The Right Words

(If I were to add a slice to this graphic, I would add "Hearing Christians say the right thing and do nothing about it.")

Many of you know that I teach a theology class for Liberty University Online.  The discussion board is an important part of the learning process in the class.  Students must form, articulate and defend opinions about the Word of God and the Church.

In the second half of the course, we ask students to give two things churches can do to better minister to their communities.  Consistently, students say things like "love more," "stop bickering," "get involved in community events," etc.  It occurred to me today that nearly 100% of my students and (statistically speaking) nearly 100% of the Church believes we need to argue less, love more, and connect with lost people more.

When it comes to understanding what we need to do at an abstract level, we have the right idea.  What concerns me is that out ability to practically and effectively apply these principles is currently inversely proportional to how much Nickelback is ruining American radio.

(For my tasteless readers who enjoy the mind-numbing repetition of Nickelback, I would like to affirm that they have one good song.  My concern with them is that they have re-released that song with a different set of cliche  lyrics nearly 10 times now.  They seriously need to write some new material, perhaps under the influence of some classic artists like Hendrix, Floyd or Skynyrd.)

James 1:22-24 warns us against knowing the truth and doing nothing.  One of the things I challenge my students to do is give me two very practical ways churches can redeem relationships within the church and engage the community.

Do you have any?  What can we do to better engage the community?  Are you willing to commit to do something?  Can anyone do something about Nickelback?

"Evangeveto"

Many of you remember when we added "Cludging" to the Roaring Shepherd dictionary of terms.    The time has come to add another word.  Let the lexical entrepreneurship begin!.  

Evangeveto (verb) 

--To forbid the evangelistic endeavors of another: The man evangevetoed the gospel presentation.

--To hinder or stop the evangelistic efforts of another: You shouldn't evangeveto evangevultures. 

Evangevetoer (noun)

--One who evangevetoes: The evangevetoer told the evangelist to quit feeding the hungry.  

Recently, I received the most affirming accusation of my life.  In what I thought was an unrelated discussion, someone told me that our church is too evangelistic!  That's right.  Too evangelistic.  Open Door has been evangevetoed.   I was taken aback.

I did my best to explain what I thought was obvious about Jesus' command to spread the gospel (Matthew 28:19-20).  I even tried to argue that we haven't been as effective as we need to be in the "soul-winning" department, but to no avail.  Flat disagreement.  It was like asking a baptist to speak in tongues.

I can hardly imagine someone not wanting to do everything possible to make sure that as many people as possible are given the opportunity to have the relationship with God they were created for.  Isn't that why we are here?  My initial response to the comment came before I had the time to react.  That's good news.  Had I been given the time to think about it, my responses would have been cutting.  So, here is what I'm glad I didn't say:

"I am so glad that this grave error has been brought to my attention.  Apparently we have exceeded our quota for redeemed souls and must now 'throw some back'.  I will not begin the process of deciding who we will go about revoking Kingdom of Heaven citizenship from.  Would you like to go first?"  

"Perhaps we should protest evangelism and all outreach, especially to the poor.  There's already a chant for that: Us four! No more!  Close the door! (This even works to contrast the name of our church.)"

"Did hell start an affirmative action initiative?" 

"We should probably give out evangelism hunting tags and have a limited season.  Maybe we could break up the season like with deer.  We could have tract season, street preaching season, relational season, etc.  We have to keep up the population of lost souls so that we can keep the sport going."  

"When exactly did we become too evangelistic?  Was it when we obeyed Matthew 25:31-46 by giving food to the hungry or when we obeyed James 1:27 when we helped children and single parents at the Family Fair?"

As I think of all these slice and dice responses, I'm struck by how much easier it is to come up with clever jabs than it is to speak the truth simply and plainly.  I can be funny.  I can be cruel.  Often, I can do both at the same time.  How painfully ironic that cruelty come out in my defense of evangelism.  Isn't that like "purity by way of fornication"? (Derek Webb Quote)

I think it would do me well to spend less time thinking of the best clever response and more time considering the character of Christ in such matters.  I've also included a few good quotes from Jesus:

Matthew 5:3-9
 ³"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 ⁴Blessed are those who mourn,
      for they will be comforted.
 ⁵Blessed are the meek,
      for they will inherit the earth.
 ⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
      for they will be filled.
 ⁷Blessed are the merciful,
      for they will be shown mercy.
 ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart,
      for they will see God.
 ⁹Blessed are the peacemakers,
      for they will be called sons of God. 

