For a long time I, and the church system that taught me, have viewed The Great Commission as a form to evangelize. In other words, we have taken this commission and attempted to box it up for resale. It has become a product to convert rather than a lifestyle to influence. We have developed hundreds of cutesy and ingenious ways to push the gospel. We have made countless tracts to hand out. We have come up with mass plans of citywide evangelism. We have developed Continuous Witness Training (CWT), Evangelism Explosion (EE), the FAITH plan of evangelism, and many more. We have become marketers of the gospel. All of these center on growing the church and the kingdom numerically, even the evangelism tools that purport to be about “relationship” evangelism. If you get down to it, they are all about marketing the gospel. We churchaniacs love a good marketing plan. It removes the risk of actually having to journey with someone. We can blast people with the gospel product and walk away without a commitment to give our lives away. I wonder what we would do if Jesus used this style of evangelism?
No sir, The Great Commission is about living the joy of Jesus. It isn’t a pre-packaged way to get kudos with God, or better yet, with the church. It is you and I living our lives that are transformed by Jesus. As we learn to journey with Him by glorifying Him by enjoying Him, we become the salt and the light to the world. He fills us. He consumes us. We don’t have to beat Scripture in our heads. We don’t have to pray certain prayers at certain times of the day. We simply love Him because He first loved us. We recognize a couple of things. One, we recognize that He is Supreme, above all things and all people. We realize that God is creator. He is able to do anything. He does things for the sake of His glory. This is His ultimate reason for being God. He can do whatever He pleases. Second, we acknowledge His grace. Do you realize that God chose those who are called His kids? Being God’s kid means that you understand the price of sacrifice that He gave for You, His son. You recognize that He didn’t have to. You understand that He chose to do this for His glory and your joy. This is a recognition of the marvelous grace of God. This is what motivates a believer to joy that surpasses earthly pleasure. You fall in love with Jesus when you begin to drink in the reality of His Supremacy and the Joy of His Life. The Great Commission can thus be fulfilled by understanding these two dynamics.
The Great Commission is only fulfilled when a person sees who God is and what he has done through His Son Jesus. This causes that person to live The Great Commission, not package and sell it at Lifeway. Don’t get me started there. I remember when the Prayer of Jabez book came out. Lifeway acted like a dog in heat. They started marketing key chains, coffee mugs, Bible studies, stickers, jewelry, and anything else imaginable. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had come out with Prayer of Jabez Underwear and lingerie. They did the same kind of crap with W.W.J.D. I got so tired of that. The Great Commission is not a pre-packaged tool for evangelism. It is a lifestyle. All you structured people, engineers, deal with it. Get over it. Quit buying books to explain one simple verse of the Bible. Just do it.
Let’s take something simple to illustrate what I am so desperately attempting to communicate. Let’s say I go to a local bar. It is entirely possible. Some of you may need to stop here to deal with that before you move on. Anyway, let’s say that I am at a bar. I go in. I see these people enjoying their drinks. For you real Baptist out there, I know that they are drinking their problems away. You have to tell yourself this so when a kid asks you can indoctrinate them with fear. Whatever. Some of them drink because they want to have a drink. But, back to the illustration. These people are just having a good time. Do they come up to you and say, “we have been reading a book.” “The book says that if you follow these steps to drinking, you will have joy. It also says that if you follow these steps to drinking, you will laugh a lot.” Nope. They simply enjoy having a drink with their buddies.
Let me illustrate it another way so as not to alienate the true Bible-belters. Let’s say you love to ski like I do. Did I read a book about skiing? Nope. I went. You know what happened? I fell in love with it. It was great. I went skiing for the first time sixteen years ago. I have been every year since, usually more than once a year. You know how I get people to go skiing. I say that I am going. I tell stories about how much I love it. I talk about it until some people say, “I have to try this.” I don’t give them a book to read. I don’t take them through a ski study. We go. Usually, they have the same response.
If you see the Supremacy and Beauty of God, you will be forever changed. His call is effectual. That simply means when you see Him revealed and He calls you, you will come running. When you recognize the grace that He has extended to your otherwise worthless life, joy fills you up. It doesn’t matter if you teach school, defend clients, take care of patients, sell insurance, cook cakes, work at home as a mom, or clean up after people. When you see His glory and know His grace, you become the tool of evangelism.
