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Editor’s Note

Jonathan Leeman

EVANGELISM CASE STUDIES

Evangelism in the Workplace

Counsel on workplace evangelism from someone whose faith is the fruit of workplace evangelism.

By Ashok Nachnani

Reaching the “Converted”

Some of pastors’ most obvious evangelistic opportunities are with members of our churches. But how can we reach them?

By Bob Johnson

Evangelism across Economic Boundaries

The first lesson in evangelizing across economic boundaries? We’re not all that different.

By Mike McKinley

How Can Churches Evangelize their Neighborhoods?

How can you reach those near your church, especially when most members don’t live there?

By Jeff Cavanaugh

Three Lessons for Cross-Cultural Evangelism

How can you evangelize across cultures? Communicate clearly, proclaim the Word, use the church.

By John Folmar

Evangelizing the Nations at Home

Four lessons from one church’s efforts to reach internationals in its own metro area.

By Andy Johnson

The Gospel for a Gay Friend

The beauty of the gospel is that it addresses every area of their life, not just one expression of the fall.

By Garrett Kell

Evangelism without an Altar Call

Wait, you can do evangelism without an altar call? Read on.

By Aaron Menikoff

QUICK ANSWERS ON EVANGELISM

What is evangelism?

Who should evangelize?

How can a pastor develop a church’s corporate evangelistic witness?

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Review: The Pastor’s Justification

By Jared Wilson

Reviewed by Bob Johnson

Book Review: The Bruised Reed

By Richard Sibbes

Reviewed by Nick Roark

Book Review: Worship Leaders, We Are Not Rock Stars

By Stephen Miller

Reviewed by Matt Merker

Book Review: The Master Plan of Evangelism

By Robert Coleman

Reviewed by Nik Lingle

Book Review: Manual of Church Order

By John L. Dagg

Reviewed by John Power

Audio

Christianity around the World with J.D. Greear, Danny Akin, Thabiti Anyabwile, Peter Williams, and John Folmar

Prosperity gospel, persecution, changing cultural tides, a rising generation of convictional pastors, and more in this roundtable discussion on the church in America and abroad.

Posted on November 1, 2013 *Listen Online Now »

Reaching the Unreached with Kevin DeYoung, Al Mohler, David Platt, and Mack Stiles

A roundtable discussion on the Great Commission, sending, calling, prayer, patience, and more with the leaders of the Cross Conference.

Posted on October, 2013 *Listen Online Now »

* This audio might not be supported by your particular device

Editor’s Note

Jonathan Leeman

Christians in the West today face growing social and political opposition. And this makes many of us nervous about evangelism. One member of my church explained how, in a prior job, he hit a glass ceiling while his evangelical friends in the firm kept being promoted. The difference? They kept quiet about their faith, while he evangelized. Now, in the new job, he was confessing his fear and asking me to pray for boldness.

In such a time as ours, we might learn from historian Samuel Hugh Moffett, who narrates the dramatic diminution of Christianity under Muslim persecution in Asia in the Middle Ages in his magisterial A History of Christianity in Asia. He draws this conclusion: “The church might have better withstood violence. Sharp persecution breaks off only the tips of the branches; it produces martyrs and the tree still grows. Never-ending social and political repression, on the other hand, starves the roots; it stifles evangelism and the church declines” (Vol. 1: Beginnings to 1500, Orbis, p. 504).

The lesson: let them fire you and maybe kill your pastors, but you keep on evangelizing. Else the church really could whither, even vanish, from the land.

In the middle of a recent elders’ discussion about something or other—the church budget, I think it was—Mark Dever leaned over to me and randomly whispered, “The more elders we have, the harder it will be to get rid of us.”

There it is. That’s the spirit.

Dever’s mentor, Richard Sibbes, offered this encouragement amidst such dour earthly expectations: “Cast yourself into the arms of Christ, and if you perish, perish there” (The Bruised Reed, Puritan Paperbacks, 63).

So, friends, let’s press on to share the gospel—winsomely, sensitively, awkwardly, boldly, charismatically, timidly, sophisticatedly…whatever. Just share it.

We thought about cultivating a culture of evangelism in the last issue of the 9Marks Journal. In this issue, we want to get even more practical by thinking about how to evangelize in different contexts: in the workplace, in your church, in your neighborhood, in a cross-cultural setting, across economic boundaries, with internationals in your own city, and without an altar call (what?!). We also address an issue of growing concern for many Christians: how do you share the gospel with a gay friend?

Cultures and nations rise and fall. The world will treat us sometimes better, sometimes worse. But whether the social trend lines are moving up or down, we must not stop sharing the good news of the one king whose promises are all true and all good.

Evangelism in the Workplace

By Ashok Nachnani

As cultural opposition toward Christianity grows, what is its effect on your evangelism at work? Are you more faithful or more fearful?

You could hardly be blamed for being more fearful. The rapid advance of social liberalism and human resources policies promoting workplace “tolerance” only exacerbate the two fears we commonly cite for not sharing the gospel with our co-workers: fear of social harm and fear of career repercussions, like job loss or career stalls.

Evangelism has always been hard. If there is anything new about our challenges today, it’s how emboldened the opposition seems to be. Non-Christians used to say “To each his own.” Now they are just as likely to accuse us of stupidity (“Seriously, you don’t believe in evolution?”) or hateful bigotry (“How dare you say homosexuality is a sin?”). Employers increasingly do rigorous social media background checks before making hiring and promotion decisions. How long before companies who are fearful of workplace harassment and discrimination pass over the more visible Christian for someone who makes fewer waves?

In spite of all this, I am so grateful for the brothers who feared God more than man and shared the gospel with me. My own faith is the fruit of workplace evangelism.

LOST, AND FOUND IN THE WORKPLACE

Twelve years ago, I was a researcher at a mid-sized consulting firm in Washington, DC. I was a self-confident, self-sufficient, professionally-prospering Hindu. You wouldn’t have assumed I was spiritually uncertain. Frankly, I didn’t know I was spiritually uncertain. What I was not was a guy who was actively seeking Christ.

Enter my Christian colleague Hunter. Well-known and well-liked around the office, Hunter was a high-performing sales guy with a range of interests. Someone told me, “He’s a Christian, ya’ know.” Neither one of us knew for sure what that meant, but both of us believed it was relevant enough to add a knowing, “Huh.”

I did know Hunter didn’t fit the mold of a Christian that I had mentally constructed. Christians were nice, old-fashioned, hypocritical, one-note tunes. Hunter wasn’t that. So I started watching him.

We became friends. We spent time together and talked about a range of topics—The Simpsons, Lord of the Rings, Christ, Krishna, coffee, work. While the Lord used Hunter to pursue me, I never felt like a project, just a friend. As only God can do, he providentially arranged for Hunter to be there at the same time that God orchestrated a spiritual crisis in my life. And he gave Hunter the wisdom and boldness to speak truth into my life when I needed it most.

BEHAVIORS OF A WORKPLACE EVANGELIST

While young in the faith himself at the time, there is much about Hunter’s example that any believer can apply in a workplace setting.

1. Put Christ on the Table

First, put Christ on the table. Because it can be rare to meet Christians in the workplace, it is essential that people in your office know that you are a follower of Christ. That way you can make yourself available to weaker believers and an example to non-believers. It was a non-Christian colleague who told me about Hunter’s faith. Obviously we should not do this obnoxiously or irresponsibly, but by recounting your weekend, describing a Bible study that you are in, or sharing how you pray for others, people will soon know.

2. Work with Excellence

Second, work with excellence. When you put Christ on the table, expect to be studied by your peers as I studied Hunter. Work in a way that reflects the creativity, purpose, and goodness of God. Demonstrate faithfulness and integrity. Work “without grumbling or complaining” (Phil. 2:14). Submit to those in authority, and serve humbly.

This in itself isn’t evangelism, but the content of our lives at work should reinforce, not undermine, the content of the gospel message we share.

3. Love your Peers

Third, love your peers. Invest in friendships with non-Christians in your workplace, not perfunctorily as “projects,” but lovingly as those made in God’s image. Don’t underestimate the importance of trust. Consider that it was a year and a half after Hunter and I met that we studied the Bible together and God gave me ears for the gospel.

Use your lunch break strategically. As you’re able, make generous use of hospitality, where you can share your life with a colleague away from the office and the usual chit-chat and office banter.

4. Prepare to Evangelize

Fourth, prepare to evangelize. As silly as this may sound, be sure you know how to easily explain the gospel. Practice if you need to.

When the Lord provides an opportunity, you don’t want your inner voice screaming at you for being unclear—you want your mind free to listen to your colleague and what they are struggling to understand. After all, it is the gospel that saves, not our quick wit and strong grasp of apologetics. I praise God for Hunter’s clarity, boldness, and trust in power of the gospel.

5. Pray

Fifth, pray. Pray for your colleagues regularly. Pray for good opportunities to share the gospel. Pray that you would grow in boldness. Pray that God would be big and man would be small—we’re all guilty of getting the two mixed up.

And invite brothers and sisters in your church to pray as well. Hunter later told me that his men’s Bible study group was praying for me from the moment I asked him about his Christian faith.

A CALL TO FAITHFULNESS

As workplaces grow more hostile to Christianity, these basic practices will be all the more essential. The Lord has been kind to answer my many prayers for good opportunities and the words to speak. Being known as a Christian, living out my faith professionally and interpersonally, and loving my colleagues more as God’s image-bearers has gained me opportunities to speak openly of my faith. And, in his amazing grace, God has chosen to use me to bring a colleague to faith.

We should expect the Lord to answer our prayers and grant us opportunities to speak of Christ, so pray for boldness. And be willing to spend your relational capital. God has put you where you are for a purpose.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ashok Nachnani is an elder at First Baptist Church in Durham, NC, and a strategy executive at a multinational energy management company.