When it's between Jesus' perfect law of love and my sarcastic slices, Jesus wins every time.  

Help me out.  Can you think of a specific time when someone tried to discourage Jesus from sharing the good news?  What did he do? (I am really asking)

Good Stories

You know you belong when you have good stories together. Tomorrow, I’m preaching on Belong as part of our series on evangelism called “Leading in the Adventure.”

Belonging makes me think of playing in the band, growing up in a wonderful family, and working at Open Door. I can point to just a few great life experiences like these when everything seemed to be in place. I was accepted and loved unconditionally. We had a common purpose and relationships of integrity. I’ll be talking about this more tomorrow, but I wanted to take some time today to share a few stories about my life on Dorm 5-2 at Liberty University. You know you belong when you have stories like:

Salt Spew. One night I needed $3 to pay off a loan, and God provided an opportunity for me to earn it through a dare. My friend Jenny had piled mountain of table salt and pepper on a tray and asked if anyone would eat it. Money poured in for the bravest/stupidest volunteer. 55 cents…then $1…then more….finally, the magic number was broken, and I raised my hand. Stepping to the tray with the ease of a fighter pilot, I swallowed four heaping spoonfuls of salt. And basked in the cheers of the cafeteria dwellers. “The mighty Dan has vanquished the sodium mountain of death! Great shall be his reign!” (This may be a slight exaggeration of their praises.) The subsequent events happened in less than a minute. “Water,” was all I could say. Mountain Dew was all anyone had. For a science experiment, try putting salt in Mtn. Dew some time. It is entertaining when it is happening somewhere other than your stomach. The cute nursing student next to me who had not been in school long enough to tell me that salt poisoning can be deadly asked me if I was ok. Not wanting to ruin my chances of going out with her by looking weak, I said I was fine. A second later, I realized I wasn’t. Another second after that, I realized that the cafeteria bathroom was a quarter of a mile away. Blahhhhh…three hurls of relief as dinner made its way back onto my tray. I raised my head from the third heave and erupted in laughter. Everyone but my dorm mates looked at me with eyes of terror. Unconditional love. I found out later that my good buddy Jeremy “Beanie” Heisey might have saved my life by giving me Mtn. Dew. Don’t eat too much salt kids.

Naked slip n’ slide. We had a tile floor that ran the length of the hall (about 150 ft. or more.) The guys filled a trash can with laundry detergent and water and drenched the last half of the hall. I was the RA at the time and could hear…thump, thump, thump, thump…..woooshhhhhhhhhhh…..crash! Then cheers of joy. This is what guys at Christian colleges do instead of getting drunk. I knew I should stop them, but I had taken part in the event earlier that day. I waited till I heard the RA from downstairs come to the door, then I rushed out and started yelling. “What are you guys doing!? Clean this up now! It’s ok Josh (downstairs RA), I’ve got it under control.” Later, I told the guys that the scolding was just for appearances. “We understand, Dan. We’ll clean it up right now.” They squeegeed the water down the stairs and flooded dorm 5-1. Ah, memories!

Suds over DeMoss. (I may or may not have been involved in this one.) One night we pooled all the laundry detergent from the dorm and poured it into the fountain in the center of campus. While this had been done before, it had not reached the epic proportions of the glorious 5-2 sudsing! The billows of foam could be seen from almost a mile away as the entire student body walked to chapel in awe of the spectacle. It was the stuff of legends. The parties involved have never been named. As Ronald Reagan once said, “You can accomplish much if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

Root Beer Float. One year, we built a float for homecoming parade…a 2 story root beer float that towered over our competition, dwarfing all other floats in its shadow. We did smite their ruin of our foes on the field of battle and great was their fall. We won $100 and had a Christmas party. Nobody messes with dorm 5-2.

Violence is not the answer…but it’s worth half credit. Disputes were usually resolved with gentle grace. However, there are more than 5 love languages and one of them is kicking the crap out of each other. We had a thing called shower death match. It was only used in the most extreme circumstances. One shower was turned on as cold as possible. The fight started on the hall and could only be ended through tap out, pass out, or being thrown into the icy rain of the shower. I’m pretty sure that the popularity of MMA Fighting can be traced back to 5-2 Shower Death Matches.

