A Barren Field? A Tired Message? ...

What do our assumptions tell us about our witnessing?  Somehow in the United States, Christians have a view of the world that “mission” lies in a remote village, in a far corner of the globe; a place without electricity, internet, and exposure to traditional missionaries.  We fund endeavors to reach such places from the comfort of our church facilities here in the US.  And we lose the idea of local mission.  The Gospel here in the US, to an audience of the affluent, or the middle class; has either already been preached. or is expected to have little impact.  Missionaries in our country no longer carry that name.  We call them Evangelists.  And they generally move from region to region, with accompanying marketing campaigns.  But the message our evangelism tries there is not the simple gospel, it is one of prophetic interpretations, or fear of the end of days.  We assume shock and awe are the only ways to reach the hardened hearts of Americans long exposed to Christianity, and long hardened to receiving it.

So by comparison, our success in foreign missions, in areas overseas that have had little exposure to the Bible and the Gospel, have much better results, than the work in our own neighborhoods.  People in our back yard are tired of the same old message, and same old messengers.  Fear may put seats in a pew for a while, but inevitably unchanged hearts, and untransformed messengers, tend to pull them right back out again over time.  We begin to assume the United States, and well developed European countries have become a barren land.  Our consumer is tired of the same old advertising.  Our consumer is tired of the visible hypocrisy.  Our consumer is tired of the seemingly infinite number of brands with minimal distinctions, that from the point of view of the non-believer, look horribly unimportant, and no reason to separate the body of Christ.  Even though that is exactly what supposed Christians do when they do not agree on a “critical” doctrine.  And our consumer’s reluctance … is well founded.

But in truth, it is not so much our doctrines that are unattractive.  Our beliefs are not the real reason we drive away the unbelievers.  Our lives, and our way of living is.  Our Gospel is all twisted around.  We define our hope and our way to live in His perfection, as ONLY something that can be achieved AFTER death, or in a far-off future where the Second Coming occurs, and everything is falling apart at the seams.  And we define Hell as a punishment baked in flames that torture the wicked FOR everything they have done, and only again AFTER death, in a far-off future even past the Second Coming when “judgment” is meted out by a vengeful God bent on our destruction.  But the truth, the real Gospel is neither of these.

John the Baptist had it right.  The kingdom of God is at hand, meaning, it is here.  The Kingdom of God is in the here and the now.  It is a way of transformation that impacts your current life, and the way you currently live it.  It is the basis of a testimony only you can carry, about how Jesus took the sin from you, took the desire to sin from you, and replaced it with a passionate love for others, you can now, no longer live without.  This transformation is a road to perfection in the here and now.  No waiting.  No future, far-off thing, but right now, at hand, for you.  Embrace it, and the hypocrisy of calling yourself a Christian dissolves into the reality of being a Christian.  All of the sudden, your life looks different than those who still refuse the hope right in front of them.  All of the sudden, there is a difference in the life of the messenger.  Hypocrisy on the decline.  Hypocrisy becoming an endangered species.

John the Baptist had it right.  Repent.  Submit yourself to something greater than yourself.  Humble your ego to Jesus and realize you could indeed be living better.  Understand that what you repent from is THE punishment all of us want to avoid.  Hurting self.  Hurting others.  Hurting God because we engage in the love of self that lies at foundation of the definition of every sin, is the problem.  It causes us to hurt everything around us.  It damages our lives, cuts them short, and makes existence less than it could be.  THAT is the definition of Hell.  Not some far off punishment for what we HAVE done.  Hell is the punishment that comes from what we ARE doing, in the here and now.  The pain we cause, the ripple effects that it spreads are the Hell we would all avoid if we could choose to.  But our choice is locked up in 6000 years of bad genetics, and bad choices of our ancestors.  Our very DNA is presupposed to the desires and behaviors we are unable to escape from ourselves.  Repentance only reminds us of this reality, and points us to a divine source able to re-write our very DNA to avoid the Hell we must otherwise endure.

Our land is not barren.  Our old gospel of self merely leads to barren results.  A new gospel based entirely upon Jesus and our submission to Him, leads to new results entirely.  And “mission” becomes the image in your mirror, and at the extensions of your own front yard.  The field is no longer barren, but yearning to know this kind of transformative truth.  Our consumer is not waiting to hear these words, but to see them acted out in your own life.  Our consumer is not waiting for you to preach about what you have seen others do, but to witness with a first-person testimony about how they work in your life.  Perfection is not the tale.  But the journey to perfection decisively is the real story you can relay.  And the only way it could have been achieved or started began with a simple concept that John the Baptist so forcefully preached all those years ago, namely … Repent.

