May 11, 2006

Hello! Welcome to the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog sponsored by:

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We continue with our discussion on evangelism:

Jesus made it a point to meet with his disciples following their tours of service to hear their reports and to share with them the blessedness of his ministry in doing the same thing. The time he spent with them, he was helping them to understand the reason for some previous action or getting them ready for some new experience to fulfill his work, which was the evangelization of the world. The Twelve gathered with Jesus to tell what things they had done.

 

After the disciples were sent out to work, they were expected to share their experiences later with the group. Nothing could have given Jesus more joy than this. Visualizing the victory ultimately assures by their work. This was what Jesus had been working for all these long months and now he was beginning to see the fruit of his labors. He cautioned the disciples against pride in their accomplishments.

 

These follow up sessions following the disciples visitation merely brings into bold relief a strategy of Jesus throughout his ministry. As he reviewed some experience which the disciples had he would bring out some practical application of it to their lives. He never let an occasion pass without giving the frustrated disciples a much needed lesson on how they, through more prayer and fasting, should have laid hold upon God’s faithfulness.

Realizing that they had missed completely the spiritual lesson of his remarks intended to warn them against unbelief, Jesus said, “Do ye not yet perceive, neither understand?� Doubtless this brought clearly to mind that day when the disciples seated the multitudes for dinner, and then saw Jesus perform the miracle of the loaves. With this evidence of Jesus’ miraculous power there could be no doubt about his ability to feed them with their loaf of bread if it was necessary.

 

One of the most penetrating of the Lord’s correctional lectures following the disciples’ activity was in connection with their attitude toward others in the work who were not members of the apostolic company. He felt constrained to give them an extended discourse on the dangers of discouraging any sincere work on his behalf.

 

In Samaria, when the impulsive disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy the people, Jesus said, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.� Then showing his disciples how they might solve this kind of problem, they went to another village.

 

Jesus would let his followers have some experience or make some observation of their own, and then he would use this as a starting point to teach a lesson of discipleship. The fact that they tried to do his work, even though they may have failed aat it, gave them greater awareness of their deficiencies, and hence they were more disposed to the Master’s correction.

 

Jesus kept his disciples moving toward the goal. His plan of teaching, by example, assignment, and constant checkup, was calculated to bring out the best that was in them.

 

Many experiences of grace which bring delight to the soul need to be clarified and deepened as their meaning is interpreted in the light of the total world mission of Christ. It is this crucial that those engaging in the work of evangelism have personal supervision and guidance until such time as they are matured enough to carry on alone.

 

We must always s remember, too, that the goal is world conquest. We dare not let a lesser concern capture our strategy of the moment. We fail, not because we do not try to do something, but because we let our little efforts become an excuse for not doing more. The result is that we lose by default the advantage of years of hard work and sacrifice.

 

Disciples must be brought to maturity. There can be no substitute for total victory, and our field is the world. We have not been called to hold the fort, but to storm the heights. It is in this light that the final step in Jesus’ strategy of evangelism can be understood.

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Until later,

Pastor Bob Emery