There is no
doubt that the vast majority of Christians in the UK have little or no
motivation for sharing the good news about Jesus with their friends or with
strangers. Whatever else might be
required for our churches to be truly missional, nothing will be effective if
we are not personally motivated.
Not many
months after a profound spiritual awakening at an evangelistic meeting on
Hastings Pier, I attended a similar meeting in the same location with some
Christian friends. We were all
teenagers. A reasonable number of people had already turned up and we were
standing near the back when we were approached by the guest evangelist. “Are you all Christians?” he asked. We proudly assured him that we were. “Well, why are you standing here?” he said, “Go outside and fish more people in!” With that he thrust a number of flyers into
our hands.
I had never
done anything like that before. The idea
was to approach some of the many sauntering onto the pier and ask them if they
would like to come and hear an interesting talk. Any momentary hesitation soon
gave way and I found it not a threatening activity. It gave rise to questions about faith which I
answered as confidently as I was able.
Several people attended that evening because of the invitations we gave
out. Since that day his words, “What are
you doing here?” have lingered with me.
My first
opportunity to preach publicly in a church came about a year later when, as a
teenage member of a mission team, I was invited to preach at the Sunday morning
Holiness Meeting of the Salvation Army Corps we were serving. The director of the Mission organisation felt
it was inappropriate, but the Corps Commanding Officer, Captain Peak,
insisted. My text that Sunday was “Shall
your brethren go to war and shall ye sit here?” (Numbers
32:6) (AV). You can read the
story behind this text from the first
verse of the chapter. Some of
the tribes of Israel chose not to enter the Promised Land as they approached
the borders after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
I suggested
that the reason behind their request was partly that they had lost the vision
for what God called them to be and do, that they had become complacent in the
light of the blessings they had received from God, and that they had become
self-interested, losing their understanding of being one nation. The biblical account records Moses response
to their request. He claimed they would
spread discouragement to others, that they would make God angry, and that it
would result in more years of wilderness experience instead of entering into
the blessing of the purposes of God.
The outcome
was that they rallied, even to going at the spearhead of the invasion. I have repeated that sermon from time to time
as it continues to be generally apposite when it comes to motivation to mission
in the UK. Many have lost the vision for God’s purposes for his Church and our
common calling. Sunday after Sunday we
celebrate God’s goodness and the blessings without being motivated by the needs
of others who have yet to hear the gospel.
This has a negative impact on others, displeases God, and probably
accounts for the limited impact that most churches have upon the communities in
which we are set.
The apostle,
Paul, was clearly a highly motivated person.
In his letters he refers to two motivators in his life, both of which
appear in 2
Corinthians 5. These are, “Knowing
what it is to fear the Lord” and “Christ’s
love compels us”. To understand
the first of these, we need to read the preceding verses where Paul writes
about living to please God and knowing that we will all have to give an account
of our lives. A desire to please God and
an awareness of our ultimate accountability should both motivate us out of
concern for ourselves AND out of concern for others.
Verse 14
which speaks about Christ’s love, is not well served by the NIV translation which
speaks of it compelling us. Other
translations of the Greek word, synecho,
render it constrains or controls. Literally it means to hold
something fast. It is as if Paul sees himself as captivated by Christ’s love so
that who he is and what he does is no longer in his own control. He can do no other, so he says, “Woe
to me if I do not preach the gospel!” What is not clear to me is whether it is the
love Christ has for us, or the love we have for Christ that puts us under such
obligation and holds us fast so we can do no other.
Some years
ago a friend from the Netherlands and I were asked to represent European
Churches within the Council for Mission at a conference on
evangelism in Kuala Lumpur. Almost all the other Churches were from South Asia,
Africa and the Pacific. Many of the
Churches represented were located in situations where Christianity was a minority
religion and where there was oppression.
But the missional stories from their various churches were of courage
and faithfulness. We from Europe felt
ashamed. We tried to explain the
difficulty of working in a post-Christian context, but the reality was that our
limited engagement in evangelism was probably down to a lack of love for Jesus.
In the
passage of scripture about the Children of Reuben and the Children of Gad,
Moses spoke about the influence a lack of motivation would have. Conversely, I have seen how enthusiasm can be
spread and grow where people are highly motivated. This was seen in the sporting world over
recent years where success in tennis and cycling has led many more to play and
ride.
My friends,
we are not motivated to share the gospel as we ought to be. I fear that the root of this is that many have
not been grasped by the love of Christ and that consequently do not really love
him. So we do not serve him as we
should. Have we lost sight of the fact
that our lives are not our own, that we are bought with a price, and called to
be part of the Church God has for his mission on earth. I fear that many will
stand before God at the final judgement and discover that God is not impressed
by the fact that we went to Church most Sundays but never told anyone of the
God who loves them so much that he is willing to give his life for them.
Within the
last few days I have been motivated to rent a storage unit. I work from home but my office has spilled
over into our living space. Worse still
I have brought into our home the remainder of two other offices that have been
closed down. Our home was looking more
like a warehouse with boxes occupying our lounge, dining room and two bedrooms! To resolve this I am gradually removing those
things that are inappropriate and taking them into rented space where they can
be sorted and where some will be removed permanently. This motivation happened because I woke up to
just how dreadful the situation was, and realised it would only get worse
unless I addressed the problem.
Our world is
in a mess. It will only get worse unless
we are motivated to do something about it.
Perhaps one thing we could do is to sign up for the webinars designed to
help rural and small urban churches become effective in mission. The next one on Saturday 27th
August at 9.00 to 9.45 will have suggestions for things we can easily do to
share the gospel this autumn. See below
for details.
From the Diary
The past
week began with a farewell service at Yelvertoft where Doreen and I have served
in ministry for the past ten years. We
are grateful for the kind comments shared on that occasion.
We then
spent the next five days on Harborough
Holiday at Home. This is a programme for older people in the community.
On four days we had meetings containing a choice of activities, a helpful or
entertaining presentation, a short gospel talk and a two course lunch (plus
plenty of tea and coffee). On one day we went on an outing to Lichfield
Cathedral, stopping at a garden Centre on the way. It is a way of sharing the gospel through a
social action and is very effective. It
was hard work and meant that over those days I worked probably 90 hours. Pray that the love and message shared will
bear fruit.
Last week
the presence of three new men at the choir practise at HMP Gartree caused
problems and I value prayer as I seek to resolve this. In addition to my regular work at the prison
on Tuesday afternoon I will be taking part in the licencing of a new Anglican
Chaplain on Thursday. Please pray for
him as he settles into this new role.
Gordon Banks
and I have started working on the webinar scheduled for 27th August
at 9.00 and running until 9.45. This
contains suggestions for missional activity during autumn months and relating
to the season and the key events it brings. This is the Saturday of the Bank
Holiday but numbers registering to attend are increasing. I strongly encourage you to attend this
online seminar, which you can do from your home or a hotel room. All you need is an internet connection with sound. You can use a computer, laptop, tablet or
smart phone. It is absolutely free but
you do need to register in advance in order to obtain the link you will need. This online seminar is appropriate for any
Christians but especially those in leadership roles or who are keen to
encourage their church in mission.
Please pass on the details to others.
You can find more on the Rural Mission Solutions website. To register to attend go to
Please pray for
Gordon and me as we fine-tune the presentation and for all who will be
attending.
On Sunday 21st
I was due to speak at a church in Narborough, Leicestershire but they have just
written asking to change the date for my visit.
So this will give me an opportunity to be still and listen – no bad
thing!
Thank you
for your love and prayers.
Barry
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