Full Text for An Evangelistic Ministry (Text)

THE SPRINGFIELDER April 1974 Volume 38, Number 2 An Evangelistic Ministry Or. Kolh is the executive secretary of thc 13oar~.I of E~-ullgelisn~. of tlzc Lztthcmn Chzrrch-A4issozlri Sy~?orE. ERWIN J. I' YO I., n All. address riclivcrerl at the Se~zior Uawg~.crt Izcld ut (:o~col-ciiu 'I'lzcologic*td Scw~inary on Aj'ril 2 8, 1 9 73. I COLINT IT i\. I'RIVILEGE to be able to spcalc to you who ;Ire abo~~t to en ter the office of the professional ~ninistry of thc Ch~~rch. I want to say congratulations ;tnd wish for you all exciting ;n~d nienn- ingful mi~~istry. Tl~ere is only one way I ]lc want a personal religion. 'T'liat l;i~~(l of cvangclisrn which is pcrsonal must begill wit11 the pastel-. 111 our i~llpersonal society it is cilsy for tlrc pastor to !el SO caught LI~ in organization and ,administration that he too begins to forget l~t'oplc 1Il.ast fall 'I licard Rev. F,d\vard Bertram spealt at n mission to the rnin isters of the district-wide .tvcck of ope11 housc services held ill h:licliipan. EIc lias been a ~~iissionary j11 Taiwan for 12 years. Now hc 11ad heen baclz visiting aiid spealzing in various plaocs in tl~c U~~ited States. The pastors asked hinl to sllare his imlmssions of totlity's pastor. first co~nment was that: hc \\Ins s~irprised at 110~1 J'i11perso11a1 so niany p;lstors were. Thcy wear masks. 'T'licy livc up to the il~lage they thinlz others expect of thein, even in front of othcr pastors. Evangelism niust be personal, beginning wit11 the pastor. 3. Evazlgelisnz IPLZLS~: 77e ~vhole Thirdly, evangelism must be whole. Man is more than a body. He is il person with mental and spiritual, psychological and social needs as well as physical. Evangelism, that offer of good news, for- giveness, life and salvation, must take into consideration the whole Inan with ,711 of his neecls. It must deal with his life situation, with- out, however, forgetting the spiritual. The church has bccn stniggling with this for many years, the tension bet~vcen n.ortl and cleecl in e\?angclism, bct~vecn traditional e\langelisni ivhich emphasizes personal salvation and a11 evangelism wliich clenls onl! with bettering the ph~7sical condition of people by seeliing to change social and poli,tical structures. This is what evan- gelical Christians arountl the world see as the failure of the Com- mission on \Vorld Mission ancl Elvangelism of the iVorld Council of ancl t.hy they lvill meet in :I separate congress on world evangelization this summer at Lausanne. Talte an illustration. In a bulIeti11 of the American Friends Service C:onirnittee there \rias a description of the ~vorlcl as a global \;illagc of 100 people. Of these hundred people 70 are not nblc to read; 1 has hacl a college etlucation; 50 suft'er malnutrition; 80 live ill substandarc1 housing; 6 are A~nericans ancl thosc 6 control half tlie ~villagc inconic'. That is all important ant1 as Christians we are concernctl itbout chiinging that scene. But what too nian)? in the churcli I-lave been nfraicl to add to that picture is that of those 100 in the 1 73 n.otilc1 not know Jesus Christ as 1.orcl :ilid Savior, and if tli;tt 1s true, the only thing I Itno~v for then] is an eternity of Iiell. 'Too long we have reacted to abuse on either side of this ques- tion ancl triecl to put one sicle against the other. Rev. Schwarzen- tr~il~er, Ixlstor of Bethcsda Rlennonite Church in iVard 19 in St. T.,ouis, :I changing coi~~niunit\., tells of ~yisiting an 80-ycar-old ~\~o~~ian onc it~t!. 11.ho complained of sore feet. He examined them antl dis- coverccl open sores that had n1ag.gots in them. Me asks "U'liat shall 1 (103 Tcll her she must belie\,e In Jesus, or wash her feet?" That's ;In unfair question. It is not either-or but both-and. M7e clean the clirt\. fcct, hut nVc also share the good news of nl~untlant Iifc hc.1-e and no\!: antl f'orc\:er. 4. El~a~~gelisill rrzrrst bc for c117e;-?olzc So c\'angelisn~, 1ve arc sa~ing, must be first, it must I)e personal, 1t ~ii~ist 1)~' nhole, and non, thc last point, adds that evangelism is not only the concern of the pastor, but of every Christian, e.c 'tr . J man, itoman, ancl cliild who knows Jcsus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is for eiJcr!one. Oscar Fcucht in a neir paperback emphasi7es this in the title, E17er1,lnnn n Illislister. It is an explanation and applicatiorl of the lxiestl~(iod of all believers. Ever~r Christian is a priest, we have said since thc Reformation, uho can ;cad his own Bible and say his o~4~n I>ra!rcrs, but we need to apply that also to sharing his faith with others. In A Stztdy of Generatio~zs scale 21 dealt with evangelism. It used such cluestions as: In the last year how often did you invite someone to chr~rch, share your faith with a Christian or a non- Christian, gi\le a tract, visit sonleone's home. The conclusion of the researchers was that half of thc L~~therans in this country do some witnessing, but that onl\ 10% tlo anv considerable amount of it. As I read the book of Acts 1 get the distinct impression that all the la\$ pcoplc i.cvhcrc\ler the\, .event shared the good new that the\ llatl. 'lo0 % thcn - 10 G/c no;!.. ilrhy? \\'hen 1 ~SI< th;\t question of (rroups of 1iiv people and let thc.ln ? discuss it in small groups, I can write two reasbns on the blackboard that I Itnow will appear on the top of anv list they draw up. The same two reasons sorface ow and over. hose are: (1) fear of being rejected or being consitlered a fanatic; and (2) fear of not kno\ring what to say. 'The! first one is relatecl to a willingness to pa\; thc yricc of being a com~nittcd Christian. Thc secorld onc lies in *the whole attitutle of the church today to\vard the great commission. 'I*'hinl< of the average member of the Lutheran Church-RiIis- souri Svnod who has gonc regularlrr to Suncla!- school, to churcl~, a~lil confirn;ation instruction. D! the tiklc hc is 30 vears old be will ]lave I had oj7c.r 2000 hours of religion, formal religious instruction, illld 1 worship in atldition to the Ziblc reading 11c had in holne de~:otions and personal stud\;. Noiv ivhy is that person with over 2000 hours ~11labIe to share \\-hat he belicvcs and what thc chul-ch tenchcs? 'T11c fault must lic. with thc attitude that shal?c and education-to niotivate and pI.cj3nre for outreach. \\'lien wur ~ninistrj. captures that lzision vo~i ~vill be nblc to experience t11c nicaningf;~l, csci ting, happ!. ministry that I thil~li St. I'aul hac'l. Hc s~~mmccl his nttituclc up in the verse I \1~;1nt to leave ~vith !.oLr r.1~ JI~\. tcxt: Acts 20: 34 : "1 I-cckon ~m! life to be worth nothing to nlc, in orclcr that I In;i\ con~plctc In\ missioa ant1 finish thc worli thc 1 .ortl J~SLIS ga\c me to (lo. ~~'hich is to tlcclarr the good news of thc gracc of (;od."