On the Formative Power of Friendship

Bill Bagents

Not all gifts come in boxes. Dr. Steve Williams forwarded a website with a STRONG suggestion to consider its contents for teaching purposes. We appreciate both the gift and the spirit behind it. We love reminders that flow from the intersection of biblical teaching, knowing people’s needs, and good sense. It was a link to an article describing the best advice that Bill Gates ever received from his friend Warren Buffett. Gates recalled how Buffett himself put it when the pair spoke to Columbia University students in 2017:

“You will move in the direction of the people that you associate with. So it’s important to associate with people that are better than yourself. The friends you have will form you as you go through life. Make some good friends, keep them for the rest of your life, but have them be people that you admire as well as like.” https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/31/one-of-most-important-things-bill-gates-learned-from-warren-buffett.html 31 Aug 2020, updated 1 Sept 2020

Those wise words make us think of the Proverbs.

• “One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray” (12:26).
• “Whoever walks with the wise, becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (13:20).
• “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (17:17).
• “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (18:24).
• “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare” (22:24–25).
• “Do not forsake your friend or your father’s friend” (27:10).

We read the truth of Proverbs 22:24–25 again in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good morals.” We see that same truth as Jonadab worsened Amnon (2 Sam13:1–20) and as Solomon’s wives corrupted him (1 Kgs 11:1–4). For better or worse, we’re heavily influenced by our companions, and the closer they are to our hearts, the stronger their power to shape us.

It’s stunningly easy to focus on the negative power of relationships. How many parents and friends have said some version of, “He was such a good person until he fell in with the wrong crowd”? Being older, we now wonder, did he carelessly “fall in” with the wrong group? Or did he think himself an exception to their influence? Or did he on some level choose his preferred direction? Are those questions mutually exclusive, or might they be layered and interactive?

While negative examples are stunningly memorable, the majority of the Proverbs above invite us to consider the positive. Good people tend to make us better; good friends tend to pull us upward. Joshua was better with Caleb, David was better with Jonathan, and Paul was better with Barnabas. The Gates/Buffett example falls strongly on the encouraging side of the equation. It reminds us of the strategic intelligence of choosing our friends carefully. What if we consistently chose to ask ourselves:

• Will forming this friendship move us toward God?
• Will choosing this friend honor God?
• Will continuing this friendship help both of us become who God wants us to be?

We’re wise to choose friendship with people who make us better; we’re even wiser to also value those who welcome any godly influence that we can offer. Influence is never one way. We love the principle of synergy. The formative power of friendship is too strong and important to be ignored.

Truth isn’t truer because the rich and famous bring it to our attention, but we’d never ignore a fine reminder just because it comes from a noteworthy source. We stand amazed at how many sweet, simple, and powerful truths from the Bible continue to shine today.

MAKING DISCIPLES VS. HAVING BAPTISMS

C. Philip Slate

Books about church members who drop out are numerous and scattered over many decades.1 The list is long from both Protestant and Roman Catholic writers and researchers. Our own Flavil Yeakley, Jr. has produced Why They Left (Gospel Advocate, 2014). What reasons are there for doing such studies, however, unless we are willing to do something about what we learn? Given the desire to reduce dropouts, however, what can be done?

It can be a challenge to stabilize and mature new converts, but it is an inherent of the disciple-making process. All New Testament books have for at least one of their purposes that of stabilizing, strengthening, or protecting those who decided to follow Jesus. Paul mentioned his vigorous effort to “present every man mature in Christ” (Col. 1:27). He contended that people need to be so equipped for ministry that they will no longer be “tossed about by every wind of doctrine” but be so nurtured that they will grow up in Christ (Eph. 4:11–16). Later in that epistle he instructed them about spiritual warfare (6:10–20). The writer of the “word of exhortation” (Heb. 13:22) to Jewish believers bemoaned the lack of maturity of his readers (5:11–14) and urged on them the need to “go on to maturity” (6:1ff). Underlying all such passages is the desire both to protect the vulnerable and build them up in positive godliness. Those objectives should continue for all who endeavor to be biblically shaped disciples. Initial conversion, turning to Christ in faithful obedience, is the beginning, not the terminus of discipleship.

One Teacher’s experience. For nearly six decades I have tried to mature new converts in one way or another in two countries and in ten congregations. One conclusion I have reached is that regular attendance alone at both our assemblies and regular Bible classes does not provide all that new converts need. They inform me they are reluctant to ask their most pressing questions in Bible classes, feeling they are the only ones who don’t know that already! Even when they are given to diligent personal study, they do not know what they need to know both to survive and grow. Besides that, several studies indicate that understanding how the church “works,” finding at least a meaningful ministry, and developing a sense of belonging are at least as crucial as knowing more Bible. See footnotes 5 and 9. As a rule, all of these spiritual development components need special, focused attention by more mature Christians if new converts are to remain steadfast in their faith and grow in holiness.

Catechism: Early in Christian history, the church developed “catechism.” That word, often associated with Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and other groups as preparation for “confirmation,” is from a Greek word (κατηχέω; kateecheoo) that appears eight times in seven verses in the New Testament (Lk. 1:4; Acts 18:24; 21:21, 24; Rom. 2:18; Gal. 6:6; and 1 Cor. 14:19). As the contexts indicate, the basic meaning is teaching, instructing, or passing on information. In time it came to be used for formal instruction prior to baptism so the product would not be “wet pagans.” In the late 2nd century the Catechetical School of Alexandria, headed by Pantaenus, and later by Clement and Origin, “addressed itself to the propagation of the Christian faith among the more cultured classes” than to the preparation of basic believers for baptism,2 but the idea of “instruction” was basic. Thus, “catechetical” instruction took various forms, but in all cases, it was recognized in earlier years that being a follower of Jesus involved growth in both understanding and behavior.

