Jesus prays that we will be in the world as he was in the world
- this is the mission of every Christian
- Jesus Prays
- that we will be protected from the evil one
- that won’t be in the world as others are , but as Jesus was
Jesus was in the world as a friend to sinners/tax collectors
- this brings the most scorn or criticism on his head
- but this is his call to you and me
- eating together shows personal intimacy, these are my friends (like the Lords’s
Supper)
- Jesus delights in the company of sinner- for evangelism to be effective in any church, members must take Jesus
prayer personally, he calls us to be friends with unbelievers/sinners.
*On of Jerrams Most controversial teachings
- Jesus tells us to teach our kids to be friends of sinners
- People respond to this by saying no, we are to keep our kids safe and protected
- While there are many things we are to protect our kids from, Jesus calls us to teach our
children to reach out to those around them to the lonely, broken, and hurting with the
Gospel
- this sounds like a scary thing, but it isn’t, Jesus prays that we will be protected from the evil one, and Jesus’ prays get answered
- These children will begin to love your home, because of the love there
There is no biblical holiness, no christian purity, no genuinely faithful xtian life that does not have at its heart mercy
- our calling is to be in the world being merciful
- not taking ourselves out of the world for protection
While in the world our calling is to treat the people with love, mercy, kindness and compassion
- the people Jesus challenges about their lives and calls out sin are those in the church
- * the more broken someones life by sin, idolatry, unbelief, the more dignity and honor
Jesus brings to them
As you build relationships with people, giving yourself to people, our calling is that as we go and build relationships with unbelievers, our point of contact with them will be what is beautiful in their lives, not what is broken in their lives. Jesus comes to people beginning with their strengths, beauties in their lives, not through attacking their sin.
Phillipians: Taking Pauls words, “Whatever is admirable, pure.... think of these things” As we engage unbelievers, this should be our challenge, to point out these things, not their brokenness. These are areas where the Holy Spirit is already working in these areas are a testimony to his work in their lives.
God is patient, he isn’t slow as we think of slowness, he isn’t in a hurry to save people, he is in a hurry to change you. Investing our time in others is to be looked at as a way to serve Jesus and see him change us and pray that he would save others.
Q/A
What are some things to get to a spiritual conversation?
- Pray... Only the Lord can lead it to that place, and only the Lord can give us those
opportunities
- People are constantly watching us (if we have publicly made it know we are a Xtian) to
see if we are who we say we are, “Is this person real?”
- For some people you just have to wait (build relationship, hold on, be patient), for some
people you need to push (some situations are urgent)
- Jesus is far more excited to save people than we are, trust in the Lord and allow him to
work
“Lead with affirmation, grace, love” How do you use specific sin to lead to spiritual conversation?
- if you are loving people, being meriful to those around you, you will be the one they
come to when there is need (ie, crisis, marriage, death, birth, disaster) but you can’t
necessarily force yourself in
How does post modernism effect our evangelism?
- We are in a setting where the most fundamental characteristics of PM Americans
believe that they are answerable only to themselves, we have no sense of accountability
to God only to ourselves
- Not only among unbelievers, but also Christians- This is the fundamental issue of challenge if people are going to come to the Lord, who
do we serve
- In the apostles and acts, we see the disciples and Jesus challenging the idols in
peoples lives, not the superficial sins, but rather who they are serving
How do you speak to evangelism formulas (tracts, campus crusade, four spiritual laws)
- The lord has and can use these things
- Modernism is what has affected these approaches, that everything has a formula
this is not a biblical answer to evangelism, but rather a modernist one that there is a
technique
- There is no technique, the NT doesn’t have one either.
- These formulas became ineffective in Europe 50 years ago because they became
postmodern much earlier than the US.
- From the NT we need to see how to communicate to people around us who have no
idea of the Bible, which means getting to know people well and how to speak into their
lives
How do we persevere in evangelism with a person who has insulted our faith and our lifestlyle?
- we are called to love them and serve them in any way we can
- Jesus tells us we will be insulted and scorned because he was, what do you expect
- but we as sinners still insult and scorn Jesus, but he continues to pursue us with love,
mercy and grace and he calls us to do the same as He
How can we be sure that relationships with nonbelievers are genuine?
- If they see we aren’t genuine, they won’t be our friends anyway, they will cut us off.
- We are called to GENUINELY love people, this is why time is so significant
- Our commitment to love people must be genuine and in ways that are costly
How do we address those with other beliefs (religious or unreligious)?
- Don’t avoid them. Be happy that Jesus has brought all of these people around us.
- Engage them, go where they go, but don’t believe the things they believe, love them and
pray for them.... don’t be frightened by what they believe, don’t attack them,
- I will disagree with you, but I won’t attack you, I will die for you and your ability to
disagree with me. (paraphrase - Francis Schaeffer)
Should we disciple those whom we evangelize?
- YESSSSS! It is your responsibility.
- Paul didn’t convert people and then leave, he stayed places for a time and then would
go back and write to them... He felt responsible to these people till he died
- if you lead someone to faith you have a responsibility to follow up with them and those
they love
How do we share the Gospel with those who have seen us sin?
- Stop acting perfect! Stop acting like you don’t sin!
- People shouldn’t see us as sinless...
- The Lord requires you to be vulnerable with those who aren’t believers, if you do this
they will be vulnerable with you
- You don’t have to put all your business out there, but stop acting like you have it all
together.
- If someone has seen you sin, it is an opportunity for them to see you ask for forginess and be forgiven (the Gospel)
- Look to scripture that talks about peoples sin (ie, Peter rebuking Jesus, David committing adultery) this should be encouraging to us, because these are the kind of people we are.
