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Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with His Father’s Questions about Christianity

Dr. Gregory A. Boyd and Edward K. Boyd (2008)

 

 

Dr. Gregory Boyd shares a series of letters exchanged between himself, a Christian theologian living in Minnesota, and his retired father, a retired, unbeliever living in Florida. The letters extend over a period of a little over a year. The tone is irenic, but Greg the son is open and clear; he wants his father Ed to become a follower of Christ. The journey is beautiful to observe. Also, Gregory Boyd's outreach to his father challenges any Christ follower who reads the book to do what he has done and reach out to someone they love who is an unbeliever.

A “Revelation 7 Church”

“I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb’” (Revelation 7:9-10),

            The final vision of the eternal kingdom of God cast in the book of Revelation is one of glorious diversity.  This is not a color-blind gathering.  It is a color-celebrating assembly.  John of Patmos (Rev. 1:9), can plainly see dark-skinned people and fair-skinned people; people with freckles and with tanned skin; people with flowing red hair, with curly dark hair, and sandy blondes.  There are tall people, short people, people with deep voices, and people with broad shoulders.  The description “all tribes and peoples and languages” is meant to show that every conceivable shape and shade of human is there.  This is no uniform crowd, but one with dazzling color and an array of vocal tones and cultural backgrounds.

            This is not uniformity.  It is spectacular harmony.  This gathering is united in praise of God.  This people has come together because all came to life through faith in Jesus Christ. 

            The church of the 21^st century (and of the 10^th century and the 1^st) is called by God to anticipate this future, heavenly eternity.  When we as a people are in Christ, we are to live as if this Revelation 7 vision were already coming into reality in our gathering. The way our church lives as community should anticipate what John sees in Revelation 7.  Also, our church should point the world to this vision.

            How we are formed and how we function as a family of believers is a witness.  How we “do church” is our testimony.  What this looks like varies from community to community.  Recently, I was in a small town in a rural Midwestern community.  Almost every person I saw was white.  These were working class, Caucasian people.  A church there is going to be 98%-100% Caucasian. 

However, even in that place, even in that demographic, a church can live in anticipation of the Revelation 7 vision.  There are numerous ways a church there could do this, but my more immediate concern is the church I lead in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Chapel Hill is tremendously diverse.  The University of North Carolina, UNC hospital, the Research Triangle, geopolitical dynamics, and a number of other factors has converged to draw the world here.  A church here reflects the vision of Revelation 7 by existing as a family of brothers and sisters in Christ in such a way that sensitivity is shown to all who come.  It goes beyond just saying, “All are welcome.”  We will examine our worship style, our leadership demographics, and our schedules, and we will make adjustments in order to open the door to people who might consider visiting but because of cultural divides haven’t yet, or have, but have not returned after one visit. 

I have seen and been part of churches who do all they can to communicate the beautiful sentiment, “All are welcome.”  But, then the leadership and the church culture is set by the dominant surrounding culture (white middle and working class America).  Any Latinos or blacks or Asians who attend as deeply loved, but in order to feel at home, they have to be at home in a church that is controlled by white people.  The church I have in mind was diverse and very welcoming.  It was a love-filled family of God.  But, it was a body unable to adjust its corporate culture and so its growth was limited.

HillSong has already demonstrated a willingness to involve new members in all areas of ministry, including leadership.  HillSong has opened its arms and heart wide to new ideas and more importantly to all who walk in our doors.  I am thrilled and thankful that God has me among a people so willing to see new possibilities.  In our attempt to define what a “Revelation 7” church is and to become such a church, we will ardently strive to examine our own church culture and adjust it so that people of “all tribes and peoples and languages” might consider making our church their home. 

Obviously HillSong cannot be a church that does all things, that is all things to all people.  We have members who speak in heavenly tongues, but in their own private prayer lives, not in corporate worship.  That will continue.  Our worship attire is business casual.  That will continue.  Our language is English.  We partner with a Spanish-speaking congregation and also with a Karen-speaking congregation.  We would be open to other partnerships.  But the language of HillSong is and will be English.  These examples – glossolalia, attire, and language – a few of many that put parameters around us.  We are a family of God within these boundaries.

Within these and other boundaries, I believe God is calling us to be a “Revelation 7” church.  God is calling us to be intentional about growing in diversity, in integration, and in international expression.  God is calling us to expand our understanding of the Gospel and of Himself by meeting His Holy Spirit in the hearts of people who come to worship and to be part of our community.

