Last Saturday night I went to downtown Minneapolis to share the good news of Christ, except I did something different - I took my wife and kids. This was the first time that they had been out witnessing to strangers with me, and it was a blessing. Although the first time out is always intimidating, they liked it so much, they went out with me again tonight!
God has blessed me with a godly wife who loves Christ with her whole heart; however, she is somewhat shy (who isn't when it comes to talking about the deepest spiritual matters with strangers!). I'm excited that she took the plunge with me in sharing her core beliefs with others who do not know Christ as Lord. I'm also excited that both my children are able to see how our private devotion is more than a personal belief - it is something that affects us outside the home; it is something that drives our lives and fills them with meaning; it is real to us.
Sharing the gospel - that Christ died that we might live - has pushed me past a plateau of spiritual development that I have rested upon for too long. I've felt trapped , knowing the truth, yet so often slipping into a dual persona having a spiritual side and a neutral facade. I would present the neutral facade at work, school, with extended family, etc., while maintaining a spiritual personal and private devotion at home and church.
Since I've been witnessing, the neutral facade is losing ground to the spiritual side, the new man I am in Christ. Thank God. If I really believe that people who do not follow Christ will justly suffer God's eternal wrath and indignation, I should be warning them. It is not enough to just study the Bible and learn myself. It is time to stretch my spiritual wings, so to speak, and reach out to those around me. It is time to fan the flames of my personal devotion into the fire of evangelism.
I believe the same is true for my family. I want my children to see that belief in God is not a private matter, but a very public one. I want their study of God's Word to inform their lives so that they can touch the world. I don't want them to live on a spiritual island "safe" from the world. Instead, I want them to be in the world, but not of it. I want them to see that their parents' faith is different from the dead faith professed by many. I want to show them my faith through works, which are evidence of the genuineness of the faith while letting them know that my works are only in thanks and do not justify me in the sight of God.
Not only this, but I pray that my church, Bethlehem Baptist, has the spark of personal devotion fanned into the flame of evangelism by the breath, or Spirit, of God. For many like myself, it is time to take it to the next level.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Faith Required by Jesus Versus the Belief Espoused by Many
Many of the people that I speak to about Christ confess that they "believe" in Him, but after some probing it seems that their belief does not impact their lives in a meaningful way. Tonight I spoke with a young man named Lua that fit into this category. He knew many of the pat answers about what is required to be saved from God's wrath, namely, that we must believe in Christ Jesus, but his belief did not inform his life.
When we spoke, I tried to explain that faith in Christ is so much more than a mere intellectual assent in a set of facts about who Jesus was and what He did, but rather faith is a commitment. Christ asked us to follow Him and said that people who were reluctant to drop everything and follow (without even saying good-bye to family) were not worthy of Him. We've lost this part of the message in Christianity. Christ said that compared to our love for Him, our love for others including our mother, our father, and even our own lives should look like hate.
I explained to Lua that Christ used a parable to describe how we should value him above all else. He told of a man who found a great treasure in a field and sold everything he had to buy that field. This should be our attitude toward Christ the greatest treasure. He commands that we value Him above all things, and I believe this is the essence of faith - a vital component that is missing from many professing Christians.
After detailing the differences between a lip service belief and true faith, Lua admitted that he did not see Christ like that and had not made a commitment to follow Him with a full heart. Lua, however, said that he would think about it that night and I gave him the gospel of John to read. I pray that God softens his heart and that he can see Christ as a treasure more valuable than anything else in his life.
When we spoke, I tried to explain that faith in Christ is so much more than a mere intellectual assent in a set of facts about who Jesus was and what He did, but rather faith is a commitment. Christ asked us to follow Him and said that people who were reluctant to drop everything and follow (without even saying good-bye to family) were not worthy of Him. We've lost this part of the message in Christianity. Christ said that compared to our love for Him, our love for others including our mother, our father, and even our own lives should look like hate.
