Proclamation within a Community

There has rightly been an emphasis on getting the message right that we pass on to others, but the Bible emphasises another essential aspect of evangelism, community. If people are going to join with God’s people they must feel at home with them. Genuine love of others is so attractive, it is a demonstration of the love our Lord has for all people.

Paul emphasised this when he wrote to the troubled church at Corinth. They seemed to be more interested in demonstrations of power, the ability to preach well and having answers to difficult questions. This concerned Paul immensely who recognised that a preacher who does not demonstrate a practical love is,

“ . . .only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1

He continues to stress this,

“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” 1 Corinth 13:2

There is much faithful preaching and teaching going on throughout the world but much of it is ineffective. Could it be that we have not adequately learned the lesson that effective communication requires proclamation to be combined with community. It is not insignificant that the two words, ‘communication’ and ‘community’ have a common root. Its origin is old Latin, ‘com’ meaning ‘with’, and ‘munis’ means ‘ready’, ‘to be of service’ or ‘to oblige’. Paul recognised the need for proclamation and community to go hand in hand.

Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian church is possibly his earliest letter, written from Corinth in AD 51. He had only visited that city for a few weeks, where he stayed in the home of a man called Jason. He wrote,

“As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” 1 Thessalonians 2:6-8

Paul, Silas and Timothy were nonetheless intentional in their desire to persuade people about Jesus. The love they demonstrated in developing relationships was combined with hard work, presumably to earn their keep, so that they were not financially dependant on their host. Paul continues,

“Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day ion order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.” 1 Thessalonians 2:9

Warm, caring relationships are fundamental to opening doors for the message. Such r.elationships are so important.

“You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12

Nearly all those who we have won for Christ have been the result of making friendships and that invariably means having people round for meals and then returning at some stage to their home. I suspect that this is invariably true.

What comes first? Is it being sociable? No, important as sociability is, if the intention of winning others for Christ is not present, friendships will be an end in themselves. When that intentionality is there, we will pray as we quickly learn how inadequate our efforts are without the Holy Spirit preparing the ground for the message.

Practical ideas

Meals

There is nothing like food to help people feel at home. It is not the quality of the meal that counts, it is the hospitality – baked beans or scrambled egg can be wonderfully effective for the gospel. Too high a standard can be counterproductive as your guests may be embarrassed to invite you back!

Activities

What a disaster it is for Christians not to be making friends with non-Christians and one of the easiest ways is to use our work or join societies, sports clubs or similar groups but there needs to be a gospel intentionality about all this. It is all too easy to so enjoy such activities that serving Christ is not central. One way to assess how gospel focussed my motives are is whether I are praying regularly to be used. Those who don’t pray find that they are seldom used to draw people to Christ. It is a useful maxim,

“Beware - if no prayer.”

What a wonderful opportunity having a baby or children gives for sharing the gospel. Young mums love to chat together and meet up. An intentional Christian can find such groups a great harvest field.

Literature

The value of good literature to help people understand the Christian message has been largely overlooked in recent years. Why don’t all Christians carry some Christian article with them that they can so easily give to any they meet. When postmen or tradesmen come to the door, or you get chatting to someone in the street or on the train, it is so easy to say,

“Would you mind if I give you something to read that I have found very helpful.”

Even doing just that will often open the door to a meaningful conversation and perhaps an invitation. My favourite at present is ‘Mistakes, Minor, Major and Catastrophic’ which can be found on this website and downloaded. I put the details of my church as well as my e-mail address and details of this website so if people are interested there is somewhere they can easily go.

Open evenings

Every month or so our home group has an open evening with a simple meal to which it is easy to invite friends, family and those we have met. Before I retired I would invite patients and colleagues to come and see what goes on and we were inundated. After the meal we have a short talk or Bible study on a topic that is relevant for those who are undecided about Christian things. Follow up is very important with an invitation to read a relevant Christian book or literasture, an invitation to church or to a Christianity Explored or Alpha course.

Special evangelistic events

These events are invaluable and should be on the regular programme of any church. People do attract people so a good crowd makes it easy for visitors to feel at home. the quality of the speaker really does matter. Smaller informal evangelistic suppers such as Exploring Christianity held several times a year gives another focus for people to invite friends to learn about the Christian good news.

What is essential is that all Christians understand that they have been called to be sharers of the gospel and to do this we must all be active in our communities as well as actively praying for opportunities to promote the Lord Jesus.

BVP.