phillip and the Ethiopian on the road to Gaza (see Acts 8:26–38). Each of these conversations happened amid the activities of life and the conversations began where the people were, not with the conversation we might think most important or pressing.

When we do this, the opportunity we have is that of a fresh hearing for the stories, teachings and promises of Jesus. When the opportunities arise, I can share Bible stories with people like my teammate’s daughter without them knowing how the stories end, without their cultural baggage, without assuming that we know what they mean. And with our own stories and experiences of faith, we can invite them to share in exploring these stories together, which in turn, will help us see and appreciate them with new eyes. And, in its own way, that is as valuable as a trip to the Holy Land.

Nathan Brown is a writer and editor at Signs Publishing near Melbourne, Australia. His Christmas devotional book Advent: Hearing the Good News in the Story of Jesus’ Birth is great for seasonal reading and gifting. Email him at: [email protected]

*A little product placement never hurts. The book is available from an Adventist bookshop near you: https://adventistbookcenter.com/of-falafels-and-following-jesus.html

01 Jun

(POST)-MODERN EVANGELISM

In

A few years ago, I was hanging out with an older friend, and we were talking about the trustworthiness of the Bible. A Yale- and MIT-trained Jew, we focused only on the Hebrew Bible, since that is his context, but he was fairly skeptical of my confidence in its authority. Despite being Jewish, or arguably because of a certain rendition of Judaism, he leans more toward a pantheistic understanding of God, maintaining that divinity inhabits everyone and everything.

Growing a little impatient and somewhat frustrated that I wasn’t making much headway in my attempts to convince him of the Bible’s reliability, I decided to bust out an evangelistic “secret weapon” that Adventists have used since our inception in the nineteenth century: Daniel 2. I described the statue Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream—the head of gold, the chest of silver, the thighs of bronze, the legs of iron—and how they unequivocally align with the four historical kingdoms, starting with Babylon, that dominated the world from the time of Daniel. I pointed to the feet of iron mixed with clay, and how that represented divided Europe, and the rock cut out of the mountain without human hands, representing God’s kingdom, that would shatter all earthly kingdoms and nations and ultimately set up God’s eternal kingdom. It was all directly out of Adventist Evangelism 101, used thousands of times by confident and zealous evangelists.

And it was all thoroughly unconvincing.

After listening to my passionate explanation, my friend looked at me, and without a hint of sarcasm or guile, simply said, “It sounds like you’re really stretching that interpretation.”

His response was quite jarring to me. I didn’t expect him to jump into the baptistry the minute I finished my exposition, but I at least thought it would give him pause. Instead, he displayed utter ambivalence.

To make it clear, I know that’s not the end of the story. Despite what many “mission spotlight” type stories leave us impressed with, sudden come-to-Jesus’ conversions, at random coffee shops, rarely occur. Conversion is more like a slowly developing journey, with smaller accumulated insights, rather than a sudden burst of revelation that dramatically alters a person’s trajectory in an instant. Who knows as to whether my exposition of Daniel 2 might serve as just a tiny dot that one day, when combined with other small dots, turns into a beautiful painting of a Jesus-centered life.

I also remain fairly persuaded that Daniel 2 pretty accurately reflects, in broad strokes, the scope of human history from the time of Daniel to our day. I don’t say this with absolute certainty, but despite my friend’s apprehension, I still find the outline of Daniel 2 pretty impressive.

The point is, however, that I found myself using a nineteenth-century argument, and a nineteenth-century evangelistic approach, with a twenty-first-century person. This is not at all to deny that such an approach can work with many, many people in the twenty-first century. It’s simply to point out that, as one of my friends—who himself is an evangelist—once told me: “Adventist evangelism is very creative . . . for the 1950s or 1850s.”

The truth is, Adventist evangelism has, it seems to me, suffered from arrested development. Where once our denomination was a creative and risk-taking movement, willing to try new and innovative approaches in order share the gospel, we have now become conservative and stale. This is not necessarily unique to Adventism, since the natural—and, to some degree, appropriate—development of organizations is to institutionalize and conserve, providing a somewhat-appropriate conservatism that promotes stability. But the trick is to take all the positives of institutionalization and combine them with fresh approaches.

