Influence March 2010

Vol. 10—Issue 7 March 2010

Cross the Street Conference Engaging our world with authentic faith

Date: Saturday October 16, 2010 Location: Glad Tidings Church in Burlington, Ontario Speakers: Claude Houde; Will Graham; Eric Swanson; Kevin Shepherd; David Macfarlane and many more Cost: from $50 to $69 for the day depending on the size of your group. Only $25 for students.

Requirements: An expectant heart and a great attitude Webpage: www.billygraham.ca

An age old struggle I’ve been reading a book that was published in 1949 called Great Gospel Sermons. It is a compilation of sermons that were given from all kinds of evangelists and pastors including: Charles Finney, Charles Spurgeon, Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday and Gypsy Smith to name a few.

What struck me as I was reading was that some of the commentary that was made with regard to the church, in many ways, could have been written today. By and large there are two main views with regards to the church and evangelism. One is the great frustration with regard to the church, with its general lack of passion for reaching out to the world with the Gospel. The fiery evangelist, Billy Sunday (1862 – 1935), reveals this frustration with these words:

EEAT 2015

There we were wearing out our lives, trying to bring that God-forsaken, whisky-soaked, gambling-cursed, harlot-blighted town to her knees, and the church calmly looking on. I sometimes doubt that the church needs new members one-half so much as she needs

the old bunch made over. Judging by the way the multitudes in the church live, you would think they imagined they had a through ticket to heaven in a Pullman palace car, and had left orders for the porter to wake them up when they head into the yards of the New Jerusalem… There is but one voice from faithful preacher and worker about the church, and that is, “She is sick”; but we say it in such painless, delicate terms that she seems to enjoy her invalidity.

The diagnosis of the church being sick is not a new one.

The second camp is those who see in the church the potential for evangelistic greatness which is yet to be realized. George W. Truett (1867 – 1944) a famous Southern Baptist pastor and past president of the Baptist World Alliance expresses this hope in this way: The churches of Jesus Christ are the supreme centers of evangelism. One of the things we have most earnestly to protest against, in these times, is the carrying away of evangelistic efforts from the churches of Jesus Christ. The churches are the hotbeds wherein the plants are to be grown to the Saviour’s honour. This is certainly a time when the churches need to give their most vigorous and faithful attention to this meaningful truth. Ring it out everywhere that the churches are the centers where evangelistic effort may be most widely conducted.

It seems that the twin diagnosis of the church is of despair and hope; the church is sick and it is the evangelistic hope of the world.

Some have chosen to become overwhelmed by the despair, throwing stones from the outside at what they believe is a broken model, using outdated methods, speaking in archaic language and

trying to reach an ancient culture that no longer exists. This type of strategy only serves to weaken the already ailing church, creating fractures and splinters which ultimately does more harm than good.

Some have chosen to focus only on the hope, suggesting that the church really can reach out to the world - just as it is; if only it tried harder, prayed more and spent more. This “cup half full” approach is naïve at best. The church has some serious, systemic issues which work against its evangelistic effectiveness. Trying harder, praying more and spending more may result in some initial effectiveness but it will also lead to a church which is burned out, feeling guilty and always needing more money.

Thankfully, there is a third way. A sober analysis of the problem should lead to an on-going, intentional equipping of the church’s nature. Addressing the nature of the church will create an organic evangelistic health which will allow it to reach out as a natural expression of who they are. Evangelism ceases to be only something they do from time to time but evangelism becomes the air and ethos of the church so that all that they do reflects the evangel, because the church has grown to become evangelistic.

The third way is not as easy as throwing stones like the first way, nor will it see the immediate results that sometimes come by the second way but overtime it is the healthiest way. This is why the Equipping Evangelists (E2) Networks will succeed and it is why we are committed to creating networks of churches across Canada.

Thanks for your support and partnership in the journey.