I explained to Lua that Christ used a parable to describe how we should value him above all else. He told of a man who found a great treasure in a field and sold everything he had to buy that field. This should be our attitude toward Christ the greatest treasure. He commands that we value Him above all things, and I believe this is the essence of faith - a vital component that is missing from many professing Christians.
After detailing the differences between a lip service belief and true faith, Lua admitted that he did not see Christ like that and had not made a commitment to follow Him with a full heart. Lua, however, said that he would think about it that night and I gave him the gospel of John to read. I pray that God softens his heart and that he can see Christ as a treasure more valuable than anything else in his life.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Gift of Unrighteous Mammon
What should I do when I am asked for money? I run straight into this moral brick wall almost daily working in downtown Minneapolis. Witnessing tonight was no different. During the day, I typically give out McDonald's gift certificates in lieu of cash to panhandlers. Sometimes, I buy lunch and eat it with them. Sometimes, I just make eye contact, smile, and apologize that I don't have any cash to give them.
Tonight was a little more difficult. A man was walking in a group that included several older children and teenagers. He asked if he could ask me a question. I said that he could ask me a question if I could ask him a question. He agreed. I asked him what he believed happened after death, and he responded that he believed in reincarnation because the Bible taught it "between the lines." I answered that I study the Bible and did not think that the Bible included this, but I was interested in where he thought it might be. He didn't have an answer, but he did ask the question that we had bargained for earlier.
He wanted $10 for bus tickets for all the children. I said that I could not give him cash, but would wait for him and pay for the tickets for him. He changed his mind and said that he would find the money some other way, but wanted me to buy something in the store for the children instead. What to do, what to do? I told him, I had something much more valuable to give him and tried to explain the gospel, but he said he would catch me "later."
Was I wrong? I want to glorify God with generosity and love, but would giving money be right (or righteous) in this situation - one in which this man was so obviously just trying to play me? Would giving money be like a bribe for him to hear me out. He did not value the gospel - just the $10. Would I be throwing the pearls to the swine. I don't want to degrade the gospel of God by sharing it with someone who was not interested (or at least did not appear to be).
On the other hand, Jesus did heal the sick and feed the hungry in his ministry. I want to be like Christ. I want to give generously and let men see my good works and glorify my Father who is in heaven. Was this man in need like the sick healed by Christ or the hungry that my LORD fed? I don't know this man's heart. What is my responsibility to him? I don't know yet, but I will think about this before next Tuesday night's witnessing.
Enlighten me in your comments if you believe you have some truth.
Additional thoughts: Tonight I did give some money to a homeless man named Eric who professed faith in Christ and seemed to have a love for Him. He sang gospel songs for money so I sat with him and we spoke (and sang together!) for awhile. He asked me to pray with him when we met again later that night - that he would get enough money for the shelter. He didn't ask for money, but I gave him what little cash I had.
Was I duped by Eric? I don't think so. Is that the test to whether my actions were right? Probably not. I kept thinking of how the Bible condemns Christians who pray with their fellow Christians, but do not do anything to feed or cloth them. I must not, and cannot, be that abomination.
However, Eric's situation seemed quite a bit different from the man that asked for $10. Eric appeared to be family so I had to help and I think that the money actually would help. I don't think any money given to Ten Dollar Man would have helped anything, but who knows?
Tonight was a little more difficult. A man was walking in a group that included several older children and teenagers. He asked if he could ask me a question. I said that he could ask me a question if I could ask him a question. He agreed. I asked him what he believed happened after death, and he responded that he believed in reincarnation because the Bible taught it "between the lines." I answered that I study the Bible and did not think that the Bible included this, but I was interested in where he thought it might be. He didn't have an answer, but he did ask the question that we had bargained for earlier.
He wanted $10 for bus tickets for all the children. I said that I could not give him cash, but would wait for him and pay for the tickets for him. He changed his mind and said that he would find the money some other way, but wanted me to buy something in the store for the children instead. What to do, what to do? I told him, I had something much more valuable to give him and tried to explain the gospel, but he said he would catch me "later."