In pointing to the need for creative and innovative approaches to evangelism, I’m not even talking about anything all that crazy or revolutionary. I’m not talking about dancing bears or fog machines or strobe lights at contemporary worship services. I’m not talking about having the fanciest or most up-to-date websites, or killer social media platforms. Those things may be all well and good, and part of the answer, but, to me, it’s even more fundamental—and perhaps even more creative and scary—than that.

What I’m talking about is this: the most creative and innovate evangelistic thing we can do is to draw close to people, enter into life with them, and listen to their stories. That is truly revolutionary—though I would propose it actually works at all times and in all places. It is, in many ways, trans-cultural and effective in any historical era.

Too many of our evangelistic approaches are drawn up in laboratories or after reading books. Even methods that are deemed “innovative” are often implemented as the result of learning them from a sort of cookie-cutter, one-size-fits all evangelism template. We have, in the words of Ellen White, taught our people to become thinkers of “other men’s thoughts,” instead of teaching them to listen to the Spirit for themselves, and to listen to the stories of those they’re trying to reach with the gospel, and then sharing the gospel with them in creative and relevant ways.

This idea really hit home for me a few years ago when I spent three or four days at the General Conference headquarters, visiting a couple friends who worked there. As I just floated around the halls, occasionally popping in on various meetings, a thought suddenly occurred to me: these people, dedicated servants of God, are trying to create content that will reach people in Bangkok as well as Bangor, Laos as well as Los Angeles. How does that work?

I don’t write this to be critical of anyone at the General Conference—or anywhere else. The same could be said for content that comes out of our Divisions, Unions, and Conferences. We are extremely reliant on one-size-fits all programming that, by its very nature, cannot connect in completely relevant ways to your neighbor in Denver or Boulder the same way it does to mine in Bangor or someone else’s in Tokyo.

The truth is, as they say about politics, evangelism is local. It must be local. Only then can it be innovative and creative, in the truest sense of the word. It’s only as we enter into life with real people, who have unique stories, that we can fully understand how the gospel speaks and applies to them in unique, innovative, and beautiful ways. While the content of the gospel doesn’t change, utilizing a canned evangelistic approach, and prescribing canned evangelistic arguments, is like prescribing surgery by simply consulting with WebMD.

In other words, instead of thinking about and planning creative programs, we should think about coming alongside people—our neighbors, co-workers, and friends—and asking the Spirit to show us how to share the gospel, in both word and deed, in ways that uniquely apply to each individual.

Of course, all this challenges traditional Adventism. In my experience, Adventists typically prefer to keep people—especially non-Adventists—at arm’s length and to do our evangelism from afar. We would often rather send out a tract or post a YouTube video than to draw close to people and share life with them. We’re afraid of keeping bad company that might influence us away from the truth.

There are many reasons for this attitude and posture, but I’d propose that chief among them is our failure to fully grasp the gospel, both intellectually and emotionally. At its core, the gospel teaches us that the God of Scripture is a God of incarnation—of one who steps into our mess, meeting us where we are and embodying His truth amidst all our mess and sin. As John declared, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”—or, as The Message renders it, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14).

Simply put, when we understand the radical condescension of God in the Person of Jesus—when we understand and appreciate the depths to which Christ went in order to reach and save us—we will embody such a posture in our own approach to evangelism, seeking to meet people where they are and fully communicating the gospel not only in word but also in deed.

And that is the most creative and innovative thing we can do to share the gospel.

Shawn Brace is a pastor in Bangor, Maine, whose life, ministry, and writing focus on incarnational expressions of faith. The author of four books and a columnist for Adventist Review, he is also a DPhil student at the University of Oxford, focusing on nineteenth-century American Christianity. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter @shawnbrace, and sign up for his weekly newsletter at shawnbrace.substack.com

01 Jun

EVANGELISM – WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?

In

I grew up in a home that ate, drank, and breathed “evangelism.” It was important to us because evangelism introduced the Gospel to my family which completely changed the trajectory of our lives for the better. It was from this experience of the Gospel finding us through evangelism that our burden for evangelism was born.

My father and mother worked in evangelism for more than 50 years and have participated in close to 230 evangelistic events. I also now have the privilege of working in evangelism. Because of this, I have heard a lot of ideas, thoughts, opinions and criticisms on evangelism over the years. I, myself, have wrestled with some of the realities of change and cultural shifts and whether the way we are doing evangelism is the most effective way. I’ve often felt like someone without a tribe when it comes to evangelism. Because on one hand, I am passionate about it. I believe in it. But I do see the need for modification, innovation, etc. and I could be viewed as being anti-evangelism.

