Evangelism
What is The Gospel Coalition Canada? (Carnivore Theology Ep. 90)
Wyatt Graham of the brand new The Gospel Coalition Canada drops by to talk about the state of the gospel and the need for Christian unity in Canada.
Podcast Audio:
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The Simple Truth: Is The Gospel Enough?
Spectacle over Substance
Our North American society, including the Christian church, tends to overvalue style, spectacle, and cleverness in not only our educators but also our teachers, preachers and authority figures. What a person may lack in knowledge, character, understanding, wisdom and kindness, they can more than make up for in how they look, their showmanship, and their ability to turn a phrase. A person’s abilities, intelligence, and giftedness don’t seem to matter nearly as much as their appearance, willingness to adapt, and overall marketability.
It’s a strange thing that hundreds of experts who have devoted their life to studying a certain subject, can agree on something and no one will listen – but if a famous actor or athlete talks about it, then suddenly their opinion is not only registered as valid, but important and worthy of being repeated in news outlets all over the world.
It happens all the time when news programs bring actors, comedians, and athletes on to talk about everything from nutrition to politics to religion. When Justin Bieber does an interview about his music, for some reason they also ask him his opinion on geopolitics and social issues. Gwyneth Paltrow once introduced the President of the United States by commenting on how handsome he is and wishing that he could have the unilateral power to do whatever he wants. And social media makes it even worse. Lindsay Lohan tweets her solution to the Middle East crisis, and it’s retweeted by hundreds. Chris Brown told 16 million people that he thinks the “Ebola epidemic is a form of population control” and it’s retweeted by tens of thousands.
And the line gets even fuzzier as many so-called scientists and experts get corrupted as they try to become celebrities. Maybe they feel like they aren’t listened to, so they alter their message or pursue popular and obscure topics that will get them the attention they so crave. Think of Dr. Oz who used to be a real doctor, but is now a television personality that hocks products and spouts wrong information. Or the countless experts and teachers who were corrupted into lying by the promise of big-business money and political power. Or the psychologists and counsellors who have allowed truly mentally ill people to think they are healthy because they have bent to political pressure, want to be on the “right side of history”, or want their name to be first on a unique paper.
Yes, I understand that one of the joys of the internet is that everyone can register their opinion on anything at any time. We can post pictures of our breakfast with as much ease and impunity as we can tell everyone our solution to climate change and what we think about Justin Trudeau’s political strategies. I’m not saying that’s terrible. It’s great to have a forum where the whole world can talk to one another.
The problem is that our celebrity-obsessed culture is making these the voices that shape our worldview. These people, who are dripping with charisma, style, and pseudo-intelligence, have a greater voice than any of the wise, knowledgeable, humble and thoughtful people who actually should be listened to.
More and more people, especially people younger than me, live in a world of tweets, sound bites, cartoons and memes that seem to have the magical ability to boil an incredibly complex issue like climate change, zoology, parenting, religion, terrorism, relationships, sex, politics or a thousand other things into one picture and an easy to digest sentence. And if it seems right to us, we’ll grab onto it, believe it and repeat it to others. These voices are steering what a generation of people believe about incredibly important and complex issues, and it is dangerous spiritually, emotionally, relationally, politically, and every other way, to gain your information from sources that value celebrity and style over truth and substance.
Nothing New
Not that this is anything new. Choosing the wrong voice to listen to because they sound convincing and telling us what we want to hear has been an issue for humans since the Garden of Eden! And if you remember back to when we talked about the context of 1st Corinthians, you’ll remember that this was an issue for Paul’s ministry too.
He was a man that was not only educated as a great Jewish scholar but was also trained in the Greek educational system too. He was a talented guy who was not only a skilled tradesman, but had memorized the whole Bible, had studied it for years, and was also well versed Greek philosophy. When he came into Greece as a missionary, he had an amazing amount of information, and the skill to share it, with those who were looking for new knowledge and divine wisdom.
And yet, over and over he was mocked and dismissed as a fool. Why? Because instead of playing to what the crowds wanted to hear with long, clever speeches full of fancy quotes and floury language, Paul stuck to the simple truths of the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. He had the ability, but he staunchly refused to stylize his teaching. He refused to dilute the message by becoming a spectacle. He refused to cloud the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ with a bunch of clever showmanship.
Why? Wouldn’t that have helped? Wouldn’t he have gotten more listeners if he would have been a bit more marketable? Maybe, but he didn’t want anyone walking away from his preaching and remember him. He only wanted his listeners to remember what he had said about Jesus. He knew that the Greek people struggled with the same thing we do today: celebrity worship. When they went home they would be talking just as much about how interesting, exciting, and passionate their favourite speaker was as they would about the substance of what they learned – maybe more. “I have no idea what he said, but wow, was he an entertaining speaker!” was not a review that Paul wanted to get.
Too many Bible teachers get this confused, and too many Christians do this with their favourite preachers today. They find a person that looks good, sounds interesting, has lots of charisma, and says things that they agree with, and then decide to follow them. The truthfulness of the message comes second to the personality behind the microphone.
Listen to what Paul says to the Corinthian church. Open to 1 Corinthians 1:10:
“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
You see, they had forgotten the message they had heard and believed, and had slipped into celebrity worship. It wasn’t Paul’s or Apollos’ or Cephas’ (which is Peter’s) fault that this happened. It was the natural state of the Corinthians to elevate the teacher over the message. “Paul was the one who planted our church and spent time with us, so he’s my favourite we should all follow him.”, some would say. “Well, Peter is the leader of all the Apostles, plus he’s the one who gave the first sermon in Jerusalem at Pentecost, so we should listen to him.”, others would argue. “Well, Apollos is one of the greatest preachers of all time! His eloquence and speaking ability is unmatched by anyone! Everyone loves him and the crowds come running whenever he’s in town. We should all follow him!”, others would say.
Meanwhile, Paul, Peter, and Apollos are each getting more and more frustrated with this church because none of them want this kind of attention! They are trying to put the spotlight on Jesus, and the crowd keeps trying to put the spotlight on them.
Sounds like what happens in the church today, doesn’t it? I’m a John MacArthur guy! I like Rick Warren! I’m all about John Piper! TD Jakes! Franklin Graham! John Hagee! Francis Chan! Joyce Meyer!
But in the church it gets even crazier because we don’t just idolize people that are alive, but those who have died a long time ago – and then we stick their names on our churches! Of course, you have churches dedicated to St. Peter, St. Luke, St. Mark, St. Paul… but also Calvinist churches named after John Calvin, Lutheran churches named after Martin Luther, Arminian churches named after Jacobus Arminius… and the list goes on. We seem to love finding a favourite Christian, glomming onto them, and then arguing with other believers on their behalf. Paul is better than Peter! Luther is better than Calvin!
All this celebrity worship divided the Corinthian church into sects that not only argued with one another but ended up working against each other. It got to the point that they wouldn’t even eat together anymore. We’re not even talking about differences in theology, we’re merely talking about preferring one teacher over another! And it divides churches today too.