Reaching the “Converted”

By Bob Johnson

Some of our most obvious evangelistic opportunities are with the people who are members of our churches. You already have a relationship with them. You already have the advantage of consistently telling them the gospel. You also have some God-ordained opportunities to personally point them to Christ.

Paul warned the elders of the church at Ephesus that fierce wolves would come in among them and seek to do great damage to the flock (Acts 20:29). Christ warned several of the churches in Revelation 2-3 that they had unbelievers in their number. If these churches had unbelievers in them, we probably have some in ours too. But, how do we reach them?

HOW TO REACH UNCONVERTED MEMBERS

I am assuming that you are faithfully preaching the gospel and pointing your people to Christ. The effect of faithful gospel preaching is like napalm: it has a way of wiping out everything else. But, in order to conquer, you still need to ground troops. So, while you are joyfully preaching Christ, pursue these steps as well.

1. Pray about the conversions of your church members.

First, pray about the conversions of your church members. Pray that God would distinguish the posers from the possessors. Most of you, I would assume, publicly pray at the beginning and conclusion of your preaching. These are wonderful opportunities to pray about this critical matter—that people would not rely on their membership as giving them a right status before God, but that all would be truly repentant and trusting in Christ.

2. Preach about the conversion of your church members.

Second, preach about the conversion of your church members. If you are preaching expositionally, you can’t preach too many sermons before you run into the issue of false conversions. In your preaching, illustrate the point with stories from your own church family.

When someone gets baptized, we give them the opportunity to explain the gospel and how they came to faith in Christ. Last month, David told our church family how he had pretended for years to be a believer. His story is a great example that I refer to often.

3. Be aware of this in counseling.

Third, be aware of this in counseling. Devin (not his real name) and his wife met with me for some marriage counseling. Devin was not all that interested since, as he eventually revealed, he thought he had found someone else. One Sunday, I stopped him after the service and told him that if continued down that road, he needed to know that he could no longer confidently claim to be a follower of Christ. In fact, his determination to pursue this adulterous relationship may be an indication that he had never become a genuine follower of Christ.

Devin did not repent, but Greg (not his real name) did. Greg met a girl on a business trip and was ready to leave his wife and kids over her. I sat at his kitchen table one night and asked him what would it be, Christ or the girl, because he could not have both. Although Greg had professed faith and joined the church many years before, his life had demonstrated very little gospel fruit. Greg bowed the knee of his heart to Christ and by the grace of God, he was not only redeemed, but his marriage was rescued.

4. Be aware of this in hospital visits and other life and death situations.

Fourth, be aware of this in hospital visits and other life and death situations. Chuck (his real name) was in the hospital. The doctor had just told him that there was nothing left that could be done for his heart. He had already outlived the expectations, but the end was near. Chuck was a successful businessman and had been involved in many Christian organizations. In previous churches he had served on boards and taught classes. Now he was dying and he was terrified.

Chuck carried around a secret that very few people knew. During World War II he flew bombing missions over Japan, dropping thousands of pounds upon that country. He knew that he had killed hundreds if not thousands of people. On his 24th mission, his plane was shot up pretty badly, but he was able to get it back to base. His co-pilot, however, died. Chuck was eligible to go home after his 25th mission, but he was so angry about the death of his co-pilot that he signed up for another 25 missions and then yet another 25 missions so that he could kill more Japanese. And he did. After 76 missions, he finally went back home.

On his way back to Michigan, he was at a base in California where he met some Japanese prisoners of war. Some of them were very kind and told him that they did not want the war. They just wanted to go back to their home as well. They showed him pictures of wives and children. Chuck’s anger turned to fear. He assumed that he had killed some of their wives and children. He began to realize that he had not only killed civilians, but he had signed up to do it.

Now, sixty years later, the reality of facing God revealed his deepest fear. He would die and be condemned to hell. Chuck finished his story, tucked his knees under his arms, turned away from me and stared at the wall. His frail body made even a hospital bed look big. Chuck had heard me preach the gospel for years. But that day it was obvious that while he thought it was true, it just wasn’t true for him. His case was different.

I sat silent and tried to imagine the weight of his guilt and then said, “Chuck, you are a big sinner, but Jesus is a bigger Savior than you are a sinner.” Chuck responded like he had been hit by lightning. He looked at me like he had heard this for the very first time. His eyes got big, his face was animated, and he said, “That’s it, isn’t it?! Jesus is a bigger Savior than I am a sinner.”

Chuck died two weeks later. The joy of his life in those last two weeks made it evident to everyone who visited him that his chains were broken. His heart was free.

Your members will let you in to some of their most private thoughts. You may discover that what they need is to believe in Christ—for the very first time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bob Johnson is the senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Roseville, Michigan.

Evangelism Across Economic Boundaries

By Mike McKinley

Let’s be honest. When churches talk about “reaching out across socio-economic boundaries,” they are talking about middle class (and higher) people reaching out to poorer folks. You don’t see many run-down churches in economically depressed areas starting outreach programs for Volvo-driving soccer moms who live in housing developments with names like “The Pines at Oakbrooke Gables.” I don’t know, maybe they should.

In any case, a lot of churches find the socio-economic barrier to be the most difficult one to overcome in their evangelism. Ethnic barriers, by contrast, are more obvious, and mature congregations will sensitively work to ensure they don’t create division in the church. But so-called “class” differences can be subtler. People from different socio-economic backgrounds might look the same and speak the same language but still have a very difference experience of daily life.

A FEW LESSONS

Here are a few things that I’ve learned from leading a church that is trying to reach out to folks from different backgrounds.

1. We’re not all that different

First, we’re not all that different. It can be intimidating to try and build relationships with people who experience life differently, especially in things that can seem so important: clothing, work, education, expectations, living arrangements. But in reality, such matters are a tiny fraction of what makes us who we are.

You probably have a tremendous amount in common even with people that seem very different from you. Everyone—perhaps with the exception of a few Brits I’ve known—wants to be loved, known, and accepted. We all love our children and are grateful to people who are kind to them. We are all prone to worry about what the future holds. But most importantly, we are all “in Adam” and in desperate need of a savior (1 Cor. 15:22).

Churches who want to reach out across socio-economic boundaries need to make their first step towards others on the basis of these commonalities. It’s fairly simple: treat other people with unfeigned sympathy and respect, as fellow travelers to the grave (to steal a phrase from Dickens). This approach will help prevent the sense of condescension that flavors and spoils a lot of well-meaning attempts to reach across class lines.

2. It helps to be a blessing

Second, it helps to be a blessing.

You really don’t want to build your outreach solely on the basis of giving people things—food, money, gas cards. Those things can be helpful, but if that’s all you do, you are giving people the chance to come for just the handout and remain unchallenged by the source of the love behind the handout. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use the resources the Lord has given you to help build connections with others. A few examples:

- A Christianity Explored course for people from the local homeless shelter begins with a home-cooked meal in a church member’s home. For some people living in a shelter, it is real blessing to eat a home-cooked meal in someone’s dining room. It feels normal; it feels good. It is much easier to start conversations and build relationships over a good meal.

- A grandmother is opposed to her child participating in our youth outreach because she is suspicious of Americans. When we dropped her granddaughter off after a meeting, we sent her with a couple of bags of groceries from our food pantry. After that, we were greeted with smiles when we dropped by to pick up her granddaughter.

- A local restaurant closed down for an evening and asked us to invite poor and needy people in for a meal. About seventy-five people enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner, an experience they would never have been able to afford. Members of the church were there to have conversations and build relationships over laughter and good food. The gospel was presented and an evangelistic Bible study grew out of that dinner.

In all of those cases, we were able to leverage resources that we had to bless people, connect with them, and eventually share the gospel.

3. Environment matters

Third, environment matters. If you want to reach out to people who are less affluent and privileged than you are, look around at your church and your life. Try to imagine how someone less fortunate than you (sorry, I’m running out of euphemisms) might perceive them.

Do your sermon illustrations assume that everyone has been to college? Or owns a car? Or has access to a computer or cable TV or designer clothing? These kinds of things speak volumes to people about whether or not they are truly welcome to be part of your church.

Is your house—its size, neighborhood, furnishings—intimidating to someone with few resources? Would it immediately make them feel uncomfortable or shabby? If so, you will probably have to work through extra layers of defensiveness in order to reach people.

Is your home in a location where poorer people (who may not have a car) can walk or take public transportation? If not, it will be more difficult to be hospitable.

4. Know who you are talking to when explaining the gospel

Finally, if you want to reach out to people with different backgrounds, consider how you are explaining the gospel. To be clear, the message must remain unaltered. All men, women, and children need to hear of their sin, God’s holiness, the death and resurrection of Christ, and the need for repentance and faith. But you may need to find new methods of delivering that message for people who are not comfortable with the English language or with reading as a way of gaining information.

If I am sharing the gospel with an educated professional from northern Virginia, I may well invite him to read a book with me in order to help him investigate the claims of Christ. And certainly, there are some poorer folks who are well educated and enjoy reading. But we also need to have other ways of communicating for people who are not readers. Two examples: using videos (like Christianity Explored) or stories (I like the ones being used at Soma Church in Washington) to communicate the movements and themes of Scriptures.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mike McKinley is the senior pastor of Sterling Park Baptist Church in Sterling, Virginia, and is the author, most recently, of Did The Devil Make Me Do It? (The Good Book Company, 2013).

How Can Churches Evangelize their Neighborhoods?

By Jeff Cavanaugh

Once upon a time, churches were intensely local affairs. Christians attended the church nearest them, often walking or taking public transportation to the place where the congregation met. But North American communities and lifestyles have changed in the last fifty years, such that many people live, work, shop, play, and worship in different, and sometimes distant, places. Today, it’s rare to find a church where most of the members live in the neighborhood around the church building.