However, on the other extreme, there are those who love throwing the baby out with the bathwater. They want to downplay/discredit all public evangelism and group anyone who preaches prophecy or Revelation as being old-fashioned and non-relevant. I do find it interesting that many of the greatest critics of evangelism have engaged in very little of it. Look, there are evangelists that have done an incredible disservice to “evangelism”. I have heard too many “Christless” prophecy seminars (which is a bit odd seeing that Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy, and that Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ). So, in the rest of the article, I would like to explore what evangelism is, what works, what needs to change, and where we go from here.

First, what is evangelism? This word has been used so much, especially in Adventism, that it’s become a bit of a non-word. Everybody has different ideas. It conjures up different images for everyone. So, I do believe it’s important to at least establish what I view as evangelism as it sets the context for the rest of this article. We do not have time to create an exhaustive definition but will do our best to give something we can work from.

We get the word evangelism from the Greek word for gospel, “evangelion”. So first and foremost, evangelism is about sharing the Gospel (good news). Which is another one of those phrases that can mean very different things for different people. For some, Gospel means telling people they better get their life together so that when Jesus returns, they’re ready. However, the Gospel and Scripture are not telling us that Jesus is coming, but that Jesus has come. The kingdom of God has arrived in the person of Jesus Christ. Now there is certainly a second coming component to the Gospel, a very important component. But Jesus’ second coming means nothing were it not for His first coming.

Matthew 4:23 – He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Mark 16:15 (ESV) – And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation…”

εὐαγγελίζω ‘to tell the good news’, ‘for I am not ashamed of the gospel’ Romans 1:16. In several languages, the expression ‘the Gospel’ or ‘the good news’ must be rendered by a phrase, for example, ‘news that makes one happy’ or ‘information that causes one joy’ or ‘words that bring smiles’ or ‘a message that causes the heart to be sweet.’[1]

So, without spending all our time here, let’s embrace evangelism as the intentional act/process of proclaiming, publicly and personally, the arrival of the Kingdom of God, Christ Jesus, His plan of salvation, transformation, and His second coming and restoration in such a way that gives people hope, assurance, an accurate portrayal of God’s love.

This brings us to our second point. This type of evangelism works. John 12:32 (NLT) “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” When Jesus is lifted up, that’s when everyone starts to show up. The principle of public evangelism– lifting up the healing and hope found in Christ–changes lives. People are thirsting for a liberating Gospel. Something radically different than the “strings-attached” world that we live in.

Evangelism works when it is relevant to everyday life. It speaks to the hopes, fears, and dreams of seekers. Connecting the Gospel to relevant subjects that are in the news, and on the minds of people, is where transformation happens. It must meet real needs. It does not matter how informative your 2300 Days prophecy sermon is if it does not meet the needs of people. When our evangelism does not confront, confirm, and give hope to people in their daily walk, it never becomes personal.

Does your evangelism give hope to married couples, singles, young people, seniors? Start speaking the everlasting Gospel to the job losses and the divorces, to the frustrations, doubts and depressions of people, and see the eyes of your congregation begin to light up. Share a gospel that never changes to the people and predicaments that are constantly changing. Evangelism that works is not about information; it’s about transformation. If it is going to be powerful, it must be personal and practical. When I do evangelism, whether it be personal or public, I imagine I am trying to reach 200 Richies (me).  I know if it reaches my heart, chances are it’s going to reach the hearts of others. People want to know that, although at times their situations seem hopeless, there is a power greater than themselves that thrives in hopeless cases, empty tombs and rugged crosses. He called disciples who had problems with ego, cussed like sailors, and had terrible tempers. If God could transform them, He can transform me. Good evangelism is not about information; it is about transformation, which comes through the Incarnation–the Gospel must become flesh and blood in our evangelism. It is touching people where they are yet challenging them to give a greater piece of their heart to Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

So, what needs to change? Any evangelism that puts all the emphasis on me, instead of on God, falls short, because we all fall short. We need greater gospel clarity. The Bible is not a set of rules about how people can find God.

The Bible is a story of how God found us. The Gospel is NOT about how we can work our way up to heaven, but how heaven worked its way down to us. I hear too many Christ-less evangelistic messages. It’s all about what we must do in order to be saved, instead about what Jesus did in order to save us.

