Spread the Word

SPREAD the WORD RECLAIMING the APOSTOLIC TRADITION of EVANGELISM

MICHAEL KEISER

CHESTERTON, INDIANA

SPREAD the WORD

2

SPREAD THE WORD Reclaiming the Apostolic Tradition of Evangelism Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser All Rights Reserved

Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version, © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Published by

Conciliar Press A division of Conciliar Media Ministries P.O. Box 748 Chesterton, IN 46304

Printed in the United States of America ISBN 10: 1-936270-09-5 ISBN 13: 978-1-936270-09-9

Copyright Copyright©©2011 2011by byMichael MichaelKeiser.

Keiser.All AllRights RightsReserved.

Reserved.

Published Publishedby byConciliar ConciliarPress Press

3

Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 One: The Great Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Two: New Testament Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Three: Evangelism in the Early Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Four: Preaching and Teaching All Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Five: Mission on the Frontier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Six: The Holy Spirit and Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Seven: Six Habits of Highly Successful Evangelists . . . . . 119 Eight: Semper Gumby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Nine: Evangelizing Existing Congregations . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Ten: Preaching the Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Eleven: God Has Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Twelve: Closing Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Appendix: Instructions from St. Innocent . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

4

SPREAD the WORD

Copyright Š 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

SPREAD the WORD

5

FOREWORD

“T

he spirit of apostleship is indelibly wrought in the very nature of the Church and should be lived in every age,” states Archbishop Anastasios of Albania. “Mission is part of the Church’s genetic makeup, a fixed element in her DNA. Church without mission is a contradiction in terms. If the Church remains indifferent to the apostolic work with which she has been entrusted, she denies and contradicts herself and her very essence.”

What powerful words from the foremost Orthodox missionary in the world today! The Archbishop reminds each of us about the central and primary role of sharing our Orthodox Christian Faith with the world around us, locally as well as globally.

After a long period of forgetfulness and ignorance related to our apostolic and evangelistic tradition, which could be attributed to various historical realities, the Orthodox Church is finally rediscovering her rich missionary spirit—through evangelism in America as well as in crosscultural missions around the world. A significant moment which highlights this renewal of interest occurred when all the Primates of the worldwide Orthodox Churches offered a joint statement in 2008 which included the following exhortation: Copyright Sample © 2011 pages byonly.

Michael Purchase Keiser. the Allfull Rights bookReserved. at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html Published by Conciliar Press

5

6

SPREAD the WORD Inspired by the teaching and the work of the Apostle Paul, we underscore first and foremost the importance of the duty of mission for the life of the Church and in particular for the ministry of us all in accordance with the final commandment of the Lord: “You will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The evangelization of God’s people, and also of those who don’t believe in Christ, constitutes the supreme duty of the Church.

In other words, for us to faithfully live out our Orthodox Christian faith, we must strive to actively share our Lord’s good news and unconditional love with all people everywhere. Orthodox Christianity should always imply looking outward and remembering the other!

The Philokalia, a collection of sayings from the Church Fathers, teaches, “Blessed is the one who rejoices in his salvation, but even more blessed is the one who rejoices in the salvation of the other.” St. John Chrysostom emphasizes the same idea: “I do not believe in the salvation of anyone who does not try to save others.”

So we must go forth, breaking away from our egocentric temptations as well as our desire to simply maintain the status quo of our faith and our churches, and instead faithfully share our rich spiritual treasure with others! Knowing we must get involved in evangelism and outreach, however, is not enough. We also need to understand how to do evangelism!

As Christians and as a Church, what should we do first?

Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

FOREWORD What are some practical steps to participate in evangelism?

Good intentions are not always good enough. Passion without knowledge can be dangerous.

In this book, Fr. Michael Keiser stresses this imperative of evangelism from a biblical perspective, from the understanding of the early Church, as well as from different periods of Church history. What is especially helpful, though, is how he then offers a very practical guide on how to practice such evangelism at the parish and local level today within our own American context.

