Is Your Gospel Really Good News?

An ancient Greek myth describes runner, Pheidippides, making the twenty-five-mile jaunt from Marathon to Athens with the message of Athenian victory over the Persian forces of Darius I. As the runner Lay breathless at the gates of the city, and breathed his last, he gasped these words - "nenikēkamen!"

“The battle is over and we won.” 

This was the birth of the marathon run - not only an Olympic event but races in every major city around the world. 

The first marathoner was also one of the first evangelists. He brought the gospel to Athens - the good news of the Greek victory.

Four hundred years later Jesus, walked into Nazareth, Capernaum, and other cities of Galilee with the same message. The battle has been won, the enemy is defeated, the kingdom of God is near.  People from all over flocked to hear him teach and proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

Less than four later, Jesus was crucified, was resurrected, and ascended into heaven. He had told His followers to stay in Jerusalem until they received the Promise of the Father - The Holy Spirit. Obediently, they huddled together and prayed in an upper room in Jerusalem during the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Suddenly they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Jewish pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire were in Jerusalem and they were confused when they saw Jesus' followers acting strangely. So Peter got up and explained what had just happened.

“These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” [Acts 2:15-21 (NIV)] 

³⁸  Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [Acts 2:38 (NKJV)]

As a result of Peter’s proclamation, three thousand people repented and were baptized.

Today we timidly try to share the Gospel with our neighbor and it becomes such a difficult task that we keep putting it off and putting it off. Then our neighbor dies and we condemn ourselves because we were never able to talk to him about Jesus.

Or we build up our courage and arm ourselves with Biblical apologetics so we can answer our neighbor’s questions about creation and why there evil in the world. Then we get in his face and tell him he will rot in hell if he doesn’t accept Jesus. 

Pardon me, but that isn’t good news.

My wife and I were on Interstate 5 on our way from our home near Seattle to San Diego for a conference. As we approached Bakersfield, a troubling thought came to my mind. “What really is the Gospel? What is the Good News?”

The word Gospel means “Good News” but most of the time we don’t treat it as good news we treat it more as a spiritual discipline. We typically prepare our little spiel, memorize the four spiritual laws, the Roman Road, and several pertinent scriptures and set out to meet someone at Wally World or Micky D’s.

When the Greek evangelist left Marathon for Athens, he was bubbling over with excitement and enthusiasm because of the message of victory he was carrying. As he fell at the feet of the crowd in Athens, he wasn’t concerned whether they would receive his message. With his last breath, he joyfully gasped out the news that Athens was safe, the enemy had been defeated.

When Jesus walked victoriously into the streets of Capernaum, He carried the Good News that the Kingdom of God was near.  He was not concerned whether anyone would reject Him.  Many did, but it did not reduce His enthusiasm for His Good News. When speaking to Jews from all over the world, Peter was not afraid of what the Pharisees and Romans might think of his Good News. And that former Christian basher, Paul, went throughout Asia and Europe proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles while being run out of town, beaten and stoned, and given up for dead. It did not keep him from sharing the Good News. 

Why do we hesitate?

I believe that there are two reasons which are probably a condemnation of the church today. 

1. Many do not truly understand or believe the Good News.  
2. Most people believe that when they die, they will go to heaven because they tried hard to live a good life. 

The Good News is summed up by Peter's message at Pentecost.

• The battle has been won. 
• The enemy has been defeated. 
• The church has the life and power of Christ through the Holy Spirit. 
• Christ will return for His church.

Repent and be baptized, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!

CHURCH PLANTING, by St PAUL

St Paul was probably the most successful church planter of all time.  Converted on the Damascus road about 33 AD, his ministry lasted for approximately 30 years.  Theologian, F. F. Bruce[1] attributes this phenomenon principally to, "the energy with which Paul, a Jew by birth and upbringing, spread the Gospel of Christ in the Gentile world....".

Roland Allen writes;

"In a little more than ten years St. Paul established the Church in four provinces of the Empire, Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia and Asia.  Before AD 47 there were no churches in these provinces; in ad 57 Paul could speak as if his work there was done, and could plan extensive tours into the far west without anxiety lest the churches which he had founded might perish in his absence for want of his guidance and support.”[2]

Certainly, Paul's methods of quickly planting and building lasting churches were effective in his context, but are they of use today in our context?  Certainly, today there is a need for evangelism and strengthening of the church.  As Evangelicals lament the growing secularization of society and the diminishing influence of Christianity, we should look to the ministry of Paul for his vision of the church of Jesus Christ and attempt to apply his methods to the church today.