Look at verse 14 and see what Paul says next. He says, “I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and
“I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
Paul is actually thankful that he spent so much time preaching and teaching that there were not many people in the church who can claim to be in his “official fan club” because they were baptized by him. That kind of thinking is a sign of a sick soul and a sick church, and he wanted no part of it. Why? Because when the focus is on the teacher, or the religious act, the focus is no longer on the worship of God, salvation through Jesus Christ, and obedience to His Word. Instead, people start talking about the person who is leading the worship, preaching the sermon, and teaching the Bible. And that, in short, is idol worship.
Now, there are lots of places we could go from here. I could go on a rant against the health and wealth preachers who put on a great show, attract thousands of followers, but are actually preaching a false gospel. I could talk about how some Christian pastors have been corrupted by their pursuit of fame and deny the fundamental tenets of the faith so they gain a bigger audience. I could get into how many churches have split because of their dedication to secondary and tertiary issues, forgetting about their unity in Christ. I could explain a bunch of ways that famous theologians have differed with one another and how the church dealt with those issues. I could even take a tour of how the Roman Catholic Church has corrupted the gospel and fallen into the trap of elevating human teaching to the level of scripture.
And I would enjoy talking about all of those topics. But, here’s where I think God wants me to go today, because I think all of us need to hear it – me included:
Emptying the Cross of its Power
There’s an important phrase that Paul uses at the end of this section that explains the problem with creating a cult of personality, worshipping celebrities, or simply getting our eyes off of God and onto the one who is delivering the message – and it’s found in verse 17.
Paul says, “Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
Paul is clearly not against baptism. He knows how important baptism is, that it was commanded by the Lord Jesus, and actually takes time in many of his letters, including First Corinthians, to explain how it connects us to the gospel of Jesus and to one another.
And Paul is not against “eloquent wisdom”. Proverbs 3:13 says, “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.” Whole books of the Bible are dedicated to wisdom! Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon are often called “wisdom literature”. So there’s no way Paul is against speaking and pursuing wisdom.
So what is Paul saying here? He is saying that this church had gotten their priorities out of whack and were placing too much emphasis on the means and modes of their religion, and all the good things that come as a result, and had forgotten the core of what their faith was supposed to be all about.
They argued about baptism but forgot about what it meant, the story it told, the obedience it showed, and the community it made them a part of. They would argue about which preacher was best, but not discuss the truth they were sharing. They would perform and celebrate the rituals and rights of the church, like taking the Lord’s Supper, but had forgotten their meaning. They would come to church seeking more knowledge, but weren’t using that knowledge to better their relationship with Jesus. They would have grand discussions about theological things, but their hearts were growing cold towards God. And in all of their religious passion for wisdom, they had forgotten the message of the gospel, the power of the cross, and their desperate need for the presence of God in their lives.
In their very short Christian lives, they had gone from overwhelmed by how God had called them to be followers of Jesus who were freed from the consequence of their sins to religious people who came to church, but didn’t think much about Jesus. They were happy as long as the speaker was interesting enough, the spectacle was exciting enough, and they could go about their week knowing they were better than all those around them because they were Christians.
Everything about Paul’s ministry and preaching spoke against that. Wisdom and learning were incredibly important to both the Jews and the Greeks, so it was easy for them to slide into thinking that it was most interesting preachers that were best to listen to. And yet Paul didn’t play that game.
Remember how exhausted he was when he first came to town? He didn’t have anything left other than the core of the gospel and whatever power the Holy Spirit would give him. He was utterly dependent on God for whatever he was going to say, and whatever God wanted to do. Even if he had wanted to use them, he had no strength left to come up with clever illustrations and fancy, philosophical arguments.
Turn the page and look at the beginning of chapter 2 where he says, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
You see, that’s the difference. When the message of the gospel “rests on the wisdom of men”, or is framed so it sounds like “plausible words”, or is filled with “lofty speech”, it is drained of its power.
For me, as a preacher, the more I want you to see me, the less you will see Jesus. The more interested I am in you hearing my words, the less you will hear His Word. I could stand up here, talk about the Bible for an hour, and it could be utterly useless to you spiritually.
For you, as you share your faith with your family and friends, the more they hear of your wisdom, your plausibility, and your arguments, as you fancy up your presentation, trim off the parts you think they’ll be offended by, embellish the parts that sound more interesting, and cram in worldly wisdom because they don’t want to hear what the Bible has to say – the less they will hear from Jesus. Your human, “eloquent wisdom”, will show that you believe that the message of the cross of Christ is empty of its power.
Does that mean we don’t have to study the Bible, or theology, or history, or learn how to make reasoned arguments for why we have the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15)? Of course not! We learn those things so we can know more about God. It increases our faith and builds our relationship with Jesus. It helps us gain confidence during times of doubt that there are good answers to our hardest questions and helps us know what we’re talking about when people ask us those hard questions.
What this means is that when we preach, or teach Sunday school, or lead the service, or organize a small group, or share our faith with a friend, we need to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, our knowledge or wisdom cannot change anyone’s heart or mind!
When a preacher, teacher, missionary, or evangelist (and all Christians are at least one of those in some capacity) either pursues fame and celebrity or tries to use their charm, intelligence or winsomeness to convey the gospel, they not only risk the temptation to change the message, but also risk losing the power of God that is meant to do the work in changing the listener’s heart.
You may, in fact, do more harm than good as you seek to try to convert someone to your own personal understanding of God than if you are seeking to introduce them to God Himself. You could do more harm by trying to use imperfect human explanations of mysterious things, and causing them to be more confused than they were when you first started speaking. You could also do more harm than good because if they did believe you, and change their mind, they may be converted to your own personal religion, a version of the faith that you’ve come up with yourself, or to whatever version they think they heard. You will have gained a follower of yourself, but you have not made them a follower of God (Matthew 23:15).
When we are sharing our faith, we aren’t trying to argue or convince anyone into a new or better relationship with God. All we are meant to do is to present what God has said in the Bible, the simple meaning of the Gospel, and what it has meant to us. We allow the Holy Spirit to do the convincing, the Word of God to be the tool we use, and the testimony that God has been writing in our lives to be our evidence. There is no need for lofty speech or human wisdom. We must come “weak”, and in the power of the Spirit.
Application
So here’s a couple of applications for us today, based on what we’ve been talking about:
First, and most importantly, before you teach or share anything with anyone about God, the Bible, the Gospel, or your testimony, you must pray for God to be the one who speaks through you. Pray that whatever words you say will be truthful, helpful and honouring to God. Ask God to remove your pride and your fear. You don’t want to walk in there full of pride, thinking that you are going to argue this person into becoming a Christian – and you don’t want to walk in their full of fear as though you are all alone in trying to save this person’s soul. This is God’s work, and so you need to be absolutely dependent on Him to go before you and be with you as you share God’s story.
Second, when listening to a preacher or teacher, or reading a Christian book, or blog, or podcast, or some form of social media, ask yourself if you are interested in finding the truth, or are you more interested in witnessing the spectacle? Do you follow them because you know they love God and are presenting His Word unchanged, or because they are media savvy, have interesting illustrations, speak passionately, and agree with what you think. Be careful who you listen to, what voices you allow to inform you, and be aware of your motives when you choose those voices. Scripture tells us to test the spirits, test the prophets, and make sure that they agree with reality and the truth of scripture. I think that includes us testing ourselves for why we are listening to those people in the first place.