With more than three decades of experience in planting new Orthodox missions in various parts of the United States, as well as in nurturing and growing other status quo or even stagnant churches, Fr. Michael has much wisdom to share. He warns of common mistakes often made in evangelism, while also pointing out different methods and practices that have proved worthwhile. He notes, of course, how authentic evangelism is not simply about methods and “how to” ideas, but is mostly about developing an authentic relationship with God through sincere relationships with one another. Love is the underlying method of all aspects of evangelism.

This book has something valuable to offer to all the clergy and every serious Christian who wants to see the Orthodox Church faithfully live out her calling as the Body of Christ.

—Fr. Luke A. Veronis, author of Go Forth and Missionaries, Monks, and Martyrs Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

7

8

SPREAD the WORD

Copyright Š 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

SPREAD the WORD

9

PREFACE

I

’m impressed!

Father Michael Keiser has done us a real favor in his thorough presentation of Orthodox mission and evangelism work. He’s biblical, traditional, and helpful. And what he teaches is doable. You learn that you don’t have to be a gifted evangelist to take part in being an effective witness for Christ.

There are some places in this book where you’ll say, “Great! Why didn’t I think of that?” There will be other places where you will believe, maybe for the first time, that God can really use you. There are a few spots where we who are Orthodox will squirm, because Fr. Michael is dishing out unvarnished truth.

Clergy and laity alike will benefit from Fr. Michael’s guidance. This book has many specific and important takeaways. His writing is downright clever. If we do what he says, I cannot imagine that our parishes will not grow both spiritually and numerically.

Thanks, Fr. Michael, for taking time for the hard work of writing to us. And may the Lord bless all who read as they become more equipped to do His will.

—Fr. Peter Gillquist,

author of Becoming Orthodox

Bloomington, Indiana Copyright Sample © 2011 pages byonly.

Michael Purchase Keiser. the Allfull Rights bookReserved. at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html Published by Conciliar Press

9

10

SPREAD the WORD

Copyright Š 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

SPREAD the WORD

11

One

THE GREAT COMMISSION

A

story is told from the time of the Crimean War about the Charge of the Light Brigade. Many have heard of the famous charge, immortalized by the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, that this cavalry unit of the British Army made against an impossibly strong position of Russian artillery, as a result of which the Light Brigade was virtually wiped out. It is still debated whether the charge was made because of a misunderstanding of orders, or due to the incompetence of the commanding general. The French were allies with the British in this war. It is said that a French officer watched the Light Brigade ride into the murderous fire of the Russian guns, then turned to his British counterpart and said, “That is magnificent; but it is not war.”

I often think of that story when I look at the active busyness that marks the life of most Orthodox congregations today—the committee meetings, the activities and programs, the mission statements and goal-settings—all of which seem to have so little to do with the essential nature of Christ’s Church and the proclamation of the Gospel. Selfinterest seems to be the soil from which church life springs.

The fact is that most Orthodox congregations are totally Copyright Sample © 2011 pages byonly.

Michael Purchase Keiser. the Allfull Rights bookReserved. at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html Published by Conciliar Press

11

12

SPREAD the WORD focused on their own survival rather than on spreading the Gospel.

That is not meant to be unfair criticism. As a parish priest, I understand how difficult it is to maintain a godly focus amidst the material worries of church life. But the fact is that the Orthodox Church is here first and foremost as Christ’s Body, not as a fundraising and fraternal organization.

If we look at the priorities of the average Orthodox congregation, we might say, “That is magnificent, but it is not war.” It is not offering the world what it needs to survive, let alone be transformed. It is inward-looking rather than outward-looking, fixated on meeting budgets rather than on bringing people to Christ so they might be saved. We equate the promotional activities of our churches, some of which are quite worthwhile, with evangelism. The true nature of the Church cannot always be easily seen because the pattern of parish activity gets in the way. We need a better understanding of what the true nature of the Church is.

The early Christian Church did not have this problem.