The greatest evangelism ever done was from Calvary and the central claim was not “do, do, do,” but “done, done, done!” If the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ is not the beginning, and indeed, everything in between, of your evangelism, do everybody a favor and stop it. The Gospel is NOT “you are saved by grace through faith plus plus, plus.” It is, “you’ve been saved by grace through faith, PERIOD. Is this the Good News in your evangelism? Is it, “follow all the right rules or follow the right Person? I don’t know how people can make good news sound like bad news, but I’ve met some Seventh-day Adventists who can. We have such a beautiful, holistic, message. The question is, “Is it coming through your evangelism?”

Another very important thing that must change with our evangelism is making serving the community and building relationship an integral part of it. There was a time when most Americans identified as Christian, when just “having the truth” was enough. But people need more than that today. They need to see the truth in you. Theodore Roosevelt was one of the people who said, “People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care.” Just hearing the truth wasn’t enough for Thomas. He needed to experience it. Studies show that people aren’t coming to the church for information—they’ve got all the information they could ever want at their fingertips.

According to Barna Research, “People are coming to the church for two things: experience and connection”. Like Thomas, people need to touch, see, feel Jesus in us before they’ll ever come to our church, or an evangelistic event. Who knows, maybe we had to stop going to church (during COVID) so that we could finally start becoming the church.

John 20:25 – Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe. What’s amazing about this is although Thomas’s request seems unrealistic, Jesus still gives it to him. Because that’s what Thomas needed. When we start giving people what they need, some of our greatest skeptics, like Thomas, can become some of our greatest advocates. What’s interesting about Thomas–doubting Thomas–is that he makes the biggest profession of faith out of everyone in John 20:28 after he touched Jesus: “My Lord and my God!”

Where do we go from here? It’s not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are some evangelists that place too much emphasis on the beasts of Revelation and not enough on the Lamb. There have been a lot of evangelistic meetings that I left feeling like I would never ever measure up. That evangelism needs to stop. People should leave our presence, and our preaching, feeling better than when they showed up. There are organizations and individuals out there that seem to preach and promote an evangelism that is missing the most vital component–Jesus.

However, just because some evangelism does not work does not mean we should abandon evangelism altogether. In Twelve Step recovery, people often say. “The program works when you work it.” The same goes for evangelism. Evangelism works when we work it the right way. The right way is keeping Christ at the center, meeting needs, speaking to the hopes and dreams of people, and building community. We cannot get ready for heaven while watching our community go to hell. Love must be the center of everything we do.

The apostle Paul, formally Saul, is proof that you can follow the right rules and still be lost, but you can never follow the right Person without being led into New Life. Let’s make the Gospel great again. I’m not suggesting that we disregard or not deliver our doctrines. On the contrary, we need to, but let’s make it beautiful and only share it through the lens of the Gospel.

Our evangelism should paint a picture of beauty that creates hope and yearning, not a picture of destruction that creates fear and loathing. The Gospel isn’t bad news; it is good news. Let’s keep it that way.

Richie Halversen is director of church growth & revitalization, Southern Union of Seventh-day Adventists. Email him at: [email protected]

[1] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 412). New York: United Bible Societies.

01 Jun

SHARING THE GOSPEL WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD: Will the job ever be finished?

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In some parts of the world, traditional forms of Adventist evangelism still “work”. A nation-wide evangelistic campaign was held in 2016 in the Central-African country of Rwanda. Within a few months, about 110 000 newly baptized members joined the church. However, in other parts of the globe—notably in the Western world—similar evangelistic methods have lost their effectiveness. In recent times, despite generous budgets and extensive advertising, few people come to a public evangelistic series, and keep attending after the first meeting. Other forms of traditional evangelism, likewise, fail to produce significant results.

Challenges

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has always believed that Christ’s commission to proclaim the gospel “to all nations” must be taken with utter seriousness, and that “the end” will not come until this task has been accomplished (Matthew 24:14). Until quite recently, it seemed that the Adventist mission was a real “success story”. In 1970, there was one Adventist in this world for about 3,000 people. In 2020, just fifty years later, the ratio of Adventists to non-Adventists had improved to 1:308.  However, lately the growth of the world-wide Adventist Church is stagnating. The dream of further exponential growth that would result in reaching the 50 million-member-mark within another decade or so, now seems unrealistic. One of the sad reasons is a dramatically poor retention rate. The church’s statistical office tells us that we lose over 40 percent of our new members relatively soon after their entry into the church!

