Grasping the Opportunity

Christianity has always been a missionary religion. However, statistics show that only about 3 percent of Christians ever share their faith, in spite of the fact that telling others the good news about Jesus is commanded in the Great Commission:

Therefore 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 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV)

With such a clear directive from Jesus, why is it that 97 percent of us disobey by never telling another person that they can have a relationship with Christ? There are several reasons, ranging from a fear of rejection to the belief that we don’t know enough. I think one of the biggest reasons, however, is that we’re simply not alert to the opportunities that come our way every day.

 Many Christians today only think about sharing their faith when their pastor preaches on the need for all of us to be engaged in evangelism. Then any thoughts about telling the Good News to their family, friends, neighbors, and anyone else the encounter vanishes until the next sermon or the next time the church offers an evangelism class. This was not the case with Jesus’ first disciples, however, and we have the same Holy Spirit they had.

The book of Acts is filled with examples of men just like us making the most of every opportunity to share their faith:

1. Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John.

Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!

“Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.

“Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. (Acts 3:7-20 NLT)

When we read this passage the natural inclination is to focus on the healing of the lame beggar; after all, that’s not something you see every day. But in only seeing the miracle God performed through Peter, we overlook Peter using the miracle as an opportunity to turn the conversation away from himself and toward Jesus. The people were marveling at the miracle, and Peter saw his chance to tell them about the One who enabled him to perform it. How many times every day could we start a conversation about Christ with someone simply by stopping long enough to give the praise and credit for a positive event to the Author of all blessings?

2.  As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”

Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:

   “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.
      And as a lamb is silent before the shearers,
      he did not open his mouth.
    He was humiliated and received no justice.
      Who can speak of his descendants?
      For his life was taken from the earth.”

The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.

As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. (Acts 8:26-38 NLT)

In this passage, Philip was led by the Holy Spirit to a particular location, but it was still up to him to recognize the opportunity and make the most of the situation. When he heard the Ethiopian official reading from the book of Isaiah he asked a simple question: “Do you understand what you are reading?” And the man answered honestly that he needed someone to help explain it to him. Many people would like to know more about what the Christian life is all about, but we don’t bother to initiate a conversation with them. Even when we find ourselves engaged in a conversation about spiritual things with a non-Christian we are often afraid to share what Jesus has done in our lives because we don’t want to risk offending anyone. Many are as eager to hear as the man in this passage was, and we should not hesitate to share the Gospel with them.

3.  While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.

He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”

Then they took him to the high council of the city. “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)

So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:16-31 NLT)

For many of us, this is actually the worst possible scenario. As hesitant as we might be initiating a conversation about our faith, answering someone who asks us to explain it can be even more intimidating. This is why Peter tells us to always be ready to give the reason for the hope we have in Christ (1 Peter 3:15). But Paul did not shy away from speaking to the intellectuals of Athens, and we should not be afraid of those who challenge us to defend our faith today. Paul did not attack the many gods they worshipped, but rather pointed them to the one true God. We can follow his example, not needing to get into debates about science or philosophy but simply sharing the Gospel.

So what is the Gospel we’re supposed to share? The gospel, the evangel, the good news that Jesus brought is not nearly as complicated as we often try to make it. In a nutshell, Jesus’ message was that we have all sinned and none of us deserve Heaven. But God loved us enough, even while we weren’t loveable, that He sent Jesus to take the penalty that we deserved. The apostle Paul put it this way:

“My friends, I want you to remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don’t, your faith was all for nothing. I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is: Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say. He was buried, and three days later he was raised to life, as the Scriptures say. Christ appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After this, he appeared to more than five hundred other followers. Most of them are still alive, but some have died. He also appeared to James, and then to all of the apostles. Finally, he appeared to me.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-8 CEV).

Jesus said in Luke 19:10 that he “came to seek and save the lost.” How does He save us? When asked how to be saved, the apostle Paul gave this answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…for if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9 NIV).