Third, when you are given the opportunity to teach or share the gospel with someone, don’t fall for the temptation to try to think that the message needs to be changed so it will be more interesting, popular, or well received. The words of scripture and the message of the cross have inherent power on their own.
I’m not saying you don’t use illustrations to help people understand – Jesus did that. I’m not saying you shouldn’t figure out ways to engage auditory or tactile or visual learners – Jesus did that too. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t speak with passion or use measured words – Jesus did that too.
What I am saying is that as you present the gospel to people, or teach the Bible, there are going to be parts that you are going to want to downplay because they are controversial, or difficult to explain, or just plain offensive – like that people are sinners from birth, or that God has standards for how people live their lives, or that Jesus defies labels (he’s not a liberal, or conservative, or democrat, or communist, or feminist, or chauvinist, or modernist, or socialist…), or that God presents Himself as male, or the violence Jesus endured, or that there really is a Hell for all who do not believe in Jesus as their only Saviour, or that someone has to be willing to publically declare their faith. There are lots of things we are going to be tempted to downplay or skip over when we talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ, but we shouldn’t.
Every time we do, that’s us trying to use human wisdom instead of God’s to try to get people to come to Him. It’s impossible. Human wisdom cannot lead us to God. An edited gospel, or an edited Bible, cannot save anyone. Trying to be clever, safe, and inoffensive, but still present the whole gospel, is impossible. It’s designed to offend. It’s designed to require knowledge we can’t give. It’s designed to require the Holy Spirit to change the heart – and not us.
Don’t fall into the trap of changing the message or skipping parts in your personal study, when you talk to your kids, when you teach in church, or when you share your faith. Give the whole story in a simple way, and trust that the “wisdom or Christ” and the “power of the cross” will lead the person to have their faith “rest not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Cor 1:18-2:5)
What is a “Good Church”? (Part 4 – Spirit-Led Evangelism)
This is the last sermon of our mini-series-within-a-series where we’re answering the question “What is a Good Church?”. This series is inside of the “Burning Questions” series which came about after I asked you all to submit some questions that you’ve had that I could answer. I hope that this series has been helpful to you, because it’s been enjoyable for me to write and deliver.
We’ve already talked about the danger of Christian Consumerism where we decide what a “good church” is by human standards and moved into discussion what God defines as a “good church” from the Bible. A lot of this discussion has come from Acts 2:42-47 which is the story of the birth of the first church. In that passage we read about the four important things that God expects from His church, that being: Discipleship, Fellowship, Worship and Evangelism. We’ve already covered the first three, and we’re coming into the last one today.
The Four Categories Everywhere
I hope, as you’ve been your Bible at home, that you’ve noticed these four categories blossomed out beyond Acts into the rest of the scriptures, because you see them everywhere. These four areas are very important for us to be able to identify the wins and losses of the people in the Bible. When we read of something going right, or something going wrong – and I hope I’m not overgeneralizing here – that I’m pretty sure it will be in one of those areas.
When there is a breakdown in one of those areas, it invariable leads to the loss of relationship with God, loss of blessing, and destruction of the people. And it’s not just in the New Testament church, this has been true throughout the history of God’s people.
Right from the beginning, even Adam and Eve had all four categories. They heard the voice of God telling them what to do and not do – that’s discipleship: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over it… eat the food from the plans, but don’t eat of that one tree.” To me, that’s discipleship.
There was Fellowship in the Garden too as God looked and saw that “it was not good for man to be alone” and created a mate suitable for him.
There was, no doubt, Worship in the Garden, as we see God walking and talking with His people. Evangelism is a little more difficult to find, since there are only two people, but we can certainly imagine these two talking with one another about God, caring for each other, tending to the Garden and the animals… and subduing the earth in His Name.
And then it goes sideways, right? Where’s the breakdown? Genesis 3 at the Fall of Man. There is a Discipleship breakdown as the serpent starts to challenge Eve’s knowledge of God’s word and says “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?”
We see a breakdown in Fellowship and Evangelism (the sharing of God’s word) as Adam standing right there as Eve is about to fall – and says NOTHING, refusing to protect Eve and keep her accountable to God’s word. No warning of the coming wrath, no reminder of the good news of God’s presence. Nothing. Adam stood next to her totally silent. And then later we see a total breakdown as everyone blames everyone else for it all going wrong.
We see a breakdown in Worship as Eve chooses to place herself over God, wants to be as wise as God, and does the thing God forbid her to do. Then worship further breaks down as the man and woman now feel shame and try to flee from God, hiding in the bushes, not wanting to talk to God anymore.
That pattern, I believe, can be found throughout scripture. These four words are the model for our relationship with God personally – as in one-on-one with Him – corporately as a church, and, I would argue, the proper design for all human interaction. If we can get these four areas right – Biblical Discipleship, Loving Fellowship, Inspired Worship and Spirit-Led Evangelism, then we’re doing pretty good, and I believe God will be pleased.
The Great Commission
As I said, today we’re talking about the final of the four: Spirit-Led Evangelism. Please open up to Matthew 28:18-20, a section of scripture usually called “The Great Commission”. Here we see Jesus passing on the torch to his disciples before He ascends to Heaven to start the next phase of His ministry.
Some context here first:
Jesus has already been crucified and has risen from the dead. He has been seen by hundreds of people and the Roman Guards that were guarding His tomb have already been paid off to say that Jesus body was stolen as they slept.
Jesus has already met with some disciples on the Road to Emmaus and explained the meaning of His life and death to them, according to the scriptures. He has already appeared to the disciples, who were locked away in a room, bewildered at the death of their rabbi and friend, and terrified of the Jewish authorities. And He has looked into the eyes and spoken to Thomas who said, “Unless I see the imprint of the nails in His hands and press my finger into the mark of the nails and my hand into His side, I refuse to believe.” (John 20:25) Moments later that same man would see Jesus and call Him, “My Lord and My God!”.
Jesus has already held the first men’s breakfast, cooking for his disciples, and restoring Peter to the rest of the disciples, forgiving Him his betrayal, and telling Him to “Feed his sheep”. (John 21:1-24)
All of this was happening over a few weeks. Near the end of those weeks, Jesus told his remaining eleven disciples (minus Judas who killed himself instead of seeking God’s forgiveness) to go to a mountaintop in Galilee where He would meet them later. It is very likely that there were more than just the eleven with Jesus that day, and that perhaps even as many as 500 people were there, which is why it says “some doubted.” . (1 Cor 15:6)
Let’s read it together:
“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
The Four Categories in The Great Commission
Notice again, that we see all four of our categories in this passage. Jesus says to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to observe His commandments. That’s obviously discipleship.
We also see worship in there as it says that they “worshipped him”, but also implicitly as Jesus reminds them that “All authority in heaving and on earth” is HIS. Those words are meant to bring comfort, but also to remind them that He’s not just their friend, He’s their LORD.
We certainly see Fellowship there as Jesus has asked them all to come to that mountain together (He doesn’t meet with them one-on-one). He tells them to go make disciples of all nations, at least implying that this is mean to be done together, and with multiple people-groups in mind. And He reminds them “I am with you always.” They will also have fellowship with Jesus.