The growth of our denomination reflects a pattern that many other denominations are also experiencing. There is a general trend that Christianity is moving “south”, that is: away from the more developed countries to the developing world. The western world is becoming more and more secular, and no longer interested in institutionalized Christianity. Many denominations in Europe see a steady decrease in their membership, and an even more dramatic decline in church attendance. In part, this trend is camouflaged by the arrival of Christian immigrants—refugees, students, and millions who are looking for a more prosperous future for themselves and their loved ones. In several countries, the Adventist Church would have no future, were it not for a reinforcement by brothers and sisters from “the south.”

Any Adventist who follows the official church media regularly meets the expression “10-40 window”. It is a missiological term which refers to the segment of our globe between roughly 10 degrees and 40 degrees north of the Equator. Most people in this part of the world are Muslims or belong to one of the other major non-Christian world-religions. The Adventist world leadership considers this “10-40 window” to be one of the greatest mission challenges. However, despite all recent evangelistic initiatives, the church-growth results remain rather paltry.

Another enormous challenge is presented by the large cities of our world. The percentage of the world’s population that lives in an urbanized environment keeps growing and has risen to about 68 percent. But Christian missionary work—that of Adventists included—in the ever-growing urban centers, remains to a large extent, a matter of “plowing” and “sowing” on the rocks.

Will the job ever be completed?

Around the year 1900 about thirty percent of the people in the world identified themselves as Christians. A century later the population of the world had vastly increased, but the percentage of Christians remained virtually the same. Two decades into the twenty-first century, mission experts report that the percentage of Christians in the world has slightly increased—from around 30 to just over 32 percent. But, as the world population keeps growing, this means that the number of non-Christian people in the world, in actual fact, keeps going up. Each minute 266 persons are born, which makes for a total of 400.,000 extra people per day—all of whom must be reached with the gospel.

Looking at these and other key mission statistics, one wonders whether the job of preaching the gospel to “the whole world” will ever be completed. And, if it is true that Christ will not come until the mission mandate has been fully implemented, one wonders whether He will ever be able to return . . .

Together, but with a special responsibility

I have no answers to many of the questions concerning the completion of the gospel commission, and how this relates to the Second Coming of Christ. However, let me share a few thoughts that may help those who, like me, struggle with these issues.

Let’s remind ourselves that the gospel mandate has not only been given solely to the Adventist denomination. All Christians share in the task of “proclaiming” the message of Christ and of telling others of what He has done for us. It has never been the official position of the Adventist Church that Adventists are the only agents in the preaching of the gospel. As early as 1926, a very significant statement was included in the GC Working Policy book. It can still be found in the ever-growing “black book.” Policy number O 100 reads: “We recognize those agencies that lift up Christ before men as a part of the divine plan for the evangelization of the world, and we hold in high esteem Christian men and women in other communions who are engaged in winning souls to Christ.”

This does not mean that the Adventist Church is simply one voice among a plethora of other Christian voices. While we recognize that we hold many of our beliefs in common with other Christians, we believe we enrich the Christian testimony by our emphasis on several “special truths”. The Adventist focus is found specifically in the messages of the three angels of Revelation 14. The first message underscores the importance of our worship of God as the Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of all that is. The second message contains a stern warning about a progressive disregard, all around us, for biblical principles and ethical norms, while the third message concludes that all men and women in this world must ultimately make a choice: Who will they serve? How will they live? Will they decide to follow God’s instructions with all their heart?

Is it all about doctrine?

For many Seventh-day Adventists, proclaiming the gospel message equals giving doctrinal instruction. And, certainly, doctrines are not unimportant! They help us to provide structure to our faith and to our witness, just as grammar gives structure to our communication through language. The famous American theologian Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962) underlined, in a frequently-quoted statement, that the gospel proclamation has often lacked the substance that it should have: ‘A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgement, through the ministry of a Christ without a cross.’[1] As Adventist Christians, we must, however, not just focus on the doctrinal correctness of what we bring to the Christian table, but more than ever, on its relevance. Postmodern people want to know—more than the modern generation before them—what the Christian message can do for them. What can the words of Christ mean during the week for our daily life of work and recreation? How do “fundamental beliefs” translate into a life of meaning and true happiness? How do doctrinal truths nurture the relationship with the One who is Life and Truth? When Jesus spoke about the Truth, He told his disciples that the Truth would make them free (John 8:31). The Truth must do something for us. In other words, it must be relevant and relate to all aspects of who, and what, we are. This realization adds a vital dimension to an already gargantuan task.