That’s the Good News. We can keep it to ourselves if we want, but we’re disobeying Jesus by doing so. We should never forget that the only reason any Christian has the assurance of eternal life is because someone shared the Gospel with them first. We need to constantly be on the lookout for opportunities to tell people about Jesus, because the Gospel is the best news there ever was. We should seize every chance we get to share it.

 

The Forgotten Mission Field

A while back one of my posts commented on a report on the decline of Christianity in Europe (you can read the whole thing here). In a nutshell, the report detailed declining church attendance across the Continent and predicted the end of Christianity in Europe within the next 100 years. It was an extreme claim to say the least, but it did contain some alarming statistics showing a serious drop in church attendance.

In that first post I commented that in order to remain true to the Great Commission, we should divert at least some of our missions resources to Europe. In the past week, however, I have come across some new statistics about the state of Christianity in Europe that are much more alarming. Christianity is indeed in decline across Europe, but when comparing the percentage of Evangelical Christians to the percentage of Muslims in the four largest European countries, the results are staggering (numbers come from Operation World and The Joshua Project, 2010 edition):

Spain  1.0% Evangelical Christian,  2.4% Muslim

France 1.0% Evangelical Christian,  10.5% Muslim

Italy 1.1% Evangelical Christian,  2.6% Muslim

Germany 2.1% Evangelical Christian,  4.4% Muslim

When you compare these percentages to a few countries we typically view as traditional “mission fields,” the numbers are even more striking:

Peru 11.6% Evangelical Christian,  0% Muslim

Rwanda 26.9% Evangelical Christian,  5.2% Muslim

Romania 5.4% Evangelical Christian,  0.6% Muslim

Vatican City 2.5% Evangelical Christian,  0% Muslim  (That’s right…there is a higher percentage of Evangelical Christians in the capital of the Catholic church than in France, Spain, Italy, or Germany).

I use the comparison to Islam in part because Christianity and Islam are the two religions with the greatest missionary focus. It is clear from these numbers that, in Europe at least, the Muslims have much better focus than we do. How is it that we are less committed to spreading the Truth than they are to spreading a lie?

There are no doubt some readers who will take exception to the fact that I have only included Evangelical Christians, though if you’ve read any of my other posts it really should not be a surprise. But by way of explanation for my Catholic readers, please see my post on “Evangelicals and Catholics” here. 

The bottom line is simple. Two thousand years ago the Apostle Paul expressed his desire to take the Gospel to Spain (Romans 15:23-28), and it is apparent that the task remains unfinished. We must, as local congregations, as Southern Baptists, and as Evangelical Christians put Europe back into our missionary focus. It is a hard field, to be sure. Islam is only one of many obstacles that also include a general disdain toward religion in general and a rise in New Age and Occult practices. But we are commanded to go, not to worry about whether the seed we scatter will bear fruit. That is up to the Lord, not us.

And besides the need to evangelize the continent, we must (as I stated in the first post on Europe) show the believers that are there that we have not forgotten them. That one percent of France, Spain, and Italy that are remaining faithful to the Gospel must see that we stand with them. We must “strengthen what remains and is about to die (Rev. 3:2).” There is no time to waste.

 

Halloween and the Gospel

It is once again that time of year when Haunted Houses spring up all over town and children scramble to get the year’s most popular costume. Soon, hordes of little ghosts, witches, and vampires will prowl our neighborhoods seeking the thing that, for most people, Halloween is all about: candy. It is also the time of year for the annual debate among many Christians about how to respond to Halloween.

Probably for as long as the holiday has been celebrated, Christians have split into three main groups: those who think it’s a glorification of Satan and should be outlawed, those who think it’s the best time in the world to bring the Gospel to people who are into occult practices, and those who think that the other two sides should settle down (after all, it’s really just about candy). My own view is something of a mix of these.

Certainly there are people who get excited about Halloween because they are interested in, or even committed to, Satanism, witchcraft, and the occult. But these same people are into these things on Labor Day, Memorial Day, and Arbor Day as well (the Druids are especially into Arbor Day), so it’s not the specific day that’s the problem. However, I do not want my children involved with Ouija boards, tarot readings, or séances, all of which are more prevalent at this time of year, so as always common sense is needed. But a haunted house and some candy never hurt anyone, and making such a big deal about it makes us all look like Ned Flanders.

