December 2009 v
INCARNATION
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SHAPE evacuating the christian bubble Page 3 ___________________
SOCIETY going to every eth’-nos Page 6 ___________________
STRATEGY window washing & harley cruising Page 9 ___________________
STORY the reluctant evangelist // e v a n g e l i s m e x p e r i m e n ts w i t h t r a n s p l a n t p a t i e n t s Page 12 ___________________
STUCK christians are hypocrites? Page 16 ___________________
STUDY radical reformission // walk across the room // th e u n e x p e c t e d a d v e n t u r e Page 18 ___________________
SEARCH keller mp3s // did you know? // re-jesus Page 20 ___________________
SERVE alpha // internet // internationals // sign Page 21
From the Editor’s Desk This edition of SIGN sees us almost at year’s end, marking a time of celebration, festivities, relaxation, and time with those we love. Council workers climb ladders with tinsel covered bells, and “Peace� and “Joy to the World� illuminate the streets. There are angels on lampposts and baby Jesus in the mall, not to mention the gathering of the community to see a giant Christmas tree be plugged in each year amongst a choir of ooh’s and aah’s. Shopping centres have become a hub of musthaves, red-sticker sales and parking-lot fury. It all culminates around a table, or around a tree: Mums, Aunts and Grandmas over the stove, and Dads and sons by the barbecue. For me, as a kid completely averse to seafood, it meant a day of wondering what I was going to eat amongst the table covered in ocean dwelling animals, and spending the afternoon watching Dad snoring on the couch (in front of whatever came on the TV after Mum’s recorded video of carols finished). What is it really all about, though? What is it that we are celebrating? Why is it a celebration? Does everyone share the same sentiment for Christmas? Is it a celebration for everyone? Is it a time with family and friends for everyone? Christmas means different things to all walks of life. In the West it symbolizes a time to share with others, to give gifts, be content and enjoy a time of rest. To Christians, it is the celebration of the birth of Christ, God-man, God-incarnate. It is a celebration of the greatest gift given to the world, reconciliation with God and eternal life. Perhaps now is a good time to mention that this edition of SIGN is not about the history of Christmas. (If you want to know who St Nicholas was and why he is depicted as an obese man with rosy cheeks, all decked out in a red suit, then you’re reading the wrong magazine.) This edition of SIGN is about crossing boundaries and pushing your limits. It’s about stepping out of your bubble of safety and sterilized oxygen and into the real world where we live—the same world into which Christ called us to “Go!� and be fishers of men. Christmas is a celebration of the most profound, miraculous, and world changing “crossing of boundaries� in the history of humanity. It’s when we remember that God Himself—holy, just, and perfect—stepped down into our unholy, unjust, and imperfect world, in the form of a man to save every tribe and person. We will look at faith with feet on, faith with hands, faith with eyes, and faith outside of four walls. Too often we divide our time into secular and sacred. We’ve ignored that in Christ, all of life is sacred. But when we see this, we realize how much we can do outside of the Church building, outside of where we are accepted, and outside of where the going is easy. I recently met a man who was the same age as my father. (He even had daughters my age.) If he walked into Church, I wonder if anyone would have shaken his hand. He smelt like methylated spirits and urine. But look deeper: he was human, he was hungry, and he was hurting. I didn’t particularly want a conversation, but after he bumped into me in the mall, amidst his apology, we caught each other’s eye. I saw a man who could be my Dad. I remembered Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40: “As you did for the least of these, you did it to me.� As I encountered this homeless man, I encountered Jesus. Funnily enough, so did he, and he asked if I was a Christian. We ate lunch and talked about his old business, the calluses on his hands from his guitar, and his kids. He also cried as he looked at me and kept trying to return what I had bought him for lunch. In the end he gave me a book that he had wrapped up in a dirty plastic bag. Even for the socially gifted, we are all pushed out of our comfort zone as we engage people with whom we have nothing in common other then being alive. So, on with this edition of SIGN. Be challenged, be bold, and be blessed as you “Go!� in Jesus’ love and power to point all people to Him. [Written by Bec Edmonds]
Evacuating the Christian Bubble1
SHAPE
{something pithy to shape our understanding of evangelism, mission, and the gospel} Are there any Seinfeld fans out there? I recognize that I may have just halved my already small readership by appealing to a sitcom from the last century … but too bad! Seinfeld is probably my favourite show ever aired on television. The humour usually hinges on irony, exposing some disconnect between what one says and what one means, or who one is. Take season four with “The Bubble Boy” episode. Jerry Seinfeld and his friends meet a kind man who describes the sad plight of his sick son, Donald, who lives in a plastic “bubble”—a germ-free quarantine that keeps his weak immune system protected from the dirt of the world. He’s safe, but he’s miserable. So the dad convinces them to visit his son to cheer him up. When they arrive, it turns out that Donald is a fully grown man—a rude, selfish letch who is impossible to sympathize with. All he can think of is himself and his concerns in that bubble. Trying their best to connect with the bubble boy, they get into a game of trivial pursuit. The irony comes out in full force as the bubble boy is denied a second roll of the dice after his correct answer is rejected on the basis of a card misprint. The bubble boy gets so angry that he tries to strangle one of Jerry’s friends, and the bubble punctures and depressurizes. This formerly safe but isolated man is stretchered out by paramedics, more miserable than ever! A key purpose of SIGN magazine is to sound a clarion call for Christians to “build bridges.” As followers of Christ, it is our mission to take the good news of the gospel across the divide to reach an unchurched society. It’s not Jesus’ way to set up a fortress and occasionally venture out on 1
This article was first printed in KBC Life, June 2009.
crusades to convert the heathen at the point of a sword. Rather, we need to live our faith 24-7 in the world so that people will see and hear of how God is reconciling the world to Himself through Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:1920). This entails bridge building. As I was thinking over the key steps in this process, this Seinfeld episode came to mind. For in the eyes of many in this world, the church is a kind of institutional “bubble boy.” Looking from the outside in, I can understand why many see Christians as part of a judgmental clique, preoccupied with their own concerns inside the four walls of the church. It’s like believers only emerge to wag their fingers at the sins of the world. Perhaps our neighbours look over the fence to notice us rushing to and from church events, seemingly without the time to even smile and say “Hi!” And when those Christians do have the time to talk, it always seems kind of, well, forced . . . like they have an agenda, or something—they want to save my soul, but do they even know who I am? How ironic that Christians who are sent out to save the world are so often inward looking, strangling those who venture within their grasp.
Am I being unfair? Perhaps. But I think the way we live our lives gives this stereotype plenty of ammunition. Dan Kimball in his book, They Like Jesus but not the Church, has also noticed the problem of the “Christian Bubble.” In short, we’re “too busy inside the church to know those outside the church. . . . It’s too easy to get caught in our little church subcultures, and the result is that the only people we might know are Christians who are already inside the church.” Our greatest witness should be our transformed lives as we journey with Christ toward maturity. But the longer we’ve been saved, the fewer friends we have outside the church. It’s usually only brand new believers who retain their non-Church networks—whether with university friends, work-mates, or even non-Christian family members. And new believers often exhibit the greatest disparity between what they say and how their lives look. No wonder Christians are known as hypocrites. Do you identify with this? Are you in a Christian bubble? Let’s check. (1) Are you out three or more nights a week with churchrelated programs? (2) Do you struggle to list five or more close friends you regularly spend time with, who aren’t Christian? (3) Does the thought of hanging out with average Aussies at a pub or a party make you nervous? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then chances are you’re part of the Christian bubble. (And if you answered yes to all three questions, then some drastic changes are needed before your faith suffocates.)