Quit reading books about Jesus. Start reading the word about His Sovereignty, Glory, Supremacy, and Grace. That will make you salt and light to the world. If I just made this look like a plan, then screw it. That will make it not be what God desires. Quit going to Lifeway. It’s a bad influence on your relationship to Christ. And finally, don’t always take me fully seriously. Learn to let your hair down to know when I am joking around and when I am serious.
I love you, your servant, your friend,
Tim
No sir, The Great Commission is about living the joy of Jesus. It isn’t a pre-packaged way to get kudos with God, or better yet, with the church. It is you and I living our lives that are transformed by Jesus. As we learn to journey with Him by glorifying Him by enjoying Him, we become the salt and the light to the world. He fills us. He consumes us. We don’t have to beat Scripture in our heads. We don’t have to pray certain prayers at certain times of the day. We simply love Him because He first loved us. We recognize a couple of things. One, we recognize that He is Supreme, above all things and all people. We realize that God is creator. He is able to do anything. He does things for the sake of His glory. This is His ultimate reason for being God. He can do whatever He pleases. Second, we acknowledge His grace. Do you realize that God chose those who are called His kids? Being God’s kid means that you understand the price of sacrifice that He gave for You, His son. You recognize that He didn’t have to. You understand that He chose to do this for His glory and your joy. This is a recognition of the marvelous grace of God. This is what motivates a believer to joy that surpasses earthly pleasure. You fall in love with Jesus when you begin to drink in the reality of His Supremacy and the Joy of His Life. The Great Commission can thus be fulfilled by understanding these two dynamics.
The Great Commission is only fulfilled when a person sees who God is and what he has done through His Son Jesus. This causes that person to live The Great Commission, not package and sell it at Lifeway. Don’t get me started there. I remember when the Prayer of Jabez book came out. Lifeway acted like a dog in heat. They started marketing key chains, coffee mugs, Bible studies, stickers, jewelry, and anything else imaginable. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had come out with Prayer of Jabez Underwear and lingerie. They did the same kind of crap with W.W.J.D. I got so tired of that. The Great Commission is not a pre-packaged tool for evangelism. It is a lifestyle. All you structured people, engineers, deal with it. Get over it. Quit buying books to explain one simple verse of the Bible. Just do it.
Let’s take something simple to illustrate what I am so desperately attempting to communicate. Let’s say I go to a local bar. It is entirely possible. Some of you may need to stop here to deal with that before you move on. Anyway, let’s say that I am at a bar. I go in. I see these people enjoying their drinks. For you real Baptist out there, I know that they are drinking their problems away. You have to tell yourself this so when a kid asks you can indoctrinate them with fear. Whatever. Some of them drink because they want to have a drink. But, back to the illustration. These people are just having a good time. Do they come up to you and say, “we have been reading a book.” “The book says that if you follow these steps to drinking, you will have joy. It also says that if you follow these steps to drinking, you will laugh a lot.” Nope. They simply enjoy having a drink with their buddies.
Let me illustrate it another way so as not to alienate the true Bible-belters. Let’s say you love to ski like I do. Did I read a book about skiing? Nope. I went. You know what happened? I fell in love with it. It was great. I went skiing for the first time sixteen years ago. I have been every year since, usually more than once a year. You know how I get people to go skiing. I say that I am going. I tell stories about how much I love it. I talk about it until some people say, “I have to try this.” I don’t give them a book to read. I don’t take them through a ski study. We go. Usually, they have the same response.
If you see the Supremacy and Beauty of God, you will be forever changed. His call is effectual. That simply means when you see Him revealed and He calls you, you will come running. When you recognize the grace that He has extended to your otherwise worthless life, joy fills you up. It doesn’t matter if you teach school, defend clients, take care of patients, sell insurance, cook cakes, work at home as a mom, or clean up after people. When you see His glory and know His grace, you become the tool of evangelism.
Quit reading books about Jesus. Start reading the word about His Sovereignty, Glory, Supremacy, and Grace. That will make you salt and light to the world. If I just made this look like a plan, then screw it. That will make it not be what God desires. Quit going to Lifeway. It’s a bad influence on your relationship to Christ. And finally, don’t always take me fully seriously. Learn to let your hair down to know when I am joking around and when I am serious.
I love you, your servant, your friend,
Tim
Comments