Tag: Matthew 28

On a Sunday Morning Sidewalk

~ Chuck Griffin ~ 1 Comment

Matthew 28:16-20 (NRSV)

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

By Chuck Griffin

As we make our way through Holy Week, I’m struck by how often I’ve returned to a theme in my preaching during Lent. I have hoped that we are all reflecting on how well we fulfill the Great Commission, that basic duty all Christians have.

It’s always important that we find winsome ways to tell people about Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Every new generation needs to hear this truth from a previous generation. The task seems especially relevant now, as we begin to consider how a post-pandemic Christian life should look.

Most of the folks who read these LifeTalk devotions on Methodist Life are traditional Methodists, and right now, these people are probably at least a little interested in a big change that is coming, the launch of a new Methodist denomination that will adhere to traditional Christian doctrines. The preservation of these basic Christian concepts is important.

I will make a prediction, however. If we don’t resume fulfilling the Great Commission in a powerful way, a new denomination will prove to be irrelevant! All it does is give us a solid foundation as we begin to fix our biggest problem, which is the unwillingness of most American Christians to find ways to share their faith with others. A huge shift in our attitudes still has to occur.

It is my sense that a lot of us simply don’t know where to start. Having existed with Christianity as our cultural baseline for so long, even elderly Christians have lived most of their lives without having to think much about what it means to share the gospel—to evangelize. Up into the late 20th century, you could build a church building, and people tended to come. Talking about Jesus Christ as Savior was the province of the preacher and a few talented Sunday school teachers.

I want to offer Christians a simple target audience for our message of love and hope. These people are unlikely to enter our buildings on their own. But they are lost, spiritually crushed and confused, and thanks to God’s unrelenting grace, they are beginning to sense they need a change.

We can find them in all sorts of places. It helps to have a guide to go by, however, a way to imagine them so they are easier to see when we are out in the world. I think I’ve found such a guide in an old song.

Back in the late 1960s, Kris Kristofferson wrote a song called “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” A lot of people have recorded it over the years, but Johnny Cash took it to No. 1 in 1970, winning the Country Music Association’s award for Song of the Year.

I’ll simply offer you a chance to listen to it:

It’s raw, of course, and in it I hear the cry of a person who feels the stirring of a vague memory of what is righteous, along with a poorly understood desire to return to it. In a sermon a few weeks ago, I compared the moment to the pigpen revelation the wayward boy has in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Hurting people today may be in superficially different situations than they were in 1970, but I’m guessing their unspoken desire for caring people to come out on the sidewalk and lead them home hasn’t changed.

Let’s learn to be those caring people again.

Lord, as we pray so often, give us eyes to see and ears to hear. We also could use a dose of courage, the kind that allows us to leave our comfortable circles and go to the places where we can offer hope to those in need. Amen.

One in Twenty-Five

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment

By Chuck Griffin

As we come out of this pandemic, the church where I serve as pastor, Holston View United Methodist in Weber City, Va., is in a time of discernment. As part of that, we are going to spend some time discussing and then, I hope, practicing evangelism.    

That’s caused me to think about basic evangelism principles I have learned through the years. If you’ve been a Christian for any significant time, I’m confident someone has shared with you the general mandate for all Christians: We are to bring others to a belief in Christ.

This act is rooted most strongly in Jesus’ words recorded at the end of the gospel of Matthew.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you,” Jesus said.

Knowing we’re supposed to evangelize and actually evangelizing are two different things, however. The idea is intriguing, but its execution can be intimidating, particularly if we begin to imagine the hostile responses we might receive.

I struggled with this until I was in seminary, when I was blessed with a very effective professor of evangelism, Dr. Robert G. Tuttle Jr. A couple of his key ideas really helped me.

The first principle helps us to remember that evangelizing is not manipulative. It is compassionate.

“I do not love in order to evangelize. I evangelize because I love,” Tuttle would say.

If we’re struggling with evangelism, we may also be struggling with our relationship with God. Growing in love for God and our neighbors by praying, worshiping, reading the Bible and being in fellowship with those in our community is essential to effective evangelism.

The second principle helps us to deal with what is basically a fear of failure. It gets us to stop expecting every encounter with a non-Christian to result in that person falling to his or her knees, calling on Christ for salvation.

Tuttle called this principle “1 in 25,” which comes from a jailhouse ministry experience he had as a young pastor. After he had witnessed to inmates one day, one of them declared his desire to follow Christ.

Tuttle said he went back the next day, obviously quite proud of himself. The inmate told him this: “Tuttle, I lay awake all last night, thinking. Suddenly it occurred to me that it takes an average of 25 different witnesses before any real encounter with God takes place. Just because you were number 25, you think you did it all, and you stink.”

When you tell someone about Christ, you may be witness number 3, or number 7, or number 22. What’s important is that you move that person forward in his or her understanding of Jesus Christ.

These two principles don’t deal with every aspect of evangelism, of course. There are entire books written on how to find common ground with people so we can talk about Christ in a natural way. Most of these books focus on the need to listen before we speak.

I pray, however, that Tuttle’s two principles will help relieve some of the fears you may experience as you share the good news about the love of Jesus Christ.

Lord, As we go about fulfilling the most basic duty you have given us, give us a sense of peace, knowing you arrived on the scene ahead of us, preparing the way. Amen.

Those Who Would Lead

~ Chuck Griffin ~ 1 Comment

Mark 10:42-45 (NLT)

So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

By Chuck Griffin

Don’t be distracted by the “rulers in this world” reference. Self-promoters will always be with us, making up the vast majority of those who lead in secular settings.

Jesus’ message is aimed squarely at leaders in the church, and that is where our minds need to be today. They are supposed to lead in very different ways, perhaps influencing the world just a little by their example.

Pastors need to take all of what Jesus says to heart, of course. Certainly, pastors who rise to positions of higher authority (and higher pay, accompanied by other trappings of success) need to take Jesus’ words quite seriously.

And let’s never forget that lay Christians need to lead, too. If we don’t have laity taking a strong hand in running the church at all levels, we are going to be disappointed in our results for the kingdom.

So, what do servant leaders look like?

Well, such people have Philippians 2:4 hearts: “Look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” They plan their day around what they can do to improve other people’s situations. In particular, they’re thinking how they can help others receive eternal life and peace in this life.

That alone is not enough to make them leaders, though. Another step is required; leaders also take measures to ensure godly order.

In other words, they seek God’s will through prayer and Scripture, and they work to structure the church at all levels in accordance with what they find, usually building on what previous generations of leaders have determined. After all, the Holy Spirit works in each generation, and the Holy Spirit always gives consistent answers. Think “mission.”

Obviously, servant leaders also need to be bold. No hiding allowed. As Jesus indicated, the world and the church are two very different settings, so Christian leaders shouldn’t be dissuaded or deterred simply because the world sniffs in disapproval of their actions.

Servant leaders should have at least mild disdain for the prosperity the world may offer them. At a minimum, they don’t see what resources they control as really being theirs. It wouldn’t hurt servant leaders to read John Wesley’s sermon “The Danger of Riches” from time to time.

For those of us who are professionally trained, it’s also a good exercise to reflect on our original sense of calling and what we were imagining during those earliest years in licensing school or seminary.

Did we really make all those life changes and commitments to pursue what we pursue now? (We did see this as a calling, right?) Has the maintenance of an institution taken priority over Christian mission?

If preaching Christ crucified is no longer your focus—well, please go seek a worldly path to riches and power. The church is no place for such games.

Lord, raise up new servant leaders among your laity and clergy so we may be your vibrant church. Amen.