It may be safe in the bubble, but there’s a world out there that’s hurting, full of people whom Jesus came to love, and save. It’s easy to be so busy with our church stuff—even in good programs that may in some way and at some time connect with those outside our bubble— that we never connect with anyone but Christians. And I’m as guilty of this as any of you . . . perhaps even more so, given that my full-time work is inside a church building. I remember a time when I had church on Sunday, Drama rehearsals at church on Monday, study on Tuesday (my only night in), home-group on Wednesday, band on Thursday (a Christian band, of course), youth group leading on Friday, socializing with my Christian friends on Saturday, all before starting another week over. I tried to share with my university acquaintances about Jesus, but I didn’t even know them as people—just as souls needing saving. If I had my time over again, I’d carefully choose one or two church-based commitments (to grow, and serve), and sink more time into loving those outside the church. Now that I think of it, especially at Christmas time, wasn’t this what Jesus did? If anyone ever lived in a happy place, a safe bubble, it had to be God. But we read in John 1 and Philippians 2:5-11 that Jesus—being in very form God—left that sin-free, safe environment, bound for planet earth. Going further, he was born in a dirty stable, stained in his reputation (you think most people accepted the whole “virgin birth” idea?!), to mix with everyday kind of people. The bubble-bound Pharisees accused him of being a friend of tax-collectors and prostitutes—which He proudly was—and a “wine bibber” given all the parties he attended. And yet this was His mission: “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor,” he explained (Matthew 9:10-12). Jesus evacuated the bubble at His birth, but He destroyed the bubble once and for all when He died on a cross between two thieves. I’m pretty sure Jesus never intended to establish a hermetically sealed, germ-free community that is trapped within its own walls. Besides which, the church is not a building; it’s a people. Church (ekklesia in Greek) means the “called out ones”—called out by Jesus to be agents of His Kingdom in the world.
Jesus is cryptic at times, but not concerning our mission in the world: “As the Father sent me, so I send you� (John 20:21) . . . not simply to save faceless souls, but to holistically love every person as Jesus loved us (Luke 4:18-19), pointing people to a God who left the safety of Heaven in radical identification with fallen humanity to suffer in our place. Let’s get a theological edge on this. It’s called incarnation—and it’s a fancy Latin word for the amazing concept of God the Father sending God the Son to take on flesh, in radical identification with sinful humanity. We can’t just talk about God—we’ve got to embody His Kingdom in an earthy way. As E. Stanley Jones notes, in reference to Jesus’ baptism, “He would be a savior from within—not from above, apart from, separated.�2 With the incarnation, not only did Jesus—who is in very essence, God—empty and limit Himself as a finite being, but he also tied himself to a particular community in time and space, living and working among the people he taught and healed. Jesus’ “yes� to being a first century Galilean carpenter meant “No� to other identities and places—it was an expression of faithful specificity. Sounds like a challenge to our fortress mentality in the church. We’ve got to understand our context in a particular time and place. We must identify with people in such a way as to embody the Gospel in the language and forms understood and embraced by those outside the church, so that in due time they may understand and respond. In Paul’s words, collectively we must become “all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some� (1 Corinthians 9:22). The global Gospel must be translated into local expressions.
So, how about it? Is it time to evacuate the Christian bubble? It isn’t an either/or ‌ we need to meet together, worship, grow, and serve. But are you following Jesus’ model to leave the ninety-nine that you may find the one that got lost (Luke 15)? What do you need to cut back on so you have the time to truly connect with, and love, those outside the church? After all, even Jesus—with His busy schedule to save the world—initiated a dinner date with Zacchaeus (Luke 19). Whatever steps you take, and however God leads you, I pray that together we may follow Christ and evacuate the Christian bubble in response to the Father’s lavish love for all people. May God bless as this season you build bridges that cross the divide.
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Jesus evacuated the bubble at His birth, but He destroyed the bubble once and for all when He died on a cross between two thieves. â—?
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[Written by Dave Benson]
2
E. Stanley Jones, The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person (Bellingham, WA: McNett Press, 1972 [1945]), 112.
Society {watching culture for connection points that bridge to the gospel}
“GOING TO EVERY ETH’-NOS” So, we’re called by God to “Go!” and as we meet people where they’re at, we can then invite them to “Come!” and meet with Jesus, joining other disciples as the church.3 Go, then Come. This order of events cannot be overstated in our current cultural setting. Let me explain. In the “Western world,” since the fourth and fifth centuries AD right through to perhaps the 1960s, Christianity has (by-and-large) enjoyed a position at the centre of our society. The Church as an institution—and the Bible as a founding document—have influenced everything from art and education, to laws and lifestyles. Granted, there have been exceptional missionary efforts across history; but for the average Church, the need to “Go” before inviting people to “Come” hasn’t been obvious. It was like we’d secured a monopoly over the “religion business” and the customers were guaranteed—just run a good program, offer decent services, and the crowds would come. And when they came, they should at some stage hear the gospel. So, successful evangelism largely hinged on the big program: invite people to an event connected with the Church, let the “expert” present the gospel, and reap the harvest. Maybe you’ve noticed: Times have changed! In Australia, today, at most 15 percent of our population
attends church.4 At best, people aren’t interested in coming because they have higher priorities, are too busy, and think they’d have more fun watching the grass grow than sitting in a religious ceremony. Since the 60s we’ve experienced a massive influx of immigrants, and the government and the media have worked hard to meld a multicultural identity out of our “kaleidoscope nation.” Tolerance has become the key word, which has gone beyond the equality of all people, to being the equality of all beliefs and ways of life. The media, especially, has latched on with a bias toward the new and unusual, exposing us to the smorgasbord of cultures, religions, and moral preferences; Christianity has been reduced to just one option among many, losing its pride of place. So not only has the Church become less important, it has also been identified as arrogant and ignorant for claiming that “Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). In a secular society, such exclusive claims—especially when spoken from a position of power like a person with a microphone behind a pulpit—seem as dangerous as an extremist strapped to a bomb. At worst, then, many people actively avoid Church— including the big attractional events and programs we rely on to point people to Jesus. Why? Switching to some data from the US, based on nationally representative polling, we find that “Christianity has an image problem.”5 Sixteen- to twenty-nine-year-old outsiders perceive Christianity as antihomosexual (91 percent), judgmental (87 percent), and hypocritical (85 percent). The majority view Christians as “old-fashioned, too involved in politics, out of touch with reality, insensitive to others, boring, not accepting of other faiths, and confusing.” Roughly 60 percent think that 4
3
Throughout this article, capital C “Church” refers to Church as an institution and a place—example, Kenmore Baptist Church—whilst little c “church” is in the Biblical sense, being the people who are agents of Jesus’ Kingdom, regardless of numbers and location.
Hugh Mackay, Advance Australia Where? (Sydney, Australia: Hatchett Livre Publishers, 2007), 11. 5
David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity … and Why It Matters (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007), 11, 26-28, 33, 251-53.