Yet churches still have a tremendous evangelistic opportunity in the people who live near the church building. After all, these neighbors walk and drive past the church building every day. They may wonder about what goes on when the church gathers. For non-Christians who don’t know any believers personally, the church down the street may be the biggest reminder of Christianity they see on a regular basis.

So how can a church be faithful in evangelizing the neighborhood when the members don’t live there? Some evangelical traditions have made a practice of “visitation,” knocking on doors in the neighborhood and trying to engage people in spiritual conversations. Sometimes this bears good gospel fruit, though cultural changes in recent decades have made this more difficult as many North Americans have become suspicious of strangers at the front door.

I serve my local church as deacon of community outreach, and our strategy for reaching the neighborhood around us is mainly one of long-term, patient faithfulness. Our goal is to build relationships with our neighbors that, over time, will make it easier for us to have spiritual conversations with them. These relationships also make our neighbors more willing to attend services and other events aimed specifically at engaging unbelievers with the gospel.

The basic principle behind this strategy is simple, and it’s one that any church can follow: engage your neighbors by taking an interest in what they care about. Building common ground is easy when you participate side-by-side in community organizations, service projects, family events, block parties, yard sales, and the like. Common interests are one of the most powerful tools for building friendships that can enable spiritual conversations to take place.

My church is located in a historic urban neighborhood that has a well-defined identity, and many of our neighbors have common interests. Neighborhood associations are popular and prominent in the life of the community, and events like street fairs, art shows, music festivals, park cleanups, and community yard sales are common. We engage our neighbors by having church members volunteer for these events, host booths, and attend neighborhood association meetings. We also invite the community to a couple of evangelistic events at Christmas: a service of lessons and carols with a brief evangelistic sermon, and a sing-along production of Handel’s Messiah.

But even if your church doesn’t have the advantages that my church’s neighborhood affords, you can still engage your neighbors by showing you care about what’s important to them. Just spend some time thinking about what your neighbors value, what they spend their time and resources on, and think about ways you can build relationships with them through those things.

If your church is in a lower-income area, your neighbors’ biggest concerns are likely to be some of their most basic needs: food, shelter, jobs, transportation, education. Your members might help meet some of these needs, and thereby gain neighbors’ trust and attention, through soup kitchens, clothes closets, literacy programs, and such. Check out the July-August 2012 9Marks Journal for articles by Mike McKinley and others on using mercy ministries as vehicles for evangelism.

My father pastors a church in Ohio in a middle-class suburb with a lot of families, and many of these neighbors’ lives revolve around their kids. So the church hosts some events throughout the year that provide activities for the kids and expose neighbors to the gospel. The church puts on a Vacation Bible School every summer that is advertised to the neighborhood. They host a big Easter egg hunt for the kids of the neighborhood, and someone tells the resurrection story with a clear gospel presentation for the whole crowd.

Evangelizing the neighborhood where your church meets takes a degree of strategy and effort, especially when your church’s members don’t live there. But it doesn’t have to be difficult, and you don’t necessarily need a huge budget. Just find ways to build relationships with your neighbors by showing your members care about some of the same things they care about.

Make sure your members understand that, while it’s always good to love our neighbors and build relationships with them for a number of reasons, we love them best by sharing the gospel with them. When good gospel conversations do happen, engage the whole church in praying that they would bear fruit and that the Lord would use them to save your neighbors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jeff Cavanaugh lives with his wife, Andrea in Louisville, KY, where he is a member and deacon of Third Avenue Baptist Church. He has a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and works full-time in Louisville.

Three Lessons for Cross-Cultural Evangelism

By John Folmar

In our church in Dubai, we have been amazed to witness conversions of people from Eritrea and Uzbekistan, Syria and South Africa, Scotland and Spain, Iran and India, the Netherlands and Bolivia, Germany and China, and more. They are from religious and non-religious backgrounds, traditional and progressive, Muslim and Hindu, young and old.

What is the key to unlocking the hearts of these people from such an array of cultural and religious backgrounds?

The answer is, there is no “cross-cultural key.” In our evangelism, we don’t do anything differently here than we would anywhere else. Our evangelistic methods are singularly uncreative. To suggest that some people are easier to convert than others is foreign to the Scriptures. All of us, by nature, are “far off.” And so in our evangelism we must bear witness and pray and await the sovereign move of the Spirit.

There is no “key” into a spiritual morgue.

But this doesn’t mean that cultural diversity is irrelevant to evangelism. Most of the world’s cities are becoming more and more ethnically diverse. With 202 nationalities in its labor market, Dubai is ahead of the curve in this area. The world has descended on Arabia, bringing with it both challenges and opportunities for evangelism.

THREE LESSONS

Here are three lessons we have learned living and ministering in an ultra-multi-cultural environment:

1. Communicate clearly.

First, communicate clearly. Muslims are taught from childhood that God has no Son. Hindus deny there is one transcendent Creator who grounds all existence and morality. Secular humanists think religious truth is relative. So, whomever we’re speaking to, we must define our terms clearly. With Muslims, we unpack what the Bible means about God’s Son: not that the Father and Mary physically produced offspring akin to Zeus and Danae, but that the eternal image of the invisible God, who preexisted the universe, came down himself and took on flesh.

With Hindus, we work to explain a moral universe, one where good and bad are defined by God’s character and his revealed will. There’s no use talking about “sin” (Rom. 3:23) or pointing people to the “Son” (John 3:16), unless and until we have unpacked these freighted concepts. In multi-cultural settings we must, as D. A. Carson has said, “start farther back in our evangelism to provide more of the Bible’s story line for the good news to cohere…so we have to unpack more of the doctrine of God, and thus of the Son, to a generation that knows nothing of the Trinity.”[1]

This is why, when Thabiti Anyabwile publicly dialogued with Muslim imam Shabir Ally in Dubai last spring, his opening statement was a 20-minute survey of Old Testament theology leading up to the life and ministry of Jesus. Unless the listeners grasped the storyline of the Bible, the significance of the atonement would be lost on them.

This is simply clear communication, which is all the more important when we live among people who are biblically illiterate and inoculated against a biblical worldview.

2. Proclaim the Word.

Second, proclaim the Word. James teaches that God “brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). Wherever we are, the agent of regeneration is biblical revelation, read and proclaimed. This is why, in our evangelism, if the person can read, our goal should be to study the Bible with them, regardless of their culture.

“Friendship evangelism” is increasingly popular in the Middle East and many other places, because of the (mistaken) impression that we cannot or should not directly and clearly communicate what the Christian message is, but rather we should allude and insinuate until the friend shows an openness to hearing more. Friendship evangelism emphasizes that we must earn the right to speak the gospel to another person. Of course, we ought not use people merely as evangelistic projects. But, as one evangelist here told me, there is a danger of too much friendship and too little evangelism. Excessive concern about context and techniques will tend to overshadow the command simply to “preach the Word.”

3. Use the local church.

Third, use the local church. Whatever continent you’re on, the church is a gathering of people who are indwelt by God’s Spirit, and who gather weekly for preaching, singing, prayer, and the ordinances. Paul expected the weekly assembly not only to build up the believers, but also to convict non-believers who attended (1 Cor. 14:25).

Over the years, several people from “restricted access” or “closed” countries have quietly attended our church, or even walked into our building during the week and asked to learn about Jesus. Or they have called the church office, identified their religion, and asked to meet with someone to consider the claims of Christ. We were all too happy to oblige—not to pressure anyone, but to offer them friendship, true and clear explanations of the gospel, and the opportunity to observe the three-dimensional display of the gospel that is a local church.

In many of these cases, these people were born again and joined together with us. They not only heard and understood the gospel, they saw how the power of Christ changes individuals and influences entire communities that have little in common except Christ. The church, then, is the confirming echo of the gospel that is being proclaimed.

FOREIGN TO ALL CULTURES

Increasingly, global cities are home to multi-national churches that worship in English, the lingua franca of our day. These churches reach into countless national and ethnic groups, even through English as a second language. When expatriates return to their ancestral homes, they take the gospel back with them.

It’s true that multiculturalism poses challenges for evangelism. However, regardless of where we’re from, we must remember that the gospel is foreign to all of our cultures. For all our diversity, we are still sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, in need of the one remedy that only Jesus could secure: redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Churches in multi-ethnic settings must work hard to communicate clearly, with due regard to careful biblical theology. We must be centered on scriptural truth that will slice through all manner of cultural and religious barriers. And we must hold up the church as the display of the gospel to the nations.

1 Jesus the Son of God: A Christological Title Often Overlooked, Sometimes Misunderstood, and Currently Disputed (Crossway, 2012), p. 85.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

John Folmar is the senior pastor of United Christian Church of Dubai.

Evangelizing the Nations at Home

By Andy Johnson

Would you be surprised if told you that Americans are increasingly inhospitable to international visitors, and that Christians can thank God for that? One university reports that 80 percent of their international students never see the inside of a local U. S. home. Longer-term immigrants seem to fare little better.

So why can Christians thank God? If unbelievers have lost interest in showing hospitality to foreigners, we have all the more opportunity! We can welcome foreigners, show compassion, and so commend the gospel right here in America.

Some numbers will illustrate the scale of this opportunity. Since 1970 more than 35 million individuals have immigrated to the United States. And that’s not counting the more than 700,000 college students who come here to study each year, or the millions of illegal immigrants living in the shadows of our cities and towns.

You don’t need to live in New York or Los Angeles to reach out to newcomers. The largest community of Kurdish people in America is in Nashville, Tennessee. The biggest community of Somalis is in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Springfield, Virginia hosts the second largest community of Afghans in the Western Hemisphere.

And, of course, there are hundreds of thousands of college students from all over the world—a new flood every year. Even many smaller universities have substantial programs for international students. You might be surprised what nations God has brought to your doorstep.

