When I was first saved my first instinct about what to do with my new life was not unlike the first instinct most new Believers have; tell everyone about Christ! In the months and years immediately following my New Birth my desires settled into two priorities; to help Believers tell everyone, and telling everyone myself.
My work in Evangelism began with the writing of a document called "Ministry 180" in which the idea that ministries need to build up believers to work outside of the confines of church buildings to reach those who are outside of church buildings. I didn't have a clue about HOW to reach these people, but I sure knew where they were and where they weren't. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that prostitutes, drug dealers, and murderers didn't just show up at church services on Sunday to find out about Jesus without some serious motivation.
So I had this document, a burning desire in my heart, and not a clue what to do with any of it. It turns out I wasn't alone. My beloved friend Cory called me up and asked me if I had heard of a particular evangelism training organization, and if I had heard of this or that training material. We both enrolled in the organization and went through the training.
Now we had half a clue about how to speak to the Lost, but we were still really green. So we found some other believers who were doing the work and hit the streets. We were each amazed by how you really can engage people about sin, life, death, eternity, judgment, righteousness, and the Gospel when you haven't built a relationship with them. We quickly learned you truly can preach the Gospel to every creature in the world!
We knew we wanted to help Believers do what we had become passionate about. So we launched a ministry called The Cross Current(TCC). We would help the Church engage the culture using the hot topics of the day, science, philosophy, and history. We would literally give them conversations to have with the Lost people they know that would lead them to the Gospel, and if there were tough or heated questions we would take them on their behalf. I was sure I had found my life's work.
We built a radio program and podcast that would teach and give real-life examples of real conversations we had on the streets of Canadian cities so listeners could hear how they really go. And not only that, but they could hear that these conversations are real and possible to be had right here in Canada! The radio show was the hub of the ministry. It gave us credibility with people on the street, and exposure to the Church.
The radio show was sexy. It took a lot of effort and time to produce. I found myself working on the radio show during my coffee breaks, lunch, and every minute of my evenings just to keep up. As much as we felt God was using the ministry, He didn't seem to be providing labourers who would help carry the load. We did have a growing team of people who would go out on the streets, but we could not seem to keep workers interested in the radio program. While the show was popular with listeners, the team that went out on the streets just didn't seem to get it.
Amidst the effort to keep the show on the air and of high quality, Cory and I though we were extremely close friends started to drift apart doctrinally. He would say I moved, and I would say he moved. Perhaps we both moved somewhat. By the Summer of 2010 it was clear that Cory and I were preaching two entirely different things and both of us calling what we preach the Gospel.
How could this happen? We were an organization that had trained hundreds of people to share their faith together. We had engaged thousands of people with the Gospel personally, and countless thousands through the radio show and podcast. We had a 22 page Statement of Faith which we had worked exceedingly hard at refining. It was true though. We were at an impasse. Once I got the courage up to challenge the situation the end was inevitable. He wasn't going to move, and neither was I. When that was finally spoken, the President of TCC asked the Vice President of TCC to resign, and I did.
It has been about 2.5 years since these events went down. Without the requirement of writing and producing I've returned to the simpler work of Street Evangelism. It has been a marvel to me to see how much I still need to learn, after having been part of a team teaching so many others how to do the work. I've found that many of the "sexy" things we found so helpful with TCC are really not all that helpful on the street. I've found that gentle, simple, and clear presentations of the Truth are much better for the work than strong logical arguments.
Recently God has been bringing a group of men together in my city to do a work very similar to what I had hoped to do with TCC. The Brother who seems to be drawn to lead the effort is a lot like by beloved friend Cory, but he's older and more mature than either Cory or I were back when we put TCC together. The same passion is in him, but the desire to not move unless clearly led of God is something I admire in him, and which also gives me calm. This time there are three of us instead of just two. This time we have a history of 6 or 7 years of local street ministry that we can build from.
It would seem that God is not done using me in the work that fires my heart with passion. It would seem that He has a new, old, thing for me to do. Perhaps this time I will be more faithful with it, and less industrial.
No comments:
Post a Comment