There is nothing about the passage of centuries that changes the basic tenants of making disciples, even though changing circumstances necessarily require adjustments in curriculum and methods of such instruction. Indeed, as McNeill has shown, many religions and most expressions of Christianity have recognized their responsibility to “care for the souls” of new converts.3 Malherbe has shown that pagan philosophers in the time of Paul were very deliberate in their efforts to stabilize and strengthen those who had recently undertaken to be philosophers, and that Jews did the same thing with proselytes.4 Both groups had learned that for positive and negative reasons it was imperative to solidify initial decisions about life. Malherbe demonstrates how Paul used some of the same culturally appropriate techniques to stabilize the Thessalonians. It is well known that when people embrace radically new ideas and behaviors, many factors can cause them to feel the tug to return to the old way. The church is remiss if it does not take the initiative to provide some form of deliberate spiritual formation and ministry development in the lives of new converts.

Several years ago, Dr. Gayle Crowe, now with World Christian Broadcasting Corporation, did a Doctor of Ministry thesis on the retention of new converts. He noted that many books existed on why church members drop out, but that few studies have focused on the salient features of keeping converts and helping them to grow. The presupposition of his study was confirmed, that “the convert’s ultimate faithfulness or unfaithfulness is as much a matter of the church’s attitude and actions toward him as his own determination to remain faithful.”5 So much was that the case he concluded the church must bear at least 50% of the responsibility if a new convert reverts or falls away within the first three to five years after baptism. He contended that in order to keep and develop new converts, “churches must first become aware that spiritual growth does not just happen; it requires the assistance of mentors who will guide the way up the spiritual path in a variety of creative ways” (p. 95). How can that be done today? The question-answer method of classical catechisms is now a largely inappropriate way of going about the task. Since that is the case, what are appropriate means of helping?

Among those who really take Scripture seriously, it is common to say, or at least to feel, that strong Bible teaching will provide what the convert needs. Well, yes and no. What parts of Scripture do you have in mind? There is a lot of information in those sixty-six books! Where do you begin with a new convert? Read through 1 Thessalonians and notice how Paul dealt with those new coverts from paganism. He did more than give them Bible lessons. Leaders are to “watch over the souls” of believers (Heb. 13:17). How, then, is it to be done today in the Euro-American area?

Helps and Helpers. I have a list of no less than eighteen books and lesson sets, as well as one filmstrip, designed to instruct and guide new converts.6 Indeed, I produced a little study guide for use in the North American situation,7 seeking to fill in some of the gaps I see in older works. Converts to Christ nowadays bring with them baggage that was not common in the 1940s–1970s. Additionally, there is currently a lot of helpful material on making disciples.8 The big problem seems to be, however, that most churches I know have no realistic commitment to use such helps in working meaningfully with new converts. Where that is the case, the church must accept a significant slice of the blame for the spiritual demise of those “who were once enlightened.”

On the other hand, I have known several people who are most grateful for the focused attention given to them soon after their baptism into Christ. In some cases, it was a specialized class, while in others it was more a matter of individual guidance and mentoring. In addition to understanding the Christian system, if it may be put that way, other factors are known to be important for the growth and development of babes in Christ.9 A church that wants to be obedient to Jesus Christ will have some deliberate and routine means of helping new converts to Christ to survive and thrive.

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1 Kirk Hadaway, What Can We Do about Church Dropouts (Abingdon, 1990); Thom Rainer, Essential Church (Broadman & Holman, 2008); David Kinnaman, Unchristian (Baker Books, 2007) are samples.

2 “Catechetical School of Alexandria” in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by Frank L. Cross (London: Oxford University Press, 1974), p. 248.

3 John T. McNeill, History of The Care of Souls (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1951) is a standard work on the subject.

4 Abraham J. Malherbe, Paul and the Thessalonians (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987), 36–46.

5 Gayle M. Crowe, “Incorporating New Members into the Local Church: A Study of Methods, Practices, and Attitudes,” DMin thesis. Harding Graduate School of Religion. Memphis, TN. 1986. Page 2.

6 I’ll send an electronic list to those who request it: cpsmissions@gmail.com

7 C. Philip Slate, Risen! The First Forty Days of Your Christian Life (Cincinnati: DeWard Publishers, 2016). I recommend that this elementary introduction be followed by broader and deeper studies.

8 Making disciples has nothing to do with the Crossroads and Boston church abuses. It has all to do with being obedient to what Jesus said to do (Matt. 28:19–20). We don’t abandon preaching or the eldership just because a few people have abused those positions or works.

9 Don Loftis did a Guided Research project at Harding School of Theology that involved interviewing converts that remained and those that left. He found that “understanding the way the church functions” and “feeling a part of the church” were perceived as stronger factors for remaining faithful than Bible knowledge and other factors. Ordinary Bible classes alone, important as they are, might not supply either of those items. Correspondingly, those who fell away cited the lack of understanding how the church functions and the feeling of not belonging as greater factors than lack of Bible knowledge.

Responsibility Comes with Riches

Responsibility Comes with Riches

Ted Burleson

James deals with the relation of the rich to the poor in several passages in his letter (cf. Jas. 1:9–11; 2:1–13; 4:13–16; 5:1–6). Culture teaches that if one is rich, he is worthy of great honor. James explains that the economically poor brother is the one who should rejoice in his position. The poor do not boast in their accomplishments or the lack of accomplishments. Instead, the poor should boast in what God has done for them through Christ (Jas. 1:9). God has chosen the poor (Jas. 2:5) to be rich in faith and to inherit His kingdom. Faith, not money, is the measure of real wealth.

In contrast, the rich will have their statuses reversed. God will humble the rich and change their positions with the poor. Earthly wealth is temporal. Christians do not need to seek material wealth and fame because of God’s promises that they will receive. Spiritual riches are the only riches in which Christians can boast. Money makes promises that only God can ultimately fulfill.

Scripture portrays the poor as being righteous and generally depicts the rich as evil. Wealthy people can be virtuous, but the temptation is more significant for the rich to trust in someone or something other than God. To be “poor” usually means anyone who has less than we do. For example, American Christians are generally rich compared to the rest of the earth’s inhabitants.

To illustrate the relationship between rich and poor and to demonstrate that the world’s standards of judging success had crept into the church, James describes a hypothetical situation in which a rich man and a poor man enter the same assembly (Jas. 2:1–7). Some favor the rich person and shame the poor. We must never judge people by outward appearance. God knows their hearts. To judge people using the world’s standards is to follow the wisdom of the world.