They knew their task was not to raise funds to pave the parking lot, organize groups, or hold food festivals, but to bring the Good News about Jesus Christ and His Kingdom to a world that was as self-indulgent, materialistic, and violent as our own. Their mission was to enlarge the borders of the Kingdom of God on earth. In many ways, the world we live in is different from that of the early Church; we cannot simply recreate the third century in the twenty-first. But somewhere along the evangelistic road we lost our way, and Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

THE GREAT COMMISSION we can learn much from the Church that literally conquered an empire.

I hope that in these pages we can reconnect with the roots of what the Orthodox Church was meant to be, learn from its past about outreach and evangelism, and translate these lessons into the task of confronting our own world.

The first thing we must do in this regard is to rediscover the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Great Commission was the last directive Jesus gave His followers before He ascended to His Father. It can be found at the end of Matthew’s Gospel.

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.

When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:16–20) This is called the Great Commission, not to distinguish it from other commissions that were only pretty good, but to emphasize its importance to the future life of the Church that Christ founded, so that the work of reconciling the Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

13

14

SPREAD the WORD world to God could continue. It does not mean that other aspects of the Church’s life, such as worship, almsgiving, and teaching, are less important, but that carrying the Good News about Jesus Christ is to be paramount.

So we do not evangelize because we think it to be a good idea, or because we are good at it or have some free time; we evangelize because God has told us to do so, and we are following orders. The Church is Christ’s Body, and a healthy body must grow. Evangelism is essential to who we are, because the Church exists by evangelism in the same way a fire exists by burning. Without evangelism, the Church is just a secret club for those who like that sort of thing.

What Is the Good News?

What is this Good News the Church is supposed to spread?

If you are going to convey a message, you need to know what the message is; you cannot proclaim what you do not know. The expression “good news” comes from the old English word godspel, which itself was a translation of the Greek evangelion (“gospel”).

The first place we look in learning about the Gospel is to the words of our Lord Jesus. It was our Lord who laid the foundation for preaching the Gospel in His teaching and action. The good news is that Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14).

Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

THE GREAT COMMISSION Everything He said and did was intended to bring people into the Kingdom, into relationship with His Father. He was always ready, in any situation, when meeting any person, to turn that meeting into an encounter with God’s Kingdom.

Whether it was the Samaritan woman, a wealthy young man, or a paralytic, Jesus would enter into a conversation or respond to a question or an obvious need, and begin opening that person to the presence of God. He never talked down to or judged the person He encountered, and He never pushed them to do anything. The Samaritan woman (John 4:7–30) he led gently, point by point, to a recognition of who He was. When the wealthy young man (Matthew 19:16–30) could not accept the call to follow Jesus, the Lord was saddened by his reaction but did not condemn him.

So the good news is that the Kingdom of God is at hand! And as the Lord told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Plainly put, Jesus was presenting the Gospel of the Kingdom to Nicodemus.

But then the question comes, how on earth can we who are fallen and living in sin enter this holy and eternal Kingdom? The answer is in the central message the first Christians proclaimed: Christ died, is risen, and will come again for us and for our salvation. The work and victory of Jesus Christ is what we, like the early believers, are called to share.

Christ Died for Us In Romans St. Paul writes, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

15

16

SPREAD the WORD scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6–8).

The entire creation was cut off from God by the Fall, when our forefather Adam rejected the life of intimate union with God that was offered to him, the chance to live in paradise. He did this by disobedience and immaturity, reaching for more of a share in God’s life than he had the maturity to handle (Genesis 3). This ruptured our relationship with God, breaking our communion with Him and leading to a downward cycle of sin and death for the entire cosmos.

Adam was our first parent, the founder of our race, and as a result of his fall we are all infected with sin. The “ungodly” Paul refers to is all of us; we all suffer the consequences (although we do not bear the guilt) of Adam’s sin. Because we were cut off from communion with God, we became ruled by sin. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

Humanity lost the ability to move back toward God, so God the Son became one of us in order to lead us back toward the Father. He does this as the second Adam, reversing the disobedience of the first Adam, but more than that, joining humanity and divinity. He makes us partakers of the divine nature, sharing in God’s uncreated and transforming energy.