AN EXAMPLE TO ENCOURAGE

The members of my own congregation, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, have embraced this evangelistic opportunity in our community. And I want to share some of what those faithful saints have been doing, not to say others should do exactly what we do, but to encourage similar kinds of faithfulness.

Our outreach to internationals started when one of our missionaries came home and spent a year living in Washington, D.C. During his time with us, the one thing we asked was that he help us survey the population of internationals living near our church. At the end of his time he concluded that students were the only significant resident population of internationals nearby. Most longer-term immigrants lived out in the distant suburbs. So our most significant ministry would be among students.

It so happened that there was a man in our church from Singapore who had himself been converted as an international student in the UK. One of our elders began to meet with him and asked him to think about how he might encourage more outreach from our church to international students. He began to host a Bible study in his home for international students. Later, English language classes were started in our church and on a nearby campus. More members got involved and began to meet one-to-one for practicing English by talking through the gospel. They were open and above-board in telling students this gospel conversation was our aim right from the start. As a result they had more opportunities to meet up with international students.

Eventually the effort grew until so many church members were involved that our elders decided to create the position of Deacon of International Outreach. This deacon would coordinate and give leadership to all the activity already happening: teaching English, hosting international students for meals, spending leisure time with them, picking them up from airports, and, most of all, meeting one-to-one to study through the Gospels with an interested student.

In the course of the following years we’ve had the joy of baptizing and adding to our church body several men and women who came to trust in Christ through these efforts. Others have believed and joined other churches in the area. Many have returned to their home countries where they are now witnesses for the gospel. Praise God!

ENCOURAGEMENTS FOR INTERNATIONAL EVANGELISM AT HOME

So here are a few observations drawn from our own these experiences.

1. Be willing to give pastoral leadership, but probably lightly.

First, be willing to give pastoral leadership, but probably lightly. As elders, we want to encourage the initiative of our members. We don’t want to press for top-down programs. But that doesn’t mean there’s not a role for our leadership, prayer, planning, and a few strategic decisions or conversations.

Certainly praying openly before your congregation that God might use your church to reach internationals is an obvious way to start. In addition, a few well-placed conversations with likely leaders in your church may stir up wonderful results. Growing in your own awareness of unrealized opportunities in your community cannot hurt either.

2. Let your international investments inform your local ones.

Second, let your international investments inform your local ones. We hope our church will find ways to reach out to Muslims, especially from nations where we have long-term missionaries at work. One of the best ways we’ve been able to do this is hosting our overseas workers for long-term stays when they are back in the States. And we want them spending months here, not days.

Having missionaries here with us who speak a people’s language and know their culture has been super helpful for building inroads among internationals. And if we are going to spend a lot of money sending people overseas to take the gospel to a particular people, we should certainly encourage our members to cross the street to reach the same people.

3. Be happy with unexpected fruit.

Third, be happy with unexpected fruit. As a church that is heavily invested in mission to the Muslim world, I wasn’t expecting that most of the fruit of our local work with internationals would be from secular East Asia. But as God would have it, that’s been the case. And that’s great! As our members have gotten to know students on local campuses, this has been the wonderful result and we’re delighted. Be strategic, but realize that the Spirit moves wherever he will.

4. Remember that all peoples need the gospel.

Finally, remember that all peoples need the gospel. Perhaps the best way to encourage a love for strangers is to keep reminding our people about the implications and imperatives that flow from the gospel. The only bridge we need to reach out to men and women from distant cultures is a reminder of our common state before God.

We all share the same parents. We all share in their sin. We all use our various cultures and man-made religions to hide from the true God and our guilt before him. We all need a savior from outside ourselves and from outside our culture. In short, we all need the gospel.

I know this may sound simplistic. But I’m convinced that, more than any program or effort or idea, the faithful preaching and careful application of God’s Word to the topic of cross-cultural evangelism is what God has most used to bring about the international fruit our own church is enjoying.

So pray for your own church. Lead them gently to embrace the nations around you. But build your church’s outreach all on a foundation of solid, gospel-informed love for every sheep who would come to hear Christ’s voice and follow him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Andy Johnson is an associate pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC.

The Gospel for a Gay Friend

By Garrett Kell

Josh had always known he was different. From his earliest memories, he looked at some boys as more than just peers. His parents knew he was “special” but they loved him for it. He learned to wear a mask and play the part of a “normal” kid until he graduated high school.

In college, Josh decided it was time to be who he really was. He made friends with other gay people and set out on sexual explorations. Josh found a refuge in his gay community and developed bonds that ran much deeper than sexual flings. Though his parents distanced themselves and old friends turned a cold shoulder, Josh felt that he was finally free in his new identity as a gay man.

Josh is no caricature. His experiences and story are true, and they are common.

What if Josh were your neighbor or your co-worker or your son? How would you give the gospel to him? How would you tell him about the forgiveness of sins, the community of believers, and true identity in Jesus?

In one sense, we would assume there is no real difference in the way we’d give Josh the good news compared to any other person. Just because Josh is sexually attracted to people of the same gender doesn’t make him foundationally different from anyone else.

For many of my Christian friends who love Jesus and struggle with same-sex attraction, the beauty of the gospel is that it addresses every area of their life, not just one expression of the fall. All of us who are believers know this. Whether we were once atheists, liars, Muslims, or self-righteous church attenders, there is no magical gospel just for “our sin.” At the foot of the cross we are all equally in need of God’s amazing grace.

At the same time, Josh has very real questions that need to be answered. In the same way an atheist, Muslim or self-righteous person would need the gospel to address them personally, we should learn to love Josh where he is in his consideration of Jesus’ claims. He has real questions that he struggles with, and we should seek to help him find those answers.

IDEAS TO KEEP IN MIND

To share the gospel with Josh, or anyone who might have questions like his, here are a few ideas to keep in mind.

1. Hope in Jesus’ power to help you.

Hope in Jesus’ power to help you. It can be intimidating for people who have never struggled with same-sex attraction to share the gospel with a gay man or woman. As with anyone we share the gospel with, we fear how they may perceive us, and we may be tempted to think they would never listen. The fear of man is a snare (Prov. 29:25). So rather than getting hung up on it, we must hope in Jesus’ strength in us, not in our adequacy to bring the message (John 15:5; 2 Cor. 3:5). We must drink deeply of the gospel as we share it, because there we find the power we need to be Jesus’ witnesses (Acts 1:8). Hope in Jesus’ power to help you.

2. Hold Jesus as supreme.

Hold Jesus as supreme. Friends like Josh will often want to bring the question of sexuality to the foreground in your conversation. At the same time, we want to keep Jesus and his gospel central.

To help with this, I encourage you to ask your friend to share their story with you. Ask them to help you understand how being gay became a central part of their identity. Or, if that’s not their experience, ask them about where they do find their identity. Ask them if there have been any hard times with their journey. Part of loving people is getting to know them.

As you do this, ask them if you can tell them why you view your identity in Christ as supreme. In the end, we aren’t trying to make people straight, we want people to be saved. We never want to minimize sins that keep people from God, but at the same time we want to magnify who brings us to God. Jesus came for sinners of all kinds, and we must keep that message central.

It is also good to keep in mind that all people are sexual sinners—some in small ways, some in greater ways. This helps us to reframe the conversation from being “You’re sexually broken, you need to be like us” to “We’re all sexual sinners who need Jesus.” Jesus is the hope for all of us, no matter how the fall shows itself in our lives.

3. Have Jesus-like compassion and conviction.

Have Jesus-like compassion and conviction. Christians have sinned in at least two major ways when it comes to reaching those in the gay community. On the one hand, some have laid aside God’s clear teaching that homosexuality is a sin in an attempt to show the love of God. Love that is stripped of truth is not love but deceit. This is a grave sin against both God and man.

Have Jesus-like conviction and speak the truth in love. Share what the Bible teaches about homosexual activity (Mk. 7:21; Rom. 1:24-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:10). Share that there is a terrible judgment for those who reject Christ (Rev. 20:11-15). Share that there is a great cost in following Christ and also a great hope of forgiveness and freedom for those who do (Mk. 10:28-30). Speak the truth in love.

On the other hand, some have neglected compassion and have harbored a condescending attitude toward people who practice homosexual sin. Love that is stripped of compassion is not love but hypocrisy. This too is a grave sin because it is unlike Christ’s love toward us.

Jesus, the God-man, was unlike the world of sinners who surrounded him, yet he had compassion on them (Matt. 9:36). As we reach out to those in gay community, we must strive to do so with a similar heart. What could be more heartbreaking than for a person made in God’s image to be lost in their sin and forever separated from the love of God? Ask God to help you to see those in the gay community as he does so you can minister with conviction and compassion.

4. Have Jesus’ church be central.

Have Jesus’ church be central. As it was for Josh, the gay community is a refuge from the rejection and inner turmoil that many gay people experience. Because of this, they find a place where they are accepted in their sin and embraced for who they are.

I suspect that one of the great antidotes for this powerful tool of the evil one is the community of the church. This may seem odd in light of the way many demonize the church because of its “bigotry,” but I trust that as we build relationships with gay friends and invite them into our homes and into our lives, they will see the true community of which they have only dreamed.

This is only enhanced when we as the church grow in giving grace to our brothers and sisters in Christ who struggle with same-sex attraction. One of the most instructive times I’ve had in the past decade was when a new believer was being baptized and he shared openly about coming out of a gay life style. In his testimony he described how the church had not only shared the gospel compassionately, but also was helping him now to live as a man with the struggles of his old desires. He said that in the church, he found a refuge that challenged him not to embrace his sin, but to embrace the Savior.

Jesus said that all people will know we are his disciples by our love (John 13:34-35). As you build relationships with gay friends, invite them into your life that they may hear the gospel, but also see it portrayed through the life of your local church.