James’ counter-cultural argument is that instead of using the world’s standards to judge individuals, believers must use God’s rule and consider the heart. If disciples of Jesus are true believers, then they will refrain from judging by appearance and from insulting the poor. James reminds his readers that people are slandering the good name of Jesus because of their actions. To favor the rich is to join the ranks of those that despised and rejected Jesus. Despising the poor is just as sinful as favoring the rich (Jas. 2:7).

Favoring the rich over the poor violates the royal law to “love your neighbor as yourself.” It is more than unethical. It is sinful to exhibit partiality. A Christian cannot love God and judge people by worldly standards. Our churches are full of examples that James would attack if he were writing today. When lawyers, doctors, and executives move into an area, many modern believers compete for their presence at local congregations. Contrast this with the failure to invite poor people to be a part of a congregation. Congregations of successful, self-sufficient people exist in many locations. But Christians are never really self-sufficient. Christians are God-sufficient.

Another weakness in the self-sufficiency of Christians who follow the standards of the world in church relationships is the failure to be dependent upon God for the future (Jas. 4:13–16). A desire for material things leads them to plan their futures in terms of money, profit, and prestige instead of basing their future in spiritual realms.

James wanted everyone, the rich and those who wanted to be rich, to know that riches are unsure and can become a trap. James wanted the rich to weep and wail (Jas. 5:1), because their wealth in which they trusted had rotted. Rotten riches cannot deliver the promised rewards. Instead of stored riches, they receive judgment they have brought upon themselves.

The counter-cultural language of James regarding the rich and the poor should strike modern Christians especially hard. We are rich. It is not sinful to be rich, but we must remember that with riches comes a responsibility to the poor.

Refiner's Fire

Refiner’s Fire

by Tim Gunnells

As we mature spiritually, or to mature us spiritually, God helps us to jettison things that once entrapped us or things or habits of which we were clearly too enamored by in our younger years. The Scripture that follows was originally a prophecy found in Malachi that dealt with the Levites, but I do not find it hard to extend the principle to my own life.

“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness” (Malachi 3:2–3).

Whether we refer to it as pruning (John 15) or as refining, as here in Malachi or other passages, it is certain that God will seek to remove the impurities of our life. He will seek to mature us and make us even more useful. Trials and suffering of my own making or trials and suffering brought on by the mistakes of others both can be used by God to refine me. However, I must accept it for what it is and allow God to purify me.

I have lived a good life. I have had many beautiful experiences. I have many, many friends. I have a beautiful family. Still, I have scars inside and out from trials and suffering, both of my own makings and because of the actions of others. I can allow guilt and regret to take over when I reflect on my mistakes. I can allow anger and bitterness to take hold when I consider the wrongs brought on me by others. Or, I can approach God in humility and accept the refining only He can do. I choose the latter.

I want to leave you with the chorus of one of my favorite worship songs, written by Brian Doerksen. As you might have guessed, it is titled: “Refiner’s Fire.”

          Refiner's fire
          My heart's one desire
          Is to be holy
          Set apart for You, Lord
          I choose to be holy
          Set apart for You, my Master
          Ready to do Your will.

Struggling with a Passage

Bill Bagents

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

We know the Old Testament has major value for believers of all time. “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction. That through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom 15:4). The “sacred writings” that Timothy knew from his childhood were able to make him “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 3:14–17). Certainly, these writings were what we know as the Old Testament. The Scriptures that Apollos used as “he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus” were also the Old Testament (Acts 18:28).

We know that 2 Chronicles 7:14 was originally spoken to Solomon about Israel, God’s single, unique, chosen nation among all the nations of the ancient world. Though Solomon was their earthly king, God was the King of His theocracy.

We don’t for a moment doubt the principles taught in the verse. Proverbs 14:34, Galatians 6:7–9, and countless examples from Scripture and history support the truth that God blesses those who turn to Him. The book of Jonah supports the truth that God delights in blessing the penitent. Correspondingly, we know that “the way of the treacherous is their ruin” (Prov 13:15), because God opposes those who oppose Him (Prov 3:34; Jas 4:6–8; 1 Pet 5:5–11). This is true for nations, churches, families, and individuals (Rev 2:16).

Identifying Concerns

So, where’s the struggle with 2 Chronicles 7:14? In part, it’s a realization that no political state, even a nation as blessed as the United States, is God’s chosen people in the Christian age (Romans 9–11; Acts 10–11, particularly 10:34ff). The kingdom of Christ “is not of this world” (John 18:36). We believe with all our heart that God moves those who put on Christ in baptism “to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col 1:13–14; Acts 2:47; Eph 2:1–10; Gal 3:26–29). As much as we love our nation, we are not—as ancient Israel was—the single, unique people called by God’s name.

Part of our struggle with this ever more popular verse can be expressed as a series of questions.

• When we read 2 Chronicles 7:14 from the perspective of a citizen of any modern political state, what are we asserting about other nations? Are we saying that our nation is more “chosen” than other nations?
• When we read 2 Chronicles 7:14 from the perspective of any modern nation, what are we saying about fellow Christians who are citizens of other nations? Do they hear us to be asserting nationalistic superiority? Do they hear us as demeaning their faith or their faithfulness?
• To what degree should we remember the remnant principle as we read 2 Chronicles 7:14? While the Old Testament has much to say to and for the faithful remnant, we know that ancient Israel, in the main, rejected God and was destroyed (2 Kgs 2:29–31; Ezra 9:5–9; Isa 10:20–27). We also know that God brought a remnant home. Has there ever been a nation where the majority of the people stayed faithful to God over the long term?
• When we read 2 Chronicles 7:14, are we tempted to wrongly think, “If we just return to God, then our nation won’t face problems anymore?” John 16:1–4 clearly states the opposite. When we teach from the passage, have we unintentionally made it easy for the devil to invite others to believe one of his most popular lies, “If we just walk with God faithfully, life will be nothing but continual prosperity”?