Please pray for HillSong Church as we pursue this vision.  Please pray God will show the pastors, elders, and deacons how we do this.  Please pray God will bring the people in who will make this vision become a reality.  Please pray that our church will, in becoming a “Revelation 7” Church, testify to our community what the Kingdom of God is like.

Gospel Acceleration

You and a friend are talking.  Your friend is not really involved with Christianity in any way.  She doesn’t go to church.  As far as you know she really has no religious practice.  Faith is not something the two of you discuss, but she does know church is big part of your life.

            It is an occasion where the two of you are talking over lunch as you sometimes do.  She mentions she has wants to go to baseball game but she can’t find someone who will go with her.  She asks if you would go and you say, sure.  She pulls out her phone and pulls up the Bulls’ schedule.  She suggests a game that’s coming in the next week.  You start to say yes, but you realize that is the same day that something the church is hosting the chili cook-off.    

            In fact, you’ve want to invite this friend to this church event.  It will be fun and you hope it will be a springboard to discuss matters of faith with this friend because you are pretty sure she doesn’t really believe in anything.  You suggest that the two of you go to a game on a different day and then you ask if she would come to church to laugh and eat chili.

You’ve made the invitation and you look into her eyes.  There’s no spark.  In fact, her expression has gone blank.  You instantly know she is searching for a reason to turn down your invitation.  It is clear she wants no part of coming to church, discussing faith, or having this even come again.  Before you know it, lunch is over; you have no plans for a baseball game, you kind of feel like your friend is mad at you or at least annoyed. 

What happened?  Why is it so hard to talk about following Jesus with this friend or with a lot of people we know who are not in church?  Why does talking about our faith in the day-to-day conversations of life feel so weird? 

            This friend is interested in many things that you are also like.  There’s baseball.  You have worked together and are roughly the same age.  You have a lot of common ground and discussion with her is easy – unless it is about God or religion or faith.  Then, she slams the door shut. 

The Gospel has no ground. 

That is one example.  In countless others, we see how impossibly challenging it is to hope that we could share the news that in Jesus, God has come.  In Jesus’ death, God has taken away the sins of all who turn to him in faith.  In Jesus’ resurrection, God gives eternal life to all who give themselves to Him.  We are adopted as sons and daughters of God.  Disseminating that word, spreading that Good News, is why we are here. 

            However, in the secular workplace, coworkers, friends, bosses – they don’t want to hear us talk about Jesus, not most of the time.  Disinterest is an obstacle to the spread of the gospel. 

Our culture’s love individualism, tolerance, and relativism can be barriers.  Your religion is OK for you.  Mine is OK for me.  All religions are basically the same.  We tolerate all except for the religions that claim to be absolutely true.  If we’re all the same, there is no need for conversion.  And popular sentiment in our country is that the wrong thing is to try to say that there is anything wrong.  The Bible says the world is fallen – all have sinned.  That doesn’t really stick in today’s cultural climate.

            Another bump in evangelism road comes in our friendships with people as committed to their religious beliefs as we are to ours.  We have friends who are Muslims and Mormons, Jews and Buddhists and like in the example, we have friends who have no religion.  We love our friends.  But the differences act as obstacles.

            Make no mistake about it.  The Gospel is to be spread throughout the world.  Acts 1:8 – Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses.”  “Gospel” comes from a Greek word which means “good news.”  The only way news is actually news is if people hear it.  In our imagined encounter with friend who expresses no religion and might an atheist, is anyone hearing anything at all? 

            The first Christians did not know they were Christians.  The term had not been coined.  They knew they were followers of Jesus whom they had seen on the cross.  They saw him die and knew he was buried.  Then, they met him, resurrected.  Everything they ever knew was turned over.  Their worldviews were completely upended, but it did not stop there. 

            After the resurrection and after he ascended to the Father, they were seemingly left without much help in a world that was hostile to their cause.  The temple leaders rejected Jesus as the Messiah.  The Romans were not monotheists.  In religion, the Romans thought they were insane.  The Greeks did too.  In politics, the Romans held the power and at moment could enslave the people of Jerusalem including the original community of Jesus followers. 

How could these people, most of them poor and undereducated, obey Jesus’ command to tell of the good news of the salvation God gives in Him?  They were powerless.  They were directionless.  They were kind of in shock.

Then the Holy Spirit came in full force destroying every wall that would stand between the salvation God offers in Jesus and the people who need it.  They had been praying in that same upper room where Jesus shared the bread and the wine.  The Holy Spirit shook the house and they worshipped in song and prayer, prophecy and Heavenly tongues.

