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| Urban Evangelism (part 1) | ||
| April 29, 2005 CityVoices readers, For many years, Christian evangelists have presented a false picture of Jesus. We’ve been guilty of portraying him as Anglo-Saxon, blue-eyed, blond, Protestant (and, Republican). As Dr. William E. Pannell wrote over 30 years ago, “this conservative brand of Christianity perpetuates the myth of white supremacy. One of the greatest stumbling blocks to the gospel can be the struggle associated with race,” (My Friend the Enemy , Word Books, 1972). That truth remains today. One of the first steps in reaching any city for Jesus Christ must be a season of sincere racial reconciliation. With this edition of CityVoices, we focus on Urban Evangelism, providing you with both background thinking and practical suggestions on an often-neglected subject. And this is only the beginning. Next month’s edition will bring the subject into even clearer focus. Our contents for this month include:
Remember that we offer some of the best in urban ministry literature available. In addition to all titles by Ray Bakke and Robert Linthicum, we are currently featuring:
All of these books are filled with creative ideas for making urban ministry happen with strength and power. To purchase single editions (or multiple copies) contact the CityVoices office at (312) 726-1200, or roger@cityvoices.com . (VISA and MC are accepted.) Roger Johnson, CityVoices / SCUPE ******************** City Evangelism: What’s Unique? By Roger Johnson, Editor, CityVoices Let’s think about this one for a minute. What’s so very different about proclaiming Christ’s good news in the neighborhoods of big city America ? Jesus is still God’s son, who died for humans. He rose from the dead, in power over sin and the devil. And he promises to come back for all who have believed. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved! It’s a universal truth for all times, places and cultures. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, forever, in the city, in the suburb, or on the farm. But telling the Jesus story and preaching the good news takes on a different character in the modern city. Let’s look at just three of the many factors involved: population density, human diversity and the urban media. Density is a defining city characteristic. Cities are filled with hundreds of thousands of people living in close proximity. An understanding of people, cultures and their messages (the gospel included) happens quickly and easily. Urban Americans rarely depend on the media for their understanding of Muslim and Hindu cultures. They perceive (correctly or incorrectly) these cultures by personal observation. By the same token, the secular city comes to its understanding of Christians by its own observations. As integral members of the city, Christians proclaim the gospel through their lives, manners and morals in an instant fashion. As Christians move into increasingly crowded cities, pulpits are exchanged for relevant lifestyles that communicate gospel truth in authentic fashion. The city means diversity in race, ethnicity, language, economics, and of course, religion. How can people be convinced of Jesus’ life and teachings when so many attractive options exist in close proximity? At one point in our nation’s urban history, inspiring church architecture and vibrant Christian programs might have been enough. But those days are long gone. We must constantly remind ourselves that Christ’s appeal, while first to the Jews of his day, went far beyond any one ethnic, religious or social group. After his resurrection, the apostles (and other disciples) were taking the gospel to Greeks, Romans, Africans and Asians. The good news of salvation went out to the lowest slaves and the most powerful rulers. The gospel was, and remains, for all people. Then, we must remember that only a small portion of those who heard the first-century gospel accepted it as truth for their lives. Athens ’ intelligentsia couldn’t bring itself to believe in a God who lived, died and rose again. While the Apostle Paul had better luck in evangelizing the “lower classes,” these communities also had their own issues of hypocrisy, infighting and unbelief. Evangelism will continue to be a difficult proposition for increasingly diverse American cities. For effectiveness sake, we should make use of all the tools at our disposal to proclaim a faithful gospel: multilingual services, ethnic music and meals, and a deeper understanding of the social conditions so necessary for a person to confess and believe. At the same time, we must hold to the unity of the church. Christ must be proclaimed across cultures, as well as within cultures, especially when divergent cultures live side-by-side. Like it or not, city evangelism is deeply impacted by urban media – its size and the particular spin it puts upon any church’s message. Some churches earn the labels of shepherds and stewards, other churches gain the label “proselytizers,” and still other are labeled far worse. If the gospel operated in a vacuum, we need not concern ourselves with media characterizations. But that’s not possible, nor desirable! Should we cash in Jesus’ truth for a politically-correct sounding gospel? Of course not! Evangelism is one area where the church must be careful to “stay its biblical course” if it hopes to have any integrity or effectiveness. City