The book of Acts provides an excellent history and insight into Paul's church planting and evangelistic techniques.  It was at Antioch in Pisidia that Paul's plan for evangelization and church planting took form.  This plan was continued, with some variation and a few exceptions, throughout his journeys.  As a traveling Rabbi, Paul would be asked to speak in the synagogue.  Many heard the message of Jesus and believed.  Others would become irate and a split in the synagogue occurred.  The Apostles would then flee to the next town leaving behind a group of believers, often with one of the missionary band stayed to nurture the new church[3].

1.   The Team Approach

Paul used a team approach to church planting.  Rather than being an individual itinerant preacher, Paul would bring others along to assist.  Commissioned by the church at Antioch, Paul began his first missionary journey with Barnabus and John Mark.  On his second missionary journey he was accompanied from time to time by Silas, Timothy, Luke, and Aquila and Priscilla. 

From the first visit to Antioch - Pisidia, Paul was the senior spokesperson of the missionary band but he relied heavily on those with him.  When Paul was alone at Athens he was not successful in starting a church and he did not begin a church in Corinth until Silas and Timothy had joined him there.

2.   Finding People

The first step in planting a church is to find people.  It was Paul's custom to first try to reach people at the synagogue.  The synagogues consisted of both Jews and God fearing Gentiles.  As he was asked to speak he would share the Good News of the kingdom of God.  At other times, such as at Phillippi, where there was no synagogue and at Corinth where he was not allowed to teach in the synagogue, Paul would look elsewhere. It is this "elsewhere" that is most important to understanding Paul's success.  The father of the church growth movement, Donald MacGavran[4]  points out that at Pentecost three thousand people were saved from all over the empire and each of these people had family back home.  It is his opinion that Paul was able to network by getting names of family members throughout the area of his travels. 

Paul was a great writer and a leader of people, but these characteristics were not responsible for his success in finding people open to the Gospel.

"...neither his dedication nor his communion with God in Christ was the sole secret of his amazing success.  That lay in the combination of his deep understanding of, and fellowship with, the living Christ, with his intuitive and unerring cooperation with God in the extension of these vast stirrings of the people whom God purposed to disciple.[5]

Paul became a part of what God was already doing in peoples lives.  He was able to see what God was doing and participate in it for the conversion of thousands.

3.   Paul's Message

When in a synagogue, Paul would speak about Jesus Christ beginning with the actions of God in Jewish history, the message of the prophets who foretold the Messiah, declaring Jesus the Christ who was crucified and arose from the dead and who is the forgiveness of sin.  Everyone who believes is justified from everything that could not justify them under the law of Moses.   He was not ashamed of the Gospel because it was the power of God for salvation (Rom1:16).  He preached not human wisdom but the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1Cor 1:17-18), ... not wise and persuasive words but with the demonstration of the Spirit's power (1Cor. 2:4-5).

4.   Developing Leaders

The development of leaders is still a mystery for many churches today.  The modern approach is to find a person who is successful in his work and put him in charge of a church committee.  Paul's team approach led to the rapid development of leaders and was an imperative considering the Jew's attempts to kill Paul.  Paul was able to delegate tasks and responsibility as his associates grew.  Paul believed the church to be a group of people with spiritual gifts and graces, given by God. This allowed him to cooperate with God in leadership selection.  Paul merely confirmed what God was already doing in the people before he moved on to the next town.  In some churches, Paul's stay was brief as leadership developed quickly.  This happened in Phillippi where he left Luke after only a brief apprenticeship.  At Berea, Paul left Silas and Timothy for a while until the church could sustain itself.  In Corinth, he stayed for a long time before heading for Ephesus with Priscilla and Aquila.  Then he left them in Ephesus to help lead that church.  From the Corinthian correspondence, he might have been better served by leaving Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth.

Conclusion

The pattern used by Paul for planting new churches in the first century is an effective means today for communicating the Gospel.  We must be careful however to maintain the vision and purpose to which God has called us.  If we seek church growth and church planting as a goal in itself, we run the risk of losing His perspective.  Our purpose is not to create or build a church, but to evangelize people, to bring them to a reconciliation with God and then equip them to do likewise. 