But don’t just take my word for it.  Let us examine what Matthew recalls about the opening of the ministry of Jesus Christ.  Just after the great temptational fire, and near death experience in the desert.  Jesus recovers.  You would expect Him to now, finally, head to Jerusalem to be blessed by the current church leadership.  At least that is what the current church leadership expected.  Without their blessing, all His efforts were sure to be fruitless, or heretical.  But Jesus saw His Father as the Real church leadership.  And He was most interested in keeping the real Gospel alive.  The Gospel John started, not the one based on doctrinal debate found in the Temple.

So Matthew begins in chapter four of his gospel, picking up in verse 12 saying … “ Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; [verse 13] And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:”  Jesus hears that John has been cast into prison by Herod Antipas.  And the first thing He does, is to travel into largely Gentile territory, into tribes considered Samaritan land.  The ten tribes of Israel had dishonored God by breaking with Judah and Benjamin.  The kingdom of Israel had been split in two from that time on.  The north had its own kings, its own temple, and its own ideas about worship free of the order at Jerusalem.  The south remained traditional, if not always faithful.  But all fell to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar and the captivity.  And all were returned by Cyrus some years later.  Even then, the north was regarded as lesser-than from its history.  A reputation they were somewhat content to carry.

Jesus however, immediately breaks down these kinds of barriers.  He travels first to what every Jew in the south would call barren land spiritually.  He goes to tribal areas of Zebulun, and Naphtali.  There is no barren land in the mind of Jesus.  Matthew continues in verse 14 saying … “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, [verse 15] The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; [verse 16] The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”  Matthew is ever cognizant that his gospel is to bridge the Old and New Testaments through the life of Christ.  He calls us to remember the prophecies that bring hope to the Samaritans as much as to the Jews of the south.

You would think, that a study of Isaiah, might help reduce the prejudice of the time.  If the Messiah was to bring His great light into barren territory, then perhaps the territory was not so barren after all.  Perhaps all it needed was to see truth, instead of see religion packaged as truth, but absent any love in the process.  Flash forward 2000 years.  American Christians are very good at packaging doctrine, rolling it up into the brand management of a particular denomination, and then attempting to sell only that version to the listening ear.  But this approach seems only nominally effective at stealing one Christian from one brand and making him loyal to another.  It is because we lack passion for others, that we would leave unbelievers to their fate, while we argue among ourselves as to who is the Samaritan, and who is the purist.

But there is truth greater than our distinctions, upon which all of salvation is based, and all of hell is avoided in the here and now where the Kingdom of God is at hand.  And Matthew identifies it for us as he continues in verse 17 saying … “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Jesus Himself continues the ministry of John the Baptist.  The need for that message did not disappear at His first arrival, and it does not disappear throughout His ministry, after His sacrifice, or after His ascension.  The need remains.  Because the mechanism for how we are transformed remains, and immediacy of the impact upon how we live remains.  Repent.  And why you ask?  Why the immediacy?  Because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

This is not a statement about our mortality.  It is a statement about our transformation.  This is a statement, a truth, about how the REAL gospel works.  It is based on Jesus, and our submission to Him.  It identifies a continued need to repent, to submit to a higher power than ourselves, to Jesus Christ who alone is The Truth, and can save us from us.  The sin we would otherwise long to commit, can be taken from us, not just the actions but the longing itself.  The hell we cause ourselves, the separation from God we choose to endure need not be so.  All of it can be repaired right here and right now.  No future waiting.  Right now.  At hand.  Today. Tonight. Tomorrow.  No after death, end of the road, promise when so much time is wasted between now and then.  That is the message Jesus Himself continued to teach from the start to the end of His ministry.  It is the real gospel, that leads to real results.  It transforms a life, and makes that life a living witness, with a living testimony, unique to a single person.

