The actual Way of the Master

Let's take a look at some of Jesus's method of evangelism (I'll post the passages here for reference):



"As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”
Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:57-62)


As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth." (Mark 10:17-22)




Our modern view of evangelism has much in common with our modern business practices. We have a product (salvation), and our task is to sell it (evangelize) to as many people as we can before the end of the quarter (end of the world). So we have courses and classes and training sessions to that end, which offer us better sales tactics (a more effective witness).


But if we look at Jesus's example, we find that he spent just as much energy scaring away people from the kingdom of heaven as he did drawing them in. (In addition to the above passages I would add Jesus's arguments with the Pharisees, trashing the temple courtyard, and swearing people to secrecy about certain healings.)


So where exactly is the disconnect?


Looking forward to your replies.

x141 said:

He came to seek and save that which is lost. We must understand where it is that we are wandering around lost in before we can understand the way what he revealed as the way back.

Jesus’ life was a prophetic walk, His life revealed the way back to the Father.

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So you are saying that Jesus must first point out just how lost we are before we can be found?

alphanoodle said:

I think the one obvious thing in these scriptures suggests the answer. Not only are you right about the method, but I rarely see anyone focused on the person of Jesus at all. When I evangelized; well, the last time I approached evangelism, I started with Paul's command in Col 3 to 'let the words of Christ dwell in your richly'. Jesus evangelized about 2 things: himself, and the kingdom of heaven. All I did was talk about Christ and what he said, the encounters he had and the mercy, generosity, and grace he displayed. He was unorthodoxed and revolutionary toward religion. When people heard that, they never failed to ask me what church I went to so they could go there. Not once! I didn't learn it at church though. I learned it on my knees, because the second thing Jesus taught me was from Acts when he told the future apostles, 'Tarry here at Jerusalem until you receive power from on high AND THEN, you shall be my disciples.' I realized that I could not convert hardened, demon held, godless hearts by any human power I had, or method I could employ. So I started praying... and praying and praying to be filled with this power from on high. After that it got so good that I stopped approaching people. I just told the Lord, Hey, you know who you want to save. I'll just be ready, and you make them come to me who are willing to hear, those whose heart you have prepared. You would not believe how miraculously and faithfully God answered that prayer. And all I gave them was Jesus.

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Excellent point.

"But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:21)

"I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit." (Rom 15:18-19)

razzelflabben said:

What if this has to do more with weeding out the "sheep from the goats" rather than those that are being called, consider this passage...Ephesians 4:29...Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

It seems like the church is full of people who as scripture says....II Timothy 3:5....Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

even Paul has a problem with this...II Timothy 3:15-18 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

I don't know, maybe I have it all wrong, but it seems to me that until we stop giving lip service only to God, until we stop proclaiming Christ but living as if we are dead, we don't have the right to preach the gospel, because it remains a gospel we have heard but fail to actually believe.

Just my two cents.

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Wow. Good call on that passage. I can use some humbling now and again.

So I need to be concerned about how I preach Christ (regardless of my methods). And if I ever disagree with the methods of others, I need to let God deal with His own kids, and just be happy that the word of God's crazy grace through Jesus is being heard.

I can do that.

razzelflabben said:

One of my favorite questions to ask, any chance I get, is how "you" came to Christ? I get some interesting answers...but from a constant asking of that question, one thing has become very clear to me. God calls us according to who we are, not according to anything else. Let me explain...when I came to Christ, I needed the power to overcome the situation I found myself in. My husband needed someone to follow, he found that in his brother, who led him to God, and now he follows God. I know some who needed to see the miracles, in order to be convinced that Jesus was their answer, still others needed to be so low that there was no place else to turn. We each have something different that draws us to God, that is why "method" as you call it, has very little to do with evangelizing, and the truth of Christ has everything to do with it. You see, Christ is big enough to fulfill every individual need with a host more left over...that is simply how Love works, so when we concern ourselves with the "method" we miss an opportunity to Love with the heart of Christ.

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As you and Emmy both said, Love is the thing.

And what you posted is so true. The only way to the Father is through Jesus, but there are as many different paths to Jesus as their are folks who come to him.