Major Misapplications

We see 2 Chronicles 7:14 misapplied in two major ways that often come in tandem. The first major error of application with 2 Chronicles 7:14 is absolutizing. If we as God’s people humble ourselves, pray, seek God, and repent, then God will grant our petition. There can be no possibility of exception. Support for this certainty is drawn from many passages (Prov 10:24; Mark 11:24; Luke 11:9–10; John 11:22; 14:13; 15:16; 16:23). Perhaps Matthew 21:22 is the clearest of all: “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

No one possessed stronger faith than Jesus, but His passionate prayer in Gethsemane was not answered by deliverance from the cross (Matt 26:37–47). Of mere humans, we have the highest respect for Paul’s faith, but his thrice-repeated petition for physical deliverance was not granted (2 Cor 12:7–10). There is no reason to doubt David’s faith or sincerity in praying for the life of his son, but the baby did not recover (2 Sam 12:15–23).

To be blunt, God does not always grant the deliverance that we request, nor should He.

We err grievously when we present a biblical teaching as absolute when Scripture teaches us that it is not. Many years ago, in a critical care waiting room at Johns Hopkins Hospital, we heard a preacher tell the family of a critically ill infant, “I told God last night, ‘This child will not die!’ I told God because I had prayed to God for the life of this child. Your child will not die.” The baby died that night. We continue to wonder how the family dealt with this errant and arrogant claim. God hears prayer and blesses, but He is never obligated to deliver on demand (Dan 3:16–18). The preacher’s words to the hurting family were false. He erred by forgetting that we are never allowed to put words in God’s mouth. We cannot rightly say more than God says.

The popular “understanding” of 2 Chronicles 7:14 is beautifully concise. When God commands and we obey, problems end; it’s as simple as that. But it isn’t; there’s a huge gulf between simple and simplistic. While we cherish every word of Scripture and greatly value faith, we recognize the wisdom of letting the whole of Scripture speak. We dare not choose selective hearing. Both humility and sound reasoning remind us of the modern proverb: For every complex issue there’s an answer that’s simple, easy, and wrong.

The second major error of application with 2 Chronicles 7:14 concerns assumptions about specificity. Many seem to assume that any crisis of the moment addressed with humility, prayer, seeking, and repentance, will be averted or ended by God. The pandemic will stop. The hurricane won’t make landfall. The bomb won’t explode. The war won’t begin. The business won’t fail. There will be no divorce. The person we love won’t die. God does not give us such specific knowledge. The Bible offers no such specific promise. It’s exceedingly dangerous and damaging to assume otherwise. As much as we might prefer otherwise, our trials and challenges often serve a higher purpose (Job 42:1–6; Rom 5:1–5; Heb 12:1–11; 1 Pet 2:18–25).

Like the tragic and apparently harmful events in the life of Joseph—being hated by his brothers, being sold into slavery, being falsely accused and imprisoned, and being forgotten in prison for two extra years—in the moment we often do not see a higher purpose or the BIGGER plan (Gen 37–50). We struggle to see how Romans 8:28 applies. We so want God to make it better right now. We want both answers and relief; we strongly prefer the comfort of certainty. But God knows us—and our needs—better than we know ourselves. God far more often blesses us, not with the comfort of certainty, but with the comfort and challenge of faith (2 Cor 5:7).

In understanding any passage, context counts. In applying any passage, we need to ask God for wisdom (Jas 1:5; Ps 119:26–27). In study and in teaching, humility remains a vital virtue. We are wise to confess our struggles with 2 Chronicles 7:14 and to welcome help in understanding.

Small Churches and Global Evangelization

WHAT SMALL CHURCHES CAN DO IN GLOBAL EVANGELIZATION, INCLUDING WORK IN THE USA

C. Philip Slate

Perhaps no church can do all of the things listed here, but over time one church can contribute much to the evangelization of the world.

1. Prayer. If you have a prayer list, put “global evangelizing” on it. Ask God to raise up workers for the harvest (Matt. 9:38). The Moravians had prayer for world evangelizing 24 X 7 for one hundred years, and their people went all over the world. William Carey’s sister wanted to go with him to India but could not because she was a bedfast invalid. She prayed for her brother forty years.
2. World Bible School and World English Institute. (Check their Web sites for information and instructions.) God alone knows how many people have become Christians through paper and electronic correspondence courses. An extraordinary number of churches in East and West Africa were started from WBS students. This is an easy task and produces great fruit.
3. Join a sister church in helping to support a missionary financially, spiritually, and emotionally.
4. Contribute to the pool of new missionaries. Historically, a disproportionately large number of our missionary men and women have come from small churches, not our larger ones. There are several ways to plant missionary seeds in the lives of young Christians. See numbers 6,7,8,9,10,11,13,14,15,16,17 below.
5. Communicate (letters, e-mail, Facebook, Skype, and others) encouragement to missionaries. Some missionaries have returned home prematurely because they were discouraged, feeling no one cared about them.
6. Urge members to attend missions/evangelism workshops when they are conducted in your area. Get a group together to make the trip. For example, the church in Savannah, TN, hosts an Evangelism University annually for young and old alike.
7. Join other churches in hosting an evangelism workshop.
8. Have annual missions-emphasis Sundays, or world evangelism Sundays, on which you plan for the congregation to hear progress reports, conversion stories, and biblical lessons on God's will concerning worldwide evangelization. A church may conduct a workshop on domestic church planting as well.
9. Preaching. Request or require whoever preaches to your congregation to address evangelism twice or so per year. One study of churches of Christ indicated that “the church’s missions involvement is directly related to the number of sermons preached on missions.” 1 This is a church responsibility, and joy!
10. Show missions films on special occasions. Several good videos or DVDs are available on well known missionaries. Secure a Lifeway catalog for samples.
11. Library. If your church has a lending library, put in it some good books on the world evangelism tasks of the church, biographies of our missionaries, and books on general principles of world evangelization. World Evangelism in Winona, MS, has produced a large number of very useful books on these subjects. If you do not have such a library, you will do people a favor by creating one. One can get Internet information on how to organize a church library.
12. Put world evangelism in your Bible school curriculum, for both adults and young people. For teaching resources check with World Evangelism in Winona, MS, and Missions Resource Network of Bedford, TX (www.MRNet.org).
13. Should they develop an interest in doing so, help some of your young people to go on well-organized short-term missions trips or to serve as interns with missionaries on the field. These trips vary enormously in their effectiveness, chiefly because of the way they are organized and led. Consult good sources on short-term missions. The Sunset International Bible Institute of Lubbock, TX, has a very fine program for young interns, called AIM (Adventures in Missions).
14. Invite missionaries to speak to your church, not to raise funds, but to tell how God is using them in world evangelizing. Research done several years ago by Dr. Joe Hacker of Harding College indicated that "hearing a missionary speak" or having contact with a missionary were among the big motivating factors in causing many of our people eventually to become missionaries. 2 The situation is likely the same today.
15. Help to conduct Vacation Bible Schools or evangelistic endeavors (knocking on doors, distributing literature, etc. for a gospel meeting) in an American community where the church needs a boost. Plan carefully and appropriately. Request larger churches to invite you to participate when they plan such things.
16. Teach people how to talk about their faith, to share the gospel with others. Teach it “in house,” urge members to attend personal evangelism workshops elsewhere, or have someone to come in and conduct such a workshop.
17. Good missionaries usually come from among people with good faith. Therefore, to develop missionaries—as well as strong Christians who may never become missionaries—be sure to conduct classes for new Christians. I have a list of nearly twenty such lesson series or booklets on this subject. Check with a good brotherhood bookstore or contact me. 3