God’s project

So, will this assignment of bringing the message of Christ to “all the world” ever be accomplished? The answer is: Yes, it will. Somehow, and at God’s time. We must allow God to surprise us. In the meantime, it is our responsibility to do all we can to share our faith with others in ways that are relevant to them. It means that we must translate our message in ways that remain true to the essence of God’s Word, but can be understood and will be appreciated by the secular, postmodern men and women of today.

While we do this, let us ever remember that we are not dealing with something we can refer to as our project. It is God’s project. The words of George E. Ladd, who was a prominent teacher at Fuller Theological Seminary (1911-1982), seem particularly apt for the present generation of Adventists in the western world: “Christ has not yet returned; therefore, the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come . . . So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission.” [2]

Reinder Bruinsma, PhD, has served the Seventh-day Adventist Church in publishing, education, and church administration on three continents. He writes from the Netherlands where he lives with his wife Aafie. Among his latest books is I Have a Future: Christ’s Resurrection and Mine. Email him at: [email protected]  

[1]  Richard Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in America, (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1988 ed.), p. 193.

[2]  George E. Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom: Scriptural Studies in the Kingdom of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1959), p. 137.

 

01 Jun

LIFTING UP JESUS

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Good news! Jesus wants to grow the church. His strategy is simple: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32 [ESV])

The fulfillment of this happened 2000 years ago when Jesus was lifted up on Calvary, followed by His resurrection when He was lifted up from Earth to Heaven. Many were drawn to Jesus as a result. The Book of Acts records the phenomenal church growth that took place and is the fruit of Jesus being lifted up.

I believe John 12:32 will also be fulfilled when we lift Him up. We often think of this being done through preaching and teaching; however, it is not the only way.

When we treat others with the same compassion that Jesus displayed in His life, we can exemplify lifting up Jesus. When people are loved, they are given a taste of Jesus’ love. It is like a magnet that pulls a paper clip. This display of compassion draws and attracts them to the Jesus, they see living in us.

Thirty-five years ago, a group of Adventists established a church on the east side of Richmond, Virginia. They had a great pastor who made it a point to lift up Jesus in his preaching and teaching. The members also had compassion for their neighbors.

Among those attending the new church was a young man who had lost his way in life. The one thing he knew was that when his life on Earth was done, he wasn’t going to Heaven.

While attending church one Sabbath morning, this man was introduced to Jesus. For the first time in his life, he realized his life’s value was struggling with low self-worth. The thought that Jesus loved Him so much that He would have left Heaven just for him, was really good news. The more he heard, the more he wanted.

The preaching of the gospel was not the only good news. The people of the church modeled the life of Jesus. They were compassionate and it could be seen in how they treated him. They made it a point to:

  • Greet him with a smile.
  • Take an interest in getting acquainted.
  • Invite him to serve.

As a result, this man gave his life to Jesus Christ. Amen!

He was so excited with what he found that he eventually decided to go into full-time ministry so he could spend the rest of his life lifting up Jesus. Amazingly today, he is lifting up Jesus as the Rocky Mountain Conference ministerial director (yours truly).

As I think of church growth strategy, I can’t but think of the same strategy that helped me become a Seventh-day Adventist Christian.

When we focus on Jesus in our preaching and teaching and combine it with compassion for the community, people are impacted for eternity.

Is there someone in your sphere of influence who needs to hear and see the Good News. God is already working in their heart, and they are on the verge of giving their life to Jesus.

Will you join me in praying that Jesus will be lifted up in EVERYthing we do? For “Many are on the verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in.”  (Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 109).

Mick Mallory is RMC ministerial director. Email him at: [email protected]

20 Sep

Daring

In

Mountain Views, Fall 2019

Daring

 

By Rajmund Dabrowski

Every Sabbath, my church worship ends with a special blessing. There are six elements to it. One of them says: “May Jesus bless you with courage, that you will dare to be who you are.”

