One of the most familiar Greek terms for love is agape. Agape is defined as a love of choice or goodwill. When God penned John 3:16, he used agape to describe the kind of love he demonstrated for humanity by sending his son to live, die and rise again. God chose to love us when we were unworthy of his love. In the same way that God chose to love us when we didn't deserve his love, Christian people should extend love, genuine love, to those who do not deserve our love.
This love of choice begins with choosing to love other Christians. Jesus prayed for the unity of the body so that the outside world would see the love we have for one another and know that God is real. How else could a group a people from such economic, racial and social diversity come together and experience unity unless God had done a work in their lives. Unfortunately, most churches are known more for their business meetings or habits of running off preachers than they are for loving one another and their communities. Once Christian people have begun to practice agape for one another, they should turn their attention outward and demonstrate love of choice for those unloved by society. The church is only limited by its own creativity or fear when it comes to loving the unloved of society.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Reaching People Involves LEARNING About People
I've been a people watcher since I was a child. My mother used to drag the whole family to the shopping malls within 150 miles of our home and she would shop until we got tired. Daddy would sit with us and we would watch people. He would tell us how to watch people without looking like we were watching people. I know now that I'm a father he was just trying to get us to be still and quiet.... We were so good at watching people, we even made the front page of the lifestyle section of the Charlotte Observer by sitting on the floor of the mall surrounded by mountains of bags and packages. I don't remember exactly, but the caption said something to the effect of the Helms family watching people. I say all of this to let you know, I'm a people watcher.
Here's what I've learned from people as it relates to reaching them with the Gospel:
1. People what to be respected.
- There may have been a day in this country when you could knock on someone's door unannounced and expect them to stop what they were doing and give you a solid hearing of the Gospel. That day is gone! Most people live at such break-neck speed that you must have an appointment in order to meet with them. Some have said they will continue to knock on doors with no invitation. I prefer to respect a person's home and schedule enough to make an appointment.
2. People will listen to you if they are respected by you.
- Once a person sees that you respect his time, his privacy, his beliefs (even if they are wrong), his opinions (even if they are different from yours) then and only then will he give you the respect that is necessary for an honest hearing of the Gospel. Think about it and decide: Would you a Jehovah's Witness the time of day if he imposed himself on you in the middle of a family function or would you be more likely to listen to someone (even a Jehovah's Witness) if they asked for a time to meet?
3. People are creatures of habit and they do what they want to do.
- There was a day in this country when folks were expected to come to church on Sunday. That day is gone! People feel no sense of obligation or duty to their church anymore. Mind you, I'm talking about church people. If we can't get church people to come but half time, what in the world do you think lost people think about church? They see us as irrelevant and disconnected from their lives. They are playing soccer, participating in the bowling league, serving in civic clubs and doing life independently of the church. By the way, one of the reasons we can't get church folks to church like we used to is because they are busy doing the same kinds of things! So what do you do? Maybe we ought to stop trying to gather the church all the time and we ought to start intentionally scattering the church into the civic clubs, ball leagues and other functions that people participate in. Instead of expecting lost people to come to us, maybe we ought to think about new and innovative ways to do what Jesus commanded us to do and that is to go and meet them where they are.
4. People change when they meet God through Jesus Christ.
- Once a person is respected and you earn the right to share Jesus with that person, God changes him or her. Instead of spending every minute living for himself / herself, God initiates the transformation process that we call sanctification in the church and what we call life change in the world. People can change with the help of God. Most people don't know they need God's help and that is the privilege of the church - to help people see how God desires to help them.
Here's what I've learned from people as it relates to reaching them with the Gospel:
1. People what to be respected.
- There may have been a day in this country when you could knock on someone's door unannounced and expect them to stop what they were doing and give you a solid hearing of the Gospel. That day is gone! Most people live at such break-neck speed that you must have an appointment in order to meet with them. Some have said they will continue to knock on doors with no invitation. I prefer to respect a person's home and schedule enough to make an appointment.