The night the dorm caught on fire…twice. The Lynchburg, VA Fire Department is a great establishment.

The “donkey show.” MTV had a show with a name that the guys at a Christian college were afraid to say. They were not, however fearful of attempting the stunt. We were visited more than once by emergency medical technicians for games like “Dan Love Bowling” (This game involved Dan Love, a skate board, and some trash cans), “Bush jumping,” “Ping-Pong Smash,” and “Trash Can Bobsledding.” Anything to impress the women of LU.

She is at Liberty to marry whom she wills (1 Corinthians 7:39b) The truth of this out of context passage brought about hours of discussion about LU’s abnormal ratio of beautiful women to men. There is something in the water there. I can’t explain it other than to say that for a 19 year old freshman, it is like entering the promise land. Accountability was in place to avoid the sin of Romans 1:25.

The Adventures of Bayou Jon. Jon wore boots and carried a large knife he called “The Blade of Retribution.” One night we found a snake slithering across the dorm floor. Hearing the commotion, Jon walked down the hall and into the room. Without a word, he pulled out the Blade of Retribution, cut off the head of the serpent, wiped the knife clean on his pants leg, put it away and left the room. “A country boy can survive.”

The night I shared my faith with my grandfather. It was spiritual emphasis week and the speaker had challenged us to do something about the person God had put on our hearts. I had prayed for my grandfather for 13 years, but had never spoken a word to him about my faith. My Spiritual Life Director (Dorm Pastor) prayed with me and I left the meeting to call my granddad. I remember calling him and hearing him confess Christ over the phone. When I stepped out of my dorm room, I saw my SLD, Spence Davis sitting on the floor praying for me. You don’t forget moments like that.

The night my grandmother died. Grandma had gone into surgery with a good chance of coming through. It was serious, but we all expected her to be fine. I remember getting calls throughout the day as things kept getting worse. They couldn’t stop the bleeding. The phone rang for that last time, and I picked it up knowing what I was going to hear. It was my Dorm 5-2 brothers that prayed with me that day, that carried me through that dark night. That’s brotherhood.

The day I married my wife. Not only did these guys celebrate with me. They stood beside me and committed to hold me accountable to my commitment for the rest of my life. Seriously, if I ever act like an idiot and do anything to hurt my wife, these are the guys she knows to call. They have been instructed to tie me to a tree and beat the crap out of me with the love of Christ. My faithfulness to my wife is motivated by my unending love for her, my desire to honor God and family, and the honor of our brotherhood.

Salvation. Men came to Christ and or made significant life-changing decisions every year on that dorm. In the midst of the rowdiness, I watched these imperfect men become passionate men of God. In this community of brothers we prayed for one another, confessed our sins, and led men to Christ. God moved.

In Shakespeare’s Henry V, the king speaks to his men, recounting the unity that comes only when trials are shared. He says:

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day

I have a Band of Brothers. We have fought together, prayed together, laughed and cried together, served together and lived life together. For any one of them I would stand beside them and fight a host of foes. I know I belong because I have good stories with these men. Not just fun stories of college antics, but real stories of grace, trial and redemption. This is what it means to belong.

How about you? Who do you have good stories with?

Evangevultures

Have you spent months or even years investing in a pre-Christian friend only to have them surrender to Christ by praying with someone else? If so, then you have witnessed the work of an “Evangevulture.”

Evangevultures are sometimes seen as gifted evangelists, but this is not usually the case. In fact, they can barely be considered evangelists at all (at least as far as their evangevulturing goes). They are the ones who are given (or take) the credit, so that the real evangelists don’t get cocky. Don’t hate them! They are a vital part of our ecclesiological (church) ecosystem. They may not be pretty. They may even be annoying and ugly, but we need them. Otherwise, the real evangelists would become prideful and ineffective.

Get ready for a shock: I am an Evangevulture! Speaking for my fellow evangevultures, I can tell you that this wasn’t a choice. The Holy Spirit is setting us up! Let me give you an example. Recently someone called into the church and ask to be witnessed to. Yes, you heard it right. They called in and asked for a gospel presentation! He surrendered his life to Christ within 5 minutes. I think that is an evangevultures record. It was easier than taking youth ministry classes at Liberty University!