Jerusalem teemed with Jews who had come from all over for Passover and the Pentecost.  Many heard the commotion and rushed to the house as the disciples, now Spirit-filled, spilled out into the street.  One by one, the disciple testified.  The gathering crowd was amazed.

Everyone looked around and saw as clear day that this was a gathering of people from everywhere – yet all clearly understood.  The obstacle of language was overcome and the Gospel advanced.  They saw that these were fishermen, not educated folks.  And they came from Galilees, not a place known to produce people of sophistication or scholarship.  More obstacle are obliterated – socioeconomic divisions; education; and the Gospel moves forward from the disciples mouths into the ears, minds, and hearts of the people in the crowd. 

Some critics accused the disciples of drinking too much.  I struggle with the logic.  I never thought getting smashed would enable me to speak Amharic or Karen.  Alcohol doesn’t have affect.  And the crowd did not buy this lame explanation from those who would oppose the Gospel.  They listened as Peter spoke and the story of Jesus was proclaimed. 

He told of the crucifixion and that would be a problem.  People did not continue following a would-be Messiah after he died.  They went and found a new Messiah.  But here was Peter still holding on, claiming Jesus had been raised.  No one, I mean no one, believed the Messiah would be resurrected ahead of an end-time resurrection at which point all people would be raised for judgment.  Peter’s message that Jesus was the carrier of God’s salvation and had been raised by God was totally unexpected.  Expectations and the idea of death stood to block the advance of the Gospel.  Empowered by the Spirit, Peter preached through these blockers.

When the Spirit poured out on the community of faith in Acts 2, they shared the Gospel, spread the good news of life in Jesus in spite of insurmountable opposition.  This event launched the movement of the Christians who carried salvation throughout the world.  The rest of the book of Acts follows Peter and John, Philip, and Paul and Barnabas and then Paul, Timothy, Silas, and Luke along with Priscilla and Aquila as they tell all who will listen that Jesus is Lord.

Many, like our friend in the opening story I imagined, have no part in it.  Many do not want to hear about Jesus.  But some do.  And even when we hear, “No thanks, let’s just go to a baseball game,” we don’t give up.  We pray for that person.  Maybe our invitation planted a seed that someone else will harvest down the line. 

The Holy Spirit is as active now as was the case in Acts 2.  The Gospel accelerated across Israel, through Turkey, through Greece, to Rome.  It continues today.  We have the word.  We stand in the encouragement of the church community – praying for each other, building up each other.  We have the history of our faith and the Christians who have gone before us to inspire us.  Finally, we have God – the Holy Spirit – in us. 

Our culture shows indifference or a penchant for pluralism.  In China, there are the persistent attempts of the government to control everything.  In Western Europe, many buy into the myth that religion has died.  In parts of Africa, Christianity is so infused with traditional religions it is hardly recognizable.  In North Korea, open Christian expression can land you in jail.  In Syria and Egypt, proclaiming faith in Jesus as the Son of God can get you killed. 

Everywhere, there are challenges and it appears the easiest thing to do is go underground, worship in secret, and keep to ourselves.  But a fire burns; the fire of Holy Spirit sizzles.  We can’t put it out and we should not try.  We stand it in it so the light of Jesus shines through us.  The Gospel is going to continue to fill the world.  We play our part by worship, by prayer, and by setting ourselves so we are attuned to the Spirit. 

I have a friend.  More often than not, when we try to get together, life gets in the way.  When do find time to grab a sandwich, our conversation is mostly about our kids or college basketball or the weather – not especially deep or spiritual topics.  He knows my work and my life and I think he’s most comfortable at the surface.

But last year, he showed up here at church – just once.  I’ve known him for almost 9 years and he finally came.  The Gospel is on the move around the world and into my friends’ heart.  To me what happened at Pentecost was a miracle.  When the Spirit filled those first disciples, it was amazing.  To me, when my friend comes back to church and when our conversation moves from debates about who should start at Small Forward to questions about what it really means to be a follower of Jesus that will be a miracle too.  They will be as important an advance of God’s Kingdom as any I can imagine. 

Evangelism and the work of the Holy Spirit are interchangeable.  I am sure this is true in your life and your friendships too.  The gospel is rushing forward.  Pray that you as an individual and we as church can be part of it.