5. Help answer their questions.

Help answer their questions. There are always objections to the gospel and few of us ever feel “fully ready” to answer those objections. But God calls us to make a defense for our hope in Jesus (1 Pt. 3:15). This means we should help people wrestle with very real questions. Here are a few Josh has asked.

- Why do you believe some verses in the Old Testament and ignore others?

- Why did God make me gay if he condemns it as a sin?

- Why is it wrong for two loving people to be in a committed relationship?

- Do I have to become straight to become a Christian?

- Why didn’t Jesus say anything about homosexuality?

- What if I become a gay Christian?

Part of our calling as Jesus’ ambassadors is to help people work through questions like these and see that God’s Word does have answers. If you don’t know the answer, don’t be afraid to say, “That’s a really important question, can we find the answer together?”

6. Have patience.

Have patience with them. Take the long view in evangelism. It is rare that you share the gospel with someone and they repent in the moment. That can happen, but normally the process is much longer.

Enter into evangelistic relationships for the long haul. We are an impatient people, which can tempt us to give up quickly when we don’t see results. People are people, not projects. Often, we won’t see what God is doing in their lives. View yourself as part of God’s means to help them see and hear the gospel of Jesus. Love is patient. Show them love by being in it for the long haul.

7. Hope in Jesus’ power to save.

Hope in Jesus’ power to save them. The gospel is the power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16-17). That means that the gospel for a gay man or woman is the same gospel for a straight man or woman. Homosexuality isn’t the chief sin, unbelief is. Jesus died for all types of sins for all types of sinners.

So do not doubt the power of Christ but pray fervently for soft hearts, open doors, and lasting fruit. Trust in God’s wisdom and God’s power, not in your own. Remember that every Christian is a living miracle. If Jesus can save you, he can save anyone, including Josh.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Garrett Kell is lead pastor of Del Ray Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia.

Evangelism without an Altar Call

By Aaron Menikoff

Five and a half years ago I preached my first sermon as the pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church. The minister of music stopped me before the service with a question. He wanted to know how I’d be making the altar call.

I was confused. Prior to this Sunday morning I’d been at MVBC three times, and not once did I see anyone give an altar call. I assumed the church had decided long ago to abandon the practice. I was wrong.

As it turns out, my church has a long history of closing the service with an appeal to walk the aisle in order to join the church, recommit one’s life to the Lord, or make a public profession of faith. The three Sundays I had attended were exceptions to the rule! In fact, many of the members had come to see the altar call as the primary means the church used to reach the lost. They saw the altar call as synonymous with evangelism.

WHY NOT GIVE AN ALTAR CALL?

I trust that many who give altar calls have the best of intentions. In the early nineties I attended a church whose pastor ended the service by asking every person in the congregation to close their eyes and bow their head. Next he would invite anyone who wanted to receive Christ to raise their hand and look toward the pulpit. For about thirty seconds the pastor would scan around the hall, notice the raised hands, and in a calm, soothing voice say, “Yes, brother, I see you. Good, sister, amen,” and so on. I believe this pastor meant the best for these seekers.

Nonetheless, I’m convinced that the altar call does more harm than good. The practice of granting people immediate assurance of salvation—without taking the time to test the credibility of their profession—seems unwise at best and scandalous at worst. It is unwise because the pastor cannot sufficiently know the person he’s about to affirm is a Christian. It is scandalous because it replaces the difficult and narrow gate designed by our Savior (Mark 8:34; Matt. 7:14) with an easy and wide gate designed by us. With the best of intentions, practitioners of the altar call have given many unsaved persons the false confidence that they truly know Jesus.[1]

But that’s not all. The altar call has a tendency to put the congregation’s focus in the wrong place. After the Word is preached, members and visitors alike should be examining their own hearts. Everyone should be giving serious attention to how the message calls him or her to respond. But the altar call, ironically, tends to produce the opposite response. Instead of self-examination it leads to audience-examination. People are looking around, wondering who’s going to go forward. And if no one moves, one wonders, did the pastor fail? Or worse, did God take the day off?

These are just a few reasons why I think it’s unwise to use the altar call for evangelism.

HOW TO EVANGELIZE WITHOUT AN ALTAR CALL

How should a pastor who rejects the altar call think about evangelism in a public worship service? Put another way, what does it look like for a corporate worship service to be marked by evangelistic zeal? Here are seven answers I strive for in the services I lead:

1. Be earnest.

Be earnest. Though there is nothing more important for a preacher than fidelity to gospel truth, earnestness must be a close second. God uses men whose hearts are gripped by the tragedy of sin and the reality of salvation. Until the doctrine of God’s amazing grace has settled in a preacher’s bones, it will never flash from his lips.

2. Be clear about the gospel.

Be clear about the gospel. Every passage of Scripture is a gospel text. In all of Esther, the name of God is never mentioned, and yet his handiwork is on every page. A pastor who wants to see sinners saved will faithfully teach the Bible, showing his congregation how the person and work of Christ is the point of every text.

3. Call people to repent and believe.

Call people to repent and believe. There is a place in every sermon for a pastor to invite sinners to find hope in Christ. So often I hear sermons that end with a call to stewardship, a call to risk, a call to faithfulness—but not once a call to Christ. The preacher should carefully and passionately urge his listeners to repent and believe the good news, to submit their lives to Christ the King.

4. Create space for follow-up conversations.

Create space for follow-up conversations. When I preach the gospel during my sermons, I want unbelievers to know that I’m eager to talk more about the faith I’ve just shared. Therefore I make myself available after the service to talk about the gospel and its implications.

Other pastors that I’ve talked to invite seekers to a special room after the service for prayer or conversation. Spurgeon gave over every Tuesday afternoon to counsel seekers and new believers.[2] However you decide to do it, provide opportunities for people to talk more personally about what you just preached.

5. Offer evangelistic studies.

Offer evangelistic studies. I commonly let seekers know that they are invited to join a short, straightforward study that explains the basics of the Christian faith. The study I use is Christianity Explained, a six-week study through the Gospel of Mark published by the Good Book Company. I’ve found it to be an invaluable introduction to the gospel. In fact, training in how to lead this study has become a staple class at my church.

6. Make a big deal out of baptisms.

Make a big deal out of baptisms. Of course, baptisms already are a big deal. We should recognize that each baptism is an opportunity to show the congregation that God is at work building his church.

At Mount Vernon, we ask each baptismal candidate to share his testimony to the congregation. I’ve never required this, but I’ve yet to have a person turn me down. These new Christians are eager to testify to God’s grace, and seekers are led to question their own response to the gospel.

7. Pray.

Finally, pray. In the pastoral prayer and even the closing prayer, I regularly pray that seekers would repent and believe the gospel. I pray they would submit their lives to Christ, overcoming whatever obstacles they perceive to be standing in their way. I pray that God would make himself known by drawing sinners to himself this very day.

As you can tell, I don’t give an altar call at the church I serve. But I plead every Sunday for sinners to come to Christ. Let us long to see the saints in our congregations encouraged by the gospel, and the seekers convinced of their need to repent and believe God’s good news.

1 For a detailed treatment of the dangers of the altar call read Erroll Hulse, The Great Invitation: Examining the Use of the Altar Call in Evangelism (Audoban Press, 2006) and D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching & Preachers (Zondervan, 2011), chapter 14.

2 Arnold Dallimore, Spurgeon: A New Biography (Banner of Truth, 1985), 80.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Aaron Menikoff is the senior pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

Quick Answers on Evangelism

WHAT IS EVANGELISM?

Evangelism is telling others the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to save sinners. In order to do this you must tell others that:

- God is holy (1 Jn. 1:5). He is the creator of all things (Gen. 1:1).

- All people are sinners who deserve God’s righteous, eternal wrath (Rom. 3:10-19, Mark 9:48, Rev. 14:11).

- Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to bear God’s wrath in the place of all who would believe in him, and rose from the grave in order to give his people eternal life (John 1:1, 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 7:26, Rom. 3:21-26, 2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Cor. 15:20-22).

- The only way to be saved from eternal punishment and be reconciled to God is to repent of sin and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation (Mark 1:15, Acts 20:21).

Evangelism is telling others this basic message.

WHO SHOULD EVANGELIZE?

While some might want to leave evangelism to the preachers, apologetic experts, or maybe just to the extroverts generally, the New Testament asserts that all Christians should evangelize:

- Example: We see this in the example of the earliest Christians: “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went” (Acts 8:4, NIV). And Acts 11:19-21 tells us that all the disciples evangelized as they spread out from Jerusalem.

- Instruction: Peter instructs all of us to “be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Pet. 3:16, NIV).

- For the sake of love: If we are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31, Jas. 2:8), is there any more important way to love someone than to share the gospel with him or her?

(This material has been adapted from The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever, 45-53.)

HOW CAN A PASTOR DEVELOP A CHURCH’S CORPORATE EVANGELISTIC WITNESS?

1. Preach expositionally. As your people hear God’s word every week they will increasingly reflect his glory to the world. Week by week their lives will become a more focused picture of their savior, Jesus Christ.

2. Preach the gospel every week. As your people hear the gospel every week they will grow in their appreciation for it, their understanding of it, and their ability to share it with others.

3. Address non-Christians in your sermons. This will encourage your church members to bring non-Christian friends to church. It will also teach them how to effectively address non-Christians.

4. Teach individual church members to evangelize. Teach Sunday school classes on the gospel and evangelism. Give out books on evangelism. Encourage church members to share evangelistic opportunities with the church so that others can participate in and pray for them.

5. Teach a biblical understanding of the gospel and conversion. Make sure that your people understand the gospel and how someone becomes a Christian.

6. Be careful to admit only Christians into membership. If the church is filled with genuine, growing Christians, it will broadcast the truth that God is a holy and gracious Savior. If the church is filled with non-Christians, it will broadcast lies about God and the gospel.