Simply stated, when Jesus is All in your life, your personal authenticity is founded in Him.

You and I are Christian by choice. We volunteer to follow Jesus. We join a band of believers because He is All. In Luke 9:23 [The Message] Jesus says: “Then He [Jesus] told them what they could expect for themselves: ‘Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am.’”

Grazyna is my guru when it involves healthy nutrition. Michal, our son, is a master acupuncturist. A while back, in my typical expression of authenticity, I asked them: “Tell me, can I be too healthy?”

“Oh, dad,” Michal responded.

All I did was ask a stupid question. My authentic in- quiries allow me to be myself even when my questions go beyond common sense inquisitiveness. It’s like a child ask- ing why the color of orange is orange? Oh, how much more I have to learn to deal with pretense in my own life.

When reading the Gospels, we often wonder why it is that we mostly understand Jesus and His parables, but His twelve companions had such a hard time with understand- ing and He often took them aside to explain what they did not understand.

In our 21st-century inquisitiveness and eagerness to peek into the kitchen, we want to know and challenge each other to be the first to know. Likely, He told them what we can only imagine He would have said, and our imagination leads us in many directions. He was a patient revealer of hidden things. What if He told them not to be a part of what were wrong conclusions? Would He tell them about fake or correct conclusions, shallow or precise and deep explana- tions? His professorial knowledge was breaking the glass ceiling of the impatient, short, and dismissive responses they were eager to offer. Oh, they had lots to learn, I conclude with a gleam in my eyes. They were like me!

Returning to authenticity . . . for many us, being authen- tic is a challenge. Among the challenges is the seeming discrepancy between what we reveal in private and how others see in us in public. We hide our emotions. We spin our language. We are silent about what we see and experi- ence. We hide behind God and His judgment, leaving mercy aside. When reading Scripture, we prefer to return to our favorite texts, skipping those passages that make us feel uncomfortable.

On one occasion when visiting a small congregation in Wyoming, a congregant interrupted me and asked if I read the chosen Bible passages in a particular version. “You need to read the KJV,” he stopped me. Perhaps I need to go to the KJV again, I reflected later. But, why limit your quest for authentic Christianity to selective thinking, living and reading Scriptures in one version only?

Eugene H. Peterson writes about growing up in our Christian life, in which the declared words would get wings to fly, to walk, and to live. He writes that “We are only capa- ble of renouncing a false life when we are familiar with a real life. Those years of association with Jesus for the disciples, years of ‘growing up,’ were years of realizing in sharp and precise detail that life is what God gives us in Jesus: grace, healing, forgiveness, deliverance from evil, a miraculous meal, the personal presence and word of God.”

For many of us, being authentic is a challenge. Part of this challenge is the discrepancy between what we reveal in private and how others see us in public.

If you are reading this commentary, you are likely a Seventh-day Adventist. And being one, I am sure you wish to see an authentic representation in what the faith commu- nity to which you belong believes and practices. I often ask myself: Are you a true reflection of what you believe?

How do we express what is behind our church’s name? What is behind the name, Seventh-day Adventists? An authentic keeping of the Sabbath is much more than going to church on the seventh day. And the Second Coming of Jesus is more than repeating the formula that he is coming soon. Therefore, consider that authentic Adventism also includes reflecting who we are, what we believe and practice.

Or maybe we’re actually hiding who we are when we call ourselves just . . . SDAs. RMC

Rajmund Dabrowski is RMC communication director and editor of Mountain Views. Email him at: [email protected]

20 Sep

Like the Velveteen Rabbit

In

Mountain Views, Fall 2019

Like the Velveteen Rabbit

 

By Carol Bolden

Have you ever met a child (maybe your own) who pretends to be an animal—a lion, a zebra, or a giraffe? It’s typical behavior for children under five to engage in this imaginary play while they’re exploring what it’s like to be someone else, to feel something else. This “theory of mind” they’re working on is an exploration of the idea that other people have thoughts and those thoughts can be different from your thoughts.

While this stage is appropriate for a child under five, as we mature, we hopefully move on from that stage to become more authentic adults, able to relate in authentic ways without pretense.

When life’s disappointments and hurts flood us, it can be natural to hide, to put on masks or to do whatever it takes to protect ourselves from further hurt. While this is a natural response, it’s not a healthy one. Authenticity comes from recognizing our frailties, from seeing our weaknesses, knowing that God is working in us to prepare us for His kingdom—to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Consider it a truism, but for Adventists, it’s especially important to be authentic. How else can we relatemeaningfully with the world and communicate the vitally important truths we hold? How else can we have compassion for a world that hurts?