AMEN

A Powerful Testimony (Acts 4:32-35)

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Acts 4:32-35

³² Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. ³³ With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. ³⁵ They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

            Pastors who imagine themselves innovators attempt to plant new churches and they do so with a fantasy of a church that is in the mold of the New Testament church.  An idea exists that Christianity began immediately after the resurrection and then the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as this perfectly harmonious community.  This dream is usually paired with severe criticism of today’s churches. 

Today’s churches are too self-serving. Today’s churches are inward focused and refuse to reach out to the community.   Today’s churches are bound by tradition instead of being committed to the Bible.  Today’s churches fail to be praying communities and instead rely too much on human wisdom and human abilities and resources.  The complaints and critiques mount and the rallying cry sounds.  We need to get back to the New Testament church!

The passage we just read, Acts 4:32-35, is cited as an example of the ideal faith community.  See, it says right there.  “Now the whole group of those who believed was of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.”  Their faith was so strong they enjoyed perfect harmony.

Really?  Acts 4 describes events which happened a couple of months or so after the resurrection.  Just before the resurrection, this perfectly harmonious community accomplished the following: the leading voice, Peter, denied knowing Jesus.  The treasurer of the group, Judas, turned Jesus into those who handed him over to death.  The entire group abandoned him.

OK, but after they met the risen Lord, then they got it right!  Oh?  The critical thinker in the group, Thomas refused to exercise faith and said he would only accept things if he was granted empirical evidence.  Several of the disciples, all people who had heard Jesus say resurrection was coming, could not recognize him when he was raised.

But it is not fair to lay that on them.  Once the Holy Spirit came upon them all at Pentecost, then their hearts were ready to form the ideal church.  What we read in Acts 4 as well as Acts 2 show how wonderful the New Testament church.  No, actually it does not show that.

Listen again verses 32 and 34.

“The whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 

³⁴ “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.”  That gives the impression of a perfectly selfless, welcoming, and shalom-filled community.  How long did they sustain this?

We only need to keep reading.  This picture ends Acts chapter 4.  In the next chapter, we read of a couple, Ananias and Sapphira, who do not share the proceeds of what was sold.  They promise that they will give the entire amount of what they get from the sale of their field.  So, they sell the field and receive the amount, and then pocket some of it. 

That is not a sin, by the way.  Making a prophet by a sale or in business, or earning a high salary; these are not bad things.  However, making a promise to God is.  Allowing greed and desire for material things to compromise our spiritual commitments is very much a sin.  In this ideal community, the second and third financial contributors specifically named actually deceive the church.  And God kills them for it.  So in the perfect first century church idolized by trendy pastors of today, there is deceit and death almost immediately.

Who the first named contributor?  A guy named Joe.  He was such an encourager; the apostles changed his name to Barnabas which means “Son of Encouragement.”  He is one of the great heroes of the faith.  However, even Barnabas experienced conflict in a church that was never free from it. 

He was the Apostle Paul’s first ministry partner.  But, they got into a sharp dispute about whether to bring a young man named Mark on their next missionary voyage.  This is all in the closing verse of Acts 15.  Mark had previously quit midway through on a journey with them.  Barnabas wanted to show the young man mercy and give him another chance.  Paul had no time for deserters.  These two leaders in the nascent church could not agree and experienced what Christians have struggled with ever since – a split; a parting of ways.  By the way, Paul eventually came around and Mark became one of his most trusted friends.

Read through all of Paul’s letters.  Read 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd John.  Read Jude or 2^nd Peter.  The New Testament was full of conflict for the same reason churches struggle today.  Churches are comprised of human beings.  Even though we have the Holy Spirit in us, we have been forgiven and freed from sin’s grip, we still get tempted.  One is tempted to gluttony, another to a sharp, critical tongue, and another to cursing and foul language.  One is tempted by greed, another by sex, and another by laziness.  The church then was not perfect, nor is the church now perfect.

So what are we?  We are a community of people who give witness to the kingdom of God as we understand it and have received it from Jesus.  The key moments in our testimony are the crucifixion and the resurrection and the moment we came to know Jesus.  This is who we are. 

We are sinful people, but sinners whose sins have been nailed to a cross.  We are dead people – those who have died in sin.  But we have been raised from death to eternal life.  We know this is all true because the Holy Spirit is in us.  We are called to tell this story in a way that is genuine, filled with love and compassion for those we tell, and persuasive.  We want the people with whom we share the good news of Jesus to make the decision to receive him into their lives. 