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    1 Gailyn Van Rheenen and Bob Waldron, The Statues of Missions: A Nationwide Survey of Churches of Christ (Abilene, TX: ACU Press, 2002): 22.

    2 W. Joe Hacker, Mission Prepare – 1970 (Searcy, AR: Harding College, 1970): 14, 31.

    3 Dr. C. Philip Slate may be contacted by email at: cpsmissions@gmail.com

Love God and Love Your Neighbor

Love God and Love Your Neighbor:
The Comprehensiveness of the Greatest Commandments

Joel Stephen Williams

What matters the most in the Christian faith? What is most important for one’s Christian life? When Jesus was asked which commandment was first, he answered: “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29–31). We will analyze Jesus’ answer by Jewish teaching methods of his day and study the context of his quotations in hopes of better understanding what he was teaching.

Cullen I.K. Story explains, “Jewish scholars had often tried to distinguish between weighty and light precepts though they did not see how all could be brought under one umbrella, i.e., under a single principle since all were Divine precepts. After careful calculation, they found that there were 613 commandments and precepts in the Torah, 248 of them positive commands and 365 prohibitions” (“Marcan Love Commandment ‘The greatest of these is love.’ (1 Corinthians 13:13),” Lexington Theological Quarterly 34, no. 3 [September 1999]: 152). When a proselyte asked Rabbi Hillel to teach him the entire law while he was standing on one foot, Hillel summed it up in a negative form of the golden rule: “What is unlovely to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the entire Torah, the other part is commentary. Go and learn this” (Story, “Marcan Love Commandment,” 152).

When Jesus was asked what the most important command was, he responded with two commands, the command to love God from Deuteronomy 6:5 and the command to love one’s neighbor from Leviticus 19:18. Jesus probably was not pointing merely to two brief commands to be considered in isolation from their contexts. Instead, each command was an epitome of a whole collection of commandments. The summary commandment stated the basic foundational principle upon which each individual command rested. The commandment to love God encompassed all of the commands between man and God, while the command to love one’s neighbor would be a synopsis statement for the commandments between man and fellow man (see Jay B. Stern, “Jesus’ Citation of Dt 6,5 and Lv 19,18 in the Light of Jewish Tradition,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 28, no. 3 [July 1966]: 312–16).

If Stern is right, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5) and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18) should not be looked at as isolated statements, but instead must be connected with their contexts in surrounding chapters. As summary statements they are pointing to a way of life and an overall program. They are what one scholar called “unifying principles” (Richard A. Allbee, “Asymmetrical Continuity of Love and Law between the Old and New Testaments,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 31, no. 2 [December 2006]: 164).

Love the Lord your God

E.W. Nicholson said, “It is in a very real sense true to say that the entire book [of Deuteronomy] is a commentary on the command which stands at its beginning” (Deuteronomy and Tradition, 46; cited by P.C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, NICOT, Eerdmans, 169). What does Nicholson mean when he says that the command to love God stands at the “beginning” of the book of Deuteronomy, making what follows a commentary on the command to love God? Everything from Deuteronomy 1:1 to 4:43 is introduction, prologue, and historical background for the address of Moses that will give the law. Preliminaries in that address, including a reminder of the Ten Commandments, take up 4:44–5:33. The giving of the details of the law begin in Deuteronomy 6 with the greatest commandment and continue through chapter 26. This may be part of the reason why Jesus chose to cite the command to love God in Deuteronomy 6:5 as first in importance. His method of quotation strongly suggests that the command to love God is all-encompassing.

The Old Testament scholar Eichrodt seems to agree. He contends that the legal requirements in Deuteronomy “are directives for the execution of the one great commandment of love, by which God reclaims the whole man for himself; they are practical guides for the verification and exercise of the love of God in concrete cases. ... Each single commandment goes back to the great commandment of God's love” (Walther Eichrodt, trans. by Charles F. McRae, “The Law and the Gospel: The Meaning of the Ten Commandments in Israel and for Us,” Interpretation 11, no. 1 [January 1957]: 34). So, the command to “love God” acted like a unifying principle covering Israel’s relationship with God. It was inclusive of many things such as devotion and obedience to God (Deut. 5:6–11, 28–33; 6:1–3, 10–25), similar to Jesus’ appeal, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15; cf. John 14:24; 15:10; 1 John 2:5; 5:2–3).

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

What is associated with loving one’s neighbor? Jesus related the requirements of the law with the command to love one’s neighbor when he answered the question, “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Matt. 19:16). After listing the commandments linked to murder, adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, and honoring parents, Jesus added, “Also, you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). If the arguments above have merit, we should examine the context of Leviticus 19:18 to see if “love your neighbor” epitomizes the legal instruction in the Holiness Code (Lev. 17–26) where it is embedded. The section from which Jesus quoted begins: “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (Lev. 19:1–2). Can ten chapters of the Holiness Code commanding Israel to be holy be summarized by a single command to love one’s neighbor? Robson answers in the affirmative: “From within divine holiness, rather than from a separate source, comes YHWH’s love, a love expressed in self-disclosure, in saving activity, in a desire-to-be-in-right-relationship….When this is fully understood, then the call ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ is a call to be like YHWH in his holiness” (James E. Robson, “Forgotten Dimensions of Holiness,” Horizons in Biblical Theology 33, no. 2 [2011]: 146.).