The authentic Adventist is willing to look at their life and let go of the inauthentic parts.

A healthy, authentic community of believers does life together, struggling with their own life issues and wrestling over truth, together. Their hearts are open and giving and the hurts they experience are recycled into the ability to show empathy for the hurting they meet on their path.

These authentic Adventists have been with the Author of authenticity, the One who knows them inside and out and loves them still. His love and compassion for them is the catalyst for their healing.

When Lot’s wife looked back at the burning city of Sodom, she was expressing her desire to hold on to her inauthentic ways. While we want to be the salt of the earth, becoming a pillar of salt accomplishes nothing. The authentic Adventist is willing to look at their life and let go of the inauthentic parts.

When the authentic Adventist fails, he/she is quick to confess, to talk it over with God, ask for forgiveness and surrender again to the One who heals. It’s the authentic Christian who carries with them God’s healing power. They know that many people desperately need the help only Jesus can give and that they could be for them the critical link to Jesus.

Like Rabbit in the book The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, when you’re loved enough, you become Real. When we allow God to love us in all aspects of our lives, that’s when we become Real. We become authentic. RMC

Carol Bolden until recently provided editorial support for the RMC communication department. Email her at: [email protected]

20 Sep

Parents Baptizing Children, Members Baptizing Friends

In

Mountain Views, Fall 2019

Parents Baptizing Children, Members Baptizing Friends

 

By Andy Nash

In the winter of 2008, my wife Cindy and I studied the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation—from tree of life to tree of life—with our daughters. That summer I baptized our girls in the Jordan River.

I was not a pastor at the time. (My invitation to pastoral ministry came later that same year) I was simply an Adven- tist church member and an ordained elder. But I could find nothing in Scripture that prohibited me, as a disciple of Christ, from teaching and baptizing my own children. In fact, I’d found just the opposite. Prior to stepping into the Jordan River, we had visited the Galilean mountainside where Christ spoke these words to His followers: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach- ing them to obey everything I have commanded you . . .” (Matt. 28:18-20).

To whom did Christ speak these words? Ellen Write writes: “The Savior’s commission to the disciples included all the believers. It includes all believers in Christ to the end of time. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that the work of saving souls depends alone on the ordained minister. All to whom the heavenly inspiration has come are put in trust with the gospel. All who receive the life of Christ are or- dained to work for the salvation of their fellow men. For this work the church was established, and all who take upon themselves its sacred vows are thereby pledged to
be co-workers with Christ” (Desire of Ages, p. 822).

The gospel commission to teach and to baptize is for all believers. None of us would disagree that, as church members, we are called teach others. But what about the other half of the commission—the call to baptize?

Traditionally, in our church, only ministers have bap- tized. While we encourage members to teach a child or a friend, they typically do not baptize that child or friend. Only the minister can do that—regardless how well the min- ister knows the child or friend. (I remember a local Adven- tist church frantically calling nearby Adventist churches, requesting that a minister come and baptize a new believer that evening; their own minister had to be out of town. There was no thought of the local elders and members who had actually studied with the new believer also baptizing the new believer.)

Why is this? Why shouldn’t a church member, a disciple of Christ who has studied with a friend or child, be the one who baptizes the friend or child? How can I find the words to express the overwhelming joy and privilege I felt that day in the Jordan—baptizing my own girls? What difference might it make in the lives of our church members if they realized that they could—and should—baptize those closest to them? How might this elevate their sense of calling as priests in the high priesthood of Jesus Christ?

Why shouldn’t a church member, a disciple of Christ who has studied with a friend or child, be the one who baptizes the friend or child? How might this elevate their sense of calling as priests in the high priesthood of Jesus Christ?

But shouldn’t things be done in order—under the guidance and blessing of leadership? Of course they should. Church members should always work in concert with the pastors and the conference, receiving approval for baptism and training in how to do it.

Like the church member Philip simply baptizing the one he studied with (Acts 8:26-40), why shouldn’t our church members do the same? RMC

Andy Nash is senior pastor of LifeSource Adventist Fellowship in Denver, Colorado. Email him at: [email protected]

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