Christianity makes little or no sense, and 70 percent believe it holds minimal relevance for their lives. Regrettably, many of those willing to reconsider perceive that Christians either have no answers, or that Christians are unwilling to participate in genuine dialogue, simply seeking to shout down the opposition. Christians are identified primarily by what they oppose rather than affirm. In general, Jesus is still positively perceived. Christians, in contrast, appear positively “unChristian.” And in light of how busy and preoccupied we are with Church events, Christians are often perceived as an insular, judgmental clique. You think the average outsider wants to “Come” before we “Go”? People often want to belong before they believe, and belonging is a key role that Church used to play. The functional equivalent of “Church” for the average Aussie today is drinking a beer with mates around the BBQ on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or coffee and catch-up with the girls at a quaint café. On a given Sunday, far more youth are likely to be “worshipping” the god-of-good-buys at the mall, or posting their deepest thoughts and desires like prayers to the all-knowing-and-ever-present-god-ofthe-google on a blog or facebook wall. (This is another cultural connection point for incarnation and introducing people to Jesus: the Internet. If MySpace were a country, it would be the 5th largest country in the world. A few clicks and comments, and you can be talking with everyone from your primary school’s bully, to random Russians who share your interest in distance running.) So, if they won’t first “come” to us, then—following Jesus’ model—we must “go” to them. But how? Our typical approach when called to “Go” is friendship evangelism. Use your natural networks with nonChristian friends and family—whether through work or play—to build friendships. Over time, as you listen and engage, and care for their needs, you can bridge conversation to share your story and the gospel. (In previous editions of SIGN we’ve looked at just how you might do this.) This is crucial. And yet … by itself, this strategy still falls short of the Great Commission. Take a quick look at Matthew 24:14, 28:18-20, and Revelation 5:9. Jesus has called us to “go” and share the good news with every “nation.” I know, you’re already feeling guilty that you’re not a missionary to deepest, darkest Africa. But that’s not my point, either. The word “nation” in the
Greek is ἔθνος (eth’-nos), and it’s best understood not as “country,” but instead as tribe, or ethnic grouping. Wherever we find groupings with “cultural and language distinctions that make it hard for the gospel to spread naturally from one group to the other,” we are to “Go!” 6 What does this mean in practice? Let’s consider youth as an example—which is important, as the vast majority of commitments to Christ occur before adulthood. Generation Y is both America’s and Australia’s “most racially and ethnically diverse, and least-Caucasian generation,” less than two-thirds white. Ninety percent have friends of a different race.7 Patricia Hersch spent years trying to understand adolescents in an ethnographic study, essentially incarnating in their culture. The result of her study was her book describing teens as A Tribe Apart. 8 So not only are teens a type of tribe, but within youth culture there are numerous eth’-nos, each separated into smaller clusters divided by their own cultural and language distinctions. The old-school hierarchical system—cheerleaders and jocks, preppies, geeks/nerds, then alternatives—has morphed into innumerable groups and variations on a theme— “Skaters” embrace hip-hop, “Goths” advocate environmentalism, “Rednecks” seek tutoring, “Lebs” (Lebanese cliques) don Adidas—each mixing and matching on their own terms.9 Picture, into this setting, we send the Christian kids to reach their particular adolescent clusters. Will this kind of “Go!” work? Pete Ward calls this “nucleus-fringe, or inside-out outreach.”10 It’s what Churches typically emphasize—friendship evangelism. It’s crucial, no doubt, but inadequate. Why? Look around your church. 6
John Piper, Brothers, We Are not Professionals (Nashville, TN: Mentor, 2003), 191. 7
Neil Howe and William Strauss, Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation (New York: Vintage Books, 2000), 15, 220. 8
Patricia Hersch, A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence (New York: Ballantine Publishing Group, 1998). 9
Murray Milner, Jr., Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids: American Teenagers, Schools, and the Culture of Consumption (New York: Routledge, 2004), 100-102, 130. 10
Pete Ward, God at the Mall: Youth Ministry That Meets Kids Where They're At (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999), 11.
Does it reflect the kind of diversity, the kind of eth’-nos that you see in our society as a whole? If your church is like mine, then the majority of those attending are white, middle-class, and generally conservative in their outlook. (Added to this, most are middle aged or older, so if all we did was friendship evangelism, it’s questionable whether youth would be reached at all.) You don’t see a whole lot of tongue-piercings and tattoos, skaters and streetkids, gang-members and goths, prostitutes or tax collectors. (The last set of outsiders were obviously Jesus’ priority—I wonder what it would take for our churches to include them?) Pete Ward puts it like this: “For every young person that does join the church there are probably ten or twenty other young people who have tried to find a place within the church but who found the social make-up of the congregation too uncomfortable. They feel that they do not fit and so conclude that the Christian faith is not for people like them.� What’s the solution? In short, incarnational “outside-in� outreach.11 It’s not until you, me, and even the Church organist makes the costly, sacrificial decision to cross barriers and be inconvenienced in our everyday lives, that we will reach the growing numbers of Un-Churched in our cities. Without “incarnation,� the vast majority will never hear the gospel. Time to wrap up this increasingly academic reflection with some cultural connections: movies. If you want to recapture the challenge and glory of incarnation, get down to the video store and hire out End of the Spear (2005) - http://www.endofthespear.com/. It traces the real-life journey of five young missionaries entering into the most violent society ever documented by anthropologists—the Waodani tribe of Ecuador. This movie is a timely reminder that the call to “Go!� is always accompanied by suffering as the price and the means of finishing the Great Commission (Matthew 10:16; Luke 21:16-18; Colossians 1:24). To quote John Piper, “Our suffering becomes an extension and presentation of Christ’s suffering for those for whom He died. Suffering is not an accidental result of obedience. It is an ordained means of penetrating the peoples and the hearts of the lost.�12 Ask yourself, What sacrifice—of time, money, 11
Ward, God at the Mall, 16-20.
12
Piper, Brothers, We Are not Professionals, 194-95.
comfort, and security— am I willing to make to incarnate Christ’s love in the eth’-nos Jesus has laid on my heart? For another movie exploring similar themes of incarnation, check out Avatar (2009) at the box-office. Granted, it’s a fantasy, but it powerfully reveals that to truly understand another tribe, we must enter in, walk in their shoes (or body?!), speaking about and living towards their heartbeat. This is the role of a true agent of reconciliation. I’ve seen this costly incarnation expressed simply by those offering tutoring to Nigerian refugees, helping them learn English, and then opening up their homes at Christmas, or freeing up their time to take them on coast trips to experience Australia. I’ve seen this with believers going into prisons to play volleyball with inmates, and then offering them accommodation and a job once their sentence is complete. And I’ve seen this with friends keeping their eyes open for God at work while walking around the city—that homeless man asking for money, and that sad looking lady crying at the bus stop, are invitations for incarnation. Finally, at a practical level, consider how God has wired you with particular likes and dislikes. Often our interests cut across people groups, so we can find a common bond with those very different to us. You can even have fun in the process. Maybe it’s motorcycles, or photography, or soccer, or dancing. Whatever your interest is, rather than starting a special interest group within the church (“Come�), join a group of people outside the church and enter into their lives (“Go�). Listen, love, care, and as opportunity affords, share the grace of God and point them to Jesus. Whatever form it takes, and wherever it takes you, keep an open ear to the God of the incarnation, who came to earth that we would “Go!� to all the tribes of the world who desperately need to hear good news in their own language. [Written by Dave Benson]
STRATEGY
Tuesdays, to clean anyone’s windows if they’d like. There are literally no strings attached. My motivation? Simple: I’m a Christian, and Jesus gave me a pretty clear call to “love my neighbour.” If you’re interested, give me a call, or shoot me an email, and we’ll find a time that works for us both.”