But for us to be reconciled with God, it was necessary that Jesus take upon Himself the consequences of sin and be subject to physical death just as we are—otherwise He would not have shared our life or confronted all that we Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

THE GREAT COMMISSION must confront. By taking upon Himself the sins of the world, Jesus makes our forgiveness possible. He removes the final barrier to our reconciliation with the Father and entrance into His Kingdom.

Christ died for us while we were weak, while we were still sinners. He did not wait for us to reach a certain point of spiritual development before He came to us. His death has liberated us from sin and death. This took place at the right time from God’s perspective, according to His eternal knowledge and will. “Christ died for us” was the first point in apostolic preaching.

Christ Is Risen But there was more. If Jesus had come, shared life with us, and then died, it would have been a story of great pathos and tragedy, but we would not be restored to God—we would be stuck, in effect, on the far side of the Jordan looking at the Promised Land.

At Pascha (Easter), Orthodox Christians sing, “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.” Jesus did not just die, get three days of sack time, and then pop out of the grave like the Pillsbury Doughboy from the oven. He had work to do between the Cross and His Resurrection: He descended into Hades.

The meaning of the word “Hades” back then was a bit different than it is for Christians today. Most of us would define Hades as the place where a soul might go after death if the soul’s ultimate destination is hell, as opposed to a soul that goes to paradise in anticipation of heaven. Before the Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

17

18

SPREAD the WORD Resurrection of Christ, every departed soul went to Hades, where it was in a kind of holding pattern until the second Adam, Christ, came for us. Think of it as the parking garage for departed souls. This is Jesus’ destination after His body is laid in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient” (1 Peter 3:18–20).

Waiting in Hades for the second Adam to appear is the first Adam, along with Eve and all those who died from the beginning of the world. Think of that for a moment: the first Adam, locked in this prison of death from which there has never been any escape, sees the One who is both his descendant and Creator approaching. Adam must know that the time for his reconciliation with God is at hand. Christ is there to open, for all the departed who accept Him as the Word of God Incarnate, the way to eternal life. “For this reason the Gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (1 Peter 4:6).

That is why the Resurrection icon shows Jesus standing on the gates of Hades, pulling Adam and Eve and the other souls who receive the Gospel into paradise. They have been set free from the spiritual death that stood between man and God since the Fall. Having filled the abyss of death with divine life, having put death in its place so that we need never be controlled by it again, having brought those departed who longed for Him to a new existence, Jesus rises from the grave. Eventually He ascended to the presence of Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

THE GREAT COMMISSION His Father in His humanity, completing the reconciliation with the Father. The Kingdom of heaven is now open to all who seek it. Christ is risen!

Christ Will Come Again The third major focus of New Testament preaching was that the Lord would return, both to judge the world and to establish the Kingdom on earth. This focus was so strong that some first-century believers expected it to happen any day.

This was a problem in some Christian communities, where a few of the members apparently saw no need to continue working and were living off others. Paul had to remind them that the Second Coming would occur in God’s good time and that we still had to pull our own weight. “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. . . . If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess.

3:6, 10). Until He comes, we must still show up for work.

Bummer.

When the Lord does return, He will do two things: He will judge the living and the dead, determining who will go to paradise (the sheep) and who will go to Hades (the goats); and He will bring about the final reconciliation between God and His creation. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left” (Matt.

Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

19

20

SPREAD the WORD 25:31–33). Whether we experience the presence of God as punishment or joy throughout eternity will be determined at this time.

Then the entire cosmos will be returned to intimacy with God: Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.

God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.

There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1–4) Who wouldn’t look forward to an everlasting Kingdom like this?

It’s All About Christ The emphasis in apostolic evangelism was Jesus Christ: His person, life, teaching, and saving work. This is incredibly important, because what passes for evangelism in Orthodox churches today may be anything but talking about Jesus. We tend to proclaim things such as being the true Church, or Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

THE GREAT COMMISSION icons or councils or styles of worship. I swear to you that I once heard an Orthodox priest in a public presentation say that we were the true Church because Orthodox priests wore the same vestments on Sunday as Jesus wore at the Last Supper!