Lands we thought barren, were not actually barren to a real gospel, only barren to a religion without any real results.  Lives lived without the pain sin causes.  Lives lived that are happier, and passionate about others, are not founded in wealth and ease, but in reformation Jesus alone can bring.  It is not about looking like pilgrims, living in some sort of twisted self-denial.  It is about looking like someone who knows something others just do not seem to know … because they do.  That kind of passion cannot be faked.  That kind of happiness cannot faked.  It is the “faking” that has been the problem all along.  Real Christianity is based on a real different right here, right now.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  It still is.  It is still waiting to be reflected in your life, my life, and the lives who sit in pain all around us.  THAT is a truth the entire world longs to hear.  Perhaps even those who sit beside us in pews that we only see once a week.  But for certain in the lives we know are suffering from the pain sin causes us all.  THAT is a new gospel, that is brand new and yet more than 2000 years old.

The gospel of self we have been preaching, needs to be replaced with a gospel of Jesus that yields a reason to change, and the only mechanism by which change can come.

 

Opportunity Knocks ...

In our modern age, door-to-door sales teams have all but disappeared.  Gone are the days of milk man deliveries and vacuum cleaner salesmen.  What remains are the occasional missionaries, and student laborers attempting to “earn money for their schools” and themselves.  It always was a difficult job, and with so many families requiring the income from 2 wage earners just to survive, there are few people at home even able to take in a sales call, let alone willing to listen.  In the age of social media, we prefer less physical contact, and more electronic.  Mobility allows us to communicate at our leisure, no longer tethered to long spiraling phone cords attached to handsets of touch tone phones.  We are free to interact with significantly more people, across significantly higher distances, for significantly less time.  Personal relationships now occur mostly at home with our families, and at work where physical proximity is still something that cannot be escaped.  So in this climate, how does Christ appear at the door of our hearts and knock?  How do we introduce to others what we have learned, as His disciples were commissioned to do so long ago?

Like any good sales pitch, it all begins in what it is you are trying to sell.  What is it you have to offer?  Would you buy what you’re selling?  Why?  A product based on distant fears, avoiding some future calamity that no one can prove is even real seems like it would have a very low target audience.  Likewise, a product based on the promise of some utopian rewards that no one has ever seen, or can ever prove even exists seems like yet another slim market share to seek out.  Yet this is how traditional evangelism has presented the gospel … but wait … there’s more.   In addition to either an insurance policy against tragedy, or a swamp land deal for the Brooklyn Bridge; you cannot have either UNLESS you are willing to follow the fine print of a specific denomination of Christians doing the presentation.  Even the slightest deviation, from the presenter’s specific set of rules (i.e. doctrines) will result in complete forfeiture of the rewards offered, and immediate adoption of all punishments listed.  AND now that you have taken the time to listen to this sales pitch, you have formally been educated on the “truth”, therefore any rejection or delay in accepting this limited time offer will afford you no excuses when it is time to experience the punishment you will get for not having accepted the offer when you had the chance.  Welcome to the gospel.  Not.

Our ideas of evangelism and ministry have degenerated a long way from the original model Christ Himself set up.  If we are ever to see real success in ourselves, and in our ministry, perhaps we should return and examine what we have lost.  Peter took the time to discuss “the first church”, as he recalled the plans of Jesus for John Mark to record.  Mark recorded these ideas and plans in his gospel in chapter six beginning in verse 7 saying … “And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;”  In this initial description is buried a whole host of truths that have traditionally escaped our grasp.  First, consider who was chosen to begin to share in the ministry of Christ, the twelve earliest followers.  This event is happening VERY early in the ministry of Christ.  It is NOT happening AFTER the ascension, or even the crucifixion.  At this point in His ministry (and we are only 6 chapters into the book), the disciples have only ONE doctrine they are fairly certain about … the identity of Jesus Christ.

Think about it.  These first 12 followers are decidedly NOT scriptural scholars, and in point of fact, are not being called to go out and read scripture to those who would listen.  There are not a set of standard doctrines to go share, not even about the mission of the Messiah, as nearly ALL of the disciples are still WRONG about what they think that mission is.  These men are NOT perfect.  They are still sinners, not freed from every wrong doing as yet.  These events are occurring before the day of Pentecost, and language may still be a barrier.  In point of fact, if this is the first great commission for mission into the fields, a formal set of doctrines seems to be completely absent … as is a solid scriptural explanation and interpretation for what they are doing.  The only thing they are fairly certain about is the identity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

Second, consider that despite their deep spiritual misunderstandings of the true mission of the Messiah, and their continued interest (greed), in being the “number two” in His Kingdom, they are STILL given power by Jesus Christ over “unclean spirits”.  The enemy of souls, the true enemy of redemption and salvation for the children of God, are NOT the Children themselves, they are the devil and his compatriots.  The power granted to the 12, is not the power to condemn mankind, but to free mankind from the influence of its true enemy.  Mankind is the target audience.  Mankind’s redemption through Jesus Christ the only Son of God is the product.  You cannot condemn the audience of this message, and expect it to see the wisdom and love in salvation.  The power over unclean spirits, was meant to free the bondage of mankind to demonic influences and addiction to sin.  Our enemy was and remains Satan.  Our enemy was and remains self.  The first power offered in the ministry and service of Christ, was to free mankind from the undue influence of the supernatural.

