Ministry of Late
This has been likely my most busy semester preaching ever. Lots of churches, colleges and universities, evangelism conferences and youth events, from a little church in NC to Harvard in Boston. I am this weekend in Brandon, Florida (near Tampa for you non-Floridians). This weekend is different. I am doing eight DNows and a variety of similar events. But this weekend I am teaching a church about evangelism. And this afternoon we offered a free car wash in the community that was a most blessed experience. I love doing this. The other day I took my class out to witness. We had an awesome time. We had one profession of faith. I realize how important it is to help people see the need to move from attractional-only in our evangelism to missional (with some attractional elements) in our focus. Lay people get this. There are more people in our churches who would become more missional if we taught and LIVED it before them than there are ministers ready to lead them. There are more unchurched people open to the gospel than there are people ready to share.We have created a culture where we teach people to share their faith in such a way that they can communicate the gospel without ever getting involved in people’s lives. That surely must change. We must reassess how we spend our time. My family moved three years ago into a new neighborhood in no small part because I spend so much time around believers. This put us in a community where most of those around us did not know Christ. And we have seen God bless. We are far more “churched” than we were three years ago. Lives are being changed. And I love my neighbors!I had to confess to a class that I had failed in going out and witnessing with my students enough. I simply got busy and lost focus. I am going to assign more reading, do a little less lecturing, and a lot more witnessing with my students. Maybe some pastors could do the same with their people.Two weeks ago I had a timid student write me on Facebook about his fear in witnessing. So I took him with me. We cleaned toilets in rest rooms in three service stations. Out of that one thirty minute excursion I made a lunch appointment with a very interested Muslim whose bathroom we cleaned. He was pretty surprised at believers who would do that. He is less than a mile from our campus.We live in a new world. We must take the stance of missionaries in the American context. We must stop acting like we are entitled to people listening to us and learn to share in a culture that is foreign to the gospel.