Home > Blog > Prioritize Sharing the Gospel in Times of Crisis

Prioritize Sharing the Gospel in Times of Crisis

By Ed Stetzer

As we look forward to moving through 2021––and past 2020––we need to learn from the crises we’ve faced over the last year. Lots of challenges have been met, and there are still many more to come. Yet we always need to ask ourselves how we should share the gospel in times of crisis.

The Gospel Remains Our Priority

I’m an integral prioritist, and I’d like to encourage you to be one as well.

For the believer, the gospel is always a central priority. Jesus’ final instructions to the church were to go and make disciples. To frame how sharing the gospel connects with serving the hurting, I’ve begun to explain that I am an “integral prioritist”: I believe in integral mission—that this mission involves both word and deed. Put another way, I believe both caring for people and proclaiming the gospel matter. But I also know how easy it is to lose our focus on proclaiming the good news, and that loss can be magnified when crisis strikes. Hence the need for making evangelism a priority.

There is no question biblically we should be sharing Christ; the Great Commission is not the Great Suggestion. There’s also no question biblically that we should lovingly care for the needs of those in a crisis. The Great Commandment is not the Great Selection; we don’t get to pick and choose who we love and when we love. So, how do we prioritize the two?

When Others Are Facing a Crisis

When others are facing a crisis, we don’t push the crisis aside in order to get the message out; we love the person and help them in the middle of the crisis, then share Christ by applying the gospel to their issue.

a) Meet the immediate need first.

When someone’s house is on fire, you don’t necessarily take the time to share the gospel; you get them out of the house. But the fire doesn’t last forever. Frank Luntz is a pollster and a recognized professional on the topic of communication. The subtitle to his book Words That Work offers an apt reminder here: “It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.” When in a crisis it’s hard for people to hear anything in that moment other than “I can help.”

Further, Scripture consistently reminds us to care for people in need. Zechariah 7:9-10 tells us care for the widow, orphan, the sojourner, and the poor. In Matthew 25, Jesus reminds us when we care for the naked, the hungry, the sick, the prisoner, and more, we care for him.

But we need to pay attention to when—or if—the house fire goes out. If we aren’t careful, when a crisis is persistent, like much of what we saw in 2020, we will never get to the gospel because the crisis is so persistent. Take for example global poverty. I care about alleviating extreme global poverty, yet if I don’t find a way to prioritize evangelism, I’ll never get to it because this particular house fire never goes out.

b) Pray for gospel discernment.

In Colossians 4, Paul asks for prayer as he seeks to share Christ wisely. Then he says, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:5-6). It’s appropriate and helpful to ask God for wisdom in the middle of a crisis.

c) Apply the storyline of Scripture to their specific crisis.

In Luke 4:18-20, Jesus applies Isaiah’s words to himself. The Spirit of the Lord anointed Jesus to do what? Proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, set free the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Then we come to Luke 19:10 where Jesus said he came to seek and save the lost. We remember that theologically the greatest crisis a person will face––whether they see it or not––is their lost condition. Jesus was the master of taking a situation and using the circumstance to explain good news: living water in John 4, fishing for men in Matthew 4, and so on.

At the beginning of the pandemic, in a widely watch broadcast, I talked about the four phases of the crisis. During Phase 1, Pause and Pivot, I explained we needed to serve the community and prioritize the elderly and those with preexisting conditions. But by the time we got to Phase 2, Prepare and Plan, there needed to be the proclamation of the gospel. If we didn’t prioritize the gospel then, it would get lost.

We can apply this to specific situations as we deal with people going through a personal crisis. We pause and pivot, taking care of pressing needs first. But as soon as possible, we prepare and plan to help them to see the love of God in the middle of the crisis through the gospel.

d) Do so with humility and care.

People don’t care how much you know about if they don’t know that you care about them. We can’t detach your gospel proclamation from the reality of their crisis. The compassionate thing is to care for their need and to share with them the truth as we serve them.

When Believers Face a Crisis

When believers face a crisis, we prioritize sharing Christ. We don’t ignore our own need, but we put others first and the gospel foremost. This is seen clearly in the New Testament, both in the commission of Jesus and the practice of the early church.

In Acts 4, leaders are detained and threatened, and yet they shared Christ. After prayer, the whole church shared the gospel and met needs. Then, in Acts 5, leaders were beaten for sharing Christ and told not to do so, but they continued to share Christ. Stephen is killed in Acts 7, yet in his dying he shared Christ. In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are in prison, and they shared Christ.

Also, speaking to a persecuted church, Peter said when facing persecution, believers were told to be ready always to give a reason for their hope in Christ (1 Peter 3:15). That’s the priority for the believer.