7. Promote holiness. Preach God’s law. Call your people to live lives that reflect God’s holy character. Doing this in your public preaching and teaching will help craft a culture of holiness, a collective expectation and standard of holiness. The goal is to have a church that shows the world what God’s grace, holiness, and love actually look like.

8. Practice church discipline. Unrepentant sinners are to be expelled from the church so that their influence doesn’t corrupt the whole church. A church that doesn’t practice church discipline will eventually succumb to hypocrisy and develop a corporate testimony that flatly contradicts the gospel. Consistent church discipline will preserve the church’s holiness and ensure that it practices what it preaches, giving unbelievers a consistent portrait of God’s own character and love.

Book Review: The Pastor’s Justification

Reviewed by Bob Johnson

Jared Wilson, The Pastor’s Justification: Applying the Work of Christ in your Life and Ministry. Crossway, 2013. 192 pages. $15.99

This book is so good that I suggest that instead of reading the rest of this review, you simply go and purchase The Pastor’s Justification and dig in. If you need more convincing, then read on. Then go and purchase it: today, or tomorrow at the latest.

THE LIFE OF A PASTOR

A word about the author. Jared Wilson knows the life of a pastor. He not only lives it, but he can express it in terms that fellow pastors resonate with. “Then comes Monday. Many pastors take Mondays off because of the Sunday hangover. I do not. It is my worst day, so I refuse to give it to my family. Instead I work through it. It is a slog” (33). He speaks to our insecurities, describes our challenges, and exposes our idols with grace, even as he gets into our grills.

The subtitle, “Applying the Work of Christ in your Life and Ministry” is the working theme of the book. Jared is answering the question of how the gospel enables a pastor to minister grace from a life that is continually set free by this grace. He knows that pastoral ministry is so dangerous because it is so personnel. He writes with a vulnerability that helps us see the heart of the issue, and yet compels us to run and hide in Christ for our validation.

THE LIFE OF A CHURCH

Jared knows the life of a church. He does not hide the fact that messy sinners make for messy ministry and a messy church. He acknowledges that this messiness is overwhelming because there is no seminar that can teach us how to rid the church of the ragged issues of living in a sin-cursed world. Again he takes us, along with him, back to Christ.

I have been in many a counseling session or discipleship meeting where, upon hearing the deep pain and conflict in the lives of others, so fresh in their hearts and fresh on my ears, I simply share in their feeling of being completely overwhelmed. Advice is cheap. My mind races for some wisdom. What can I do? I am powerfulness to help. I throw my hands up in despair of my own pastoral ingenuity. I take them (and myself) to Jesus. He will help us. He bids the harassed and helpless come to him. We will have to stoop, but if we will, he will lift us up. (68)

Jared is a good writer. His writing is both witty and winsome, but what he speaks to is serious, and it shows. I reread many of his paragraphs not because they were ambiguous, but because I wanted to. He knows how to make a compelling point and paint a captivating picture. It is a delight to read a work that is needful, organized, interesting and so well done.

EXPOSITIONAL EXPLORATION OF MINISTRY

A word about the book as a whole. This book is expositional. The first part of the book, “The Pastor’s Heart,” is based on 1 Peter 5:1-11. If you only read the first chapter, it will be worth the purchase. Jared speaks about pastors’ tendency to serve because you have to, or to sub-contract the messy part of shepherding to someone else, or to keep doing it because you want to get paid. He writes,

Pastor, will we seek justification in our reputations? In our church’s numbers and figures? In our retweets and links?…This is sand. Or will we look up and out, and away from ourselves, away from the fickle fellowship, away from Satan’s accusations and insinuations, up to the right hand of the Father, where our righteousness sits, firmly fixed eternal?...Brother, you are free. (39)

In the rest of the part one, Jared unpacks for us how the gospel frees us, sets us apart, humbles us, emboldens us, and drives us to watch carefully over our flock, but ultimately to rest in Christ and not in our ministry as our justification.

The second part of the book is a call to pastoral reformation. Jared organizes this section around the five “solas” of the reformation. He recognizes that these solas (Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, to God alone be the glory) must be embraced personally by a pastor in order to be embraced congregationally by our people.

Without apology, he calls us to preach the Word boldly. “Preaching assumes authority from God and from his infallible word. So we don’t preach like ninnies, as if every sentence ends with question mark” (122).

He reminds us that grace is absolutely essential for the gospel and the church. The pastor and the church cannot properly function apart from grace, which is why there are so many distractions and temptations to discard it.

Pastoring by faith means that we have to give up pastoring by sight. “The problem with pastoring by sight is not just that it places hopes in things that can be taken away, but it neglects to hope for what only God can give” (151).

God does not bless his competition. Shepherding the flock of Christ cannot be done well if it is being done for our glory. There is one Lord, and we are not him.

And finally,

Pastors, we are privileged to shepherd the flocks of God among us into this glorious reality [that God’s glory will fill the earth]. We are on the forefront of God’s glory made manifest in both our strengths and our weaknesses. And we will learn the secret to joy in all ministerial circumstances when we set our hearts on God’s glory above our own. (165)

Buy it. Read it. Give it to your elders. Then read it again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bob Johnson is the senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Roseville, Michigan.

Book Review: The Bruised Reed

Reviewed by Nick Roark

Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax. Reprint; Banner of Truth, 1998. 138 pages. $7.00

In his book The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax, the Puritan preacher Richard Sibbes provides a tenderhearted, Christ-exalting exposition and application of Isaiah 42:1-3. Since its initial publication in 1630, The Bruised Reed has been a source of encouragement to dejected sinners and struggling saints alike.

Sibbes follows Matthew’s interpretation of this text, seeing it to be fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (Matt. 12:18-20). His exposition breaks down into three basic parts: (1) Christ will not break the bruised reed; (2) Christ will not quench the smoking flax; (3) Christ will not do either of these things until he has sent forth judgment into victory. Sibbes explains the main text under these three headings and then intersperses searching application throughout the book.

Why should the busy pastor spend time reading a book written by a preacher in London nearly four centuries ago? Well, Sibbes did know a thing or two about preaching. He regularly wrote out his sermons and at the time of his death in 1635 he left over two million words on paper. The Bruised Reed is still considered to be a classic of Puritan devotion. Sibbes became known as the “heavenly Doctor Sibbes,” due in part to his God-honoring preaching and God-fearing manner of life. A couplet was written about Sibbes after his death that captures this well: “Of that good man let this high praise be given: Heaven was in him before he was in heaven.”

FOUR LESSONS TO LEARN FROM THE HEAVENLY DOCTOR

If you have never read Sibbes before, then you will find much to glean from a careful and prayerful reading of The Bruised Reed. Here are four ways the heavenly Dr. Sibbes can help your soul and improve your preaching.

1. Be Doggedly Persistent in Expositing the Loveliness and Sweetness and Glory of Jesus Christ.

The first lesson to learn from Sibbes is to be doggedly persistent in expositing the loveliness and sweetness and glory of Jesus Christ. It is not enough for the preacher to preach against sin. He should also hold forth the wonder and glory of the Savior.

Sibbes understands what Scripture teaches about the depravity of the fallen human heart. He writes, “It is a very hard thing to bring a dull and an evasive heart to cry with feeling for mercy. Our hearts, like criminals, until they be beaten from all evasions, never cry for mercy of the Judge” (4). But Sibbes doesn’t just point out the sinfulness in the heart of man. He wants the heart of his readers to be captivated by Christ. According to Sibbes, God mercifully bruises believers in order to soften their hardheartedness and awaken love for Christ. He writes: “This bruising makes us set a high price upon Christ. Then the gospel becomes the gospel indeed; then the fig-leaves of morality will do us no good” (4).

This kind of Christ-centeredness is found throughout the book: “There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us” (13). “We are only poor for this reason, that we do not know our riches in Christ” (61). “In Christ all perfections of mercy and love meet” (62). “He who died for his enemies, will he refuse those, those desire of whose soul is towards him?” (65). “Whatever may be wished for in an all-sufficient comforter is all to be found in Christ” (66).

Sibbes reminds pastors of the importance of always keeping Christ at the center of our preaching, teaching, and evangelism. He models to all preachers what it means to consistently point our hearers away from themselves and directly to Christ. Godly introspection is a good thing but looking inward is only helpful for a season. Pastors should consistently focus the attention of both believers and unbelievers on Jesus Christ, the one who is the centerpiece of our proclamation (Col. 1:28).

Sibbes reminds preachers to consistently exposit the beauty and loveliness and glory of Christ. Preach against sin but never fail to shine the spotlight of your sermon on Jesus.

2. Apply the Bible to the Heart and the Head Together.

The second lesson to learn from Sibbes is to apply the Bible to the heart and the head together. Some of the best sections of The Bruised Reed are those in which Sibbes draws out heart-searching application. The Puritans were masters of affectionate, discerning, wise biblical application. Yet even by Puritan standards, Sibbes seems to be exceptional at application. There are nineteen separate “use” sections in The Bruised Reed where Sibbes provides detailed application from the biblical text.

But it’s not the quantity of application that one notices when reading The Bruised Reed—it’s the quality. If this book only included the “use” sections, then pastors would still profit greatly from it. If you feel that faithful application is a weakness in your preaching, then learn from Sibbes. As you read, note the way he faithfully instructs the mind and applies the biblical text directly to the heart.

The most affecting section in my rereading of this book was an application section entitled “Weakness Should Not Keep Us From Duty” (50-51). We know from Matthew 7:7-11 that believers should persevere in praying to our gracious heavenly Father. But instead of whipping the conscience with bald imperatives to pray, Sibbes beckons them to pray by casting pearl indicatives with both hands

God will hear the desires of His own Spirit in you… God can pick sense out of a confused prayer. These desires cry louder in His ears than your sins… These stirrings touch the heart of God and melt Him into compassion towards us, when they come from the Spirit of adoption, and from a striving to be better… [L]ook to the promises… God accepts our prayers, though weak, because we are His own children… There is never a holy sigh, never a tear we shed, which is lost… By prayer we learn to pray… God in Christ will cast a gracious eye upon that which is His own. (50-51)

Sibbes refuses to separate head and heart in his application of Scripture. He is adamant that the Christian maintain the vital connection between knowledge and affection. Sibbes doesn’t point his readers toward cold, calculating, dead orthodoxy or toward doctrine-less, experience-focused emotionalism. The affections ought to be raised as high as they possibly can, provided they are raised solely according with the truth.