For the side that sees Halloween as a day to “win the devil worshippers to the Lord,” take a step back and ask yourself if you’ve talked to a neighbor or coworker about the Lord since last Halloween. Sharing the Gospel is a year-round calling. And don’t put Gospel tracts in the kids’ trick or treat bags unless you’re also putting a large amount of candy, otherwise you’ll get a worse reputation on the block than the guy in my old neighborhood who gave us pennies instead of candy (seriously…pennies).

Where outreach is certainly possible is through the numerous Fall Festivals that most churches host around Halloween. These events give parents a safe place for their whole family to play games, eat free junk food, and get candy. Since fewer of us even know our next-door neighbors than at any time in our history, the chance for some sense of community can make the church, and ultimately the Gospel, more attractive to those who might otherwise never come.

The key to a Fall Festival being a doorway to sharing the Gospel is truly caring about the people who attend. If your only goal in holding an event like this is to boost church membership or if your see the un-churched as projects, people will know and won’t be back for any reason. If you’re doing it to give families a safe alternative on Halloween and because you want your church to have a positive impact in the community, people will know that too and will be more open to listening to the message of the Good News.

Halloween is meant to be a fun time for the kids and we should make it as fun (and safe) as possible. If the opportunity to share the Gospel presents itself, we should do that as well. As Peter said in 1 Peter 3:15: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

 

Why The First Chapter of Romans Matters

There is no disputing the fact that we live in a time when great numbers of people scoff at the Bible. And while more and more people seem to either believe the Bible is completely true on the one hand or that it’s all a fairy tale on the other, there are some enterprising folks out there trying to create what they call “common ground” with regard to the Bible. However, what they’re doing has nothing to do with common ground.

Most who know the Bible would agree that Paul’s letter to the Romans is not the easiest book to read. But while it does contain some fairly serious theology, that’s not the biggest problem that people, both inside and outside the Church, have with it. Romans makes us uncomfortable, mainly because it says in no uncertain terms that we are all sinners who need to be saved from our sin. And the first chapter of the letter describes some of that sin in blistering detail.

This brings us to the way some are hoping to ease the discomfort the chapter causes. They feel the best way to eliminate the fight over the first chapter of Romans is to simply remove it from their Bibles, and that is exactly what some so-called churches have done. They believe we can all get along much better if this archaic and offensive section is simply thrown away. It’s an approach that understandably appeals to a lot of people, and fits well with an Old Testament verse from the Book of Judges: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25 NKJV)

To cut to the chase, the problem that many claim to have with chapter 1 of Romans is that it very specifically condemns homosexuality. There are other passages in the Bible that do this as well, but none as forcefully or eloquently as Paul does here. This has caused people to label Paul a homophobe, a bigot, and any number of other epithets, but these accusations do not make him wrong. He is right from start to finish here, and not just about homosexuality:

18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. (Romans 1:18-32 NLT)

So yes, Paul does indeed condemn homosexuality. But I think that some people express outrage at Paul’s condemnation of homosexuality simply to draw attention away from other things he condemns just as forcefully, such as any type of sexual immorality, which from a Biblical perspective is any sexual activity outside of marriage. He then goes on to list sins such as elevating ourselves above God, idolatry, greed, envy, murder, deception, hatred of God, pride, lack of mercy, hatred, insolence, and just about anything else we as humans could possibly do wrong. And that’s the whole point: we all need a savior because every one of us is guilty of something deserving God’s punishment.

This is the other aspect of chapter 1 of Romans that some object to: if God is a God of love, then why would he punish us, even if we sin? This argument is almost too ridiculous to even comment on, but I will. God is indeed a God of love, but he is also a God of justice. He loves us but must punish our sin, much like we as parents still love our children even though we have to punish them sometimes. So what is the solution?