Most people who came to Christ in the Gospels did so in a time of crisis. Crises are not a time forget the gospel; they are a time when both sharing the gospel and serving those in need converge in a way that brings both glory to God and good to others.

Home > Blog > Getting Our Priorities Straight

Getting Our Priorities Straight

By Ed Stetzer

If in your travels you have ever passed by another country’s embassy, you may see people standing guard, usually in uniform and with their national flag. Those soldiers and the ambassador they guard inside are living, breathing representations of their own country living sent lives in a foreign land. Their task is to represent their home country and its interests while in that land.

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul refers to himself as an ambassador. It is an appropriate description of all Christians. The local church is, in function, an embassy of Heaven, and its people are to be ambassadors living sent lives—living, breathing representations of the King and His kingdom. As a member of a local church, you are involved in the missional task of making the invisible kingdom break through into the visible—to proclaim that the King reigns and is reconciling the world to Himself (5:19). The function of these embassies (churches) and the ambassadors within their walls (Christians) is to propagate the good news of the King and the kingdom we represent. In our case this does not simply mean that we go and do good for the city (though it includes that). It does not simply mean that we serve the poor (though it includes that, too). Paul considers a proclamation element central to our ambassadorships:

“We are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God’” (5:20, CSB).

Justice and evangelism—gospel demonstration and proclamation— are not two sides of the same coin, which implies that for one to function, the other must be hidden. Instead they are inextricably held together—the “two big rocks” of Jesus’ mission: serving the hurting and saving the lost. Like a forged steel alloy created from combining carbon and iron, serving and saving forge a complete—and like the forged alloy, a stronger—witness to the world. Hiding gospel proclamation in order to foreground gospel demonstration weakens both.

While justice and evangelism go hand in hand, they must work together. Paul is careful to ask the rhetorical question “How will people hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14). Jesus is at work in the world, but He is not at work in the world salvifically without His Church and without gospel proclamation. This is why missio Dei births missio ecclesiae, and the Church joins Jesus on His mission to make disciples among the nations. The Church is given “the keys of the kingdom” to participate in mission with God (Matthew 16:19). The justice brought about and advocated for by the Church testifies to the goodness of the King but people must know in which King’s name such good work is being done. As the Christmas hymn tells us, it is “in His name [that] all oppression shall cease.”

I mentioned previously how, metaphorically speaking, the mission of God has two big rocks. As goes the well-known illustration, if you place a bunch of small rocks in a bucket first, the two big rocks won’t fit. But if you put the big rocks in first, the small rocks fit around it. So it is with mission—the two big rocks in the mission of Jesus are serving the hurting and saving the lost: demonstration and proclamation. Countless smaller rocks surround them. This helps us remember we need to prioritize gospel proclamation (which includes global missions) and gospel demonstration (also part of global mission) in the life of the Church if we would really join Jesus on His mission. The Church may do other things that are considered part of the mission, but those two things are central to the mission. They are central to the mission of the Church because they are central to the mission of Jesus. If we do not find a way to prioritize evangelism—in particular, global evangelism—we lose that emphasis.

Remembering History

It would be reckless for us not to recognize and learn from the mistakes of those who lost missions in the name of mission just a century before us. Recent history sounds a warning.

The beginning of the last century was marked by the kingdom of God movement that eventually neglected gospel proclamation to become what we now call the “social gospel.” It happened again following the International Missionary Conference at Willingen (1952). Mission thinkers and practitioners strayed from cross-cultural evangelism and the emphasis on church planting and favored a mission of doing good in the name of doing good rather than in the name of Jesus. H. H. Rosin notes that soon after the term missio Dei appeared for the first time in modern theological writing, following this conference, it began to shift in meaning from God’s missionary work through the Church to God’s larger work in the world. Many of those who embraced this view of mission concluded that since God is at work in the world. He no longer needs His Church for mission. While history doesn’t repeat itself, it can certainly rhyme, and we must be careful not to make similar mistakes.

Recently, I contributed a chapter to a book called Conversations on When Everything is Missions: Rediscovering the Mission of the Church.  You will find part two above. You can read part one here.

The full book is available for purchase here. In addition to the chapter from myself, you will find contributions from other leaders, such as Dr. David Platt and J.D. Payne.

By TheChurch.Digital: For the podcast here, Clivane has a unique perspective of church online.
She’s Canadian (okay, that’s not unique).
She’s a millennial (once again, not unique).
She works at an Anglican Church (historically, not unique at all).
But individually, we here at THECHURCH.DIGITAL are broadening perspectives here and looking to learn.

What does digital community look like to a millennial? On-Mission? If evangelism is a dirty word to Millennials, then, what does the future of the Church look like? Where is GenZ in all this?

These are just some of the topics we are hitting here, on The Church Digital Podcast.