Third, consider the method in which the 12 were to be sent out to the surrounding world.  To cover the broadest area and reach the most people possible, they should have been sent out alone in 12 different directions.  Instead, Christ cuts down the opportunity by half, in order to pair disciples 2-by-2 and send them out.  Why?.  Could it be, that our picture of the identity of Christ is incomplete when we view Him only through our own eyes?  Could it be, that to truly present a better truth about Jesus, we need more than our own opinion, we need to see Him through the eyes of another?  Perhaps the only way to avoid the temptation of ego, even when serving Christ, is to have a partner with whom we must share the credit.  Perhaps the only way to make an enlightened decision of where to go next, and what to do next, is to value the opinions and prayers of someone other than ourselves.  When 2 form a consensus, and in unity reach out, miracles occur.  When we attempt to go solo … we often fail.  Protection from non-believers was not the primary consideration for pairing disciples, for God alone can take care of our security and other needs, as Peter was about to recall.

John Mark continues transcribing in verse 8 saying … “And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: [verse 9] But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.”  This “command” is a departure from everything we know.  It lacks all common sense, and reveals a complete lack of sensible preparation.  The disciples were to carry literally nothing with them that could help their efforts except the single set of clothes that they were wearing, a pair of sandals, and a staff.  They could not even take an extra coat in case it got cold.  No money at all.  No sack lunch or canteen.  Why on earth, would Jesus effectively disarm the disciples to the point where it is impossible to sustain themselves and then ask them to go out and do ministry works?  Parents, even today, insure their children have lunch in school before they send them out the door.  We put coats on our children if we suspect rain or snow is coming.  And when going on a trip ourselves, we “pack” everything we think we are going to need, or want, in order to enjoy where we are going.  Not so, with Jesus, and the first church.  They were to take nothing … but the power Christ had put within them, and the knowledge of His true identity.

Sending disciples into a hostile world with nothing that could help them sustain themselves … has the direct impact of focusing your need.  It brings into acute focus that you MUST depend upon God in order to be sustained, because you have no other choice.  The biggest danger within the gospel ministry is the idea that we can somehow sustain ourselves.  The biggest danger to our redemption and reclamation is the idea that we can somehow take care of ourselves and our sins.  The cancer-of-thought that allows us to believe we bring something of our own of value into the ministry, is the corrosive corruption of self entering into the gospel, and disabling it.  We bring nothing of value.  We have nothing of value to offer except the power Christ imparts, and our certainty about His identity.  The Disciples of Christ will by necessity demonstrate a dependence on God that none around them have to do.  The people they will encounter are workers, providing for themselves and their families.  Those people think they are sustaining themselves, but the living example of the disciples runs counter to that notion.  The disciples have nothing but their faith in the identity of Jesus Christ, and His assurance He will take care of them, because He loves them.  They need nothing else.

So many Adventists, and Christians of other faiths, believe they must prepare for the end of the world, by purchasing homes in the country, and burying food in the caves.  These believers have mistaken the ideas of preparedness (like an intimate proximity to Christ), with instead a hoarder philosophy to empty the supermarket.  In short, they deny God the opportunity to provide for their needs, presuming they can take care of these needs themselves.  They further presume they can predict where they will be when the end comes, and will have access to the food, shelter, and supplies they have prepared for just this occasion.  What they omit, is that the mission of ministry is to save that which is lost, not to run and hide from it.  A deep abiding love for others, such as Christ has, does not forsake that which is in need, in order to preserve self.  Instead self is sacrificed in order to spread love to those who need it most.  Our efforts to prepare and hoard, do not testify of our dependence upon God, they blaspheme it.

