holiness as evangelism
Mar. 3 2008Last week I got to hang out with Bob Kauflin and C.J. Mahaney and Justin Buzzard at the Resurgence Conference in Seattle.
First of all, Seattle is the coolest city in the country. Hands down. Done. Game over. During a break at the conference I had a conversation with Justin over a cup of fine Seattle coffee (not Starbucks, much better) about Holiness and Legalism that I thought I would share with you briefly.
During the conversation I made the statement: “Holiness is the most underrated evangelistic tool we have as Christians in reaching this world.”
Why? Well first, I believe we have lost our distinction in our lust for relevance. That’s my opinion. In our attempts as Christians to bring more biblical definition to the sacred and secular we have lost our biblical definitions of holy and un-holy. I think we overlook the fact that holiness that is filled with grace and humility is very attractive but that holiness void of humility and grace is legalism and is appalling in our lives as believers. (And I say “our” because we all do it and need to repent.)
Here’s an example of what I mean: My friend who does not know Jesus asks me if I saw a certain movie (I will not name any by name). I say no. He looks at me in astonishment as though I have lost my mind because everybody has seen it. But then he asks me why not I have an opportunity to talk to him about how a man named Jesus spoke a message that has radically transformed my life. Now I may not give him the whole message to him in that moment but I can fill him in on how Christ’s Kingdom affects my view toward entertainment.
What we shouldn’t do is give our friends a pound of moralism and no gospel message. That is bad. Our response should never be, “It’s against my religion.” What I can say is “Man, I really wanted to see it but I checked out the movie on line and found out there was some nudity and sex in the movie. And Jesus has called me to love others as he loves them even if it means some personal sacrifice on my part. So with in mind it’s hard for me to say I love this woman by going and seeing a movie that totally exploits her body and sexuality for the viewing pleasure of a lot of people. It does not seem to be the most loving thing to do. Women have been exploited and used for their bodies for thousands of years and Christ came to change that. And I want to see that changed as well so here is my little part in seeing that changed. What do you think?”
So that’s why I think holiness is the most underrated evangelistic tool we have as Christians.
Comments
In our search for relevance we often want to seem cool about things the Bible condemns. We must understand our adversary the devil has been opposing the saints of God for thousands of years. He will seek to force us into one extreme or another: either cool about sin or totally self righteous with no compassion. We will be ignorant of his devices at our peril. WE must not take our lead from the world or from just our own reason. Follow closely to Christ and he will make us the best fishers of men we can possibly be.
andrew Kenny on Sat Mar 8, 2008 at 6:58 amE,
Glad you turned that sentence from our conversation in a blog post. Next step: a single sermon, or sermon series, on the topic.
First of all, the “in” from the first sentence in my last post ought to have read, “into.”
Second of all (I don’t know how I missed this in my first reading of the post), the statement that Seattle is “the coolest city in the country” is ridiculous and wrong. San Francisco is the coolest city in the country, especially when the 49ers are having a good season.
Justin Buzzard on Sun Mar 9, 2008 at 6:40 pmI agree. Moralism without a message is meaningless. And a message without holiness is also not effective. We need both! It has taken me years to actually see this though. Usually (myself included) we camp out at the extremes of either “You have to LIVE out the gospel” or the opposite “You must SPEAK the gospel”.
If holiness is the most underrated tool (which I agree with you, it is) then the mouth is the most under-utilized evangelistic tool we have.. I would suggest that a person who readily defends their position of why they don’t evangelize a certain “way” to the point of excluding the other “way” is likely lurking behind some sort of an idol. I’ve ministered alongside many who adopted both extreme views, and have seen the dangers it presents, and fell victim to all of it myself. I’ve come away with a simple view that keeps me focused because I tend to overcomplicate everything in life: faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, and faith without works is dead. If I can just remember that, believe that, and apply that, I’ll be doing better than I was yesterday.
Juli on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 5:19 pmOBEDIENCE OBEDIENCE OBEDIENCE
We’d be holy and humble if we quit making excuses for our sin and keep trying to move the line that God drew in the sand.
(I’m one of the worst by the way)
Check this out:
Col 3:4: When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Col 3:5: Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
1 Cor 3:16: Do you not know that you are a temple of God and {that} the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Cor 3:17: If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are
Isa 63:08: For He said, “Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” So He became their Savior.
Isa 63:09: In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.
Isa 63:10: But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.
Hbr 10:26: For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
Hbr 10:27: but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.
Now try this on for size:
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
Rom 6:2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
…….
Rom 6:5 For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be {in the likeness} of His resurrection,
Rom 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,} in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
Rom 6:7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
Quit falling down and going back to the cross. Live like God wants you to live and be OBEDIENT. The holiness will follow and the humbleness. (I hope)
I recently bailed out of a trip with friends of mine and they asked why.
I told them because there would be things involved that I wasn’t comfortable with anymore.
I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s trip, but I couldn’t go in good conscience. I told them to go and have a good time. (Not even sure that was appropriate but it was kind of wierd)
Anyway great post!
In Christ,
Chris
http://sharpeningiron.wordpress.com/
Thank you so much for post. Holiness is something that God expects from believers. He says in 1 Petere1:16 Be ye holy for I am holy. He has also said we are to be holy in all manner of conversation. People that do not know Christ may be watching the way we behave. If we are to make them curios about the Gospel we are to be different to the world. How we react in various situations may open a way for us to share the Gospel . You have said this so well in your post. The Lord used the behaviour of a young woman to point to Christ. I noticed that she was different and I wanted what she had.
Pamella on Wed Mar 5, 2008 at 9:24 am