{offering a practical idea to reach those outside the church} What do window washing and riding Harley Davidsons have in common? Well, in this edition of SIGN, they both go to show that anything—even mundane chores and bad boys’ toys—can be used in the service of pointing people to Jesus. If your evangelistic strategy is based on incarnation, then perhaps in the material objects and commonplace actions that make up your everyday life, you’ll find a practical idea to reach those outside the church. Let’s start with window washing. Recently I heard from a guy named Simon about his idea to reach his local community. Simon works as a real-estate agent, so he’s in and out of houses all the time, checking that houses for sale are in top condition. That includes window washing. I guess it was a comical version of Exodus 4:12, where God reassured Moses as he was sent to share the hope of liberation to an enslaved people. SIMON: “But suppose they won’t believe me, or listen to my voice. How can I show them you’re real? . . .” GOD: “Well, you could serve. Let’s use what you do have. What’s that in your hand?” SIMON: “Windex and a rag?!? …” So, the idea was startlingly simple. Simon would make up little cards and put them in the letterboxes of local houses. The message was something to this effect: “Hi, my name’s Simon, and I’d like to clean your windows for free. That’s probably a strange pass-time given I work as a professional real-estate agent. But I’ve noticed, getting around so many houses, that often we don’t have time for the simple things like wiping smudges off the glass. So, I’ve set aside one hour a week, on
With contact details in hand, neighbours could call Simon, who would come at an agreed time and clean their windows. It literally was no strings attached. While cleaning, Simon would get the chance to enter into their lives, hear their stories, share some of his own, and if the opportunity arose, offer to pray for them. (Given that his offer of window-cleaning was pretty out of the box, spiritual conversations wouldn’t seem so bizarre!) Upon finishing, Simon would leave a “thank you” card—for opening their house, and giving their time to let a stranger do random acts of kindness. In only a paragraph, Simon would share a simple version of the “big story” of the gospel as his motivation for helping (see earlier editions of SIGN—that we’re designed for good, damaged by evil, but in Jesus restored for better, sent together to heal the world, and awaiting the day God sets everything right). The offer was given to talk more if they wanted, or for prayer and coming to Church with him. Again, this was all in writing so there was no pressure—just an open invitation from a generous heart. I haven’t yet heard how this has gone for Simon— especially given his wife has just had a baby (congratulations!!) … so all hands on deck there. But I do know that God has put something in each of our hands that may offer a way to love, and become the start of some amazing spiritual conversations. Onto a second strategy—riding Harley motorbikes! Rather than retell this story in my words, I’ll pass onto David Leth, who first shared this story in KBC Life a few months back. It’s a fantastic example of taking a special interest, and turning it outwards. I’ve heard similar stories from guys starting up a Triathlon group designed for those outside the church, and everyday Aussies joining car clubs and attending meets where they bring
the BBQ and meat. (And if you cast your mind back to the first edition of SIGN, Coral Bryant followed the way of incarnation at the dog-park.) Engage, enter their lives, care, and share ‌ and don’t be surprised if you find life more enjoyable as you “Go.â€?
group in Australia ministering to this specific area of the bike community so it has been largely unreached by the greater Christian community.
[Written by Dave Benson]
At the City Church men’s conference in April I had a chance meeting with a guy, Shaun Matheson (Matho) trying to start the ‘Black Sheep’ ministry in Australia. After doing a lot of research about the Black Sheep Motorcycle Ministry I went for a ride with Matho and some other guys. I had a coffee with Matho after our ride so we could check each other out a bit more. It was a great day. Matho described what he is trying to achieve and it dovetails with where I believe God is taking me. God’s timing is impeccable. Interestingly most of the words and visions people have given me over the last 6 months tie in exactly to this ministry idea. Also Matho has been laying out fleeces which God is answering in the same direction.
~~ ARE YOU A BLACK SHEEP? BACKGROUND There was no intent or plan to start a ministry, let alone a national or international one. A few friends from Pastor Marty Edward's church known as “The Lamb's Fellowshipâ€? (Murrieta, California USA) began riding together. They spoke of designing a patch and coming up with a name. Being members of a church named the Lamb's fellowship, the small group of Harley riders was often teased for being the “black sheepâ€? of the congregation. The name not only stuck, but seemed to make perfect sense in light of Biblical passages which described Christians as outcasts, aliens and foreigners. Black Sheep Motorcycle Ministries was born out of a burden and vision to take the Gospel where it was not well known. In 2009, ten years on from its conception, Black Sheep Motorcycle Ministries is still powering along strong. It is a ministry to HOG (Harley Owners Group) and not the 1%ers (bikies). HOG has approximately 1 million members worldwide with about 600 members just in Brisbane HOG which I am a member. There are many other HOG chapters/clubs here in Australia and probably in excess of 1000 members in SE Qld not to mention all the other Harley riders not in a club. This is where I have been outreaching over the last 2 ½ years with I believe some success and have been building relationships looking at how to take it to the next level. It is very much a friendship ministry and simply being there when help is needed. While some groups are ministering to outlaw bikies, prison ministry and serving the greater motorcycle community. Currently there is no organised
HOW DO I FIT IN?
As Matho and I chatted over coffee we could hardly contain our excitement as we shared our thoughts with each other. Matho then asked me to come on board as the Chaplain and help set up Black sheep in Australia. This position means I help oversee the development of Black Sheep Chaplains’ Australia wide. This role is like painting a target on my back in the bike world and there is no turning back once I start, I will be under the microscope in everything I do. I am excited but a little afraid at the same time. God is taking me way, way outside of my comfort zone here and it will only work if I let God have control. I have been searching for God’s direction in this and believe it is where I need to head. There is no hiding in this role I can’t just sit back and help; it is a very upfront leadership role. For someone like me who is content to be ministering in the back ground this is a huge challenge. So I have stepped out in obedience and accepted the leadership role of National Chaplain. After my probation period I will receive my ‘colours’ or patch to make it all official.
Patches are very significant in the bike world and often tell people exactly where you stand. The Black Sheep patch is; a circle with a shield and cross, with a banner crossing its' centre. The words of Roman's 1:16 circle the border: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes...� A horse and rider, a Crusader actually, is at the top of the patch. Two capitol “M's� are on either side of the cross signifying that this is a motorcycle ministry and not a club.
The patch encompasses the themes of the Cross of Christ, Salvation, Spiritual Warfare and Mission. God is using my passion for bikes to outreach for Him and bless me at the same time, how special is that! Do you have a passion or hobby God can use for outreach? I will let you in on a secret, you can have fun and outreach at the same time. I had a chance meeting with Shaun and look where I am heading now, if we focus on God, He will make our path straight and clear. I have my first mission trip coming up in November which will be the official launch of Black Sheep in Australia but in the mean-time there is a lot of work to do. There is a lot of spiritual warfare in what I am doing so your prayers would be very much appreciated. If you would like to know more about the Black Sheep Ministry please contact me on email: lethy@cadaustralia.com.au.13 [Written by David Leth]
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November has come and gone, and it’s all now official for David’s involvement in Black Sheep Motorcycle Ministry. Every time I bump into David, he always runs out of time to tell me all the stories of how God is directing and using him to radically love the Harley riders, and point them to Jesus in ways that make sense in their eth’-nos.