And, of course, we see evangelism as they are told to “go”, and “make”, and “baptize”, and “teach”, disciples throughout the world. All four are in there, all four are necessary, and all four are expected. And without the first three – Biblical Discipleship, Loving Fellowship, Inspired Worship – we have no hope of having Spirit-Led Evangelism that causes us to share God’s love with others and for the Lord to add to our number those who are being saved.
Three Makes Four
Let me explain what I mean by turning back to our key-text in Acts 2:42-47. Let’s read it again and I want you to notice something important on the way through – look how the evangelism, outreach, faith-sharing, happens.
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
What you don’t see in this description is any sort of evangelistic endeavours. There is no missionary sending, no tent-meetings, no four spiritual laws, no wordless book, no formal evangelistic endeavours.
Does that mean that no one did missionary work? Of course not! Paul was the primary missionary to the Gentiles and Peter was the primary missionary to the Jews. And all of the disciples took their turns going out into the world, spreading the message of Jesus Christ to new places that had never heard of Him. All Christians and Christian churches must participate in local and global missions.
But my message today isn’t about the world’s need for more missionaries – which it has. It’s not about personal evangelism – which is important. Our question today is “What is a Good Church?”
This is where my descriptor of Spirit-Led Evangelism comes from. When we obey the commands of Jesus Christ in the areas of Discipleship, Fellowship and Worship, then Evangelism will occur. When we are listening to the Holy Spirit because we are filling our lives with His Word, His People and His Presence, then the natural outflow will be that we will grow His Kingdom. If we are being disciple by our church and are able to have an answer for the hope that is within us, are in loving fellowship with the people in our church; caring for one another’s needs and holding each other accountable to the word of God, and are inspired to Worship God every day, all day, in all things, in Spirit and in Truth — then how can we not “have favour” with people, and see “the Lord add daily those who are being saved.”
Being a “good church”, when it comes to Evangelism, doesn’t mean we have fun events and make excuses for people to come through our doors. What it means is that when we get the other three areas right –the message of the Gospel, our love for the lost, the words that come from the Holy Spirit, the changing of hearts, the miraculous timing – starts to happen. That’s where revival comes from.
How Does Revival Happen?
We can’t make revival happen in our community or in our church. I can’t preach us into a spiritual revival. Revival comes when the people in the church revaluate their spiritual conditions and start to get serious about Biblical Discipleship, Loving Fellowship, and Inspired Worship.
As long as we are avoiding discipleship by neglecting to read our bibles, avoiding prayer, not participating in the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, avoiding personal and corporate study, and making church attendance optional depending on how we feel, we will never see revival in our own hearts, or in our church or community.
As long as we are avoiding fellowship by ignoring people in our midst, not forgiving people in our church, allowing bitterness to fester in our hearts, refusing to meet each other’s needs – or even find out one another’s needs, and leaving care and visitation ministry to only a few people, gossiping behind people’s backs, accusing people of false things, and sowing division among the brothers in the church, we will never see revival. For as long as our hearts, our family’s hearts, our church’s hearts are full of anything other than love for God, His people, widows, orphans and strangers, we cannot see revival.
As long as we are avoiding Worship by refusing to sing, refusing to pray, refusing to kneel before God, refusing to acknowledge God as King, refusing to obey Him by giving of our time and talents, refusing to give sacrificially, refusing to call Him Lord, refusing to put down the sins that have entangled us, we will not see revival. As long as we are making our own paths, and telling God to get lost until Sunday, treating Him as a Santa Clause in the sky who only exists to bring you comfort and ease, we cannot see revival in this church.
Psalm 50
I was very convicted by Psalm 50 this week as I examined my own heart.
The whole first part of the Psalm reminds us that God doesn’t need our worship. He desires it, but He doesn’t need it. He is almighty and perfect without requiring any help from us. In verse 12 He says,
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.”
And then in verse 14 God turns to His people and says what He desires:
“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
He doesn’t want our religious obedience. He says earlier, “I have no need…” of anything we can bring. What He wants from us is to acknowledge our dependence on Him by thanking Him in worship, living by our commitment to Him, and calling out to Him in prayer.
Now read in verse 16:
“But to the wicked God says: ‘What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?”
That hit me hard this week. What right do I have to read His Bible, recite His word, or tell anyone of the promises of Salvation? What right do I have to ask for revival? What right do I have to stand up here and tell you anything?
I have no right, because I am wicked and fall utterly short in all these areas. You’ll see the four again here Discipleship, Worship, Fellowship and Evangelism. All are there, and I fall desperately short, which very well could be a big reason we aren’t seeing revival here in this community. I invite you to examine yourself using this scripture. Have you been wicked? Do you expect to have God’s blessing? What right do you have?
He says,
“For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.”
How many times has God said the same thing to you over and over and over? How many times have you heard the Spirit of God convicting you of that sin, or prompting you to do something – but you cast His words behind you like they mean nothing.
Do you appreciate God’s discipline and thank Him for making you more like His Son, or do you hate His discipline and get angry when hard times come because you think you are owed an easy life? How often have you cast God’s word behind you, walked away, didn’t read it, left His Word sitting on the shelf for days and days and days, never giving it a second thought?
What RIGHT do we have to come before Him if, when we do, we dismiss whatever He has to say?
Next He says,
“If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers.”
Do you admire those who steal, sneak and bend the rules, even in little ways? What have you stolen? Are you living completely within the boundaries of Canadian Law and God’s moral law? Have you used the words “everyone else is doing it” to justify yourself as a thief?
Keeping company with adulterers doesn’t require actually committing adultery – or being married for that matter. How is your thought life? Do you keep company with adulterers as you dwell on your own lustful thoughts? What do your browser history look like? What about your texts? Any posters on the walls, pictures on your phone, or on your hard drive of people you’re not married to? Do you get a sexual thrill from the books you read, or the movies and tv shows you watch? Any emotional connections to people you’re not married to? All of these things are examples of keeping company with adulterers.
What RIGHT do we have to come before Him if we continuously crush our own spirits, ignore our consciences and eat the garbage this world offers and call it good?
Next he says,
“You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.”
What is your relationship like with others? Your own family? Your brothers and sisters in Christ? I know there are people sitting here today who have given their mouth free rein for evil this week, have framed deceit and lied about others, and spoke slander against their brother. And I know that there are those who have listened to that gossip and slander and ate it up like sugar-cubes.
What right do you have to ask God to fill this church with people, to use you as an agent of the Gospel, when you turn around and stab people in the back, show hatred for your own family and people within your own church? Why would He do that?
Look what God says next in verse 21:
“These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!”
Maybe for you there hasn’t been a sign from God telling you to repent and get right with Him. There has been no thunder and lighting, no writing on the wall, no curses of sickness and death that has forced you to re-evaluate your life, so you’re go along thinking that this is all ok. We haven’t been struck down, the church closed, and the building wiped out, so we think that it’s all ok. God’s just like us! He doesn’t care about these sins. God doesn’t care about what we say, what we do! We ought not think that God is like us.