When I was a brand new priest, I remember thinking if I could get my people to understand such-and-such a canon from a certain ecumenical council, all would become clear to them. But I got over that quickly. If we are to succeed at evangelism, we have to do things in the proper order.

We are mistaking catechesis for evangelism, preaching up front what should not be taught until people have actually decided to join and are being shepherded into the Church.

Evangelism is about helping people take those first steps toward a relationship with God; it is about proclaiming that God is with us. If we are not preaching Christ, but instead trying to persuade people based on our vision of Church history, we will fail. As we say in my part of the country, “That dog won’t hunt.”

During His ministry, Jesus preached the Good News of His coming Kingdom, and He made it clear that it was all about Him. Luke’s Gospel tells how Jesus began His ministry in Nazareth. He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and was given the Book of the Prophet Isaiah to read.

And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the Gospel to the poor; Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

21

SPREAD the WORD

22

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:17–21) Subtle. This was a prophecy about the coming of a new age, and Jesus says it refers to Him. The apostles did the same, making the messenger the message. As Michael Green, in his book, Evangelism in the Early Church, writes: The content of their proclamation was none other than the person of Jesus Christ. They made use of all the cultural and intellectual pathways which would facilitate the reception of this message. Intensely sensitive to the felt needs of the listeners, the thought world in which they moved, the very language which would strike the clearest note in their minds, their aim nevertheless remained both simple and direct; to introduce others to Jesus Christ. It is the same if we are listening to the apostle Paul on Mars Hill or the monk Macarius in the Egyptian deserts. (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI, 2004, pp. 383–384) Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

THE GREAT COMMISSION They preached this with love and enthusiasm for the Gospel that did not diminish even after 150 years; we can find the same attitude in the early Fathers as in the New Testament.

This good news of forgiveness, salvation, and reconciliation in Christ was the core of apostolic teaching, and Jesus left clear instructions as to what should be done with it.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

How Did New Testament Evangelism Work?

How did the New Testament Church fulfill this in a practical way, and what kind of organization was put in place to fulfill the Great Commission? How did it work out in the trenches, and why was it so successful? Despite being an illegal, sometimes persecuted movement, by the third century Christians constituted an estimated twenty-five percent of the Roman Empire. This did not happen because they had written a good mission statement.

We will never get a clear idea about this until we immerse ourselves in biblical theology, in order to get a clear grasp on what this Spirit-filled fellowship of early Christians was like.

What about its spiritual dynamic can we take as a model and apply to our own world? What did they do that distinguished them from the world around them? How did these first parishes—because that is what these early groups of believers were—bring people to Christ?

Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

23

24

SPREAD the WORD 1. Personal Experience of God First, the New Testament Church was made up of people who had had a profound experience of a personal God. Jesus Christ had shaken their souls, stamping Himself upon the disciples’ minds daily as He walked, talked, ate, and slept with them. He had taught and challenged them, they had argued about the implications of His teaching, and however slow on the uptake some of them may have been, they knew that during His earthly life He was unlike anyone they had ever known. After His death and resurrection, after they had seen Him ascend into heaven, they could acknowledge Him as no one other than God. He had absolutely changed their lives.

Now compare that with our parish communities today.

How many of us, clergy or laity, have a really personal knowledge of who Jesus is—not as a concept or an icon, but as the living Christ, the Lord in the center of our lives? The fact is that you can belong to an Orthodox congregation and not really be converted in any way, as long as you pay your dues and occasionally receive the sacraments. In some parishes, even that minimum is not required to be a member in good standing. Until the disciples’ experience of Jesus as a living Person becomes our experience, as it surely can if we are living the spiritual life, nothing of any real importance will happen in our congregations.

2. Trust in God The second distinguishing feature of the New Testament parish was its completely genuine trust in God. It was a believing fellowship, and this belief was so powerful that the Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

THE GREAT COMMISSION people were willing to commit everything in confidence that God’s will would be done, just as they had prayed it would.