From Acts 4, I think the verse we do well to highlight is verse 33.  “With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.”  What was so powerful about their testimony?        First, they believed it.  I mentioned last week on Easter Sunday that I believe our hearts and our minds have trouble reconciling over resurrection because we want it to be true, but we are conditioned to accept death as final.  The early Christians did see and touch the risen Lord.  We need to be attentive to the Holy Spirit.  When we are then we have confirmation that is as real and believable as the physical presence of the resurrected Jesus.  But this demands that we focus spiritually and listen spiritually.  The Holy Spirit will assure us and we need to receive what the Spirit gives to bolster our belief.

Second, the first believers lived out the love of Jesus.  As Acts 4 reports, they fed the hungry.  We may not do it in the same way they did, but when we participate in ministries that meet peoples’ needs that gives legitimacy to our words about Jesus’ love.  One simple example is next Crop Walk.  Come out and walk and help us raise money to fight hunger.  The connection to faith is indirect but there nonetheless.  We walk to fight hunger, because we are Christ followers. 

The first believers performed miracle healings.  We visit people in the hospital as they are treated by today’s healers, doctors.  You may remember some of our members were Ethiopia last month and helped a man gain access to 21^st century healing – medicine he could not afford to buy.  Peter healed a lame man and he did it in Jesus’ name.  Today we come alongside the sick, the hungry, the broken, and the hurting, and we do it in Jesus’ name.

Third, the first Christ-following communities strove to overcome ethnic and racial tensions.  The biggest issue in New Testament writings was Jew-Gentile.  It was not the only one.  Greeks called non-Greeks “Barbarians.”  Romans looked down upon people who were not Roman citizens.  Most groups have terms of derision for outsiders.  When I preached in a Gypsy church, I was what Gypsies called non-Gypsies, a “Gazhol.”  In Bolivia, a 3-year-old child looked me and with scorn said, “Gringo.”  In Ethiopia, we are what they call foreigners, “Ferengi.

Through the book of Acts and Paul’s letters, we see the early church learning how to overcome these differences so that outsiders are transformed into insiders.  Words like “them” and concepts like “those people” lose meaning as Christ-followers include everyone in “us.”

We could probably comb through the New Testament and find more categories of love and compassion but the three we mentioned make the point.  The testimony of the disciples in Acts 4 is a powerful testimony because the believers were transformed by their belief.  And it was powerful because the words they said about Jesus gained traction in good works like feeding and healing.  Finally the testimony was powerful in a radical way as the disciples shattered old divisions that separated people.  Greeks and non-Greeks, Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slaves and masters all embraced as brothers and sisters in Christ. 

At the beginning of worship, I asked, do we understand that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses?  Do we realize that as we grow in Christ and add our voice to the story of Him saving the world through death and resurrection, we become a part of the cloud of witness?

Before the sermon began, before the reading of Acts 4:32, we heard Acts 1:8 where Jesus says, “You will be my witnesses.”

I dream of us – each individual – believing the reality of resurrection in such a profound way it alters our view of everything else we know and understand.  I dream of us going through an earth-shattering paradigm shift as the full truth of resurrection settles on each of us.

I dream that when we do a home repair for someone who needs it or go on a mission trip or participate in the crop walk or visit a hospital to pray with those who are sick or do other works of compassion – I dream it will be abundantly clear that we do these things in Jesus’ name as an expression of Jesus’ love.  And I pray those helped by our efforts will feel themselves drawn to him.

I dream that we will be the voice of grace and welcome in a world of violence and hatred.  Just this week, another unarmed black man was killed by a white officer in South Carolina.  It has happened again!  Once again, we humans find a most dramatic expression of injustice.  I dream that in our church our witness will be seen in the way blacks and white, Hispanics and Asian, straights and gays and lesbians all embrace as beloved brothers and sisters in Christ.

I guess I do want us to be like the New Testament Church.  I guess I am one of those pastors.  I don’t have any fantasies that those first century Christians were perfect or even any better than us.  They were selfish, they fought, and they sometimes excluded people.  But in their witness, they worked through these mistakes and at their best, their actions and their words pointed people to Christ.  That’s my dream and my prayer for us as a body of believers.

AMEN  

A Witness to What God Did

          Tom Long writes, “We go to scripture … to encounter a presence, to hear God’s voice speaking to us ever anew.”[i] Where Long says “we,” he specifically means preachers.  However, what he says is true of most Bible readers.  Christians open the Bible to hear from God.  Long feels that the primary function of the preacher is to testify what he or she has seen – to tell what can be known about God.  I agree and I think all Christians are called to this activity of giving testimony.