Was I wrong? I want to glorify God with generosity and love, but would giving money be right (or righteous) in this situation - one in which this man was so obviously just trying to play me? Would giving money be like a bribe for him to hear me out. He did not value the gospel - just the $10. Would I be throwing the pearls to the swine. I don't want to degrade the gospel of God by sharing it with someone who was not interested (or at least did not appear to be).
On the other hand, Jesus did heal the sick and feed the hungry in his ministry. I want to be like Christ. I want to give generously and let men see my good works and glorify my Father who is in heaven. Was this man in need like the sick healed by Christ or the hungry that my LORD fed? I don't know this man's heart. What is my responsibility to him? I don't know yet, but I will think about this before next Tuesday night's witnessing.
Enlighten me in your comments if you believe you have some truth.
Additional thoughts: Tonight I did give some money to a homeless man named Eric who professed faith in Christ and seemed to have a love for Him. He sang gospel songs for money so I sat with him and we spoke (and sang together!) for awhile. He asked me to pray with him when we met again later that night - that he would get enough money for the shelter. He didn't ask for money, but I gave him what little cash I had.
Was I duped by Eric? I don't think so. Is that the test to whether my actions were right? Probably not. I kept thinking of how the Bible condemns Christians who pray with their fellow Christians, but do not do anything to feed or cloth them. I must not, and cannot, be that abomination.
However, Eric's situation seemed quite a bit different from the man that asked for $10. Eric appeared to be family so I had to help and I think that the money actually would help. I don't think any money given to Ten Dollar Man would have helped anything, but who knows?
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Who is a True Jew?
I met a man named Ross today - he was a Jew. I didn't find this out until we had been talking for 10 or 15 minutes about spiritual beliefs. In my manner, I began the conversation asking what he believed. We discussed the law of God and our inability to live up to it, and I explained how Christ's payment on the cross satisfied the law in a way we never could. I continued by explaining that the payment was only for those who followed Christ as Lord, and I asked him if he had ever committed himself to Christ. He said no.
I asked Ross, was there anything preventing him from following Christ with his full heart now and he replied, "I am a Jew." How I pray that God will open his eyes to understand that being Jewish does not in anyway prevent one from following Christ. Christ was Jewish, Paul was Jewish, Peter was Jewish - in fact, all of Christ's original followers, or disciples, were Jewish.
Christ came first to the Jews. Only now, that Christ has been largely rejected by the Jewish nation, do I and the other Gentiles have the chance to follow Christ. Now, I being a Gentile, have the chance to become a true Jew who follows in the steps of the faith of my father Abraham.
Ross needed to understand that being Jewish does not prevent one from following Christ. On the contrary, following Christ defines what it means to be Jewish. "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter, and his praise is not from men, but from God." - Romans 2.
God has circumcised my heart by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ so that I am a true Jew - heir of all of God's promises to Jews - along with all the other believers in Christ.
I pray that God opens Ross' eyes to see that to proclaim his Jewishness is to embrace Christ.
I asked Ross, was there anything preventing him from following Christ with his full heart now and he replied, "I am a Jew." How I pray that God will open his eyes to understand that being Jewish does not in anyway prevent one from following Christ. Christ was Jewish, Paul was Jewish, Peter was Jewish - in fact, all of Christ's original followers, or disciples, were Jewish.
Christ came first to the Jews. Only now, that Christ has been largely rejected by the Jewish nation, do I and the other Gentiles have the chance to follow Christ. Now, I being a Gentile, have the chance to become a true Jew who follows in the steps of the faith of my father Abraham.
Ross needed to understand that being Jewish does not prevent one from following Christ. On the contrary, following Christ defines what it means to be Jewish. "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter, and his praise is not from men, but from God." - Romans 2.
God has circumcised my heart by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ so that I am a true Jew - heir of all of God's promises to Jews - along with all the other believers in Christ.
I pray that God opens Ross' eyes to see that to proclaim his Jewishness is to embrace Christ.
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