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Christianity Today, September, 2008 |

Christian Vision Project

Missional Misstep

Emphasizing the big gospel can make it hard to communicate any gospel.

David Fitch | posted 8/27/2008 10:40AM

David Fitch is an unusual church planter because he is also a theologian, occupying the Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary. And he is an unusual theologian and professor because ...

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Jerry Emerson, Dover DE

Posted: September 08, 2008 9:48 AM

Can't get this article out of my head - very thought provoking David. I suspect our local church is experiencing the same problem, and we now have several "recoveries", regularly attending services and fellowship activities. It is not my role to evaluate another's faith and belief, however I too suspect these folks might be stuck at excepting the Church, but not moving forward into a life in Christ. Is it possible a new tool is not needed, but rather the same process that caused our growth in the Lord might also work with our new members? I often think that our growth is experiential. I mean first we accept Christ then we actually (in my case - finally) listen to the Word and try it. Actually try to give, or to practice hospitality to all, or forgive one another, etc. etc. Then we discover accepting Him and trying to follow Him with our actions does work, and hopefully we grow more into Christ. Maybe we should be encouraging these converts to more directly join us on the walk

John Batarsi

Posted: September 04, 2008 5:59 PM


I really think this article is right on.

Johann

Posted: September 03, 2008 6:56 AM


Oh brother! Typical American Protestantism- they are given a 2000 year old faith and they fell the need to constantly reinvent the wheel. Members of historic churches (Catholic, orthodox) can only look on in pity and disbelief and shake their heads. What foolishness.

Pastor Dave

Posted: September 02, 2008 5:46 AM

Praise the Lord for believers like the author who openly question "doing business as usual" in the church. The Gospel or "Good News" remains the same (Jesus was God and Man, died for our sins, resurrected so that we too may live, and is our Heavenly Advocate; but it presentation, and evaluation of the needs is so critical today. An example is the use of "circles" by James Choung, presented as a one-on-one approach in CT's June edition. A great point he made is it is wiser to emphasize to the lost, that the world system is generally evil, ignores God, and since we are part of it, we are also lost, and need God. Then the only way to work at change is to go through Jesus who died for us. Then our efforts can take on a new meaning. What I like about his approach is that the Gospel message works - even drawing circles on napkins, while sharing coffee. Bottom line is, it is an optimistic attitude, and a willingness to present Christ though the Holy Spirit's leading.

Karl	Posted: August 30, 2008 12:56 PM

One great blessing I find in my Lutheran tradition is the concept of the separation of Law and Gospel. Law tells us what God requires of us while Gospel tells us what God has done for us. The Law preached in all its harshness will bring us to the end of ourselves, forcing us to fall upon God's mercy. Only when we realize our inability to save ourselves does the sweetness of the Gospel come through, building our faith upon the foundation of Christ's sacrifice and not upon our good works. A great book for learning to preach Law and Gospel properly is C.F.W Walther's The Proper Distinction of Law and Gospel, available from Concordia Publishing House, many online used booksellers. It is also available for online reading at numerous websites.

E Williams

Posted: August 29, 2008 11:06 AM


The "elusive evangelistic tool" appears to be the making room for the Holy Spirit to do His work. We cannot "save" anyone. No man comes to the Father but by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps Jack needed (gasp) deliverance from demonic strongholds.

Anne	Posted: August 29, 2008 2:51 AM

Maybe my comment will not be relevant to this article, but I still have to write it. While I've been reading these articles and the comments for more than two years, I was surprised by the reactions that some people can produce. Whatever the topic may be, I found too many extremely angry, pessimistic, negatively critical, agitated, upset, even ravaged and cinical comments. These topics raised by C.T. are truly burning questions, but still: those who call themselves Christians should show more understanding, love, wisdom and peace even in their comments. I'm not American, that is probably why I can't understand some negative emotions showed when some vital American topics are discussed, but I can discover when peoplearen't reacting in the Spirit of God. Can't we talk about hard issues in a more polite and respectable tone? We should think about those who read this article, but are non-Christians. Am I not right? (This comment relates to all the comments read by me in the last two years.