If Robson is correct, we should find examples of how to love our neighbor in the context of Leviticus 19:18 in the Holiness Code (Lev. 17–26). Illustrating only from Leviticus 19, loving one’s neighbor included revering father and mother (19:1), not stealing (19:11), not swearing falsely (19:12), not defrauding or stealing from your neighbor (19:13, 35–36), neither exploiting nor oppressing others (19:13, 20–22, 29, 33–34), not oppressing the handicapped (19:14), being just and fair in judgments, in court, and in negotiations (19:15), not slandering other people (19:16), not hating your kin (19:17), correcting others when necessary (19:17), neither taking vengeance nor revenge (19:18), not bearing a grudge (19:18), and showing respect to the elderly (19:32). “Love your neighbor” was the unifying principle for all of them, binding them together in a holy lifestyle expected of God’s people.

The teachings of the apostle Paul confirm the above approach to understanding Jesus’ quotations from the Pentateuch regarding the greatest commandment. Paul declared, “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:14). In even more detail, he wrote, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:8–10). According to Paul, the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” is a summary statement for a way of life.

Our final example comes from James, where he writes, “You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (James 2:8). In the near context, James was discussing a lifestyle quite similar to what was found in the Holiness Code in the context of Leviticus 19:18: a Christian should not show favoritism or partiality (2:1–6, 9), should not commit adultery (2:11), and should not commit murder (2:11); but rather should be benevolent (2:15–16) and have an active faith (2:17–26). Similar teaching about pure, righteous, humble, and wise living is found throughout the epistle of James.

Conclusion

In conclusion, what matters the most in the Christian faith? What is most important for one’s Christian life? It is to love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Be careful not to elevate a human tradition, a personal preference, or a subordinate matter to the level of these commandments. Remember that loving God involves our whole being – heart, soul, mind, and strength – thus, all of our lives. Finally, utilize the command to love your neighbor as a summary principle for living “lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly” (Titus 2:12).

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This article originally appeared as Williams, Joel Stephen. “What Matters the Most.” Gospel Light 87, no. 6 (November/December 2017): 139, 142.

Being about Our Father's Business

Being about Our Father’s Business

(Luke 2:41–47)

Ted Burleson

At age twelve, the boy Jesus walked with His family on the trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem to observe the Passover (Luke 2:41). His family members were Israelites, and God commanded the Israelites through Moses: “Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the LORD God” (Ex. 23:17; NKJV).

Jesus at Age Twelve Goes to Jerusalem

The seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread followed the Passover (cf. Luke 22:1). The Passover was a memorial to the flight of the death angel over the houses in the land of Egypt while the Israelites were still in slavery (cf. Ex. 12:12–14). The first-born males of the Egyptians died while God spared the first-born sons of the Israelites. This feast helped the Israelites remember that God allowed them to escape from Egypt (cf. Ex. 23:15). For every ten people, Israelites offered a sacrificial lamb at Passover. At sundown, the families or group of relatives and friends gathered together for a meal of unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and lamb.

Women and children did not have to participate in the Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Bible indicates that some women made pilgrimages with their husbands for worship and the yearly sacrifice, including Hannah at Shiloh (cf. 1 Sam. 1:3, 7). Jesus’s parents fulfilled the requirement and stayed in Jerusalem at least the two days and may have stayed for the entire eight-day feast. Joseph and Mary’s strict observance of the Jewish feasts suggests that Jesus’s childhood home observed strict adherence to the Law.

According to Jewish regulations, a boy started observing the Law at age 13 in a ceremony similar to modern “bar mitzvah.” His twelfth year was the last the boy Jesus would make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem as a boy for the next year He would be considered a man with adult responsibilities.

In making the annual pilgrimages, families and friends would join together and form a large number of travelers. The traveling-party would reduce the demands on the individual. This method of travel would also be safer, since they would need to pass through the unfriendly Samaritan territory and to avoid attacks by robbers like the injured man in the story of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus in the Temple with the Teachers

It is easy to understand why Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. He was in the transition from boyhood to adulthood. The women and young children in a Jewish caravan returning from a feast would travel ahead of the men and older boys. Jesus’s parents likely assumed that He was going with friends or relatives from Nazareth. He was close enough to be still a child that Joseph probably assumed He was with Mary. He was so close to being a man that Mary probably thought He was with Joseph. Parents can sympathize with Joseph and Mary.

The traveling party traveled a “day’s journey” before they realized that Jesus was not with their relatives and friends. The length of a day’s journey would depend on the distance they had to travel to reach an excellent campsite with plenty of water. Twenty to twenty-five miles is a reasonable estimate of an average day’s journey with baggage, animals, women, and children.

When Jesus’s parents returned to Jerusalem, they found Him. He was “in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers” (Luke 2:46; NASB). The rabbis taught in the temple precincts or at a neighboring synagogue. Hearers sat on the ground at the feet of the teacher. Approximately eighteen years later, Jesus would teach daily in the temple (cf. Luke 19:47). These teachers did not know that the child was the very Messiah for whom they longed to see.

The method rabbis often used to teach was to answer the probing questions their pupils would ask. Picture Jesus, an eager student with zeal to learn and intelligence that amazed the teachers. What surprised them about His understanding and His answers? Although Jesus was not teaching the teachers, His observations concerning the Law were apparent in the questions He asked, astonishing those who heard Him.

No doubt, with agony Mary and Joseph searched for Jesus, fearing and grieving the worst. When they found Him in the temple listening to the rabbis, they were astonished. Mary asked, “Son, why have You treated us this way?” (Luke 2:48; NASB). Mary’s question to Jesus implies that an obedient or responsible son would not have acted in this way.

Jesus Reveals His Self-Consciousness

It is Jesus’s reply to Mary’s question that is the focus of this lesson. In Luke 2:49, we read the first recorded words of Jesus. He asked something very revealing as to His mindset, even at age twelve. Jesus’s question depends on the translation from which you are reading. There are two possible translations of Jesus’s question. The New King James Version that says Jesus’s question was, “Why did you seek Me,” illustrates the first translation of the question, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” The other translation of Jesus’s question is illustrated by both the New International Version and the New American Standard Version, which translates Jesus’s question in a very similar way: “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” What did Jesus mean when He asked this question? Is there something in Jesus’s question that would help us please Father God in our daily lives? If there is, we need to know about it.