When Peter preached in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost, he described Jesus as “being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:22–23). Nothing about their salvation was accidental or by happenstance; it was the result of God’s action, and they trusted that.

They did not worry much about their own selfpreservation; they worried about doing God’s will. They did not have fundraising or administration seminars. They knew that God’s Church could not be overcome because Jesus had promised that the very gates of hell could not overcome it (Matthew 13:18). Because they really believed, they had no fear; because they had no fear, they were able to challenge the world; and because they challenged, they were listened to.

3. A Spirit-Led Community The third mark of the New Testament parish was that it knew itself to be a Spirit-filled and Spirit-led community.

The Holy Spirit had come with power: nothing, absolutely nothing, was now impossible. It would never have occurred to these people to question that God was ultimately in control. They were not fools; they knew there would be difficulties and disasters. But they knew they had a task, and if they were faithful to it, God would provide what was needed.

The task of the Church was to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world.

These early churches were like beehives in reverse. The members were constantly coming in and going out; but they Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

25

26

SPREAD the WORD came in to get renewed strength—from fellowship, prayer, and the Eucharist—in order to take the Word of God out to the world. The Church’s job was to preach Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and returning. Everything else—the ladies’ guild, the parish council, the food festival—was subservient to proclaiming the Good News of salvation. This does not mean that the other things were not good in themselves, but they were not the reason for the Church to exist.

4. A Profound Sense of Forgiveness Number four on the list of differences between our churches and those of the New Testament is that the early Christians had a profound sense that their sins had been forgiven, that they really were free of the baggage that sin becomes. The burdens of anxiety, fear, and guilt had been lifted from them, and they could do God’s work with free and joyful hearts.

They knew they were sinners, and they still had to confess their sins, but the real victory had been won on the Cross. It was easier to overcome temptation because they knew they had been restored to fellowship with God. How conspicuously lacking is this awareness in so many Orthodox parishes today! There are congregations in which confessions are almost never made, perhaps because it is thought there are too many members to keep up with, or perhaps it is thought to be in bad taste to remind people that they are sinners. There is little sense of repentance and the forgiveness of sin because there is so little sense of sin.

The early Christian knew that his freedom from sin had been won and that in Jesus Christ he was a new person. Yet most of us are the same old people we have always been, and Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

THE GREAT COMMISSION there is not much in our parish life to suggest we should be anything different.

The New Testament Church made an impact on the world because its members lived different kinds of lives than the people around them. Christians were held by their Church to a high standard of behavior and were disciplined if they wavered from it. They were expected to be honest and hard-working, and to treat others with love and respect.

They were expected to be holy, from the Greek agios, which means “set apart” to God. 5. A Focus on the Essentials Last but not least, the New Testament Church placed very little importance on any organization or activity that did not directly contribute to three important things: worship, teaching, and collecting alms for those in need. The focus was on what was essential in the life of the community. Belonging to this fellowship did not mean committee work, but a new relationship with God, a different kind of life among Christian believers, and a joyous expectancy that, whatever difficulties there were, the future with God would be good, and we should face that future with hope.

There was none of the neurotic complaining that is so often a part of parish life, with members direly predicting the end of civilization as we know it if we don’t raise enough money for a huge chandelier.

These five qualities make the real difference between the life of the Orthodox Church today and that of the New Testament, and I believe these qualities have largely Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

27

28

SPREAD the WORD disappeared from our churches. There are good people doing good work, and there are thoughtful, reflective people trying to point the way. But all too often these people are pushed off to the spirituality or mission committee, and regarded as just a little odd by the other members of the parish.

Providing these five qualities is the true function of the local church, and until we understand this, no matter how outwardly successful our churches may be, from God’s perspective they will be a colossal failure. Evangelism begins with the local parish accepting what it is to be a truly Spiritled community. You can collar all the folks you want on a street corner, but unless you have believing churches for them to join, to be supported and mentored in, you are going to leave them on their own, and they will fall.