Evangevultures only work part-time. Real evangevultures spend most of their time building relationships, bringing friends to Life Group, etc. They are always witnessing to their friends, but the people they witness to surrender to Christ with someone else. Don’t be sad. It’s just how things work. They get the privilege of evangevulturing pre-Christians that someone else has witnessed to. Evangevultures have learned to accept this reality.

There is such a thing as “Evangevulture Wannabes.” In a recent post I referenced door to door evangelism. When you try to force conversions without the help of the Holy Spirit, you become an "Evangefulture Wannabe," like the chicken hawk on the old Foghorn Leghorn cartoons. He’s 6 inches tall but wants to prey on full-sized animals. Rookie mistake! Evangevultures don’t go knocking on doors or dropping tracts that look like fake $50 bills. Evangevultures build relationship, live the gospel and wait…..wait….they are masters at waiting.

By the way: $50 Bill Tracts could be the worst ministry tools ever invented by Christians. “Ooh! What’s this?! A fifty dollar bill! Now I can buy that pagan music CD I’ve been wanting!” When he unfolds the bill and finds “The Million Dollar Question” instead of genuine currency, the name of our Savior will leave his mouth, but not as an act of surrender. I wonder if Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron have ever been charged with counterfeiting.

In seriousness, evangelism is a Spirit-led endeavor. He is the Great Evangelist. To learn how to work alongside Him, sign up for Leading in the Adventure.

Coming this week: Emergend? Part 2 (a.k.a. “Apologetic Jiu Jitsu”).

Prince, Dating and Evangelism

Recently, I was involved in a discussion about door-to-door evangelism, and it got me thinking about why we share our faith in the most awkward ways possible. Let me be very straightforward; I don’t plan to ever schedule any door to door evangelism events. The truth is I hate it when religious proselytizers show up at my door. They interrupt whatever I’m doing, and they seem out of touch with the real world. When a guy in a white shirt and black tie shows up at my door I think, “Who are you to talk to me about my spiritual life. You don’t even know me.” Why would I want to associate myself with guys who are considered the worst Saturday bummer-inflictors of all time? I’ve done my share of “spontaneous” evangelism, and it has never worked out well. I’m uncomfortable, and they are uncomfortable. Drive-by evangelism in all its forms isn’t usually very effective. I believe this for 3 reasons:
1. It is creepy. Think about how you feel when a salesman or J-Dub (Jehovah’s Witness) comes to your door. That’s how people feel when you show up unannounced at theirs or when you introduce yourself by saying, “If you died today…” By the way, my friend Patrick says that Prince is a Jehovah’s Witness. While seeing him at your door would be more interesting than most J-Dubs, it would still be creepy (see below).

2. It gives me a reason to compartmentalize my life, separating witnessing from daily living. Witnessing should be a part of every relationship I have. If I set aside special “evangelism nights,” I tend to leave evangelism only to those nights.
3. The gospel is about relationship (God with man). When we share the gospel outside the context of relationship we are not only limiting our ability to communicate the full message of the gospel we are not living it either.

I’ve been thinking about why we put ourselves in uncomfortable evangelistic situations, and I’ve realized how much it is like dating. It is important to us, or we wouldn’t want to do it. And, it is best done in the context of relationship. I used to be so afraid of asking girls out. My nerves would get the best of me. It seemed like the less I knew the girl, the more uncomfortable we both were and the less likely she was to go out with me.

However, I realized something my senior year of college. The more comfortable I was with who I was and what I was asking, the more at ease the girl would be. More than that, the more at ease I was, the more likely it was that she say “yes.” However, that comfort only came as I got to know the girl. This is how I eventually married my wife. True story!

Have you ever felt nervous sharing your faith? Think about how the pre-Christian felt. Wouldn’t you like to feel comfortable? After all, you are the one with the good news. He’s the one who needs to hear it.

This is why we have the 5Bs. Now, I hate to call the 5Bs a “system” or “method” because it really is a lifestyle. This May, we are going to teach our church how to evangelize. If you want to learn how, sign up for a Life Group at www.churchoftheopendoor.org.

What has your experience with evangelism been like?