congregations simply need to evangelize as though TV cameras were following their every move. If our message is good enough to attract people on the evening news, certainly it will be good enough to attract people on the streets and sidewalks of our neighborhoods. The future of city evangelism will not be located in the privacy of “club-style” churches or safe home environments. That’s never worked! Cities are dominated by large numbers of diverse people living their lives in public ways, in some of the most public places imaginable. That means the city will be a contentious and exciting public forum for competing ideas and philosophies. Authentic Christianity has a significant place in the mix, and we as Christians have a heavenly mandate to speak what we believe. We don’t have a mandate to offend, demean or criticize any human being, their faith or lack thereof. The city church has strong, saving words, coupled with loving actions and integrity. That evangelism strategy will always speak in convincing fashion to America ’s urban communities. Roger Johnson, CityVoices / SCUPE, 200 N. Michigan Avenue, Ste. 502, Chicago, IL 60601, (312) 726-1200, roger@cityvoices.com , www.cityvoices.com ******************** God and Church in the City: Embracing and Affirming Diversity (Excerpted from essay by Jose Morales, student, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago ) For at least a century and a half, the city has been demonized. The romantics have seen it as the locus of dirt, filth, violence and sin. Consequently, this has shaped the mindset of pastors and churches, both in and out of the city. Those within the city have morphed their role and calling into the ugly forms of escapism and lost-cause evangelism. Those outside, most prominently seen in suburban settings, have viewed their role in paternalistic and consequently demeaning ways. Is this what urban ministry should look like? Fortunately, urban ministers and scholars alike have begun to rethink this debilitating paradigm of the city. In doing so, a new ethos with very distinct urban characteristics has arisen. These characteristics are now being used as guides for effective congregational ministry, pastoral care, and Spirit-led social activism. What then are these concepts that attest to God living in the barrio? I would like to draw out just three: the affirmation and embrace of diversity; the Holy Spirit as the personal impetus for carrying out the vocation of the urban church, and shalom as the end goal of ministry. The modern and romantic Christian mind at the turn of the 19th century saw pluralism as a sign of disorientation and chaos, though a socio-economic reading quickly uncovers the imperialistic and monopolizing agenda that inform such observations. In recent years, both through the secular movement of postmodernism and the re-reading of the biblical narrative, diversity is beginning to be embraced by the urban church as a testament to God's creativity and abundance. For a biblical example, we look to Luke. In Jerusalem (a city), approximately fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, the church was born. Luke in his Acts of the Apostles describes the genesis of the church as a movement in which the people heard “the mighty deeds of God” spoken in their own dialects. Luke, among other things, is advocating for the richness of diversity as a chromosome in the DNA of the ecclesia. The Day of Pentecost was the incarnation of unity (the proclamation of God's power) in diversity (the various languages employed in the kerygmatic function of the gathered faithful). This experience provides us with a new methodology for doing ministry and discerning God's voice. One is drawn to ask, "In what tongues is God speaking to us?" The urban church should constantly check the “language” it uses in koinonia, leitourgia, kerygma, and diaconia. In order to stay relevant, the notion of language is extremely important. We must use that the language of the Spirit in a particular urban context in order to bare life-changing effects, be it hip-hop, spoken word, house music, or street art. In doing so, we affirm the diverse ways the Holy Spirit of God permeates urban life. My second point concerns the Holy Spirit as the personal impetus for carrying out the vocation of the urban church. The Matthew narrative begins with the identification of the Messiah to come as “Immanuel,” or God with us. This opening bracket is complementarily closed by the ascension account in which Jesus tells his disciples that “I am with you always.” The “God with us” promise is fulfilled in the Pentecost event.Up to now, the Word, through the presence and power of the Spirit, is constantly becoming flesh and “pitching a tent” (John 1.14) among us. Thus the pneumatic Lord is our source of power for mission. For this reason, I believe that a church's social activism should be referred to as “Spirit-led” and not “faith-based.” The urban church can not be an escapist, mystical encounter with the Divine. On the contrary, the deeper we are touched by the Spirit, the more the Spirit pushes us out into the world. The biblical witness attests to a “worldly” Spirit that “broods” over the waters of the deep (Gen 1.2) and “groans” with creation (Rom 8.22-23). The implication of a Spirit emphasis is simple. While some are in need for a social spirituality, the socially active must also be reminded of the source of their prophecy (the Spirit) and the criterion of their critique (the Word living among us). While some are at fault for being too heavenly oriented, those who adhere to ingdom theology at times are guilty of assuming that the results of human work should or could create and replace “heaven.” The concepts of social spirituality and Spirit-led social activism are crucial for effective urban ministry. Lastly, the Spirit along with creation “groans” toward the coming of the Eschaton (Rom 8.22-27), the coming of the reign of God. The urban church should be a model (not the thing itself) of the parousia, a “foretaste of the reign of God.” The urban prophet Jeremiah provides us with the key characteristic of the new Jerusalem (a city). He decrees, “Seek the shalom in the city.” Seek the health, the peace, and the welfare of the city. This definition of shalom points to one assumption: peace presupposes justice. Peace is the result of communal welfare and health, at all levels. Justice is to be established within the individual (personal salvation through justification) and in society (the reign of God). In order to seek the shalom in he city, justice must be sought first. Then and only then, will the city stop “groaning” and experience the peace found in Christ. ******************** Evangelistic Worship (Rev. Tim Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City . Through its several church campuses, and growing number of church plants in the New York metro area, effective and realistic models for big city evangelism are rapidly being created. The following article is an excerpted from Rev. Keller’s essay – Evangelistic Worship. The complete text can be found at http://www.redeemer2.com/resources/papers/evangelisticworship.pdf .) Our purpose is not to make the unbeliever “comfortable.” We aim to be intelligible to them. We must address their “ heart secrets.” That means we must remember what it is like to not believe; we must remember what an unbelieving heart is like. How do we do that? It is hard to overstate how ghetto-ized our preaching is. It is normal to make all kinds of statements that appear persuasive to us but are based upon all sorts of premises that the secular person does not hold. Avoid unnecessary theological or evangelical sub-culture “jargon,” and explain carefully the basic theological concepts, such as confession of sin, praise, and thanksgiving. In preaching, show continual willingness to address the questions that the unbelieving heart will ask. Speak respectfully and sympathetically to people who have difficulty with Christianity. As you write the sermon, imagine a particular skeptic in the chair listening to you. Add the asides, the qualifiers, the extra explanations that are necessary. Listen to everything said in the worship service with the ears of someone who has doubts or troubles with belief. Though there is danger of pastoral verbosity, learn to give short explanations of each new part of the service. “When we confess our sins, we are not groveling in guilt, but dealing with our guilt. If you deny your sins you will never get free from them.” It is good to begin worship services as the Black church often does, with a “devotional” – a brief talk that explains the meaning of worship. This way you continually instruct newcomers in worship. Talk regularly to “those of you who aren't sure you believe this, or who aren't sure just what you believe.” Give them many asides; even express the language of their hearts. Articulate their objections to Christian living and belief better than they can do it themselves. Express sincere sympathy for their difficulties, even when challenging them severely for their selfishness and unbelief. Always grant whatever degree of merit their objections have. It is extremely important that the unbeliever feel you understand them. “I've tried it before and it did not work,” or “I don't see how my life could be the result of the plan of a loving God.” The power of art draws people to behold it. Good art and its message enter the soul through the imagination and begin to appeal to the reason, for art makes ideas plausible. In many churches, the quality of the music is mediocre or poor, but it does not disturb the faithful. Their faith makes the words of the hymn or the song meaningful despite its artistically poor expression. But any outsider who comes in, who is not convinced of the truth will be bored or irritated by the poor offering. In other words, excellent aesthetics includes outsiders, while mediocre or poor aesthetics exclude . The low level of artistic quality in many churches guarantees that only insiders will continue to come. We live in a time when public esteem of the church is plummeting. For many inquirers, the deeds of the church will be far more important than words in gaining plausibility. The leaders of most towns see “word-only” churches as costs to their community, not a value. Effective churches will be so involved in deeds of mercy and justice that outsiders will say, “We cannot do without churches like this.” Mercy deeds give the gospel words plausibility. Therefore, evangelistic worship services should highlight offerings for deed ministry and should celebrate what is being done. The one message that both believers and unbelievers need to hear is that salvation and adoption are by grace alone. A worship service that focuses on educating Christians in the details of theology will simply bore or confuse the unbelievers present. People who don't believe or understand doctrines will find such a sermon un-convicting and alienating. This does not mean we should not preach the whole counsel of God, but we must major on the “ABC’s” of the Christian faith. If the response to this is “then Christians will be bored,” it shows a misunderstanding of the gospel. The gospel of free, gracious justification and adoption is not just the way we enter the kingdom, but also the way we grow into the likeness of Christ. If the Sunday service and sermon aim primarily at praising the God who saves by grace they’ll both instruct insiders and challenge outsiders. Contact Rev. Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 1359 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York , NY 10018 , (202) 808-4460, http://www.redeemer.com ******************** Paul's Strategy for Urban Evangelism: A Commentary by John Stott (In a recent article about John Stott, it was noted that “ if evangelicals could elect a pope, Stott is the person they would likely choose.” He was the framer of the Lausanne Covenant, a crucial organizing document for modern evangelicalism. Now rector emeritus at All Souls, Langham Place, in London , he has traveled the world preaching and teaching.) In
spite of the obvious cultural differences between first-century cities
in the Roman Empire and the great urban complexes of today, there are
also similarities. We may learn from Paul in Corinth and Ephesus important
lessons about the where, the how and the when of urban evangelism. In
our day we still have to evangelize the religious. The equivalent to the
synagogue in our culture is the church. It is here that the “God-fearers”
congregate, and people on the fringe are attracted. But we must not limit
our evangelism to the religious. Secular people have to be reached in
secular buildings. Perhaps the equivalent to Paul's use of the house
of Titius Justus is home evangelism, and the equivalent to his use of
the hall of Tyrannus is lecture evangelism. People will come to a home,
to listen to an informal talk and engage in free discussion, who would
never darken the door of a church, and there is an important place for
apologetic and/or explanatory Christian lectures in the local college,
university or other public place. Arguments
are no substitute for the work of the Holy Spirit, but then trust in the
Holy Spirit is no substitute for arguments either. We must never set them
over against each other. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and he
brings people to faith in Jesus not in spite of the evidence, but because
of the evidence. When we contrast much contemporary evangelism with Paul's, its shallowness is immediately shown up. Our evangelism tends to be too ecclesiastical (inviting people to church), whereas Paul also took the gospel out into the secular world; too emotional (appeals for decisions without an adequate basis of understanding), whereas Paul taught, reasoned and tried to persuade; and too superficial (making brief encounters and expecting quick results), whereas Paul stayed in Corinth and Ephesus for five years, faithfully sowing gospel seed and in due time reaping a harvest. Contact: Dr. John Stott, Langham Partnership, 19 Whitfield Place , London , ENGLAND WIT 5JX http://www.stchcathedral.org.bh/bibstudy/acts.28.htm , http://www.JohnStott.org ******************** Must Read! “The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change,” by Brenda Salter McNeil and Rick Richardson, InterVarsity Press, 2004 (178 pages) With this practically-written book, Brenda Salter McNeil and Rick Richardson make a strong, evangelical plea to a young generation. “The trumpet call has sounded,” they conclude, “It is your time to take your prophetic place in the plan of God, and we stand ready to commission you into your new identity as the Reconciliation Generation.” Both Salter McNeil and Richardson come from a thoughtful evangelical tradition (former and current InterVarsity staffers). With this publication, they continue the series of black-white racial reconciliation offerings which both inspire and prod us to new lifestyles and action. What’s different (and quite appealing) about “Heart of Racial Justice” is that it takes on some personal elements: self-revelation on the part of the authors, and prayer offerings for the reader. Both Brenda and Rick fill the text with personal and family illustrations of how difficult racial reconciliation and true understanding can be in American society. They’re transparent about their own lives, just as they are transparent about their passion that a new generation proclaims the gospel message in a non-racialized manner. With the close of each of the book’s chapters comes a poignant prayer, prompting spiritual and social action on the particular subjects at hand. ******************** Thanks for Reading CityVoices! Next month CityVoices continues pursuing the subject of Urban Evangelism. We’ll feature more insight into the subject along with the examples of pastors and evangelists working at street level to communicate Christ in effective ways. Don’t miss it. Remember to call CityVoices at (312) 726-1200, to order any of the following books:
We look forward to hearing from you and meeting any of your ministry needs, Roger Johnson – CityVoices / SCUPE (Chicago) (312) 726-1200 |
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