People Need the Lord … (October 2019 Update)
Evangelism is the life blood of Christianity. Every generation is responsible for sharing the gospel. As Dr. E. Stanley Jones once said, “God doesn’t have grandchildren.” Because spiritual life is not passed on when God’s spiritual children have physical children. Each person must hear the gospel and respond. No one is saved by being in a good Christian family. That’s why it is important that we share the gospel with people. For “how shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14)
Evangelism is our responsibility. But evangelism today is often done wrongly. In our class, we talked examined the methods Jesus used and Paul’s theology of the gospel to better understand evangelism. But we also looked at some wrong approaches to evangelism. Here are a few.
First, we are using a wrong approach to evangelism whenever we focus on Programs rather than People. Unfortunately, most evangelical churches think about programs when they think about evangelism. But when we focus on programs, we are ignoring the needs of people all around us. In fact, programs are often a hinderance to personal evangelism because people think evangelism is something a church should do. No, it is something people should do. Evangelism is to be personal. One person sharing the truth about Jesus with another. Charles Spurgeon said that evangelism was simply “One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” That’s a good definition! Evangelism is about people – not programs.
Second, another wrong approach to evangelism is when we focus on Entertainment rather than Truth. There is nothing wrong with using entertainment to create bridges to reach people with the gospel. But if the entertainment obscures the gospel, then we are not doing biblical evangelism. Our focus should be on the truth of the gospel, not on providing attractive entertainment. In his article, “How to Attract a Congregation,” Charles Spurgeon wrote, “I believe that the best, surest, and most permanent way to fill a place of worship is to preach the gospel, and to preach it in a natural, simple, interesting, earnest way. The gospel itself has a singularly fascinating power about it, and unless impeded by an unworthy delivery, or by some other great evil, it will win its own way.” While there is some value to using entertainment to bring people to hear the gospel, entertainment cannot become our focus. Sharing gospel truth must always remain our main goal.
Third, evangelism is wrong whenever we focus on Numbers rather than Faithfulness. God has not given us a “holy quota” that each person must reach. Instead, He has told us to go and share the gospel. We are not measured by our effectiveness but by our faithfulness. We each have different gifts, different personalities, and different spheres of influence. Some will lead many to Christ; others may lead few to Christ. The one essential of a servant is that he be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). This is most clearly seen in the lives of many missionaries. William Cary labored in India for 7 years before he saw his first convert! After 41 years of ministry there, his entire mission could only count about 700 converts. Yet he was faithful to keep sharing the gospel. Don’t ask how many converts you have made. Ask if you are being faithful to regularly share the gospel.
Fourth, evangelism is wrong when we focus on Man rather than on God. Many evangelistic approaches today focus on man’s happiness and talk about the benefits of becoming a Christian. Jesus told people to cost the cost. Paul warned people that “all who intend to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” Evangelism must present a holy God who will punish sin. Becoming a Christian is not about getting a better life. It is about bowing down before the Lord of the Universe and accepting His sacrifice for sin. Whenever evangelism ignores sin or the holiness of God, we are focusing on man rather than on God.
But what is the best method of sharing the gospel? That’s hard to say. Some methods are okay, some are good and others are better. One person once said to D. L. Moody, “I don’t like your method of evangelism!” Moody said, “Okay. What’s your method?” The man responded, “Oh, I don’t have one.” Moody replied, “I like my method better than yours.” Any method is better than no method of all. There are many wrong approaches but the one approach that is the worst is to not share the gospel. I like the old song that Steve Green used to sing: “People need the Lord. When we realize, that we must give our lives, for people need the Lord.”
Teaching Evangelism – And then Prayer and Worship …
After teaching Prayer and Worship at the beginning of September to the 4th year pastoral ministry students and to the church planting students, I had the joy of teaching 2nd year students in those same programs. This time I taught the class on Evangelism which I worked on this summer.
The class went very well. We spent a lot of time looking at the evangelistic methods of Jesus and the apostles and comparing them to today. Each morning, we focused on Biblical and theological concepts about evangelism. Each afternoon, we worked on the practice of evangelism. The students worked on sharing testimonies, one verse evangelism, and other methods of evangelism. On Wednesday and Thursday, we focused on Apologetics and discussed answers to various objections to Christianity.
One afternoon, we went into the streets to do some survey evangelism. This is normally the hardest type of evangelism. None of the students had ever done this type of evangelism and they were skeptical about doing it. We were able to speak to a number of people about their religious beliefs and gave out a number of biblical tracts. When we returned, they all said that loved it and felt it would be a good approach to use in their own churches.
During the week, we also talked a lot about creating a culture of evangelism. We discussed lifestyle evangelism and its benefits and learned about starting evangelistic conversation. We looked at the importance of hospitality in the church, especially in creating an atmosphere where visitors feel truly welcomed.
Finally, on Friday, the students made their group presentations on various target groups. Each group researched a particular target or people group and shared with the class on how we can share the gospel with that particular group. We had presentations on witnessing to Jewish people, to Muslims, to Jehovah’s Witnesses, to Postmodern people, and to atheists. All the presentations were excellent.
We finished the class on Friday and on Saturday, I headed to the train station to travel to Lviv where I am now teaching a class on Prayer and Worship. I will have 53 students in this class! I’m already very tired after teaching all week in Kyiv but I am excited to be sharing with this class of new students at Ukrainian Baptist Seminary here in Lviv. Be praying for my strength as I teach.
Family …
Our girls are really doing well in school and loving their lessons. Both girls are now reading and they are excited about learning to read more. They also love doing science experiments and examining the world God created.
We have already had our first frost and have below freezing temperature most nights. That means we are already burning wood for heat and starting to collect walnuts. We are gathering what are probably the last of our tomatoes off the vine for this year. We are prepared for winter but really wish we had a few more warm days.
Katya’s mother just retired this past week and her children presented their last drama under her leadership. They performed a play by Max Lucado called “You are Special.” Our girls loved seeing the play and even got to be in a picture with grandma and the cast.
I had my 65th birthday this year and I definitely feel that I am slowing down (or at least need to). Probably my health problems are more of a factor than my age. This year has been one of the hardest for me and I have much less energy than I have ever had before. I continue to pray that I can teach and equip others here at least another 5 or 6 years. But all of that really depends on my health. One humorous note: whenever I leave in the car, Nadia comes running out and says, “Papa, wait. I want to tell you something: Don’t forget to come back.” I hope it will be many years before that is my problem!
Praying for Ukraine …
Continue praying for Ukraine. It is hard to say what is happening under the new administration here. They are trying to negotiate with Russia for the return of the territories in the east but Russia only makes demands and then increases the attacks on Ukraine. We are seeing 1 soldier killed every single day. This is all during a “ceasefire.” We are hoping too that Ukraine will deal with its second biggest problem: corruption. Ukraine is in the news again because of the Donald Trump phone call. That’s not the best reason, but maybe now the US and other countries will stand more openly with Ukraine against Russian aggression.
Thanks for praying for us. It is hard to believe that this is my 23rd year of teaching in Ukraine! During these years, I’ve taught students from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and France during these years. It is often hard to imagine that I would have such an opportunity to teach so many! I don’t know how many more years the Lord will give me but I hope that I can keep helping to equip Ukrainians and others to share the gospel and lead their churches in their culture. Thank you for being partners with us as we train and equip others.
By His Grace,
Jim and Katya
Kristina and Nadia
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