Story.story {recalling a time you got to point someone to Jesus, or how you came to follow Christ}
In this edition, we have two stories—one old, and one new. If window cleaning and riding motorbikes was a strange combo, then how about English cabbies and kidney transplants? First, Pastor Keith Applegate shares his own story as “The Reluctant Evangelist,” reflecting on an incident as a young taxi-driver back in England. Then, Bec White follows it up with reflections on her involvement in 2009’s World Transplant Games—at which, Bec humbly neglected to mention, she won a number of gold medals for cycling! As you read, ask God to show you what “incarnation” should look like in your life. To whom would He have you go? What barriers need to be dismantled, or bridges need to be crossed, for this to happen? And as you carry your cross into a context outside your comfort zone, what cost must you pay? Then, commit this to God and go in the power of His Spirit.
THE RELUCTANT EVANGELIST While at college training for the ministry, I worked as a cab driver in the English seaside town where I lived. Late one Thursday morning I was at the front of the rank outside the station when I received a radio call to go to a pub about 300 metres away. My reactions were immediately negative: I would lose my position in the rank; the pub was not one our firm serviced, so the job would be suspect.
I went into the pub and asked the barman who it was who needed a cab. He pointed to a small, middle-aged guy seated on a stool at the end of the bar – with the largest red nose I’d seen on anyone but a clown. I felt my negativity increase. I asked where he wanted to go. ‘The stashun,’ he replied. The minimum fare, I thought. I told him that I didn’t think that he was fit to travel on a train, and added for good measure that I thought he would fall down between the platform and the carriage. Playing for time I asked, ‘Where have you got to get to?’ He named a town thirty miles away – and asked, ‘Could you take me? What would it cosht?’ Reluctantly I told him, regretting the way this conversation had gone. He accepted the quote. I put him in the middle of the back seat, opened all the windows, and sped up the freeway at the maximum 70mph, hoping he wouldn’t throw up, and wondering, did he have the fare? We arrived outside his block of flats. Could I help him up the steps? I did – prepared for a back elbow that would send me reeling. Would I put his key in the door for him? I did. He invited me in, went into his lounge room, collapsed on his sofa, and burst into tears. Here comes the sob story, I thought; he doesn’t have any money. But out came a very different sad story. He had worked on the music halls, fallen in love and married. Like Hosea, he had discovered that his wife was a prostitute. She had disappeared, he didn’t know where; he had taken to the bottle. There was no indication of how long ago these events had occurred. I felt my heart soften. I went and sat beside him, and shared what the Lord Jesus had done for me, not really knowing how much was getting through to him. I
concluded by telling him that I didn’t believe in coincidences, but that several months before I had been booked to take the services the following Sunday at the Baptist Church not 150 metres from his front door. I invited him to come. I prayed with him. He did pay me – and gave me a good tip! On Sunday morning I scanned the congregation – no sign of Dicky. I felt led to remodel my message on ‘Launch out!’ – and shared Dick’s story – a man with such a need on their doorstep. After lunch, my host correctly surmised that I wanted to go and visit Dicky. When we got there, we found his front door open. We went in. Dicky was still in bed, a New English Bible on his bedside table. His words of greeting, somewhat accusatorial, will live with me for ever: ‘What have you done?’ I asked what he meant. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘since that service ended, I’ve had thirteen people from that church through here.’ That evening as we drove into the church car park, there was Dicky, propping up the wall with one hand and his trousers with the other. My host, who held a very significant position in Lloyds of London, sat with Dicky at the back of the church. After the service, Dicky was the first into the foyer. Another accusation! “You were getting at me, weren’t you?’ ‘No, Dicky, I wasn’t,’ I replied, ‘but God might have been.’ Even more amazingly he reached into his pocket and presented me with a ten shilling note! A lot of money in those days - and the only time I’ve been tipped for preaching! A solicitor in the church did a search and discovered that Dicky’s wife had died many years before. Dicky came to faith, was baptised, joined the church – and served as the much-loved choirmaster until he joined the heavenly choir. He also made a complete recovery from his alcoholism. I learned so many things from that incident about God’s sovereignty – He had His way with me even when I was about as reluctant a servant as Jonah. With Abraham’s servant I could say, ‘You led me right to the door’ (Genesis 24:27 The Message). He had planned my encounter with Dicky long in advance – and that was in a pub, not in a church! I was thrilled with the response of
the church that Sunday morning. God used many people to draw Dicky into a relationship with Himself, rescuing him from the depths of despair and the bottle. He provided Dicky with a warm, loving Christian family in which he could be discipled and serve. There is no one God can’t use, and there is no one God can’t save. Be encouraged! [Written by Keith Applegate]
EVANGELISM EXPERIMENTS WITH TRANSPLANT PATIENTS In becoming a man called Jesus, God crossed almost every known cultural barrier. As the eternal Word, He was not merely one man, confined to one century, one country, one nation, and one family. Yet in Jesus, the infinite God was incarnate as a helpless baby; swapping riches for rags, He lovingly put aside His glory to administer His grace. Christ was born in the first century, yet He belongs to all centuries. He was born a Jew, yet He belongs to all races. He was born in Bethlehem, yet He belongs to all countries. I think I’m only just beginning to understand how Jesus met people where they were at. He met them by the well, on the road, in the market place, in their houses, at weddings and dinner parties; He fully emerged in their lives, without being immersed in their cultural traditions and practices. Jesus was not afraid of finding people in messy places, approaching them and loving them. He was not found only preaching on mountain tops; He was also found spending time with the least, the little, the lost, and the lonely; He was found praying in the garden and healing the sick in the street. The more I reflect on the lifestyle and mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11), the greater my conviction to fully embrace this as my pattern for life. After all, the Kingdom of Heaven is a way to live, and not merely a story to be told.