Simply put, the answer to the problem is Jesus. John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This dilemma of love and justice is what Paul spends most of the letter to the Romans explaining, and in a nutshell it works out like this:

1. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23 NIV)

2. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NIV)

3. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NIV)

4. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:9-10, 13 NIV)

Throwing out (or just ignoring) the parts of the Bible that make us uncomfortable is not the answer, because it is usually those very parts that enable us to see the areas of our life that need the most work and ultimately lead us to where God wants us to be in our walk with him. Just as a person who doesn’t know they have a disease will see no need for treatment until they are given a troubling diagnosis, how can we see our need for a savior until we look honestly at ourselves and the sin in our own lives? This is precisely why the first chapter of Romans matters.

 

The Invitation

Suppose you happened upon a starving man, and you knew exactly where he could find all the food he could ever want. For an hour you told the starving fellow about this veritable smorgasbord while he sat waiting expectantly. Then you told him to have a nice day and walked away without ever telling him where to find this food. Would that be right?

From a spiritual perspective, this is exactly what is happening in many evangelical churches today. The preaching of the Gospel is still there, people are still told that they can have eternal life through Christ, but when the moment comes to tell them how, too many pastors are stopping short of giving what has traditionally been called “the invitation.” The invitation has all but been abandoned in churches where such an omission was unthinkable a generation ago.

Some of these churches and pastors today, particularly those who consider themselves “seeker-friendly”, believe that the invitation is an old-fashioned, outdated, and even un-Biblical pressure sales job. They are right about the old-fashioned part; it’s so old-fashioned that it goes back to the day the Pentecost when Peter gave his first sermon. After laying out the evidence pointing to the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, Peter gave a clear invitation to his listeners:

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (Acts 2:37-38, 41 NIV)

The people asked Peter what he should do, and he invited them to make a decision. We see this again, on a much smaller scale, in the story of Silas, Paul and the Philippian jailer:

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. (Acts 16:29-33 NIV)

And though some will say that Jesus never gave such an invitation, he actually did. In the book of Revelation, we see Jesus offer invitations that can apply both to non-Christians and to believers who have strayed off the path:

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev. 3:20 NIV)

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Rev. 22:17 NIV)

Notice that in each of the previous passages while there is a clear invitation, there is no pressure. This is not some snake oil salesman’s emotional appeal; it is a simple call that we can either accept or reject. God will never compel us to love Him.

One of the reasons churches have moved away from giving an invitation at the end of the service is fear of offending people or making them uncomfortable. They hope that they will come to a decision on their own, away from the church. Some will, most won’t, and many have no idea where to even begin because no has ever shown them. And as a story from the life of the great 19^th century evangelist Dwight L. Moody illustrates, not addressing this has consequences.

On Sunday night, October 8, 1871, Moody finished his sermon and told the large crowd listening to him preach to evaluate their relationship with Christ and come back the next week to make their decisions for Him. The crowd never gathered again; the church building became one of more than 17,000 buildings destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire that broke out that night. Hundreds were killed, nearly 100,000 left homeless, and it would be many months before Moody found a new building in which to hold services.

This event had a profound impact on Moody’s life, and he vowed never again to make the mistake of sending home those who came to hear him preach without giving them an invitation to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Moody saw in tragic detail that none of us are guaranteed a tomorrow.

Let me be clear that I do not believe that anyone can sincerely respond to such a call apart from the leading of the Holy Spirit, and most would never even consider it if not for the leading of the Spirit. But we must instruct those who are led to turn from their sins how they can do so. Many are familiar with the idea of the “altar call” from 60 years of Billy Graham Crusades, and most invitations will be similar. There are two key components: the plan of salvation and the time of decision.

The plan of salvation has been laid out in several other posts on this site, but here it is in summary:

1. We need to admit the fact that all us have sinned. Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

2. We have to understand that the penalty for sin is death, but God has given us a way out of that penalty: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 ESV).

3. Know that Jesus did this while we had no reason to expect it: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). Further, it was not because of anything we did: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

4. We must also understand that there is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus. Jesus himself said this: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. (John 14:6 ESV). Peter also said this of Jesus after the resurrection: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).

