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An Indirect Approach to Evangelism

Last week we posted on the challenge of sharing the gospel during the holiday season. (Don’t forget to download your free copy of Bringing the Gospel Home by Randy Newman)!

Jerram Barrs offers additional insight that may be helpful as you interact with close friends and family:

Confronting people head-on with the gospel can raise hackles. Depending on the person and their situation, theological matters have the potential to create antagonism in someone’s heart and build barriers. This is not the response we hope to generate with our evangelistic efforts.

Jesus was aware of this possibility and did not always confront people head-on. When confronted with a question from a teacher of the law, Jesus knew that the man’s heart was not ready to hear the truth. Instead, he responded to him by asking questions and telling him the story of the Good Samaritan. The story was intended to to exercise the scholar’s imagination, will, emotions, and mind:

  • “Why did he use a Samaritan as his example?
  • Am I like the priest and Levite in that story?
  • Have I ever helped a stranger in need?
  • Have I ever loved anyone to the same degree that I love myself?
  • Will my knowledge of the law be sufficient for me to inherit eternal life?
  • Can I bring myself to go back to Jesus, humble myself before him, and ask him different questions?

Questions and stories work together like this, long after they are heard, because they engage a person so fully. Most people that we encounter have mechanisms in place to conceal from themselves the truth about what is really going on in the deep recesses of their being. The right questions or the right story can get a person thinking about their motives and the state of their heart in a way that direct facts may not.

Adapted from Learning Evangelism from Jesus by Jerram Barrs

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December 16, 2011 | Posted in: Evangelism,Life of Christ | Author: Crossway Staff @ 8:00 am | 0 Comments »

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Free Download: Bringing the Gospel Home

The holiday season is upon us! For some, this means more days off work and more time with family. And if you have unbelieving family members, the joy of celebrating Christmas can be mixed with anxiety and hopeful expectation—this is perhaps the best time of year to talk about Jesus.

After all, there are songs on mainstream radio proclaiming the birth of a King, whom people are coming to adore, a savior who can save us all from Satan’s power. This is the time of year when people are most open to going to a church service or watching your kids sing in a Christmas program. Yet, even during this special time of year, sharing the gospel with family can be difficult. Why? We’re up against some tough obstacles (just to name a few):

  • Our world is fallen.
  • People are slaves to sin.
  • The Devil is not sitting idly by as we tell people to turn from darkness to the light of Christ.
  • There can be challenging family dynamics or strained relationships.
    (adapted from Bringing the Gospel Home)

Evangelism is never really comfortable, natural, or easy. And that’s not the goal of evangelism anyway. Rather, “[the goal is] evangelism that heralds accurately and powerfully the goodness of the gospel—regardless of the difficulty for us proclaiming it or the resistance from those who hear it,” explains Randy Newman, author of Bringing the Gospel Home.

Knowing many of you will have the opportunity to share the gospel this month—whether it’s with family, friends, or neighbors—we encourage you to download a free copy of Bringing the Gospel Home: Witnessing to Family, Close Friends, and Others Who Know You Well.

Read, be encouraged, apply, and pass it on!

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December 6, 2011 | Posted in: Christmas,Evangelism,Family | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 11:11 am | (8) Comments »

Posted in Christmas, Evangelism, Family | 8 Comments »

Who in the World is Using the ESV Study Bible?

As a Christian publisher, we believe it’s our primary task to get the right resources into the right hands, all for the glory of God. We don’t always hear about the books and Bibles that end up with those who need them around the world, but it’s deeply encouraging when those stories make their way back to us.

If you’re reading this, you’re likely surrounded by a wealth of content that can grow your faith: books, specialty Bibles, websites, blogs, sermons, podcasts, conferences, and classes. This is certainly not the case everywhere in the world. Pastors in many areas faithfully disciple their congregations and share the gospel in their communities, all without access to any formal training or much in the way of printed resources. Yet the work they’re doing is critically important, and occasionally we’re able to find specific ways to support them in their ministry.

One such example is The Global Leadership Institute, an organization that provides training for African pastors and promotes church-planting in North and West Africa. Pastors attend two-week training seminars in Bo, Sierra Leone, each year for three years. Since GLI’s inception, Crossway has had the privilege of providing each pastor with an ESV Study Bible. Long-time readers of the blog may remember our first post on GLI in 2009.

In a very real sense, you’re partnering to make these sorts of initiatives possible anytime you buy a Crossway book or ESV Bible, or through our missional rewards program, Crossway Impact.

And this week, we wanted to create a fun way for you to join us in giving thanks and sharing with our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.  We’re calling it simply “Give Thanks, Give Bibles.” This Thanksgiving week, for every “like” of Crossway’s Facebook page, we’ll put $1 towards distributing Bibles to Christians in the Global South.

Thanks for helping us spread the Word!