The apparent context of the verse is that at that moment, Jesus was in the temple, the house of the Heavenly Father. It is this translation that was accepted by the early church. Years later, as He was driving the moneychangers out of the temple, Jesus calls the temple, “My Father’s house” (John 2:16). The writer of Hebrews would record, “Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house” (Heb. 3:6; NIV). Jesus surely felt a deep-seated relationship with God and felt comfortable in His Heavenly Father’s house, the temple.

But if Jesus said that He had to be about His Father’s business, we would understand a little more about this twelve-year-olds understanding of His mission as the Son of God. “In My Father’s house” means that He must be doing the things of God. Luke shares with his readers the first of six “must” actions for Jesus. First, as we have just read, Jesus had to be about His Father’s business (Luke 2:49). Second, Jesus said that He had preached the kingdom of God (Luke 4:43). Luke tells us in one verse, Luke 9:22, about the next four things Jesus had to do. Jesus said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

Jesus spent His life doing the business of His Father. Doing the Father’s business was essential for Jesus. He once said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). He so devoted His life to His Father’s business that on the night before He died, He told the Father in prayer, “I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4).

Attending to the Father’s Business

If our goal is to be like Jesus, then we should be about our Heavenly Father’s business as well. But how do we go about doing our Father’s business? The New Testament gives us commands and examples of being about our Father’s business. Let us observe three of these precepts and patterns.

First, we can be about our Father’s business by setting our minds on God’s interests. In Mark 8:31, Jesus began to prepare His disciples for His suffering and crucifixion. The Scriptures say, “Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him” (Mark 8:32; NKJV). Jesus then rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s” (Mark 8:34; NASB).

It is easy to set our minds on human interests instead of what is essential to God. Seeking social benefits is not a new problem. Paul wrote to the Philippian Christians, “For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ” (Phil. 2:21; NKJV).

Second, we must be about our Father’s business in supporting the work of the Lord financially. To demonstrate this point, please consider Luke 20:20. The religious leaders of Jesus’s day hated Him so much they wanted to kill Him and eventually did. In one of their attempts to catch Him in some statement they could use against Him, they sent spies to ask Him whether or not it was lawful for a follower of Christ to pay taxes. He told them to show Him a denarius and asked whose likeness and inscription was on it. They said, “Caesar’s.” He then made the famous statement to which I just alluded. “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20:25, NKJV). We can be about our Father’s business by financially supporting His work.

Third, we can be about our Father’s business in the same way Paul encouraged Timothy to be about the Father’s business in 1 Timothy 4. Paul was advising Timothy to be a good servant of Jesus Christ. He wanted him to overcome the obstacles of being a young preacher and be an example to all believers. In 1 Timothy 4:13, Paul wrote, “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (1 Tim. 4:13, NASB). He further explained, “Take pains with these things: be adsorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all” (1 Tim. 4:15; NASB). We need, like Timothy, to tell others about Jesus and what He is doing for us.

How will you be about your Heavenly Father’s business? There are a million and one ways to serve Him.

“This is the Only Time in the Week I Get a Hug”

C. Philip Slate

My wife and I were once members of a congregation in which a tall and tough brother who grew up in Mississippi routinely greeted people who came into our building. Generally, he hugged the older women, especially the widows. He once reported that one of our elderly sisters said, “This is the only time in the week I get a hug.” That comment was both wonderful and tragic. Here is the reason for my judgment.

Loneliness is a serious emotional condition that leads to many physical and mental problems. A recent Prime Minister of the UK, Teresa May, was so concerned about the high percentage of lonely people in the British Isles that she created a Ministry for Loneliness. In our country, the Center for Disease Control reports that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) discovered that “more than one-third of adults aged 45 and older feel lonely, and nearly one-fourth of adults aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated” (CDC Website on “Loneliness”). Further, people who feel lonely, even when not socially isolated, tend to die earlier and have many more physical and mental illnesses than those who feel like they belong and have friends. To me, it seems regrettable that an elderly sister gets hugged only once per week. Surely her comment was a graphic way of describing her feeling alone most of the time. That was the bad, the tragic part of the sister’s comment.

The good side of her comment was that the hug she got, and clearly cherished, was at the assembly. I don’t know that the big man at the door was the only one who hugged her. Perhaps not. I hope not. The current fallout from the social distancing required to manage the spread of the coronavirus is causing a lot of church members to realize what usually takes place at assemblies without their commenting on it, without realizing its benefits. Christian greetings, smiling faces, cheerful comments, and words of encouragement are almost taken for granted; but they are a few of the ingredients of fellowship, of sharing life that occurs “when we come together.”

Currently, I am in a congregation where a widowed daughter is taking care of her widowed mother who has early stages of dementia. The mother cannot understand “why we can’t go to church now.” She doesn’t hear well enough to follow the sermons or public prayers, but she wants to be there. Why? Hearing people greet her and seeing their smiling faces communicate to her. She does not feel alone. Occasionally, younger people also feel lonely. Be sensitive to them as well.

It would be cheap and theologically indefensible to urge someone to become a Christian “so you can get a hug!” There are a lot of by-products of the Christian worldview that we don’t use on the front end of our teaching people. Having stated that, however, throughout church history it is clear that consistently lived Christian deportment has opened thousands of doors for people to hear the good-news message.

Church leaders will do well to keep their antennae up for members who might be lonely. People need not be in the hospital for us to be aware of some of their needs. It is a pity to have such a potent benefit for people as fellowship and then fail to use it. Be proactive in seeing to it that someone visits lonely or potentially lonely members on a periodic basis. Even phone calls are helpful, but to many people there is nothing like a hug! It is a part of shepherding; it is a way of loving one another. By the way, I’ve noticed that older men do not recoil when I put an arm around them and give them a hug.