In Sibbes’ writing, head and heart aren’t in opposition. Rather, they assist each other to truly know and love Christ. Sibbes writes: “Because knowledge and affectually help one another, it is good to keep up our affections of love and delight by all sweet inducements and divine encouragements; for what the heart likes best, the mind studies most” (103). So, Sibbes provides a good check for our own preaching. Do we aim to raise the affections of our hearers by way of filling their understandings with fresh, glorious and joyous truth about Jesus? Sibbes is right. If our hearts love Christ, we will study Christ.

3. Make Complicated Ideas Plain.

A third lesson to learn from Sibbes is to make complicated ideas plain. Sibbes does this powerfully, with an economy of words. For example, Sibbes asks the probing question, “What is the source of discouragements to duties?” At this point, one might expect a complicated reply. But instead, Sibbes gives this simple, three-fold answer: “Not from the Father…Not from Christ…Not from the Spirit… Discouragements, then, must come from ourselves and from Satan, who labours to fasten on us a loathing of duty” (56-57). If you feel discouraged about going to God in prayer, then Sibbes exhorts you to preach to yourself that this discouraging lie is coming from your flesh or from the Devil, the father of lies. The holy, loving Triune God longs for his children to boldly draw near to his throne of grace.

With the possible exception of Thomas Watson, Sibbes is perhaps the most tweet-able of all the Puritan writers:

- “In time of temptation, believe Christ rather than the devil. Believe truth from truth itself” (61).

- “Cast yourself into the arms of Christ, and if you perish, perish there” (65).

- “Our discord is our enemy’s melody” (74).

- “The lower Christ comes down to us, the higher let us lift Him up in our hearts” (76).

- “They seek for heaven in hell that seek for spiritual love in an unchanged heart” (81).

- “A Christian conquers, even when he is conquered” (95).

- “Grace conquers us first, and we, by it, conquer all else” (97).

Sibbes omits needless words. This helps to make his sermons refreshing and punchy and memorable and clear. It’s no wonder, then, that those who heard Sibbes preach lovingly referred to him as “The Sweet Dropper.”

4. Counsel Saints and Sinners with Biblical Wisdom.

Fourth, Sibbes teaches us to counsel saints and sinners with biblical wisdom. The Bruised Reed is brimming with examples of basic, helpful, pastoral counsel using warnings and promises, law and gospel.

To the wandering saint who lacks assurance, Sibbes writes: “Willful breaches in sanctification will much hinder the sense of our justification” (61).

To the stubborn saint who is blinded to areas of sin, Sibbes writes: “[W]henever He savingly shines on the understanding He gives a soft and pliable heart…Where grace has subdued the heart, unruly passions do not cast such a mist before the understanding that it does not see in particular cases what is best” (88-89).

To the struggling saint who is clinging to Christ by faith, Sibbes writes: “A little thing in the hand of a giant will do great things. A little faith strengthened by Christ will work wonders” (92).

These pastoral nuggets are wonderfully helpful in teaching another basic lesson. If we want to give wise, biblical counsel to others, we mainly need to know our Bibles better. Knowing our Bibles better will help us to know our own wicked hearts better and ultimately know the Savior better.

A FEAST FOR THE SOUL

According to Richard Baxter, the reading of The Bruised Reed was instrumental in his own conversion to Christ. The “heavenly Doctor Sibbes” was also used of God to be an “unfailing remedy” and balm to the soul of an overworked and overtired Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Lloyd-Jones wrote that during a particularly grueling season of pastoral ministry, “The Bruised Reed quieted, soothed, comforted, encouraged and healed me” (x).

I trust that you too will find The Bruised Reed to be a feast for your own soul. Richard Sibbes is a gift from Christ to his church in the way he models affectionate, Christ-centered preaching and application. What a joy it is to keep his company through his writings and to learn from him to love our Savior more deeply and proclaim his gospel more faithfully.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nick Roark is an elder and pastoral assistant at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC.

Book Review: Worship Leaders, We Are Not Rock Stars

Reviewed by Matt Merker

Stephen Miller, Worship Leaders, We Are Not Rock Stars. Moody Publishers, 2013. 128 pages. $13.99

Imagine yourself entering a Christian church for the first time. You’re from a different religious background, curious about the teachings of Jesus. One of the first questions you might have to ask is: “Who is the guitar-wielding, distressed jeans-wearing, facial hair-sporting figure that appears before me on a larger-than-life Jumbotron, shrouded in stage fog and professional lighting, inviting me to sing along as he croons into a microphone?” Welcome to Christianity. You have just met one of our most beloved (and caricatured!) personalities: the worship leader.

It is these personalities that Stephen Miller addresses in his thoughtful appeal, Worship Leaders, We Are Not Rock Stars. Miller writes not as a dispassionate critic but as a concerned practitioner. He serves as the worship pastor at The Journey in St. Louis, Missouri.

DIAGNOSIS AND SOLUTION

What’s the problem among those who lead corporate worship in today’s churches? According to Miller, it’s the “prideful pursuit of platform and prominence” (17). He astutely observes that such a craving for self-fulfillment is not stylistically bound, but can take place among rockers and traditional choir-directors alike (16).

If that’s the diagnosis, what’s the solution? Rather than take the negative route and simply attack all that worship leaders do wrong, Miller adopts a positive approach. He sets out to define what a worship leader is and to persuade his readers to adopt an understanding of their role informed by biblical principles.

NEEDED CORRECTIVES

Miller succeeds wonderfully at this task. If I had been able to read his book when I was leading corporate worship as part of my job years ago, my ministry would have been better. He provides many correctives that worship leaders of all stripes would do well to heed. Here are three worth highlighting.

First, worship leading is far more a matter of character than of talent. Miller reminds those who lead in worship that they are first and foremost worshipers before they are leaders of anything (37). He beckons them to find their worth in the redemption purchased by Christ rather than in the stardom purchased by compromised integrity (49). He rightly prioritizes the worship leader’s role as a theologian (73) and an evangelist (100). And, in an area of church life where “creativity” can be used to justify all sorts of unwise practices, he wisely reminds his readers that “art is a wonderful servant but a terrible master” (110).

Second, Miller emphasizes the congregational nature of corporate worship. Nothing undermines an entertainment atmosphere in public worship like the reality that Christians are called to be “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19). Therefore, Miller is right to insist on music that is simple enough for all to be able to participate: “We want to make it as easy as possible for people to engage as we call them to make melody with their hearts to the Lord” (111). I would add that when your church turns down the volume of the musical accompaniment, the volume of the singing congregation might just reach new heights as the words become more audible and worshipers hear one another articulating majestic truths.

Related to this is a third strength: Miller advocates structuring the worship service to reflect the contours of the gospel message itself. He suggests what I might call a “liturgy with a lower-case ‘l’”—not so much a predictable and inflexible form as a framework for developing themes over the course of the service. Using Isaiah 6:1-8 as a guide, Miller proposes a five-“movement” structure: Call to Worship, Adoration/Praise/Thanksgiving, Confession/Repentance, Assurance, and Sending/Commitment (84-88). It would benefit countless Christians if more churches rejected the flat approach of a handful of songs plus a sermon, and adopted a more content-rich structure such as this one.

The thoughtfulness of Miller’s overall liturgical form, however, only makes it more perplexing that he does not mention how preaching and the ordinances contribute to the proclamation of the gospel in the course of a worship service. Both of these should be part of Christian doxology: God is worshiped as the preacher expounds the truth of his Word, and as the gospel is displayed visibly in baptism and the Lord’s Supper. One is left to assume that Miller overlooked these essential elements due to his focus on worship leaders in particular.

THE BEST CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORSHIP CONVERSATION

Beyond these practical suggestions, Miller’s best contribution to the worship conversation comes when he recommends that we think about a worship leader as fulfilling the biblical office of elder or deacon. He argues, “The Bible never says that being able to sing and play an instrument calls someone to lead His church” (58). Therefore, the worship leader must conform to scriptural expectations for church leadership. Such a high standard of character and doctrinal trustworthiness is necessary given Miller’s definition of a worship leader: “A person who exemplifies worship in all areas of life as an example for the church to emulate; who pursues God with everything and lives a life of holiness that worships through obedience in all things; who leads the church in an all-encompassing lifestyle of worship” (24). That sounds like a pastor to me!

One implication of this is that if your church is looking for someone to lead corporate worship, don’t first try to find a charismatic personality who’s a guitar ace. Instead, seek out a shepherd (a pastor) or a servant (a deacon) who is qualified for that biblical office and who is also competent to serve the flock through worship leadership.

In fact, I would have liked for Miller to follow this argument through to its logical conclusion: how it would affect our language. Miller advocates keeping the “worship leader” moniker (23), but if the person leading corporate worship occupies a biblical office, then he should receive the appropriate title.

ONE LINGERING QUESTION

This discussion about biblical office leads to one lingering question. If the worship leader is essentially a pastor or deacon, then does every church need a worship leader in the same way that its needs pastors and deacons? Surely the answer must be “no.” Plenty of churches have no designated leader of corporate worship beyond the pastor himself. My own large church in an urban area doesn’t have a “worship leader,” unless you count the volunteer who coordinates our musicians. A pastor or elder usually leads our corporate worship through words of exhortation, prayer, and instruction about the songs.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to argue here against the worship leader position—I was one for many years! I simply want to observe that if we have assumed that a “worship leader” (read: polished musical superstar) is necessary for our churches, we may have unwittingly built the music stage at the front of their churches into a pride-promoting pedestal—one that makes corrective books such as this one necessary.