5. Finally, knowing these things intellectually is not enough. We must take a step of faith and personally ask for this free gift of salvation. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9-10).

None of us want to admit that we’re sinners, or that we need a savior, and there are sins we don’t want to turn away from. We certainly don’t like the idea of surrendering control of our lives to anyone, even God. But it’s a step of faith you will never regret.

The time of decision involves a profession of faith in Christ, and although it doesn’t have to be public for a person to be saved, a public acknowledgement is necessary at some point. Jesus said “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven (Matthew 10:32 NIV).” This is often accomplished through baptism during a worship service.

The profession of faith itself usually takes the form of a simple prayer. The words themselves are not magical, nor nearly as important as the intent of your heart; it might look something like this one:

God, I recognize that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself from the punishment I deserve. I believe that Jesus died and rose again to pay the price I couldn’t. I accept this free gift of salvation, ask you to forgive my sins, and I turn now from them. Jesus, I ask you to come into my life and my heart and be both my Savior and my Lord. Help me to follow you all the days of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

And finally, one important note for those who do respond to an invitation, whether at a church or evangelistic event or one-on-one with a friend: when you take this most important step of turning from your sins and asking Christ to forgive you and save you, don’t expect an angelic choir to descend from heaven the minute you do. There probably won’t be flashes of lighting or anything like that. You may be emotional afterward, and you may not. Salvation is not a feeling, it’s a fact. If you ask Christ to save you and mean it, be assured that he will. “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

 

What a Sermon Should Be

In our entertainment-driven culture, many pastors and preachers have moved from the straightforward message of the Gospel to sermons that have more in common with motivational speeches. While we can certainly adapt the way we present the Gospel to the specific group we are speaking to, the message itself cannot be compromised.

On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter gave the first sermon of the new Christian church. The message he preached was amazing for many reasons, and should serve as a model for sermons today. Unfortunately, either in an effort to draw large crowds or to avoid offending anyone, in too many cases we have veered far off the course that Peter set, and we need to return to his example.

The Bible preserves Peter’s sermon for us in Acts 2:14-41:

‘Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! What you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:

   ‘In the last days,’ God says,
      ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
   Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
      Your young men will see visions,
      and your old men will dream dreams.
   In those days I will pour out my Spirit
      even on my servants—men and women alike—
      and they will prophesy.
   And I will cause wonders in the heavens above
      and signs on the earth below—
      blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
   The sun will become dark,
      and the moon will turn blood red
      before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
   But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
      will be saved.’

    “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. ²³ But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. ²⁴ But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. ²⁵ King David said this about him:

   ‘I see that the Lord is always with me.
      I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
   No wonder my heart is glad,
      and my tongue shouts his praises!
      My body rests in hope.
   For you will not leave my soul among the dead
      or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.
   You have shown me the way of life,
      and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’

   “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. ³⁰ But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. ³¹ David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.

   “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. ³³ Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. ³⁴ For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,

   ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
      “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
   until I humble your enemies,
      making them a footstool under your feet.”’

   “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”

   Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

   Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” ⁴⁰ Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”

   Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.’

Why is Peter’s first sermon a model for what all preaching should be? There are several reasons:

1. Peter preached Jesus.

Throughout his message on the day of Pentecost, Peter continually referred to Jesus, both condemning those who had killed him and proclaiming him as the Messiah. Peter understood that it all starts and ends with Jesus, perhaps remembering the time that Jesus had asked “Who do you say that I am?” and his own answer that Jesus was the Son of God. There are preachers today who will give entire sermons and never mention Jesus once. I attended an Easter service several years ago and was shocked when, by the end of the sermon, the pastor had never even mentioned the resurrection. Whatever it is, this kind of preaching is not Biblical, whereas Peter continually pointing people to Jesus is as Biblical as it gets.

2. Peter relied on the Holy Spirit.

Given his failures (from denying Jesus the night before the crucifixion to initially returning to his job as a fisherman after the resurrection), Peter is an unlikely candidate to preach the first message of the new church. He had no training in public speaking and had no notes prepared. The crowd was likely to be hostile. But none of this mattered because he had just received the power of the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus had promised in Acts 1:8. He spoke boldly as led by the Spirit, and people responded. Too often we rely on our own wisdom, cleverness, and abilities when preaching instead of relying completely on the Holy Spirit.