2. People will listen to you if they are respected by you.
- Once a person sees that you respect his time, his privacy, his beliefs (even if they are wrong), his opinions (even if they are different from yours) then and only then will he give you the respect that is necessary for an honest hearing of the Gospel. Think about it and decide: Would you a Jehovah's Witness the time of day if he imposed himself on you in the middle of a family function or would you be more likely to listen to someone (even a Jehovah's Witness) if they asked for a time to meet?
3. People are creatures of habit and they do what they want to do.
- There was a day in this country when folks were expected to come to church on Sunday. That day is gone! People feel no sense of obligation or duty to their church anymore. Mind you, I'm talking about church people. If we can't get church people to come but half time, what in the world do you think lost people think about church? They see us as irrelevant and disconnected from their lives. They are playing soccer, participating in the bowling league, serving in civic clubs and doing life independently of the church. By the way, one of the reasons we can't get church folks to church like we used to is because they are busy doing the same kinds of things! So what do you do? Maybe we ought to stop trying to gather the church all the time and we ought to start intentionally scattering the church into the civic clubs, ball leagues and other functions that people participate in. Instead of expecting lost people to come to us, maybe we ought to think about new and innovative ways to do what Jesus commanded us to do and that is to go and meet them where they are.
4. People change when they meet God through Jesus Christ.
- Once a person is respected and you earn the right to share Jesus with that person, God changes him or her. Instead of spending every minute living for himself / herself, God initiates the transformation process that we call sanctification in the church and what we call life change in the world. People can change with the help of God. Most people don't know they need God's help and that is the privilege of the church - to help people see how God desires to help them.
Reaching People with the Gospel
In Luke 14:23 Jesus spoke of a servant who was sent into the "highways and hedges" to compel people to come to a wedding feast. That story underscores the importance of reaching out to people rather than expecting people to show up just because we have an event scheduled. The mentality of most church folks seems to be that of, "we've built it now they can come". Jesus never commanded us to build, but to go, compel, preach and share. Reaching people with the Gospel, then, supposes that a Christian engages people where they are. Here are some thoughts on how to do that....
What would it be like if instead of starting a new Sunday School Class, we advertised a bible study at Shoney's on Thursday nights for anyone interested?
What would it be like if instead of participating in a church softball league with a bunch of other Christians, we got together a team of Christian men and sponsored a team in the industrial league?
What would it be like if instead of starting our own little leagues, we trained men and women how to lead little league football, soccer, baseball and basketball teams with an eye toward sharing the Gospel and being salt and light?
What would it be like if instead of spending millions of dollars on a family life center to gather the church together, again, the church bought every family a membership at the YMCA?
How 'bout this? Instead of spending all that money on brotherhood meals and women's groups meals, what if we took that money and paid the entry fee for a few trained evangelists into hunting clubs, country clubs, quilting clubs and the like?
Here's the point - We spend a lot of money talking about evangelism and not doing evangelism. Why not spend that money to strategically place Christian people in places where non-christian people hang out so that the Gospel might be shared and souls saved?
What would it be like if instead of starting a new Sunday School Class, we advertised a bible study at Shoney's on Thursday nights for anyone interested?
What would it be like if instead of participating in a church softball league with a bunch of other Christians, we got together a team of Christian men and sponsored a team in the industrial league?
What would it be like if instead of starting our own little leagues, we trained men and women how to lead little league football, soccer, baseball and basketball teams with an eye toward sharing the Gospel and being salt and light?
What would it be like if instead of spending millions of dollars on a family life center to gather the church together, again, the church bought every family a membership at the YMCA?
How 'bout this? Instead of spending all that money on brotherhood meals and women's groups meals, what if we took that money and paid the entry fee for a few trained evangelists into hunting clubs, country clubs, quilting clubs and the like?
Here's the point - We spend a lot of money talking about evangelism and not doing evangelism. Why not spend that money to strategically place Christian people in places where non-christian people hang out so that the Gospel might be shared and souls saved?
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