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ON THE SHOW

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Guest: Clivane Previlon
St. Paul’s Bloor Street, Communications Manager
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Host: Jeff Reed
THECHURCH.DIGITAL
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Co-Host: Rey DeArmas
Christ Fellowship Miami Online
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RESOURCES

HELP ANOTHER CHURCH. LEAVE A REVIEW.

We know these conversations are out there are hard. Even the best of churches haven’t figured out… If this podcast is helping you and your church work through what Church Online is, then help us impact other churches! Take a moment and leave us a brief review!

By leaving a positive ranking and review of THECHURCH.DIGITAL PODCAST on iTunes, you’re helping to get this podcast in front of new people who are most likely asking the same questions you are. Head over to that Ratings & Review section on iTunes and drop a good word for us!

Feedback on the podcast is vital as well. Leave comments on the podcast, or comment on this post! I’d love to know your thoughts and how we can serve your church better.

Love you all! Praying for your Churches and your Ministry Online.

Jeff Reed
THECHURCH.DIGITAL

Home > Blog > Gospel Opportunities Right Outside Your Door

Gospel Opportunities Right Outside Your Door

By Ed Stetzer

“Good fences make good neighbors.”

Published in 1914, Robert Frost’s famous “Mending Wall” is a classic American poem. Every year, middle school students are tasked with memorizing it and high school students with explaining it. In it, Frost tells the story of two neighbors rebuilding a wall between their two farms. Reflecting on the fact that each year they have to rebuild the same fence as nature persistently tears it down, one of the farmers says “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, that wants it down.” Yet each time, the other neighbor merely responds that “Good fences make good neighbors.”

Few people will confuse me with a poet, but this poem has stuck with me. So many people have bought into this thinking, believing that the optimal neighborhood is one where people stay on their side of the fence. We chose safety and stability of carving out our spot instead of the unknown and difficulty task of developing relationship. Fences are meant to free us from actually engaging our neighbor, that’s what makes them good.

A common realization of COVID-19 that many have had is that this view is antithetical to our gospel mission. Stuck close to home, we’ve been awakened to these people who live on our street or in our apartment building. Suddenly, those we previously had tried desperately to ignore became a lifeline for human connection. Underneath this realization is a central truth: engaging your community begins with engaging those around you.

God has placed you in your neighborhood or your apartment complex for a reason. He has given you a mission field to build his kingdom by showing and sharing the love of Jesus with those around you. In response, I want to offer three practices Christians should consider in tearing down these fences and engaging their communities with the gospel of Jesus.

1. Submit your Friendships

When I was young in ministry I received one of the most important pieces of advice I ever received: Submit your friendships to the kingdom.

Most people can only have a certain number of friendships in life at any given time. If you want to truly reach your neighbors you need to be willing to make those people your friends. Instead, Christian too often want to engage their neighbors but only to a certain point. They want to reserve their friend slots for church or work. Their neighbors are merely acquaintances, people they just happen to live close to. Yet if you want to engage our community effectively and see lasting fruit you need to be willing to give your time, energy, and affection to your neighbors.

Within this season of COVID-19, this requires intentionality. While I’m thankful for digital technology, our dependence on it this season has the unintended consequence is that many people have allowed opportunities to make connections to slip through the cracks. My point is simple: if you want to grow in this area, now more than ever, this requires purposefully focusing on maintaining connections in your community.

2. Map the Neighborhood

In Christians in the Age of Outrage, I recount a story of when my wife, Donna, and I became convicted over how we were failing to reach our neighbors. We had moved to the neighborhood with grand plans to show and share the love of Christ to those around us but for a host of reasons we hadn’t made much headway.

In talking through what we should do, I remember getting out a piece of paper and drawing a map of our neighborhood:

We drew a diagram of the streets and cross streets, and began to fill it in with everything we knew about each neighbor. Our intention was to be mindful of all the people in the immediate proximity of our house. We wrote down the names of eight of our nearest neighbors who didn’t know Christ. We started to find excuses for our kids to play together. We hosted cookouts and Super Bowl parties, and then we started a Bible study. With every trial, success, and crisis came the opportunity to preach the gospel. Avoiding the “Christianese” that can obscure the gospel, we would emphasize that only in Jesus can we find fulfillment for those most common desires of the human heart—to be known, loved, and valued. Several people attended, and over a year, we saw a key couple in the neighborhood trust Christ, be baptized, and start leading a Bible study in their home.

Drawing a map of the neighborhood was a way of crystalizing our community as a mission field. Reaching our neighborhood can be very abstract until you begin to understand who lives where and what is going on in their lives.

Mapping our neighborhood helped us to visually understand that these people were our neighbors. They weren’t just people who lived near us, they were real people with real lives that we were called to show and share the love of Jesus to while we lived among them. It made us speak and act in concrete terms rather than in the abstract.