        The epistle First John is also the testimony of an eye-witness.  “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life” (1 John 1:1).  What we learn of God in this letter comes from the first-hand experiences first century believers had. 

        At HillSong, we will spend the Sunday sermon time in July and August considering the testimony offered in 1^st John.  Our intent is not to do verse-by-verse exposition.  Where that is appropriate, it will be done.  But our goal is to see God.  The witness of the 1^st John will serve to help us see God.  So, I encourage all who will worship at HillSong to read this letter and as it is read, make notes.  What are we seeing?  Where is God in this?  Look for Him.  Read expecting to have an encounter with the transcendent, eternal, almighty One.

        This way of reading is demanding.  We need to read attentively and imaginatively.  Every word matters, but each comes from a late 1^st century context and in response to specific circumstances – circumstances we can only speculatively piece together.  How do we hear it and how do we see the truth in these words take shape in and inform us in our context, one very different that the first century when the words were written?

We also need to read confessionally, allowing the text to interpret our lives as the Spirit, speaking through the word, breaks us down and remakes us.  Reading in this way requires something of us – the readers.  It is involved.  When the word speaks of sin, we have to name our own sins, accept our guilt, and realize the truth about ourselves.  At the same time, the text speaks of forgiveness (1 John 2:1-2) we can accept it.  We accept that we are forgiven and in Christ we have life (1 John 5:11).  Christ is evidence that God loves us.

So, come to HillSong and read 1^st John.  And read with complete involvement and commitment.  It may sound like an emotional rollercoaster, but it is worth it. 

---

[i] T. Long (1989).  The Witness of Preaching.  Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, p.45.

An Alternate Story

 

            Recently in a sermon, I quoted Walter Brueggemann who said that the prophet’s job is to evoke a perception that is an alternative to the perception and consciousness of the dominant culture.  This assumes that the prophet truly speaks for God and the dominant culture is not consciously, intentionally seeking God.

            Both assumptions are true in Chapel Hill, NC, 2012-2013.  Christ-followers in this context are not prophets per se.  The prophet is one visited by God in a unique way that is not repeatable.  But the prophets’ words are repeatable.  They have been written down and in conjunction with the Gospel they help the believer today to do the work we are called to: the work of evangelism. 

            Christ-followers are called by Jesus to tell of the salvation He offers.  In doing this, we invite people to become his disciples.  The idea of an alternate story is a great approach in evangelism.  Rather than convey the message that we think all people are fallen and lost in sin, we come as caring, compassionate listeners who enter lovingly into the pain and messes in people’s lives.  This approach doesn’t minimize the reality that all people are fallen, lost sinners.  They certainly are.  We all are.  But, while sin is reality, it doesn’t have to be our entry point with people.

            Most people already know they’ve messed up in big ways.  They don’t need a Christian or preacher coming as an evangelist rubbing their noses in their sin.  They already know sin stinks.  They already know they need something.  Most of the time, they aren’t sure what.  When we come in love and sit with them in their pain and offer a listening ear, they know we are safe.  This takes time, but it is worth it.

            After small talk, after time is invested, after relationship moves from surface level stuff like weather and sports to deeper emotional topics, then we are ready to talk at a spiritual level.  And even then, we do well to show the patience of listening until it is clear that our friend will want to hear from us.  When we have “permission” to share, that’s when we offer an alternate narrative.

            We explain that Jesus is full of compassion and offers forgiveness and unconditional love.  We lay out a life story for the other that involves the specifics of their life, but lived in the light and love of Jesus.  It is a different story than the one their sins tell.  And they can choose it.  They have the power to continue suffering from the pain they are in or they can choose the alternate story Jesus is writing.

            This clearly is a milder tone than the one of the Old Testament prophets.  But again, we are not called to be Old Testament prophets.  We have a similar task – to help others find an alternate story to the one they are living.  We are to guide people from the selfishness of consumerism and the impatience of an immediate gratification world to the lasting joy and redeeming forgiveness of God’s story.  Prophets shout this message.  Prophet use odd symbolism and sometimes looming darkness to write God’s alternative story.  We know the resurrection-ending to the grand narrative.  Our task is to evoke, but to do it creatively and gently.  We help people discover the story. 

            In this, we are not prophets, but we are aligned with the Biblical prophets.  More importantly, we are aligned with God’s purposes.  We are doing His work in Jesus’ name.