If you have not repented of your sins, today is the day. Time is short. For us as a body of believers, I believe that if we are to have a time of revival here in this church, then we need to listen to the charges of God against the individuals in this church – starting with me and including every individual here. Let us not forget who God is and His hatred of sin.
We have been warned.
Hope in Repentance
But, thank God, the Psalm doesn’t end there. It ends like this:
“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”
This is a call to repentance. This is a call to get our priorities straight. This has very little to do with growing our church in numbers, and everything to do with deepening our church spiritually. If we want to see revival in our hearts, our homes, our church and our community, then we must repent of our sins, and fall on the sacrifice that has been given for us? And who is that? Jesus Christ.
We are the sinners, but Jesus is the sacrifice! I’ve been saying, “What gives you the right?” to come before God? Nothing. Nothing except the name Jesus Christ.
- Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6)
- 1 John 2:2 says that Jesus “is the propitiation for our sins” which means He’s the one who took God’s wrath.”
- 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all…”
The only thing that gives us the right to come before God is if we are willing to place all of our sin on Jesus shoulders and accept that He died for them on our behalf. Then, and only then, do we have the right to come before Him.
That’s what John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…” When we receive forgiveness in His Name, and believe in Him, then we become children of God. The Bible tells us that in Christ we are adopted as sons and daughters, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Romans 8). That’s what gives us the right to come before Him.
Yes, we are wicked and sinful, but we have been given the opportunity to walk away from the Spirit of this World and Sin and live by the Spirit of God instead. This doesn’t just happen once and then we’re done – we must do this every day. We must continuously fall down before God in thanksgiving for our salvation, killing the sin within us, and living as His people.
Conclusion
Allow me to conclude with this: It is my deep desire to see this church grow – but not merely in number. I want us to be a good church by God’s standards. I want us to grow deeply as we make Biblical Disciples, have Loving Fellowship and Inspired Worship, and then see God add to our numbers as we Evangelize our community and this world.
But this isn’t a job for only me. Every single person who is listening to me right now has a responsibility to listen to the Spirit of God within them and repent of their sin. Let’s not be like all the other nominal, weak, powerless, fruitless, cowardly, sick, worldly, churches that surround us. Let us turn and follow God, and let us live together as a good, Godly, Christ honouring church. That starts with you and me – in our homes, by ourselves, on our knees before God – praying, repenting, reading and meditating on His word. That’s where we start.
Sharing Our Faith Can be Scary (Kid’s Sermon)
We just had Halloween a couple weeks ago, and of course that strange season is one where people talk about scary things like ghosts and vampires and zombies. Who here went trick-or-treating? Did you see anything scary?
Well, I went digging around on the internet to learn about some different things that people are afraid of. So what I’m going to do is put up a list of things and we can say scary or not scary to all of them, ok? Now, I’m not going to make fun of anyone here because we can’t really pick what we’re scared of, can we?
For example, I’m scared of heights. I don’t like being high up in places, but I don’t know why (Acrophobia). Anyone with me? Here are some others::
- Fear of Spiders (Arachnophobia)
- Fear of taking a bath (Ablutophobia).
- Fear of Loud Noises (Acousticophobia).
- Fear of Needles (Trypanophobia).
- Fear of snakes (Ophidiophobia).
- Fear of Chickens (Alektorophobia).
- Fear of Peanut Butter sticking to the roof of your mouth (Aracibutyrophobia).
- Fear of slime (Blennophobia).
- Fear of clocks (Chronomentrophobia)
Tonight I want to talk about something that might also be a bit scary. Sharing our faith with others can be a little scary too. A lot of questions go through our minds: How do we start talking about Jesus with someone that knows nothing about Him? We’re supposed to be kind and say kind things to our friends, so how can we tell them Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” or Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…” when that means that they are a sinner who will die and can’t go to heaven because of their sin? That doesn’t sound very nice. What if they misunderstand and get upset with us?
And when should we do it? Should we wait for the right moment? Should we just blurt it out whenever we want to? You know… get invited over to their house for dinner and say, “This meal is very nice, please pass the ketchup – oh and by the way you’re all sinners who are doomed and need Jesus.” That’s a little weird, right?
Should we invite them to church first, or tell them about Jesus first? Maybe we should wait for them to ask. But what if they never ask? Then what?
Sharing our faith can be a little difficult sometimes – and sort of complicated when we think about it – so I want to tell you four things to remember when you want to share your faith in Jesus Christ with someone.
First Show Them Love
The first thing I want you to know about sharing your faith is that you need to show them love before you tell them the Gospel. This is something that a lot of people – including adults – get wrong. We all know the Great Commission Jesus gave in Matthew 28:19-20 that says,
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”.
Sometimes we think that means that it’s our job to simply go out and tell the gospel to people wherever they are, even if we don’t know them. Sometimes God calls people to do that, but that’s not usually how He works.
Jesus says something very important in John 13:35 that we need to remember, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Loving the person comes before we teach them the Bible or bring them to church. The way that they know that we have Jesus in our hearts, and the way that they will know that Jesus is real to us, is by the love we have for them and others. So that’s where we have to start – loving.
So ask yourself some questions: Do I love this person? How am I showing it? Do I want to tell them about Jesus so they will be nice to me, or because I love them and want the best for them? Have I shown them love by helping them, caring for them, sharing with them, eating with them, telling them the truth, and being their friend? We have to love them first, because it is by our love for them that they will know that the love of Jesus is in our hearts.
Remember to Pray
The second thing I want you to remember to do when you share the gospel with someone, is to pray. You must pray first. God promises in the Bible that He will give you the words you need, the wisdom you need, the timing you need, and the help you need when you come to talk to your friend about Him. But even more important is that God says that the Holy Spirit must do the work in your friend’s heart before they can hear anything you say!
You probably remember the Parable of the Four Soils that Jesus told. It’s the story of a farmer who goes out and spreads seeds on all kinds of different ground – hard ground, rocky ground, thorny ground, and good ground. The seeds represent the story of Jesus and the different grounds represent different types of hearts.
Many people have hard hearts, like the hard ground. The seeds of our message just bounce off and never grow. God says in the Bible that it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict people of sin (John 16:8) and change their hard heart into a soft one (Eze 36:26). We can’t do that. We can’t yell at someone, or argue with someone, or bribe someone, or do anything to someone to make them believe in Jesus – only the Holy Spirit can do that – which is why we must pray.
So first we show them love, and then we pray that God will make the person’s heart soft so they can hear the words that God gives you to say to them.
Tell Them YOUR Story
The third thing to remember about sharing your faith is that you need to start with your own story. Tell them that you know God and His Son Jesus and what you know from the Bible. Tell them what it means to you that you are a sinner who needs a Saviour. Tell them what it’s like to be a Christian.
You don’t have to make anything up, or tell missionary stories, or try to copy what your pastor or parents say – just tell them what it’s like for you.
- What does it feel like to know you’re forgiven from sin?
- What’s it like to talk to God in prayer?
- What’s it like to know that you are loved no matter what you do?
- What’s it like to have the Holy Spirit inside of you telling you right from wrong?
- What’s it like to be afraid of something, but then pray and know that God is taking care of you?
- What’s it like to know that Jesus has a plan for your life, and that even if bad things happen, He will still take care of you and help you be more like Him?