The admonition from Christ continues in verse 10 saying … “And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.”  The disciples were to be humble above all things.  The disciples would have to swallow all notions of pride and accept the charity of anyone willing to house them, and feed them during their time of ministry, wherever they found themselves.  This would accomplish two goals.  It would serve to constantly remind the disciples of their dependence upon God, while at the same time, showing them (and us) that the love of God is reflected in our world through the love of one family to another.  Manna did not descend from heaven to feed the disciples, instead the charity of working families filled that role.  The love of God for His servants was to be found in those who barely knew His name.  The family who provided this charity, would in turn find the blessings of our God upon them.  It is in giving we come to know God.  It is in providing for those in need that we begin to see who Jesus Christ truly is.  This charity was not demanded of the audience, it was an opportunity to be blessed by those who offered it.

But in the world of sin, where Satan is bent on our destruction, there is not always a family willing to listen and love.  Sometimes, no matter the power over unclean spirits, the hearts of man remain stone, and refuse to even want to be something different.  Christ offers council on what to do if that occurs as John Mark continues His admonitions in verse 11 saying … “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.”  You will notice the disciples are not to curse those who will not listen, or in fact, say ANYTHING that would be insulting, condemning, or judgmental.  The issue is not one of proving you are right.  The issue is not one of being empowered to condemn and seal the fate of those who would refuse to listen.  The issue is one to make a statement in the silent actions of shaking the dust off of your feet.  The disciples were to symbolically distance themselves from those who “refuse to hear”.

This symbolic action was NOT reserved for those with different doctrines.  It was not meant as a gesture between one Christian and another over disputes over matters of faith.  It was meant for those who will not accept the identity of Jesus Christ.  NONE of the disciples had their doctrines straight yet anyway, it would be pointless to argue them with each other.  They were unified in only the matter of the identity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.  Even the symbolic gesture of distancing one’s self from those who refuse to accept the identity of Jesus was meant to be a “warning” against them, not a final declaration that they had no hope.  If they repented, or if they changed their mind, they could still find the same redemption you and I do.  But we should be equally on guard.  It is a warning to us, that other religions that espouse “spiritualty” and “good works for others” but do so absent Jesus Christ, are a danger to us as well.  It is not the doctrines of Christianity that are absolute, or all supreme, it is the savior found in Jesus Christ that is.  There is only one Son of God, not many.  There is only one path to God, not many.  The warning functions in two ways.

Finally, John Mark records what the results of listening to Jesus Christ were in these first evangelistic efforts beginning in verse 12 saying … “And they went out, and preached that men should repent. [verse 13] And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.”  The disciples went out preaching a message of repentance.  They asked their listeners to repent of self-styled salvation, and have faith in the name of Jesus Christ to save them.  In the name and power of Jesus Christ, they anointed the sick and healed them, just like their Savior.  This was not an extension of the temple services.  This was not the Jewish faith experiencing some sort of Renaissance and revival, where general Rabbi’s started performing miraculous works based on their deep understanding of scriptures and the Torah.  It was instead, 12 simple laborers, who through espousing the name of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, were performing the same acts of love that Christ did.

12 imperfect followers, who did not understand scriptures well, and did not have doctrinal perfection, preached only repentance, humility, and belief in Jesus Christ as the Messiah … and that was more than enough for success.  They could not provide for themselves, because Christ specifically commanded that they should not even attempt to do so.  They were wholly reliant on the charity of others.  They were not professional speakers, or teachers.  They were simple men.  They had only one sure fact, the identity of the Savior of our world.  But fully dependent on God, they were successful in emulating the deeds of their Lord and Master through His Name and His power.  If we are to experience the opportunity Christ offers to share in His ministry, perhaps we should rethink entirely what our message is, and how we should deliver it.  Perhaps we should rethink where our sustenance comes from, and how wholly dependent we truly are, rather than falsely assume it comes from our own efforts.  Perhaps we should engage in ministry in partnerships with another person, in order to better present the picture of Christ, the world is in need to see.  Could that person be our spouse, or our children, or our co-worker?

Opportunity can knock again at the door of the world, in the hearts of those who have not heard, or do not understand.  But the sales team, needs to re-examine how it will attempt to present these ideas, and focus on the singular most important one … the identity of Jesus Christ as the only Son of God.  We are not in need of human intercessors, Papal Pontiffs, or a reliance on the clergy for spiritual enlightenment.  We are simply in need of repentance, humility, dependence, and charity.  If we can offer these things to the world, perhaps we can find a new era of opportunity that can penetrate social media boundaries, overcome electronic distances, and enter straight into the hearts of those who need it the most.