It will be up to each congregation to decide if having a designated pastor or deacon of worship is wise. If so, then Miller’s book is a wonderful introduction to what should characterize that leader. For all the worship leaders out there—and for all those who lead in corporate worship through song without that title—serve yourself and your church by letting Miller’s thought-provoking book critique your heart. And then respond by praising the One who beckons sinners like us into the joy of worshiping his name.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Matt Merker is a pastoral assistant at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC.

Book Review: The Master Plan of Evangelism

Reviewed by Nik Lingle

Robert Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism. Revell, 1993. 191 pages. $10.99

No personality necessary—have you ever taken an evangelism course like that? In Bible college, I took a course called Personal Evangelism. The class required each student to memorize a plan for sharing the gospel. It was all laid out: the exact sequence of questions, the progression of Bible verses, the best illustrations to make your point, and yes, of course, the all-important call for decision at the end. That was it. No relationship necessary. Personality not included—or needed.

If you have been through a class like this, then The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman would be a breath of fresh air—not to mention it’s only 108 pages short.

As Coleman unfolds the principles that characterized Jesus’ life and relationships (the “Master’s plan”), we are reminded that Jesus never had a mere decision in view. He didn’t want “converts”; he wanted followers. He wanted people who would drop their nets and follow him. And he wanted to teach them how to follow not by handing them a manual for Christian living, but by living before them as a model they could follow.

Coleman sees in the Great Commission a calling not merely to preach the gospel, but “to make disciples—to build people…who were so constrained by the commission of Christ that they not only followed his way, but led others to as well” (93).

The book is not about Coleman’s grand strategy for making converts, but rather “it is an effort to see controlling principles governing the movements of the master in the hope that our own labors might be conformed to a similar pattern” (14). Coleman sees in the pages of the Gospels a “well-thought-through strategy of movement day by day in terms of the long range goal” (14). And he attempts to distill that strategic movement into eight principles that rise to the surface as one considers the life of Jesus.

EIGHT PRINCIPLES

Throughout the book, Coleman follows this objective with great care as he thoughtfully evaluates the interaction between Jesus and the disciples.

1. He notes the precision with which Jesus chose the Twelve and how he deliberately concentrated his life on just a few people. In this he sees the principle of selection.

2. Next Coleman observes that Jesus was constantly with his disciples, confident that “in his presence they could learn all that they needed to know” (35). Coleman calls this association.

3. The third principle highlights the “hard sayings” of Jesus, such as Luke 14:33, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” This is the call for total consecration.

4. Not only did Jesus call them to give themselves to him, but he gave himself completely to God and to others. “He lost no opportunity to impress on his followers the deep compulsion of his own soul aflame with the love of God for a lost world” (54). Jesus gave himself away, particularly by sending the Holy Spirit as his perpetual presence and authority amongst his people—this is impartation.

5. As Jesus went into desolate places to pray, applied memorized Scriptures, and constantly taught people the way of salvation, he was showing the disciples how they ought to live. Jesus taught by demonstration.

6. Jesus called the disciples to be fishers of men. In other words, he passed along to them the same work that he had come to do himself. Jesus sent out seventy other witnesses as well, from which we see the principle of delegation.

7. After sending the disciples to do the work of ministry, Jesus collected them again to give instruction. This back and forth between ministry and assessment shows us Jesus’ method for supervision.

8. “The disciples were to go out into the world and win others who would come to be what they themselves were—disciples of Christ” (93). This is what Coleman calls reproduction.

Taken together, these principles give the picture of a disciple as a person who integrates the teaching of Jesus into his or her way of life. Disciples are people who go about the work of making more disciples. For this reason the greatest strength of Coleman’s book is that it precludes an approach to evangelism that targets the point of decision to convert as the main goal. Rather, he shows how the aim of Jesus was to train his disciples to live as sincere followers and to multiply themselves through spreading the message of the kingdom.

The book’s brevity and the memorable sequence of principles make for accessible reading for any Christian. It may be a particularly important tool for pastors and lay leaders as they seek to encourage their congregation toward a thoughtful approach to personal evangelism. It would also be particularly appropriate for a small group study or a book reading club, in part because it includes an excellent study guide.

You may have gathered this already, but I certainly recommend this book as an important addition to your bookshelf and a valuable tool to encourage yourself and others in evangelism.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nik Lingle is associate pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Raleigh, North Carolina and is a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Book Review: Manual of Church Order

Reviewed by John Power

John L. Dagg, Manual of Church Order. Reprint; Gano Books, 1990. 312 pages.

With a title like Manual of Church Order, the little book by Baptist John L. Dagg (1794-1884) has little hope of becoming an international bestseller. I usually associate the term “manual” with an irksome Saturday morning project (e.g., Electrical Wiring Manual). What’s more, “church order,” that is, ecclesiology, probably occupies a small, neglected corner of the minds of many church leaders. So neither “manual” nor “church order” sound all that exciting.

Yet Dagg’s 150-year-old Manual remains in print. This tells us something about the book’s clarity and importance.

Dagg recognizes that too many Christians ignore the sufficiency of Scripture in ecclesiology. For this reason, “We must return to the feet of our divine Master, and again receive his instructions. Let us, in the spirit of obedient disciples, inquire for the good old paths, that we may walk therein” (11). Those words from Jeremiah 6:16 ring true in our own day as well. We turn now to the basic outline and a few highlights.

OUTLINE AND HIGHLIGHTS

Not surprisingly, Dagg begins with a discussion of baptism. Dagg the pastor-theologian takes aim at objections from both Quakers and paedobaptists with finely tuned theological and exegetical arguments. Baptism “figuratively represents the burial and resurrection of Christ, on which the believer relies for salvation” (17). Thus immersion is the proper mode. Dagg provides extensive lexical proofs in favor of immersion, and summarizes, “[Precisely] what the word baptize signifies, is what we are bound to do in obeying the command which enjoins baptism” (67). Repentance and faith are necessary for baptism; thus it is believers alone who receive it, and not their children. Furthermore, baptism by immersion serves as the public profession of conversion. It “is the appointed ceremony of profession” of repentance and faith (72). Dagg’s extended discussion of baptism is a “necessary preliminary to the subsequent discussions on church order” (73). In other words, all the distinctive characteristics of Baptist ecclesiology hinge on this understanding of baptism, and this assertion colors all that follows.

Dagg defines the local church as “an assembly of believers in Christ, organized into a body, according to the Holy Scriptures, for the worship and service of God” (74). The assembly is made up of truly converted persons (79); it is organized (80); and each assembly is independent of every other one (83). The assumption throughout is that “we are under obligation to regulate the church order of the present time in conformity to ancient usage” (84). Dagg stands on the sufficiency of Scripture for ecclesiology.

The idea of the universal church receives extended discussion through Dagg’s Baptist lenses (100-143). All believers “do not meet in one assembly on earth, [yet] they belong to the assembly above, and are on their way to join it” (118). Local church membership is appropriate because believers thereby reflect their spiritual membership in the universal church (121).

Dagg thoroughly argues against infant membership, infant baptism, and infant communion (144-202). He carefully considers many arguments put forward by paedobaptists in his day, many of which continue into our day (see, e.g., Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 632-634; and Michael Horton, The Christian Faith, 794-798). Next he writes about communion, arguing that it is “commemorative,” and that the meal works as a “token of receiving spiritual sustenance from Christ crucified” (210). Baptism is “a pre-requisite to communion at the Lord’s table” (211). Thus, in Dagg’s view, any unbaptized person (including those “baptized” as infants) must not be admitted. Though seemingly unnecessary to modern readers, Dagg includes a denial that foot-washing is an ordinance (226-231).

The final chapters of Dagg’s work continue to address ecclesiological issues from a Baptist angle. Public worship in Dagg’s formulation sounds akin to the Reformed practice of the regulative principle (cf. 238). Yet, in light of the practices of Seventh Day Baptists (234), he must also address the proper day for Christian worship. And though he addresses the Christian ministry with ideas similar to other Protestants, he again stamps his discussion with the congregationalism that is characteristic of Baptists, noting that ministers “have no authority from Christ to combine themselves into an ecclesiastical judicatory to exercise power in any manner” (243). Dagg seems to assume the rightness of a plurality of elders in each local congregation, though this assertion is not abundantly clear (263-266). Church discipline earns a brief yet poignant discussion, concluded by this sobering statement: “It has been remarked, that when discipline leaves a church, Christ goes with it” (274).

The book concludes with a chapter on miscellaneous topics, which includes some helpful thoughts on fellowship between churches, as well as an excellent word of exhortation to Baptists to promote the Baptist understanding of church order (300). Finally, this published version of Dagg’s Manual includes a fascinating autobiography that is both informative and encouraging.

READ THIS BOOK

Here is my straightforward recommendation: pastors should read this book. However, I will say that a close, detailed reading from cover to cover may not be required. For example, not every detail will seem pertinent to some of the more recent ecclesiological discussions. Nonetheless, his arguments and basic assertions are timeless. What’s more, I found a number of quotable sections throughout. For example: the Christian faith “was not designed for concealment. From its very nature, it cannot be hid. It inclines every one who possesses it, [sic] to do good to all mankind, and to make known the gospel by which all mankind are to be blessed” (121).

Another approach to the book would be to flip through it in one sitting to get a feel for the basic outline, using it afterward as a go-to resource. I guess that would make it a true “manual.” But in service to the eternally significant work of the local church, this kind of manual is far more interesting and edifying than any Saturday morning project.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

John Power is pastor of New Covenant Christian Fellowship in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

November 2013

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