The Recipients of the Great Commission To whom was the Great Commission addressed? Initially, to the eleven disciples who met Jesus after the Resurrection in Galilee. It is important to understand that this was still a somewhat conflicted group of men. “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted” (Matthew 28:16–17).

In other words, some of the apostles still thought this was smoke and mirrors, afraid they were being fooled by some kind of conjuring trick. These were His closest and most faithful followers, who had been personally instructed by Him and knew Jesus as well as any person could. And yet Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

THE GREAT COMMISSION some of them still had not accepted the Resurrection as a fact, even with Jesus appearing to them!

Mark’s Gospel even records that Jesus confronted the eleven at table on the night of the Resurrection and “rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen” (Mark 16:14). Yet the Lord still tells them what He expects them to do after He is gone, despite their frailty and doubts, because He knows that the growth of His Church ultimately does not depend on them.

St. Peter, who betrayed Him, would lead His church in Rome. St. Thomas, who doubted the Lord’s Resurrection, would witness as far away as India. The others would spread throughout the known world, because Pentecost would transform these weak and vacillating men in amazing ways, so that they would become the foundation stones of the Orthodox Church. The risen Lord in His power would be with them. But at the time Jesus told them to evangelize, an onlooker could have been forgiven for wondering what the Lord was thinking. Remember this the next time you become paralyzed by your doubts about your ability and competence to perform the tasks God gives to you.

The Apostles represent the Church—in fact at that time they practically were the Church—so the Great Commission was not just given to the Apostles and those they set aside for leadership, but to the entire Christian body. The entire Church is responsible for bringing the Gospel to the world, each member of it in the way in which he may best be used. As we shall see, this doesn’t mean everyone is called to stand up and speak in front of groups or hand out tracts, Sample pages only. Purchase the full book at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html

29

30

SPREAD the WORD but it does mean we all are called to support the work of evangelism in some way.

An old story is told about the king of ancient Sparta in Greece. A stranger visiting this rugged kingdom for the first time was surprised to find that Sparta was not protected by walls, as were other Greek cities such as Athens.

“Where are the walls of Sparta?” the stranger asked the king.

The monarch took the stranger by the arm and led him to a window that overlooked a parade ground. There, in strictest discipline, stood rank on rank of Spartan soldiers.

“There are the walls of Sparta,” said the king. “Ten thousand loyal men, and every one a brick.”

So must it be with each parish and with the whole Church fellowship. Each of us has a task to perform in support of God’s Church. Faithful Christian men and women are the true walls of the Church. We are the potential protectors of a Christian civilization that will be instructed and inspired to outstrip the mediocrity of our age—if we are willing to aspire to be a fellowship worthy of the name of Jesus Christ our Lord!

Copyright © 2011 by Michael Keiser. All Rights Reserved.

Published by Conciliar Press

SPREAD the WORD

31

Two

NEW TESTAMENT EVANGELISM

T

he Bible is the first place we can look to understand what evangelism truly is and how those in the New Testament Church brought people to Jesus Christ.

Just what is evangelism? For some people, it is what preachers do on television and their pastor does not do. For many Orthodox, it is what other Christians have done to them and what they do not want to do to others, since we do not want to be pushy about our faith.

The word evangelism conjures up different images for different people, generally based on something they have experienced, even if that experience has only been shooing a Jehovah’s Witness from the door or avoiding a street-corner preacher. Our reaction to the concept of evangelism tends to be negative because of experiences like that, and because we don’t understand what evangelism is supposed to be. We may assume it must be some kind of religious dog-and-pony show designed to stir up someone’s emotions.

Evangelism is primarily concerned with helping people find and take those spiritual first steps that lead into Christian faith and experience. The biblical witness can help us in our understanding of what evangelism should be.

Copyright Sample © 2011 pages byonly.

Michael Purchase Keiser. the Allfull Rights bookReserved. at www.conciliarpress.products/Spread-the-Word.html Published by Conciliar Press

31