In August of 2009 I found myself in an environment well outside the safety zone of Church life. I was to be competing in the World Transplant Games for seven days, with more than two thousand athletes from over seventy-five countries. (For people facing so many health issues, I was surprised at how hard they partied!) I knew that the opportunities would be endless to “reap the harvest,” but I couldn’t get out of my head the picture of action-based evangelism. Don’t get me wrong: I wanted to tell people about Jesus and my faith—and I had every intention of doing so. I just wanted to start by igniting a desire in the people around me to consider what it was that was different about my life. I wanted my voice to be heard in partnership with my actions, and not merely my words alone. At first reluctant—and, in all honesty, frustrated with the culture—I slowly found myself more and more interested in really surrounding myself with people, being incarnate in the culture yet representing the culture of heaven. I found myself thinking, How long would it take for my faith to naturally come up in conversations? How many days would it be before the people around me started to notice something different about my choices and behaviour? With this experiment in mind, I dove into the week. And sure enough, I have story after story of the fruit that flowed from an intentional evangelism experiment. Before I go on, allow me to say that I had a dozen deep and real conversations with people from all over the globe about Jesus and my faith. Each conversation was rich, and each conversation was unique—no two people shared the same needs and questions. Obviously I don’t have the time or space to write about every story, so I’ve chosen the two that were most significant as I reflected on and tried to follow Jesus’ example. Each day we would travel by bus to the different sporting sites at which we competed. I had made many new friends in the two days that I had been there, but as of yet there were no “God conversations.” My new friend
Jo was the first person to ask me plainly about my behaviour. “Are you religious?” he asked me out of the blue on the bus. Normally I would have become defensive about being labeled “religious”—but in respect to my experiment I simply asked him a question in return. “What makes you ask that?” I said innocently. And what followed were many lengthy conversations about faith, God, the world, and Christians. That’s all it took: 48 hours and someone could pick me from the crowd. When was the last time someone picked you from the crowd? I think that’s one of the first times in my life it’s really happened to me. There was nothing in particular that I did or had done to make Jo ask me. He noticed simple things; he said I didn’t swear, I didn’t slander people, I was encouraging and tried to be genuine with people. Well, you might think, a lot of non Christians have all those qualities too. That’s true, so I asked Jo why he picked me out. His response startled me. “When other people do it, it seems a chore and they do it because they’ve been told that’s how you are supposed to treat others. You seem to have more reason, more intention behind your choice of behaviour.” And there you have your answer. Jesus is the reason—we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Jo wanted answers to life’s tough questions, and He had a lot of respect for the things I had to offer him. Never has a non-Christian listened to me as earnestly as Jo did. He was hungry for answers, but instead of being told that I had found them, he could see that I had found them. Glen was the second major story. He wasn’t interested in answers; he was young and concerned with what to do with his life. At dinner one evening we started a conversation about our futures, our jobs, travel, and our dreams. Glen basically had no idea; he had no real “passion” or thought about what area he wanted to work in or the direction of his life. He was blown away that I knew with conviction what it was I wanted to do. “But how do you know? What makes you want to do those
things?�‌. And again, the following days were filled with countless conversations about purpose, meaning, why we were created, and what we are supposed to do with our lives.
For one week I ran an evangelism experiment with transplant patients. And it worked. People were attracted to me, and I could naturally point them to Jesus (John 12:32).
I did not look for opportunities with either Jo or Glen to talk. My life was the opportunity; I showed them a way of thinking and living that they had never really genuinely encountered. The church and Christianity were to them distant and irrelevant.
But is incarnational evangelism just an experiment? Or is this supposed to be our daily reality? “As the Father sent me, even so I send you� (John 20:21). I suspect it’s time to “Go!�
But, simply being intentional about authentically living my faith through my actions, they discovered Jesus was closer to them than they ever realized, and I was invited to make that connection real with my words. By the end of the week my head was over-flowing with conviction and thoughts about my faith and life. I had learnt a lesson that I should have learned many years ago, a lesson that Jesus’ whole life models. The lesson was this: I represent the culture of heaven amongst the culture of earth—salt and light sprinkled and shone in a bland and dark world; Jesus must be made known by my words, but how much more effective is this witness when it is evidenced by a changed life. Jesus should be seen in my thoughts, my actions, and my behaviors to a degree that the culture of earth is taken aback—almost startled that some other breed of people walks in their midst: the new humanity. The more my life reflects Christ, the more people who surround me take notice and seek to understand why I am different. Jesus, the true God of true God in the flesh, was in the culture, living among and loving the people. But, His works and words were perfectly partnered so all could taste and embrace the Kingdom of Heaven. And if my life is perfumed with the aroma of Christ, then all with a heart to respond will draw near (2 Corinthians 2:15-17).
[Written by Bec White]
STUCKk {some apologetic helps for responding to tough questions people are asking}
If you haven’t picked up on it yet, the key theme for this edition of SIGN is INCARNATION: following Christ’s model to go to all people (every eth’-nos) and give the world a taste of the Kingdom of God. In one way or another, we’ve each followed Christ’s call to “Go” and have been a witness in this world—the question is what kind of a witness we’ve been. As we’ve gone, our lives have rarely reflected the grandeur and grace of Christ. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “I like your Christ, [but] I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Worse still, God’s name has been blasphemed by our hypocrisy (Romans 2:24). So, as you’re seeking to point people to Jesus, how might you respond to the charge of hypocrisy? Here’s how a few of my friends seek to unstick the conversation. **** It is undeniably true that some Christians today lack any of the qualities that made Jesus so attractive and winsome. As a criminal lawyer employed as a prosecutor, I was recently asked to prosecute a Christian youth worker accused of sexual crimes with a young girl. It is a very sad thing. As a student of history I am painfully aware of the mistakes the church has made. Mistakes like the Crusades, or the Inquisitions. It is impossible to excuse this. All that can be done is to admit that these things are terrible tragedies and they in no way reflect the beauty of Christianity and the wonderful teachings of its founder, Jesus Christ. The best thing to say is simply sorry. Jesus himself condemned hypocrisy and that means it is something that we should strive to change in our lives and within the Church. It is important to understand, though, that the church can never be free of this problem. When Jesus lived in ancient Israel, even though his life was morally exemplary and dedicated to helping others, he was
criticized for spending time with tax collectors, prostitutes and “sinners.” His response was to say, “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick” (Mark 2:17). The Church is a place for all people who want to know God. Christianity is for the person trying to kick a drug addiction or save their marriage from the effects of gambling. Jesus ate with the outcasts and he touched the untouchables. This is his church; its doors are wide open to any person who wants to come in. Christians will fail because like everyone we make mistakes. Sometimes big mistakes. The only way to truly stamp out all hypocrisy from within a church is if only perfect people were allowed to join. I think we can all appreciate that would be a membership of zero.
I take great comfort, though, in knowing that what makes Christianity unique amongst other world-views is it is a religion of grace. When you have done something wrong, and you are truly sorry and wish to change, you can ask to be forgiven and know that you will be not only forgiven but pardoned. The other side of this coin too is that much can be said in affirmation of Christians and the church. If hypocrites within the church provide a reason not to believe, is the opposite true? Do the shining examples of Christian lives wonderfully lived provide a more compelling reason to believe?
When Mother Teresa was being buried in Calcutta, I do not think it was an accident that Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and people from all over the world—including the atheist president of Albania—stood their silently. It was the recognition that hers had been a life beautifully lived and dedicated to the ultimate and most meaningful of all values: love. In respect of Church history too, there are many scholars—including non-Christian academics—who argue persuasively that the good the Church has done humankind far out-weighs the mistakes it has made. All the hospitals, homeless shelters, schools, rehabilitation programs, selfless feeding of the hungry, clothing of the poor, encouraging the sick, and the many lives that have been transformed show the while the Church does make mistakes, it also does wonderful good. To throw the baby out with the bath water is no solution.� [Written by Brendan White] “In some ways, talking about hypocrisy is a bit of a red herring. Truth is what matters. How do the actions of some who call themselves Christian change whether or not Christianity is true? It doesn’t.� [Written by Craig Sargent] We should keep in mind that unfortunately there are hypocrites in all areas of life. Many police are jailed for corruption, many sporting icons take drugs, and of course countless politicians have been exposed. In fact, I think if we are truly honest with ourselves, at times we all fail to live up to what we profess. But we don’t reject the authority of the justice system, the pleasure of sports entertainment, or the need for a governing body, just because there are hypocrites in these areas. We don’t dismiss all areas of life where hypocrites are involved. Instead, we weigh up the validity and truth of each area and acknowledge the failing of the individual rather than the entire entity to which that individual belongs.