- What’s it like to be part of His church?
- What’s it like to sing worship songs?
- What’s it like to memorize Bible verses and know that His Word is in your heart?
Tell them your story. God is writing a story in your life and that’s the one that He wants you to tell.
Be Patient
And the fourth thing I want you to remember is that you need to be patient and keep talking about it. They may not get saved the first time you tell them. They may not be ready to turn from their sin. They might be afraid, or confused, or have more questions, or something else. So be patient with them, keep loving them, keep praying for God to open their hearts, and keep talking to them about what God is doing in your life.
There may come a time when you think that you’ve said it too many times – don’t believe it. I know people who heard the gospel for the first time and then gave their life to Jesus right there – and I know people whose friend told them about Jesus for 20 years, 30 years, 40 years before their heart was soft enough for the seed of Jesus’ story to take root. So keep on praying for them. God isn’t finished with them yet.
Yes, sharing our faith can be a little scary sometimes, but some of you have non-Christian friends, or family, or even parents. So my message to you today is to keep loving them, keep praying for them, and keep talking to them about Jesus. That’s what God wants us to keep doing, and that’s how people get saved, so that’s what we should do.
What is a “Good Church”? (Carnivore Theology: Ep 52)
Every Christian wants to attend a “good church”, but we all seem to have different ideas of what a “good church” looks like. The guys take on this question and give a biblical perspective.
Podcast Audio:
Behind the Scenes Video:
How Can You Help Carnivore Theology?
1. Ask us a question in your voice on our SpeakPipe page!
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Response to Buzzfeed’s “I’m Christian, But I’m Not…” (Carnivore Theology: Ep. 44)
What is a Christian Anyway?
Our Response to Buzzfeed’s viral video: “I’m Christian, But I’m Not” answers some important questions: “What is a Christian?” “How do we respond to popular culture’s idea of what a Christian is and isn’t?” “Can a person be a Christian but not follow the Bible?” and “How can we minister to people who call themselves Christians but have a radically different set of beliefs?”
Podcast Audio:
Behind the Scenes Video:
How Can You Help Carnivore Theology?
1. Ask us a question in your voice on our SpeakPipe page!
2. Comment on our Facebook page, Twitter, and iTunes!
3. Share www.CarnivoreTheology.com with your friends. Sharing is caring!
4. Give financially: If you’d like to help us with our productiong costs, send us a financial gift through PayPal by clicking here. (We are not a registered charity, so you won’t get a tax receipt — but you will have the good feelings that come with helping out a friend!)
The Reluctant Doctor (Mark 7:24-30)
The Story of the Reluctant Doctor
Once upon a time there was a doctor of medicine. This doctor was somewhat controversial, in that, though his patients were cured, he used extremely unconventional, even odd ways to cure them – he also had a bit of a mouth on him. He tended to offend people when he spoke, to the point where the city officials and other doctors began to dislike him. At one point he said some things so offensive that they chased him out of town. He left and went all the way to the border, stepped across, taking his staff and his special medicines with him.
He found a house to stay in, but he knew he wasn’t supposed to practice medicine in another country, so he sat in the home, teaching his medical students. One day there was a knock at the door.
A young woman had heard that he had come to their country and was desperate to find him. She had a very sick little daughter who needed him. She’d tried all the doctors of her country and no one could help, but she had heard of this man’s amazing ways and was desperate for him to come and try.
She banged on the door, yelling for him to come out. “Please, I need you help! My daughter is very sick.” The doctor heard from the inside – and did nothing. She kept banging on the door. She looked through windows and saw that he was there – and when they met eyes, he got up and moved to a different room. She wouldn’t relent. She knew that he was her last hope.
She banged on the door even harder, wailing and weeping, calling for the doctor to come and help.
The doctor got up silently, looked at his medical students, and walked out the back door. He had decided to go home. The woman didn’t see him leave, but when she looked through all the windows in the house, she realized it was deserted, and began to run down the road in the hopes of catching him.
Finally, she saw him on the horizon and called out, “Please, help me!” She ran with all her might to catch him, and threw herself down at His feet so he couldn’t take another step. Panting and out of breath, she coughed out the words, “Please… please help me. You’re the only one that can heal my daughter.”
The medical students had had enough. Some were sick of her noise, others were moved to compassion, but they all began to ask the doctor to help the woman’s daughter so she would stop crying and leave them.
The doctor looked down at the woman at his feet, and said, “Why should I help a dog like you? You’re not even from my country. I am saving my medicine to use on my people first.”
She replied, “I may be a dog… but even dogs get to eat scraps from the table. All I’m asking for are some scraps.”
The doctor laughed out loud, lifted the woman from her feet, dug into his medical bag, pulled out a vial of medicine, and handed it to the woman, saying, “You’re right. Here’s the cure to your daughter’s sickness.” She thanked him and they parted ways.
What would you say about that doctor? Is he a good one? Would you call him compassionate? Kind? Loving? Helpful? What words would you have for this man? What do you think Jesus would say to him about his actions?
Jesus is The Reluctant Doctor
“[24] And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. [25] But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. [26] Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. [27] And he said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ [28] But she answered him, ‘Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ [29] And he said to her, ‘For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.’ [30] And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.” (Mark 7:24-37)
Does it surprise you that the doctor from the story is Jesus? This is such a difficult to understand passage to understand, isn’t it? Why would Jesus do that? Why would He say those things? Why did He treat the woman that way? Before we start thinking we know better than Jesus how to handle His affairs, let’s go through the text together and see what’s going on.
Jesus Among the Gentiles
In verse 24 we learn that Jesus leaves His homeland and walks to the border, and beyond, into the gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon. Remember, he’s just had a massive confrontation with the Pharisees about the hypocrisy of their hearts, and, perhaps, that was a good time for a little trip to let things cool off.
When Jesus gets there, He finds a house and though He doesn’t want anyone to know about His presence, even there His fame precedes Him. His plan wasn’t to spend a lot of time ministering to the Gentiles because, He knew He was, first and foremost, “sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15:24).
The Syrophoenician Woman
In verses 25-26 we see the plot thicken. We don’t know how she heard of Him, but we do know that when someone we love gets sick, we all keep our ears open for any chance of helping them, don’t we? This mother was desperately searching for someone who could help her daughter, when she heard that Jesus – the famous Jewish healer, the one who claimed to be the Son of God, the Messiah – was near her.
By now, Jesus and the disciples are used to random, desperate people interrupting Jesus everywhere He goes to ask for help and healing. This story is special because of where it takes place. Mark makes the point to his readers that this woman wasn’t a Jew, she was a Gentile.
The question in the minds of all who would read this for the first time would be: What would Jesus do? How would He react to a gentile in a gentile land? He’s already shown He was willing to interact with Romans who had faith, but they were on Jewish soil. He even talked to Samaritans – but they were a people who held to a form of Judaism. This interaction would be totally different. This is a full-blooded gentile, woman from Syria.
Matthew’s account ups the stakes a bit by reminding his readers that she wasn’t just a gentile, but was, in fact, born and lived among the “Canaanites”, meaning she wasn’t just a gentile, but was from a nation that was an enemy of the Jews, a people that Joshua and the Israelites were supposed to wipe out, but didn’t. Their existence was a mistake and caused trouble for the Jewish people. What would Jesus do with her?
