St Brendan's Anglican Church
 

Evangelism

Dr. Moheb Ghali

Sunday November 16

HOW DO YOU TALK ABOUT JESUS WITH PEOPLE WHO DO NOT SHARE YOUR FAITH?

AND WHY SHOULD YOU EVEN BOTHER?

In the next fifteen minutes I will try to apply the passage from Acts regarding Paul in Athens to myself and my life.  See if you react to the Scripture as I did. What I ask of you is that while I am talking you follow by applying the passage to yourself and your life. I will be honest with you and I expect you to be honest to yourself. I will talk about four aspects of evangelism: Why, When, How and the Outcomes

I. THE WHY

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

If you see people worshiping idols – do you get distressed? Why?

Driving on Garden Street, going south, past the place where it forks into High street and Garden Street, you will see on the left-hand sidewalk a 4-foot statue of Buddha sitting cross legged on a 3-foot high stone platform, flowers planted all around it, a spotlight illuminating it at night, and occasionally a flower wreath on its head! It has been there for almost a year now. Every time I pass by it walking to work I get distressed – even after a year. And this is only one idol!  I can understand why Paul would be distressed when he found Athens full of idols.

Why is this distressing? Should not Paul and I be open minded, inclusive and accepting of others’ way of approaching “God”, respecting their choice of a “vehicle to the divine”? Why do I get distressed- angry would be more accurate- every time I see the 7-foot monument?

I know why I get angry and I suspect that it is the same reason why Paul was distressed: Jesus suffered and died on the cross so that my neighbors would “not perish, but have everlasting life.”  And here they are, rejecting Jesus in favor of a “thing” – they prefer a piece of carved stone to the living God! How can they be so stupid?

What did Paul do about it?

So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.

What did I do about it?

Not much! Whenever I meet my Buddhist neighbors, I smile politely and greet them, never opening up the subject of that object they have installed on City property on Garden Street.  However, to my credit, I did act: I wrote to the former Mayor Asmundson, and I wrote to Mayor Pike, telling them that if it is acceptable to have religious monuments on City property, I intend to install a Nativity scene on City property on Garden Street next my house! Furthermore, in my righteous anger every time I pass by that shrine I curse it! I do! On a few occasions thoughts of vandalism have even crossed my mind!

I admit- this is irrational.  If I am distressed because this couple has chosen to worship a piece of stone instead of Jesus, the rational thing to do would be to do as Paul did in Athens: talk to them.  After all, it is not the stone idol that angers me; it is the choice my neighbors made.  However, it is much easier and safer to take my anger out on the stone object – it does not talk back, and it cannot accuse me of being a closed-minded-intolerant-fanatic.   

But if I speak out I may be disrespected or be dismissed as was Paul 

A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

And that is, clearly, where my problem lies: I do not want to lose the image I would like people to have of me: an over-all nice guy, a sophisticated-educated-tolerant-intellectual! Does this sound like I too have an idol – not a Buddha but an Ego?

The hard question that I should ask myself is: What is more important: my image and ego or the salvation of a couple destined for destruction?  Suppose I have a cure for a deadly disease and my neighbors had contracted that disease, should I be polite, mind my own business and watch them die? I know the Way to eternal life and my neighbors are facing eternal death; should I be polite, mind my own business knowing that they will never have eternal life? If, as a Christian I believe that eternal life is only through believing in Jesus, should I be polite, mind my business knowing that they will perish? Will Jesus, when I see Him face to face, tell me “Well done civil and polite servant?” Or will He be disappointed in me as was the master who entrusted his servant with a talent with which the servant did nothing because he was afraid to risk it?   

II. THE WHEN

Persistence may generate curiosity, and curiosity may open the door for an opportunity:

Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

I suppose that if I took a chance and actually talked to the people rather than to the statue I may get dismissed or disrespected, but if I persisted, the door may be opened. They may even invite me for a cup of coffee (or if I am lucky a beer!) to hear me out. Or, they may not. One thing I do know for sure: if I never talk to them, I will never have the opportunity to tell them about Jesus! When they hear me out, they may come to believe, or they may not. They my scoff saying (hopefully after I leave) "What is this babbler trying to say?"  But that is not my call.  

When? I believe that if in my heart I really want to share the Good News with them, God will provide the opportunity – for it is not His will that any should be lost. He will open the door when it is the right time - all I need to do is to be willing and keep my eyes open to see the door.

III. THE HOW

If I were to talk to them I will need to do some homework:

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.

Paul, it appears, has invested some time in gathering information about the culture and religion of the people in Athens and thus was ready when asked to speak to start from a point where he can establish “rapport” with his audience.

It is important for me to understand the neighbors’ context- Buddhism- if I am to engage them in a discussion. If I have no clue about what they believe in, I probably will have no chance of opening the subject during a casual conversation. Even if I did, the conversation would likely be very short and very shallow. I will not be able to “communicate” with them.