Below: pastors in Sierra Leone receive ESV Study Bibles at a Global Leadership Institute seminar.

November 23, 2011 | Posted in: ESV,Leadership,Ministries | Author: Andrew Tebbe @ 1:00 pm | 0 Comments »

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A Discipleship Compass

In the book of  Titus, we see a close link between deed (actions or good works) and word (speech and teaching): “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us” (Titus 2:7–8; see also 1:6; 2:14; 3:1, 8, 14).

Bill Clem drew up a compass to help explain these aspects of discipleship.

  1. Grace + Word = Knowing: The relational dynamic of shepherd and sheep communicating suggests sheep that are known and a shepherd that is being known and followed (John 10:3–4). You as a disciple must be willing to both disclose and communicate. Disclosing your sticking points or hurdles to following Jesus and communicating your picture of what life looks like pursuing Jesus will involve your relationships, affections, and thoughts. The role of a shepherd in knowing you and in developing a loving transformational relationship with you includes spending time with you and asking questions, not just as a fact-finding mission but for the purpose of opening up communication and trust. While communication is being established and deepened, the shepherd must discipline himself or herself to be a good listener. There will be a time to inform, clarify, or correct, but in getting to know the disciple, the shepherd has a primary responsibility to listen for attitudes of the heart. If a disciple feels that he is just one more disciple, dismissed or “clichéd,” chances are that the shepherding is springing more from a template than from a relationship.
  2. Truth + Word = Feeding: In this quadrant the dynamics include learning and feeding. As a disciple you must have a life rhythm of learning. As a learner you are committing to a trajectory of drawing closer to all three persons of the Trinity, living a life that images the God who creates, redeems, and matures you. The role of shepherd as a feeder is to teach the disciple how to observe (live out) the commands of Christ. This means time in the Word together along with discussions about applications and implications to life. A good shepherd at this point knows how to assign learning projects to the disciple, which can range from a focused study, to disciplines like journaling, to a day of solitude and prayer, to challenging the disciple to frame “what a win looks like” in a reconciled relationship. The bottom line is that most of what it looks like to follow Jesus is caught rather than taught. If you are discipling someone or preparing to, you should schedule a half day of solitude and ask God to help you recall all that you have had to learn to follow Jesus.
  3. Grace + Deed = Leading: As a disciple, your challenge is to integrate being with doing. For this to happen, it becomes even more critical that you have a picture of what your life looks like when you’re following Jesus. Whether you call this a vision, a mission, or a purpose statement is not the point; having a compelling picture that calls you to action is. This means taking the aspects of discipleship and personalizing them as your own. When done well, shepherding will call people upward in their pursuit of Jesus. Disciples will seek God for the direction to set faith goals for their lives, as well as for divine empowerment to follow Jesus. Grace without action can degenerate into enablement or encouraging disciples merely to “do their best” or to “keep trying.” Shepherding is all about exposing grace as God’s delivery system for life change.
  4. Truth + Deed = Protection: As a disciple there are certain elements you should establish in your game plan. The first is repentance. No disciple shoots 100 percent. A second element or strategy to your game plan is how to deal with temptation. As disciples, we must develop discernment to realize when we are being influenced by our flesh and to flee, and a discernment to realize when we are being influenced by the Enemy and resist so that he will flee. Having someone else speak into what this looks like is exactly what it means to enlist the protective role of a shepherd-coach.

Modified from Disciple by Bill Clem.

November 17, 2011 | Posted in: Church Membership,Fellowship & Hospitality,Spiritual Growth | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 8:00 am | 0 Comments »

Posted in Church Membership, Fellowship & Hospitality, Spiritual Growth | No Comments »

Gospel Community: Imaging God to One Another

In Disciple: Getting Your Identity from Jesus, author Bill Clem explains that Christian communities serve as witnesses to show what the kingdom of God is supposed to look like. They model grace, love, forgiveness, truth, and identity. They demonstrate…

  • Love: “People will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
  • Peace: “Be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thess. 5:13).
  • Hospitality: “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Pet. 4:9).
  • Service: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).
  • Instruction: “I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another” (Rom. 15:14).
  • Care: “That there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (1 Cor. 12:25).
  • Forgiveness: “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Col. 3:13).
  • Kindness: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32).
  • Submission: “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21).
  • Honesty: “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices” (Col. 3:9).

This gives you the idea that gospel community is nothing short of imaging God one to another. This means mirroring to others the transformation that Jesus is doing in each of us individually. This means championing Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This means being a community that calls for sin to be dealt with rather than excused.

Modified from Disciple by Bill Clem. Learn more or read a sample chapter.

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November 16, 2011 | Posted in: Church Membership,Fellowship & Hospitality,Identity in Christ,Loving Others | Author: Angie Cheatham @ 9:26 am | 0 Comments »

Posted in Church Membership, Fellowship & Hospitality, Identity in Christ, Loving Others | No Comments »