Her reaction to Jesus is surprising. She falls before Jesus, prostrate in grief and reverence. She worships Him. Matthew expands Mark’s telling of what says saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” This was a woman of faith among the Gentiles. She knew who she had come to see. She knew Jesus by reputation, and had worked out that Jesus wasn’t just another miracle worker, but was the Messiah of the Jews. She calls Him “Lord”, submitting herself to Him, and begs for his help.
A Strange Response
Verse 27 is where things go strange. Remember, Mark’s Gospel are the recordings of the sermons and stories of the Apostle Peter, and they are always written in a more action packed way, written to a Gentile audience, skipping some of the details to get right to the heart of the matter. Matthew, on the other hand, gives his Jewish readers a bit more context and a bit more detail so they can see the story in a way that is more meaningful to them.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus does something before he answers her. It says, “But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she is crying out after us.’” (Matthew 15:23)
Consider the implications here. This hurting woman came to his door, begging for help, crying and weeping outside the house in which Jesus sat – and for a while He did… nothing. If you extrapolate from the different versions of this story in the Gospels, we see that Jesus not only ignored her, but in fact, left the house without talking to her. He basically snuck out the back door and she caught Him as He was trying to get away. He was heading home when she came crying behind him.
Even more strangely, Jesus didn’t automatically turn to her out of compassion – as we read about Him doing so many times in other parts of scripture – but it was Jesus’ disciples that seem to convince Him to deal with her.
The question is: Why? Why would Jesus do that? Why would He say those things? Why did He treat the woman that way? Let me give you a couple reasons:
First, this is not so much a miracle story, as it is a teaching story. Jesus doesn’t jump straight to the miracle because He needs to teach His followers something. His intention is to open the eyes of His followers to see the pain of the gentiles. He wants them to begin to understand His heart for the lost, hurting, demonized people that exist everywhere in the world – not just among the Jews. In that moment, Jesus was using that woman to test and expand the disciples hearts.
How? This woman is a representative of all gentiles. She is hurting, broken, demonized, in need of help from God. The question was, “Did the Jewish disciples really care?” and the answer was “No.” See how long it took for them to act. They, like most Jews of the time, thought, “Let them rot in their pagan ways. God has forsaken them, and so shall we.”
But Jesus brings His disciples face to face with an actual gentile woman, that had an actual need, and who desperately wanted help from the God of the Jews – and He waits for them to react. He wants their heart to break like His does. I don’t want to extrapolate from what’s not there, but I would imagine that this teaching time was hard on Jesus. Of course, His instinct would be to heal the daughter of a woman that had faith in Him for help – but there was a bigger plan in place, a bigger lesson to be learned.
It takes the disciples much longer than it should for them to come to Jesus to ask for the healing of this foreigner. She has to cry out, over and over and over, finally falling down in front of them so they can’t take another step, before they begin to feel her plight and start to petition Jesus on her behalf. It says, “…his disciples came and begged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she is crying out after us.’”
For some, it was done out of pity, for others exasperation, but what Jesus wanted them to learn was finally learned. They finally looked at Him and said, “Lord, just do something for this poor woman! It doesn’t matter that she’s a gentile. It doesn’t matter that’s she’s different. It doesn’t matter the history between us. Can’t you see her pain? You must do something. Deal with her. Show her mercy. Give her the grace you’ve given us. Please!”
A Heart for Evangelism
Jesus does for the disciples what He must do to us too. Brings them face to face with lost people. The Salvation Army had a brilliant campaign a while back called” We See What Most Don’t” They see it because they are looking. Jesus needs to teach us to look.
Our heart will not hurt for people only unless we actually get to know people. Our passion for evangelism and missions work will only happen when our hearts break for the lost. And as long as we sit quietly and comfortably, not knowing them, not seeing them, not caring, it’s very easy to forget about them. And as long as we couldn’t care less about them, as long as our hearts remain unmoved, we are never going listen to their cries or share our hope with them.
Most of us will never go to where the hurting and lost people are. We will never bring ourselves there because it is uncomfortable and frightening, and because we have prejudice in our heart. We, like the disciples will never go to where they are – so what does Jesus do? He brings His disciples there. He forces them to go out of there way, out of their comfort zone, out of their country, to be around people the don’t know and don’t understand. Why? So they can actually see, feel, hear and touch, the broken hearted that before, they couldn’t care less about.
Most of us will never listen to the lost. We write them off, ignore them, chastise them, drop tracts off on restaurant tables, argue with them – but how many of us truly listen to them? The disciples couldn’t hear that poor woman. She banged on the door, she pleaded, she ran after them, she dropped at their feet, begging for them to bring her to Jesus – and they didn’t hear. Their prejudice, racism, discrimination, intolerance, preconception, and bigotry made them outright refuse to have anything to do with this broken hearted woman. How long did Jesus have to let her cry before they could actually hear her? How long did the disciples have to stare at her tear-stained face before their hearts were moved?
Not only did Jesus have to bring them to where the hurting and lost were, but he also had to let her suffer right in front of them for a long time, before their hard hearts started to crack.
Most of us don’t go to the lost. Most of us don’t listen to the lost. And most of us don’t act on their behalf. How long did Jesus have to wait before someone stood up on behalf of the hurting woman? The disciples, perhaps like many of us, assume someone else would do it. If Jesus wants to save her, let Him – I don’t want anything to do with her. If Jesus wants to deal with those kinds of people, let Him – I’m staying out of it. If Jesus wants to get involved with someone as messed up and troubled as this, let Him – I’ve got better things to do.
Jesus tells us to go to the hurting and lost, listen to them, help them , and plead for their needs and souls. But just like the disciples – many of us don’t.
The task Jesus gave to the disciples, and to us, in in Acts 1:8 was to be “[His] witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). But that won’t happen unless our heart breaks for the hurting, broken, demonized and lost first. God knows we won’t get involved unless we feel it. We must begin to ask God to give us His heart for the broken and lost – even if it requires us to leave our comfort in order to get to those people.
I was convicted about this in my own life as I read the words of Charles Spurgeon this week who, though he pastored thousands of people, led dozens of ministries, wrote prolifically, and suffered from great bouts of sickness and depression, still agonized over lost and hurting people. “He was consumed with the glory of God and the salvation of men.”