It would take time and effort to invest in some knowledge of my neighbors’ context. How I wish that the people I am called to witness to had as idols gourmet food, sports cars, good scotch or even Economics, then my task would be easy! But again, the choice is not up to me –it is not my call. Am I willing to make the investment? Are they worth it? Jesus thinks they are.

How did Paul approach the Athenians?       

Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all people life and breath and everything else.

The first point Paul makes (to an audience which is interested in spending their time “doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas”) introduces a ‘novel’ idea: The Maker is not made, nor does the Creator need anything from the created

This, to me, is an important point. Many times I hear people saying that the Church is interested in them only because of what it can get from them. Of course they say this to justify their decision to stay away from the Church.  When I hear this argument I am reminded (and I should remind them) of what we say and believe: “All things come of thee O Lord and of Thine own have we given Thee.” We do not give to God anything that is not already His – there is no such thing. This point comes across very clearly in the words of Psalm 50 where God tells us: 

  I have no need of a bull from your stalls or of goats from your pens,

            for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

 I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.

            If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

The second point that Paul makes is to tell them God’s Purpose: God did this so that people would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. This has been true from the day Adam and Eve chose to disobey- God has not stopped calling them, and us, back to Him, even going to extreme measures such as taking upon Himself the punishment that they (and we) deserved.

Finally Paul tells them what they need to do: Repent and believe that Jesus is Lord and that He has risen from the dead:
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

How should I talk to my Buddhist neighbors? This is where prayer for guidance would help, for God knows their hearts and what would touch them – it may be a logical argument, it maybe sharing my story with them or it may be listening to them and ministering to their needs. Or it may be something entirely different.  I do not think there is a formulae or a template that fits all situations and all peoples. I do know that the couple who brought Nancy and me to Jesus did it by playing bridge with us week after week after week while talking about what Jesus is doing in their lives. While Nancy and I were interested in playing bridge, Norma and Ed where interested in building a bridge.

IV. THE OUTCOME

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject."  At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

I love to watch the Billy Graham Classics on Saturday evenings. At the end of each episode he calls people to repentance and accepting Jesus and many (hundreds) come down the isles while the choir sings “Just as I am.”  If I ever get enough courage to talk to people about repentance and accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, it would be nice if I see a similar response. Actually it would be, not nice, but GREAT!

But this is not guaranteed. Paul was a great preacher- greater than Billy Graham- yet the response to him in Athens was: "We want to hear you again on this subject." This is the biblical equivalent to “How interesting! Let us do lunch sometime!” Not very encouraging.  But one never knows – “let us play bridge again” did ultimately lead to some results!  

While Paul was dismissed with a “Let us do lunch sometime,” a few men and a woman accepted the message. Was Paul  successful if he ended up, after all this work, with a few men and a woman accepting Jesus?  According to Jesus: “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."  There is a slogan on a TV commercial that says “We count success one customer at a time!” This sounds like an appropriate slogan for the angels! Actually, I may not even see a single success and yet be counted successful. Paul writes: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow... The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor” In my case, Norma and Ed planted the seed, Dennis and Rita watered it, but God made it grow. Norma and Ed were successful – even though they did not “harvest”. Of course it is more rewarding to harvest than to plant (unless you are taking about vegetables – which I love to plant but loath to harvest, for then I would then have to eat them). But then again, the choice of whether to plant, to water or to harvest is not up to me, it is not my call.

CONCLUDING REMARK:

This morning I made before you what amounts to “Confessions of a Complacent Christian”! In doing so I believe that God has made me face my own hesitation and reluctance. This message is for me as much as it is for you. I believe that I am now willing to think of my neighbors the way God would like me to, see them the way He sees them and to talk with them about Jesus.

NOW, HOW ABOUT YOU?

• Do you know people who worship idols? Not necessarily a Buddha or a Krishna, but idols such as fame, wealth, power, possessions, self image, sports, addictions or other obsessions that have become the center of their being?

• Does that distress you?

• Knowing that they will perish if they stay where they are, do you think they are worth the effort of bringing them to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, or at least it is worth giving them a chance?

• Are you willing to give them that chance if God opens the door for you? (This is a trick question, for God will open the door as soon as you are willing!)

• If some turn you down, would that discourage you from trying again?

LET US PRAY:

The Lord be with you.

Lord Jesus, I confess this morning that I have been reluctant to do what I know You want me to do.

But now I am willing to do whatever it takes so that I can hear You telling me: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

I ask Father that you

Open my heart so that I would care enough that my neighbors would get to know you;

   Open my eyes to see the doors that You open before me; and

   Open my mouth to speak the words that would bring my neighbors to You.

I ask this in Jesus name. AMEN.