In essence, mapping out our neighborhood challenged us truly know the scope of our community.

3. Lead with the Table

Christians can’t expect to make inroads in their neighborhoods and in their broader community if they believe evangelism and mission only takes place at the front door. One of my close friends and fellow pastor once told me, “You can’t say someone’s a friend until they’ve sat at your dinner table.”

In exploring the importance of hospitality in Scripture, Joshua Jipp offers this important definition:

Hospitality is the act or process whereby the identity of the stranger is transformed into that of guest. While hospitality often uses the basic necessities of life such as the protection of one’s home and the offer of food, drink, conversation, and clothing, the primary impulse of hospitality is to create a safe and welcoming place where a stranger can be converted into a friend.

This is a powerful definition for Christians seeking to engage their communities. Hospitality is a primary way we convert strangers into friends. The vulnerability and intimacy of welcoming others into space that society is increasingly telling us to guard, tells them that we value both them as human beings and the opportunity to be in relationship with them.

Obviously, creating any sort of social connection can be challenging in our pandemic world. Yet, if you just look outside your door, God may open your eyes to the work He has already been doing in the houses or apartments you pass by every day. The burden will be upon you to think creatively about how to bring them into your “socially distanced” space. You could have a bonfire, offer to buy groceries or other necessities, or even just go on a walk.

God is already at work in the hearts and minds of those around you, and He invites all of us to join in with Him. In this season, let yourself be surprised by how the small act of opening your home, and offering your time, can open people’s hearts to hear the gospel of Jesus.

Home > Blog > Six Mistakes as a Church Planter

Six Mistakes as a Church Planter

By Mark Dance

My first two churches would be considered replants by today’s definition. Although both started and ended well, I made a lot of mistakes along the way. Most people will forget about your ministry mistakes over time because love really does cover a multitude of sins. But sometimes our failures help us—and others—to grow, which is why I wrote this post for you.

Here are the six mistakes I regret the most.

1. I stole other members’ ministries. 

I am ashamed to say that in my enthusiasm to plant successfully, I outright stole other members’ ministries by doing too much of it myself. Church planters are notoriously hands-on entrepreneurs. We like to be in the middle of the action and are often tempted into thinking that the success of our ministry revolves around us. A pastor’s job is not to perform all of the ministry, but rather train “the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:12).

A maturing pastor will equip people instead of enabling them.

2. I hogged the pulpit.

I think my reluctance to share my pulpit was rooted in secret insecurities. I loved to preach, which is good, but it would have been better to have raised up other preachers. “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2

Another bonus to shared preaching is freshness. Literally half of my time was spent preparing messages for four services each week, which was neither necessary nor biblical. Although today’s church planters are much less likely to prepare three messages, they are tempted to make themselves the star of the show by convincing themselves that it won’t go on without them.

3. I cast vision inconsistently.

My church plant was technically a replant, since there were eight remaining members left in the ashes of a struggling church which eventually called it quits. These survivors were joined by eight families who created a core team which relaunched as a completely different church with a new name.

One dirty little secret of church planting is that most of the founding members are former members of other churches. They may have taken a break to shop around, but that does not qualify these shoppers as “unchurched.”

Regardless of what your people’s church background it, most will start day one with a preconception of what church should look like. Church planters need to cast a compelling vision so consistently that the members are able and willing to communicate it conversationally to new people as they arrive.

4. I did not pursue a mentor.

In my first decade of ministry, I had plenty of ministry peers, and mentees, but cannot think of one mentor who I reached out to. The initiative for mentoring starts with the mentee not the mentor, and I made the arrogant rookie mistake of not pursuing this important relationship earlier.

5. I focused too much on buildings.

My formative years were the late 1980s, when churches believed that, “If you build it, they will come.” We spent a lot of time, energy, and money building and remodeling facilities. I have no regrets about any of those  buildings, although I do regret investing so much personal time on those projects.

Church planters need to see themselves as Ezras (priests), not Nehemiahs (builders). If you don’t have a trusted layperson to lead that charge, wait until you find one before you move forward.

6. I neglected personal evangelism.

My first two churches exceeded everyone’s expectations for conversion growth, including my own. Our sense of urgency was fueled by prayer and vision, but after a few years of fruitful growth, we became comfortably stable. Also my heart grew uncomfortably cold after the initial buzz wore off. All three churches I have served wasted too many years on the treadmill of transfer growth, which was primarily my mistake. These seasons were temporary, but they cannot be reclaimed.

These are not the only mistakes I made in my early years of church planting and replanting, but they are the ones I regret the most. What are some of the mistakes you made in your first decade of ministry?