He once said:
“I remember, when I have preached at different times in the country, and sometimes here, that my whole soul has agonized over men, every nerve of my body has been strained and I could have wept my very being out of my eyes and carried my whole frame away in a flood of tears, if I could but win souls.” ()
Neither was Spurgeon ever satisfied with the amount of people that were saved under his ministry. “The year he turned 40 he delivered a message to his pastor’s and teacher’s conference with a one-word title, ‘Forward!’. In it he said,
‘It is all very well to write essays, but what souls have you been the means of saving from going down to hell? Your excellent management of your school interests me, but how many children have been brought into the church by it? We are glad to hear of those special meetings, but how many have really been born to God in them? Are saints edified? Are sinners converted? To swing to and fro on a five-barred gate, is not progress; yet some seem to think that it is. I see them in a kind of perpetual Elysium, humming over to themselves and their friends, ‘We are very comfortable.’ God save us from living in comfort while sinners are sinking into hell! …. In every minister’s life there should be traces of stern labour. Brethren, do something; do something; DO SOMETHING. While Committees waste their time over resolutions, do something. While Societies and Unions are making constitutions, let us win souls. Too often we discuss, and discuss, and discuss, while Satan only laughs in his sleeve, … I pray you, be men of action all of you. Get to work and quit yourselves like men… Our one aim is to save sinners, and this we are not merely to talk about, but to effect in the power of God.” (From Desiring God and Spurgeon)
I admit that I have never felt about the lost the way that Spurgeon felt… and that is a shame to me, and it isn’t right. And I have sought God’s forgiveness for it. We must pray that God gives HIS a heart for the lost, just as Jesus tried to do for the disciples.
A Test of Faith
Jesus’ words and actions in Mark 7:27 obviously have meaning to the woman too. He said, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” That sounds pretty harsh, doesn’t it? “Dogs” was a common name that Jews would call Gentiles, and the gentiles knew it.
The meaning of what Jesus is saying is that the Jews took precedence over the gentiles during Jesus’ earthly ministry. He came for them first, just like in a family, the children get fed before the dogs do. The children are the Jews, you and I and all the gentiles, are the dogs. Paul repeated this in Romans 1:16 when he said that the Gospel was “first for the Jew, then for the Gentile”. If it makes you feel better, some translations will use the word “puppies”, implying a house pet rather than a dirty, scavenging, street-dog. Not much better though, is it?
The harshness of Jesus words were not an accident, nor were they racist. This is the second reason Jesus said what he did: His words were a test the woman’s faith in God, understanding of who Jesus is, and her place in the Kingdom of God. It was a short, but very meaningful conversation.
Our problem though is that sometimes Jesus’ claims, words, and plans cause us to rankle. His words are not comfortable, not politically correct, and go against our human wisdom. He annoys us with His exclusivity – why can’t He be more open minded? He frustrates us with His timeline – why can’t He be quicker? He says things, and tell us to say things, that get us into trouble – why can’t He just let us fly under the radar? He tells us to do things we don’t want to do – why won’t He just let me do things my way?
That’s all true – but the answer is: He’s Jesus, we’re Not. God is God, and I am not. His question is, “Even if you don’t agree with me, even if you don’t like it, even if you think you’re way is better, how will we respond to what I’m saying? Faith, fight or flight?
Her Response
Her response in Verse 28 is what our response should be when Jesus says something difficult to us. What would you have done? Honestly? Called Him a sexist jerk? Walked away saying, “Well, if you’re going to be like that I don’t want your help!”? Lodged a formal complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission? Sued him for slander?
What does she do? She doesn’t argue, but instead, response with humility. She actually accepts her place as a gentile, second to the Jews. She humbles herself, calling Him Lord and herself a “dog”… but yet keeps asking for help.
That’s the kind of relationship that God desires we have with Him – and it causes us no end of frustration, because it means that we have to admit that He is Lord, and we’re a dog that is begging for scraps. It means we have to admit that we don’t deserve His grace. It means we have to humble ourselves before Him, prostrate on the ground– and yet stay persistent in prayer, asking for His help, because He’s the only one who can. We want to manipulate Him, force Him, make Him explain Himself – but we can’t. He’s God, we’re not.
We don’t turn away from Him, but keep knocking on His door, asking for salvation, asking for mercy, asking for a miracle because He’s the only one that can do it. There is nowhere else to turn!
Can you pray that prayer? “Yes, Jesus I know I don’t deserve to have you around me. I know you don’t belong here because you are holy and I am not. But I also know that You are good. I know I don’t deserve it, but I also know you are merciful, and I need your help. “
That kind of humility, the admission that we are dogs, sinners, undeserving, barely worthy of the crumbs off a Jewish family’s table, goes against our nature –even as Christians. We’re so used to the Bible verses that tell us we are loved, chosen, desired, predestined, children of God… but we must, must, must remember where we started. Our ancestors rejected God, God’s people, God’s law, and God’s prophets. We rejected Jesus when He came to earth – most of us to ignorant to care, others had ancestors that were involved in His crucifixion. We who sit here today belonged outside of God’s people – but God invited us inside. We deserved nothing, He offered us eternal life.
In the account in Matthew it says that when she caught up to him, she fell at his feet and said three words, “Lord, Help me.” Similar words were spoken by the tax collector who refused to look up to pray, but looked down low, beat his chest and said, “Have mercy on me a sinner.” (Luke 18:13) Words like these were spoken by Isaiah who looked at the holiness of God and said, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5) These are the words of Peter who saw the glory of Jesus and fell down before Jesus saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8)
It is that kind of heart that Jesus wants, that Jesus saves, that moves God’s hand.
Application
In verses 29-30 we see Jesus’ response to her humility. He commends her for her humility and works the miracle she has asked for. She goes home to a healed child, and Jesus heads back home.
This is a difficult to understand story at first, and a difficult interaction for us to read – because of the pain of the woman, the hard hearts of the disciples, the patience of Jesus watching her suffer and waiting to help her – but hopefully we see that God used this moment in time for so much good. It’s hard watch God allowing someone to suffer, isn’t it?
Sometimes our troubles seem to make no sense to us. We ask the same questions that woman must have asked: Why would God allow this child to be demonized? Why would God allow one of our loved ones to suffer? Why would she have to travel so far to meet Jesus? Why doesn’t God just come to us where we’re at, instead of making us come to Him? Why would Jesus walk away from her, make her chase Him down the road, weeping after Him, insult her when she finally catches up, embarrass her in front of the disciples, and then test her resolve, when all she wanted was to have her baby back? Why does God put us through so much trial and trouble?
I can’t answer that question for your situation, but hopefully this story helps us to be able to trust that God knows what He’s doing.
This woman was put through all that trouble:
- So a group of disciples would learn compassion and be affected by her plight – and the plight of all lost souls and hurting people. It allowed them to understand a portion of Jesus’ heart for the hurting and the lost, something they didn’t have before. Because of her suffering many, many more people would be saved through the compassion of those same disciples.
- To show the disciples, and all believers that would read the Gospels, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not bound by borders and race. God’s plan for salvation would expand far beyond the small land of Judea, and our small corner of the world. Because of this woman’s journey, and her daughter’s suffering, we can learn that God detests racism and that His love is all-encompassing.
- She had to wait for so long, and go through so much to get His attention, so that the testimony of her humility would be an example to all people for all time for how we are to pray and keep praying. Her persistence in asking, seeking and knocking (Matthew 7:7) would be an example to all believers in their prayer life.
- Her tears were not wasted, nor was her daughter’s pain. Through it Jesus’ was able to show His power over demons, demonstrate His ability to heal over great distances, increase the woman’s faith, and deepen the disciples understanding of who Jesus was.
- And through her story, condemnation was brought upon the sins of the Jewish Religious experts, the Pharisees, Sadducees, Elders, and Scribes who claimed to know God, but didn’t understand Jesus 1/100 as well as this gentile mother did.