If we merely try to attract people to our church and assume that somehow, sometime Christianity will rub off and they will turn their hearts over to God, we are not following Paul's pattern.  Paul first led people to Christ, then brought them together into the body.  This is why he was able to move on to a new territory trusting the Holy Spirit to guide and direct the leaders of the new church even though they did not have years of theological training.  Those churches then continued the ministry of reconciling people to God. 

Paul's concern was not to build large churches but to convert large numbers of people to a faith in Jesus Christ.  He was very proficient at this because of his faith in God and the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of converts.

---

[1] Bruce, F.F. Paul The Apostle of the Heart Set Free, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,  Grand Rapids, 1977, page 17

[2] Allen, Roland, Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours,  Eerdman's Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 1962, page 3

[3] Barklay, William, The Mind Of St. Paul, Harper, San Francisco, 1958, pages 231-233

[4] MacGavran, Donald Anderson, The Bridges of God, Friendship Press, New York, revised 1981, page 18

[5] ibid page 26-27

What is really Going On

It just seems to me that the world is going crazy.There is a geometric growth in anxiety, anger, and frustration. 

Theologians blame it on the approaching "End Times." 

Scientists blame it on entropy; (Newton's second law of thermodynamics) left to itself things are going to get worse.

The level of anxiety is higher now than at any time in my lifetime. There is a frustration in government, ethnic groups, political parties, and religious bodies. As this frustration rises, anger increases. As anger increases, actions become stronger and emotions explode. We see this happening almost everywhere - in our cities and towns and around the world. Frustration is rising in minority communities, in the younger generation, and in middle-class families.

Frustration is at the base of the explosion of violence throughout the world. It is the result of a reality that does not live up to expectations. The level of anger increases as our expectation keep falling short of reality. The level of frustration is the ratio of expectation divided by reality. When our circumstances fall short of our expectatins, frustration increases.

We sell our youth on the idea that if they graduate from college, they will get good paying jobs. They go to school and come back to live in their parents' basement playing video games. We tell interest groups that if they elect this leader, their life will improve. When it doesn't, frustration sets in.

We can solve the problem in two possible ways: lower expectation or improve reality. Lowering expectations has been attempted in several countries with socialism and communism. The state controls everything and owns everything. That evens the playing field for everybody except the ruling class. There is little incentive for workers to excel and the populace lives in mediocrity while the power of the state increases and often leads to tyranny. In all nations where this has been established, it did not lower expectations. We have witnessed lowering of expectations: in the education system as grades were eliminated; in our children’s sports activities where winning was de-valued. 

Lowering expectations will always lead to more frustration

Lowering expectations will always lead to more frustration because the human spirit seeks the frontiers of creativity -the highest reaches of consciousness and wisdom. Plato termed this “A fully functioning person", others have used the term, "healthy personality." Abraham Maslow, in his hierarchy of needs, calls this "a self-actualizing person."

The only viable solution is to change reality, but how?

Twentieth-century missiologist,  Donald MacGavren, created a term "Redemptive lift." He noted that missionaries in third-world nations noticed an increased standard of living where ever the Christian Gospel took root. 

On my first visit to India, I noticed an extreme contrast between prosperity and poverty. India is the worlds largest democracy with social programs galore, but many people are still locked into an illegal caste system with little hope no hope. There is no expectation of improving the reality of the lower classes. India is making strides to change by outlawing the caste system, but it still exists within certain religious sects.

We can change our reality, but it requires a change in our expectations. We must all expect to grow, increase and improve our lot in life, but this requires hope. The lower classes in India have lost hope.

Any traveler to Israel can witness the contrast between the Israeli controlled areas and the Palestinian controlled areas. Many of the Palestinian controlled are poverty stricken while the majority of the Jewish controlled areas are dynamic and financially stable. 

This is not a result of Israeli persecution of the Arabs. It is more a result of the God they worship. 

We often become like the God we worship. Have you noticed how married couples who deeply love each other become alike? If the god we worship is kind and loving, we tend to be kind and loving. If the god we worship is angry and vengeful, we will become angry and vengeful. If we worship a dung beetle (a scarab) we will become like the dung beetle.

We can change our reality and the reality of those around us. 

Find the right God to worship and allow Him to guide our lives, as a nation, as a tribe, people group, or as an individual human being. Social programs will continue to fail but "Redemptive Lift" is available for those who follow Jesus. 

The Christian Gospel continues to transform individuals and nations.

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