3. Peter knew and applied the Scriptures.

Peter wasn’t simply telling the people his opinion. He was backing up everything he said with references from the Hebrew Scriptures, something the people of that day accepted far more readily than many do today. A true Gospel message from the Word of God should contain a great deal of scripture and very little of the opinion of the one giving the sermon. Peter’s sermon on Pentecost interwove the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection with at least five Old Testament references (Joel 2:28-32, Isaiah 32:15, Ezekiel 26:27, Psalm 16:8-11, Psalm 110:1). If the apostle who had walked the closest with Jesus saw the necessity of quoting extensively from the scriptures in his first sermon, how arrogant are we to think we don’t need to do the same?

4. Peter confronted the people with their sin.

Many preachers today are afraid to even mention the word “sin” because it offends people. But Peter boldly spoke against the sin of the people, a sin that was no less than the crucifixion of Jesus. They had not recognized him as the Messiah, and had killed him instead. Peter could have skirted this, especially since he had no way of knowing how the crowd would react. But the crowd saw their sin when confronted with it. Many today would do the same if only spoken to honestly.

5. Peter provided a remedy.

Peter did not simply condemn the people and leave them without hope. When they asked him what they should do in response to their sin, he told them to repent (as Jesus had often told people) and turn to God. His remedy would be crystallized even further when speaking to the Jewish leaders about Jesus later in Acts: “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).  And unlike many preachers today, Peter was not afraid to give an invitation for the people to accept Jesus as their Savior.

The sermon that Peter gave on the day of Pentecost accomplished all of the things a sermon should. It pointed people to Jesus, confronted them with their sin, gave them a remedy, and saw many turn away from sin and back to God. That is what a sermon should do, whether in Jerusalem 2000 years ago or in any of our cities today. Anything less is simply entertainment, not the Gospel. And only the Gospel can change your life.

 

No More Tailgate Fish

Let me start by saying yes, I realize the title of this post is a little strange, but I couldn’t think of a better way to say it in a few words. Let me also begin with a disclaimer that this will not be like most of my other posts. That’s because this is a rant.

Driving home today, I witnessed yet another reckless/inconsiderate/angry/possibly drunk driver ahead of me, and when he slowed for a red light, I was not at all shocked to see a fish symbol prominently displayed on his back bumper. If the fish symbols on car bumpers, trunks, and truck tailgates are a reliable measure, then Christians are the worst drivers on the planet (or at least in Texas). I had a pastor once who refused to put one on his truck because he said with the way he drove, it was “bad advertising for Jesus.”

Bad advertising indeed. Do we really need to add to the list of reasons people won’t listen to us when we try to share the gospel: “You talk a good talk, son, but I’ve seen the way you folks drive. My buddies at the bar drive better at closing time.” So go outside right now and pry that fish off your car/truck/SUV/minivan until you can drive the way you would if Jesus was in the car…which He is.

And since I’m already ranting, I feel it my duty to inform my Christian brothers and sisters who have parking lots across the street from their churches of an astonishing fact. That great feeling you have because the choir was wonderful and the pastor preached a great message will NOT stop a 4,000-pound vehicle from sending you to meet Jesus when you step out into traffic without looking. And once again, doing things like this don’t make the lost think we have The Answer; it makes them think we’re morons. Stop it.

Finally, the last of my pet peeves for the night. The Official Bible-Storing Place is not the dashboard (front or back) of your car. The Bible is meant to be read, studied, and prayed through; it was not meant to be tossed in the back of your car at the end of the Sunday service, only to be retrieved the following Sunday. If you’re not sure if you’re guilty of this, just look at the front and back covers; I bet one side looks perfect, while the other is as sun-bleached as the bones of a beached whale.

That’s the end of my rant, and I apologize if I stomped anyone’s toes too hard. Back to normal programming tomorrow.

In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery. Proverbs 28:23 NLT