A Bold Witness
Dear Pastors
Last week I talked about the Diagnostic Question, what it is and how it can be an incredibly useful tool in the leaders hand. This week I want to explore my first question. It is this:-
How many adults in your congregation are confident to give a bold witness for Jesus?
A ‘bold’ witness has two aspects to it I think. The first is a thorough understanding of the Gospel itself that rests upon a strong confidence of its efficacy and secondly a well thought through personal story. Both are important preparation or homework if you like. Back in the day when I was a young adult this was part of a new Christians discipleship programme. That’s what everybody did. In fact it has been that way for much of the history of the church. Over the last 30 years or so I have observed a ‘falling away’ of this basic requirement and it is my conviction it is the main reason why the Church and Christianity in NZ and indeed in most of the Western World is so insipid.
When confidence in the Gospel has gone I’m not sure what we have left? When confidence in the Gospel has gone I’m not the least bit surprised that so few churches in NZ are reaching and winning truly unchurched or not-yet-christian folks. There are a few exceptions always and they are inspiring stories. In fact these stories should be our teachers.
When confidence in the Gospel has gone, is it any wonder that the watching world see the church as just another social service agency to help the poor and nothing much more? When confidence in the Gospel has gone, we no longer live in the tradition of the followers of Jesus in the first century church. Acts 1:8, Acts 4:20, Acts 10:34-48 etc.
Sadly, what has occurred over the last 30 years is what I call the ‘great disconnect’. Our Belief Statements clearly affirm the place and power of the Gospel. In other words we say the right things more or less. But our everyday practise does not reflect our Evangelical Doctrinal Statements. Our talk is disconnected from our walk.
Here are two supplementary questions. If you were to ask say just 25% of the committed adults in your church (sample group) to ‘share the gospel and the means of salvation from scripture’, what would you discover? And secondly what would those same folks say if they were asked to share their testimony in 3 minutes in a compelling way. I think you would be very surprised if what you hear wouldn’t surprise you maybe even shock you.
Can we turn this around? Of course we can. The Good news is that the Gospel has never lost its power and Jesus is still the answer for the world today and the fields are still ‘white unto harvest’.
And now I am preaching to myself as well.
Song Selection
The Blessing | Aotearoa/New Zealand Churches join together to sing "The Blessing"
I’m sure you have seen this, been blessed by it and perhaps played it at church last Sunday. As at this morning it has had 225,000 views. Not bad for the newest version of a very popular song so much so that TV1 did a story on it last week Friday in the 6.00pm news bulletin.
Blessings
Alan
Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.