Want more? Download the full discussion guide and talk for “Caught Out: Quick Answers to Tough Questions�—which includes a whole section on hypocrisy—from http://logos.kbc.org.au/blog/2009/08/caught-out/. Has Jesus’ life made a positive difference in history? Or is “God not great, [as] religion poisons everything,� as today’s new atheists insist? The Logos team at KBC tackled this question head on in the lead up to Christmas 2009. You can download an mp3 of the talk from http://www.kbc.org.au/sermons/?preacher=11, and the full manuscript with discussion guide and extra notes from http://logos.kbc.org.au/blog/resources/logostalks/what-if-jesus-had-never-been-born/. Okay, at the risk of overwhelming you with too many books to read, here’s some fantastic places to start as you flesh out what “incarnation� means for your evangelistic efforts.14
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I also think it’s important to note that numerous times Jesus mentions that his biggest issue with the religious institutions of his day was their hypocrisy. So if you feel that there are hypocrites in religion, Jesus totally agrees with you and in fact devoted much of his time to strongly speaking against it. [Written by Dave White]
Beyond the books we’ve reviewed, it’s worth picking up two more. In order to incarnate in a culture, you first need to understand that culture. So, what is the Western world’s attitude to Christianity, and how should this shape our witness? Check out David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity ‌ and Why It Matters (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007). Also, see Dan Kimball, They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007).
Study {suggested reading to be equipped}
Mark Driscoll, The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004), This is a book written by a guy who is passionate about the truth of the gospel, and passionate about crossing boundaries to share that truth. I read it, and admit that in the first chapter I was a little shocked at the frankness of the writing. (Having been a keen listener to Mark Driscoll’s sermons, I was somewhat used to his style, but reading his thoughts without the visuals and intonation was a wake-up call.) Driscoll is punchy, frank, and very realistic. If you are reading this magazine, then chances are you are interested in finding out more about your faith and how it applies to your culture, your world, and your friends. If that’s what you’re seeking, then this book is a great eye opener. It points out the domestication of Christians and the stereotypes we mould ourselves to, both of which threaten to make us ineffective in reaching the lost. One example Driscoll uses is a pastor friend of his was visiting his church, only to see a girl walk past dressed like a Goth, complete with white face paint. He turned to Driscoll and said “All she needs is Jesus…”, to which Driscoll responded that she was a youth pastor at his church. This book asks whether becoming a Christian requires wearing a tie, cutting your hair, and driving a hybrid car. Throughout the book Driscoll interviews a few very different kinds of Christians—a tattoo artist, an exexotic dancer, and a pub owner—all from very different
walks of life, and all living to point the world to Christ. Driscoll explores our culture, our assumptions, our security blankets, and our judgmental attitudes, en route to truly living Christ’s call on us to be about His mission. (If what Driscoll is about gets you wondering, check out www.marshillchurch.org.)
Bill Hybels, Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006).15 “What if redirecting a person’s ‘forever’ really is as simple as walking across a room”—to initiate a fresh conversation with a stranger? There is no greater divine mandate than telling others about Jesus. And there is no greater joy than playing a role in someone’s life-changing decision. With so much at stake, why don’t more believers proactively share their faith with others? After all, most Christians acknowledge that God has given them this responsibility.
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This book has been turned into a four session smallgroup study, with DVD and discussion guide. If you’re at KBC and are part of a small-group, perhaps you could borrow the materials from KBC’s library, and lead your group toward more effective outreach. The following review is abridged from http://www.christianbooksummaries.com/library/v3/cbs0321. pdf.
At some point, what the Bible clearly teaches must collide with one’s level of obedience and prompt him to take that walk across the room. In this book, Hybels issue a call for all believers to engage in life’s greatest mission: telling others about Jesus. He shares key evangelism principles that Jesus modeled—remembering all the steps God took to walk across the cosmos and reach us—and explores simple steps to build relationships with those who are outside the church. A key emphasis is on listening to the Holy Spirit’s promptings to break down barriers and initiate conversation so that you can naturally frame your story as a launching point for sharing God’s story. Perhaps most relevant to this edition of SIGN, Hybels calls Christians into “3D Living”: (1) Develop Friendships; (2) Discover Their Stories; and (3) Discern Next Steps. In Hybels’ words, “Living in 3D plants the seeds for evangelism to take root, [even as] being able to tell an effective story is what bears the fruit.” Hybels is an excellent leader, and an insightful writer. Of equal importance, though, is that he walks the talk. This book is a great way to cozy up to a seasoned evangelist, learn from his approach, and be inspired by Jesus’ love in action.
Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg, The Unexpected Adventure: Taking Everyday Risks to Talk with People About Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009.) Starting out where Hybels’ book left off, here’s a collection of stories tracing Lee and Mark’s journey of crossing boundaries to reach people with the good news—replete with unexpected outcomes and adventures. It’s worth a read, as you realise how everyday there are people you can chat with and relate to, if only you have eyes to see what God is doing around you, and are prepared to step out in faith. Each chapter is a different account of reaching out to people right where they’re at. I love this quote from the chapter Addicted to Life Change: “The most powerful reason for jumping into the unexpected adventure of evangelism is because people matter to God, and therefore they should matter to us.” This book challenged me to take risks, and to be open to people questioning your faith, which is a natural response when you’ve made them think! It’s also an encouraging book because it reminds you that even as evangelism can be a lonely, scary pursuit, you are never flying solo: God is with you, and millions of others are making the most of every opportunity to point people to Jesus.
SEARCHC {evangelism related web-links to explore}
If you want a model for contextualizing the gospel, then you can’t go past Tim Keller. Tim is the pastor of New York City’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church (www.redeemer.com/), which has rapidly grown through its outreach to skeptics and the everyday unchurched. Some have likened Tim to a 21st century C. S. Lewis; he has a finger on the pulse for what makes seculars tick, and a fresh but faithful way of communicating the Biblical story. So, Google his article on “Deconstructing Defeater Beliefs: Leading the Secular to Christ,” read his books (especially The Reason for God; The Prodigal God; and Counterfeit Gods) and listen to as many of his sermons as you can: <www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Audio-and-Multimedia/Speakers-Lectures-and-Sermons/Tim-Keller/>
How quick is culture changing? Did you know that there are 31 billion searches on Google every month, and that the number of text messages sent and received everyday exceeds the total population of the planet? “Did you know” is a fantastic video on the progression of information technology in the world. There are multiple versions, so search “Did You Know?” on <www.youtube.com> Also, in light of where our culture is at, how can we more effectively do evangelism? This sharp and creative animation answers that question: “aim lower, think smaller, give up, and go have a cup of coffee.” And it works! Intrigued? Search “How to Not Mess Up the Great Commission too Much,” also on www.youtube.com.