Relational Evangelism

Roger Shepherd

Evangelism that reaches the unchurched in a postmodern society is built on relationships. Relational is a word that means relationship, a partnership, to share a common life, a connection, association, or involvement between people such as the case was in the early church (Acts 2:44–47). The connection that people of all nations make with one another is in Christ (Gal 3:26–29). Believers share a common life called Christianity and enjoy the blessings of a spiritual relationship with God and one another. I ran a survey among thirty-eight congregations and one-thousand members of churches that gave the result stating 91% desired a relationship with someone other than a family member. Relationships are important in outreach evangelism to save the lost and keep the saved. The greatest need among the church is a revival of relationships. This will give us a renewed people! Evangelism is personal teaching the lost the message of salvation when the relationship is secured.

Connecting in Christ

Congregations in the past have used three main approaches to developing interest in the world for evangelism. First, controversy is the approach that includes such things as debate and answering controversial questions. While not many people are sharing their faith in today’s churches, some of those who are doing so do it by confronting lost people. This is more of the old hard sell approach that worked reasonably well in the 1940s and 1950s, when many lost people attended a church (Aubrey Malphurs, Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century, 125). Second, confrontation is a presentation of the gospel to the lost who attended the worship assemblies as far back as the Restoration Movement. This approach seeks a Bible study directly on the scene without much knowledge of the prospect for conversion to Christ. Three, the relational approach is highly recommended which seeks to build a strong relationship with lost people. It seeks to build relationships with the never churched then evangelize with personal teaching. It also has a holding power to keep the converted saved. Christians can successfully share their faith in Christ in today’s churches by confronting people with the gospel after a relationship has been established.

God connects all people spiritually by the blood of Christ (Acts 17:26; Rom 5:8-10; Rev 1:5). It is an emotional (love) bridge or connection between people as friends (John 13:34–35). The bridge from our heart to the lost person is relationship or a connection of hearts. A healthy relationship with people is one of the most significant ingredients in successful and spontaneous church growth.

Spiritual Relationships in Christ

Strong relationships among Christians on the inside of the church and with unbelievers on the outside of the assembly accomplish the mission Jesus intended for the church, that is, making disciples (Matt 28:19). Everett Ferguson builds a strong case that building relationships with one another in the church maintains an important witness to those outside of the assembly by saying, “If the worship of the church reflects salvation as a response to God, and if the work of the church reflects salvation as a mission to outsiders, then the life in the church and the church’s fellowship express salvation principally in the relations of Christians with one another” (Everett Ferguson, The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today, 349).

Relationships with one another in the local church are manifested in the “sharing of a common life together . . . in the sense of community and brotherly communion” (Ferguson, Church of Christ, 371). The first church had common needs both physically and spiritually that was aforementioned above. This early congregation or community of Christ was benevolent in providing for one another’s needs by a “common property” (Acts 4:32). These early saints had a “common salvation” as they were instructed to “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 3). The crowning virtue of these early Christians was their “love feasts” that produced community and communion shared in Christ (Jude 12). Therefore, “There is a common life in Christ; fellowship does include association with fellow Christians” (Ferguson, Church of Christ, 371). The best actions expressed by the first Christians, as well as today, are associations built upon a true loving relationship. The result is saving the lost and keeping the saved.

Relational Evangelism Vision

A Great Commission vision is biblical (Matt 28:18–20). A strong servant-leadership starting with the pastors is effective in caring for the laity (Acts 6:1-7; 1 Cor. 11:1–3). A well-equipped/trained and mobilized membership is Christ focused in all areas of ministry (1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:11–16). The laity is brought into the church with an attitude of involvement. A culturally relevant ministry is serving ministries that involve all the laity (1 Pet. 4:11f). An inspiring, uplifting, holistic and praising worship motivates the laity to serve God after the worship assembly is completed (Acts 2:14–47). Meeting the needs of community people without being controversial all the time is necessary to build an evangelistic relationship (Acts 2:47; 5:42; 20:20). A robust network of small group fellowship and service keeps the laity saved (Acts 2:42-47; 10:24, 33). It must be community centered ministries, not programs. How can we build relationships that connect people, not only in the assembly, but among the people of the community? The following ten biblical principles will keep you from taking advantage of people and seek to build strong relationships:

1. The golden rule: “treat people the same way you want them to treat you” (Matt 7:12).
2. In order to build a healthy personal relationship, show people that you really care (Matt 9:18-38).
3. Live with people through the good times and the bad times of their lives (Rom 12:15; 1 Cor 12:18–26). The closest relationships with people are built during the bad times. Many strong relationships are also built during times of rejoicing such as the birth of a child, a wedding, and a business success.
4. We build personal relationships with people with unconditional commitment, especially to help heal their many problems. This is the time that they need your unconditional love (1 Cor 13:1–8). Love works every time!
5. Personal evangelists will seek to really know people with whom they are working in matters of salvation (John 10:24–30). They will know the prospect’s family, goals, abilities, spiritual needs, and dreams in live (1 Thess 5:12–15).
6. The personal evangelists will always put lost people and their needs before themselves like Jesus (Phil 2:1–5).
7. A good relationship is always built upon friendships (John 15:12–17). There are many people inside and outside of the church that long for one true friend. Will you be one?
8. It is also helpful to look for things to praise people (Heb 10:24). Praise and encouragement are two very strong stimuli that work!
9. Personal teaching includes a message that God cares for people (1 Pet 5:7).
10. Relationships are built upon trust beginning with trusting God and then one another (Ps 56:4; Heb 13: 6).

Conclusion

In summary, the old adage “that people care less what you know until they know how much you truly care for them” is very much needed today in the community, the church, the family, and world at large. There are times when controversy and confrontation may be needed, but it will be accepted when it follows a true and loving relationship. People will allow you to approach them concerning their salvation when they know it is non-threatening. The key words in evangelism today are relationship, connection, and trust, especially among twenty-first century young people. How are you approaching people? Can it stand a good revision? The relationship that you build today may be the only opportunity that person has to receive eternal life in Christ.

Effective evangelism in our contemporary community will be most successful through relational teaching. Believers that are equipped and actively involved in evangelism will bring a new life in personal teaching outreach and permanent church growth. We are called to take the initiative to build strong relationships and proclaim the gospel of Christ to lost people in all nations. Evangelism is intentional and essential practice for the whole people of God in the whole world (Matt 13:38). The goal is making disciples of Christ in right relationship to God and one another.