Check out this British web-site, “Re-Jesus,” creatively designed for non-Christians to get a fresh take on who Jesus was (and is). Currently it’s on the Christmas version (www.rejesus.co.uk/), but you can check out their home page via <http://www.rejesus.co.uk/home/index_n> Also, if you’re into skating and want to see how some born-again pro-boarders are using their skills to cross cultural boundaries and point people to Jesus, then check this out: http://steelroots.com/theuprising/> An interesting site for this time of year that’s worth an explore – check http://www.adventconspiracy.org/
SERVE
{opportunities to grow in your witness through participation and/or training}
No shortage of opportunities this edition of SIGN. Some are generic, thus good for our growing readership beyond Kenmore Baptist Church in Brisbane. Obviously, though, most are local. Keep sending me opportunities you know of to serve, so we can train you up and send you out to effectively point people to Jesus. (1) Alpha Training. Over 13 million people worldwide have now attended an Alpha course (www.alpha.org.au/), which offers an opportunity to explore the meaning of life and the relevance of the Christian faith in a relaxed setting over ten thoughtprovoking weekly sessions, with a day or weekend away. In 2010, Alpha is having a national push just after Easter time (www.alphafriends.org.au/). So, if you’d like to train up as a course facilitator, then register with admin@alpha.org.au or Fiona@alpha.org.au (or call 1800 811 903), pay your $25, and get along to Kenmore Baptist Church (57a Kenmore Rd., Kenmore, Qld, 4069) on Saturday 27th February from 9am-3pm. (2) Internet Evangelism. If you want to go to where the people are, then one key place is the internet. You can find natural ways to share your faith on an informal basis through MySpace, or FaceBook. But perhaps you have some time on your hands and want something more? Check out www.globalmediaoutreach.com/. This site is the entry point to the Campus Crusade’s “Global Media Outreach” (GMO). GMO was formed to present the good news of Jesus Christ over the Internet. They provide the opportunity to take part in online evangelism by responding to inquiries from all over the world! Over 2 million people conduct spiritual searches through the Internet each day. With some quick training and background checks, you could be helping them find God simply by logging online and personally answering emails (http://www.globalmediaoutreach.com/volunteer.html).
(3) International Students. 2010 is set to be a big year for KBC as we reach out to international students. You couldn’t find a more natural avenue to care, or a receptive people group with whom to share, than this crew—young adults from the world over, looking to integrate into a new country, and eager to find friends. Pastor Thong (thong.ng@kbc.org.au) oversees the Hospitality International Team (HIT), and is crying out for 100 family and friends to come on board for 2010, to help students feel welcome and at home. I’ve attached a pdf with all you need to know, but here’s the basics: register now for the “connect one” training day at KBC, 6th February 2010, 9am to 12 noon. Then, you get a chance to connect with the students at the Taste of Australia day, held on Saturday 27th February 12 noon to 3pm, at Gold Creek Rd., Brookfield. For further information, contact the church office on (617) 3378 3595. (4) Writing for SIGN. God-willing, you’ve been blessed by the four editions of SIGN we’ve posted so far. For the few of us regularly contributing to SIGN, we do this on the side in a generally hectic life. Obviously, we want the quality to remain, but we genuinely believe that this emagazine will only become richer as more of its readers contribute their thoughts. Perhaps you’re even up for contributing some regular articles? Whatever it is, keep to the theme and structure of the magazine, but take the time to write an article or two, suggest a link or three, and if it fits, talk with me about the possibility of joining the team. Drop me a line at david.benson@kbc.org.au. (5) The Hope Foundation have recently purchased a caravan to begin their street outreach in 2010 and are in need of pamper products, hygiene products etc – jump onto the website www.hopefounation.org.au for more details.
Final Thoughts.. Well, we’ve finished cooking the Christmas edition of SIGN, and by the time you’ve digested the contents, the New Year will be crashing in. We think we’ve served up a nutritious meal, giving you energy to effectively point people to Jesus. But even the best meals can leave you with a nasty case of indigestion. It’s Christmas time, right—you know what I mean! You’ve glutted on all the goodies, lazed by the pool, and before you know it you feel fat and sick and desperately in need of exercise. So, here are two simple suggestions to get you out of that deck chair and back into the race. First, assess your intake. We live in a culture saturated with information. It’s said that the average national newspaper contains more data than an everyday citizen prior to the 1600s would digest in a life-time. We’re bombarded with constant noise—radio, iPod, mobiles, 5000 subliminal advertisements per day, trash magazines, thousand page novels, news 24-7, lectures, movies, and on and on it goes. Most of this information is “impotent”—we can’t do anything with it, so we sit back and are “amused to death” (to cite Neil Postman’s book), awash in the constant flow. We become glutted, fat and lazy, with no natural outlet for what we’ve heard. Now, I’m definitely not against information. (Actually, I wish most people would read more!) But, the louder your life, the less likely you are to really hear the voices that matter the most. The still, small voice of God gets lost in the cacophony (1 Kings 19:1-12). No wonder God asks us to “be still” (Psalm 46:10). So here’s a counter-cultural suggestion: lessen your intake. Post-Christmas, make some New Year’s resolutions to simplify life, unplug, and spend more time digesting what sows into your spirit and equips you for the journey. Read slower, and reflect often. And don’t be in such a rush—most of what we stress over won’t matter in the long run.
Second, work it off. If you want to get fat, simply consume more than you use. But if you want to get fit, you’ve got to find natural ways to work it off. Take this edition of SIGN, for instance. It’s tempting to think that just because we’ve read something, we’ve actually grown and done something productive. But you need to work it off—put it into practice, and then you’ll discipline your body and soul for righteousness (Philippians 3:7-14; 1 Timothy 4:6-10). Here’s a plan: go back through this edition and jot down three things that impacted you the most. Maybe it was a story of getting outside your comfort zone, or an idea to connect with our culture. Then, come up with a plan to put this into practice. Like any worthwhile New Year’s resolution, it needs to be a SMART goal: specific, measurable, agreed upon, realistic, and time-based. Here’s one for me: by the middle of next year, Nik (my wife) and I will pursue a special interest outside the church—Latin dancing lessons!—as a launching pad for building friendships with a non-Christian couple, to intentionally care and pray for them, and as opportunity permits, point them to Jesus. Now, you might laugh (please don’t!), but like David Leth joining the Harley club (though far less manly), this should be fun and effective at the same time!! What are your goals? How can you “work off” what you’ve just consumed? The Apostle Paul brings out these themes better than I can. After one of the clearest calls for incarnational evangelism, he lays the challenge at your feet to reduce your intake and work it off, lest you lose out on the ultimate prize. May 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 direct your steps in 2010:
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all 19
things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 24
I’d love your thoughts and contributions for this theme. This will then lay the foundation for exploring the place of compassion in evangelism, around June 2010. Don’t be shy—your contributions are invaluable. God bless, Dave Benson
Before we wrap up 2009, a quick word on 2010. The next edition of SIGN will be themed on “Cleaning House—getting the church in order so seekers can come.” Take a peek at Matthew 21:9-14, Mark 11:15-18, and John 2:13-17. This is not the “meek and mild” Jesus we sing of in the Christmas carols; zeal for His Father’s house consumes Him. The Church is supposed to be a home for all the nations (again, eth’-nos), where the blind and lame of this world can come and be healed. Now, I’m in a great Church, don’t get me wrong. But even here, I wonder how accommodating we are of those for whom Jesus’ heart beat. What kind of “house cleaning” would it take for the Church to be “deconstructed” and three days later “rebuilt” in the image of the resurrected Christ?
May you point many people to Jesus, empowered by the Spirit of love. Make the most of every opportunity, giving glory to our Father above.