Ephrem Hagos

Posted: August 29, 2008 2:24 AM


As if we have anything left of the original Gospel to speak about!

Sherif

Posted: August 28, 2008 9:05 PM

The article is written by a very intelligent and learned person, who unfortunately fails to recognize the correct question. The issue is not which technique works best. The real, simple question is "why was there no fruit in "Jack's" life?" The answer is simple: "because the Holy Spirit was not in control". The logical next question would be: "why was the Holy Spirit not in control?" Was He welcome by the congregation? Was Jack introduced to the power of the Holy spirit, or was he only told about the law, that asks us to be perfect without telling us how? Where is Jesus for Jack? Where is Jesus in the West? Is he still on the Cross? Is he in the grave? Or is he nowhere to be found? listen to what Paul says: "the second Adam became a life-giving spirit". If we do not believe that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, sending the Spirit to work in the world today, we will lose all the Jacks in the world, and ourselves in the process, and no degrees will be able to save us.

Jacob Seaway

Posted: August 28, 2008 5:47 PM


Why is being a theologian and a church planter a "double life"? Maybe I'm missing something, but his background would be good for church planting.

Josh	Posted: August 28, 2008 3:50 PM

While we do need to give up on one size fits all approaches to evangelism, there are general themes we can engage people with as we connect their story with God's story. You might be interested in a "tool" called The Big Story (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCVcSiUUMhY). I enjoy the creator of this illustration or "tool." His name is James Choung and he is a divisional director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's San Diego Division. He wrote a book called True Story that illustrates this approach to telling God's story through the life of college students. Check it out.

Polycarp

Posted: August 28, 2008 3:08 PM

Insightful article. Regarding evangelistic tools I must admit that we must give up on a one size fits all straitjacket. We must have enough insight and intelligence to 1. Understand those we are communicating to and understand that everyone is different.. 2. Have an grasp of what the gospel is e.g. I Cor 15:1-7 3. Be able to adapt number 2 with number 1 without confusing #1 or compromising the intended message of #2. Whoever said that was easy! Everything else such as feeding the poor, impacting the community etc. should be extended implications of #2.

George

Posted: August 28, 2008 1:50 PM

I enjoyed the article and glad it was posted. He did not claim to have the answers. He was expressing his frustration over needing a tool, yet maybe uninvented, to lift the hood of today's "armored knights" so that the gospel can get in and give root. I don't think anyone actively involved in personal soul winning would find it boring in the least. It is comforting to know others are feeling the same frustrations and hitting the same unyielding walls. It is not possible to express such frustration without being a little fuzzy around the edges. If everything was focused sharply, there would only be confident, self-assured answers, not frustration. I, too, have felt like I was beating my head against the wall trying to reach people on pot or harder drugs. Even after conversion, they are so shaky and weak. The use of drugs makes them so selfish and self-centered and self-absorbed for a long time after conversion. Ditto with riches. Bring on some new tools! I'll buy.

Eng Hoe

Posted: August 28, 2008 1:25 PM

I appreciate there are people who sincerely try to find the right tool. It appears that the assumption is that the right tool will do the job because the mind needs to be convinced and everyone's minds are about the same. How is it that in the west your approach is so cerebral and systems oriented? Do all people in the west come to the Lord the same way, through rational systematic argument? Is there no dependence on the Holy Spirit who alone knows the heart and mind of each person, and who alone can work in them (Jn.3:7-8) to tell you how to approach a particular person? Wasn't Jesus' response to each person in the Gospels different from the others? I guess it is no wonder that in the west you are not getting much response.

Jim	Posted: August 28, 2008 1:10 PM

I think we can "over think" things sometimes. The Gospel was spread by the Apostles and Disciples just living out their faith, and preaching where they could. I am a cultural suburbaninte ministering in a rural community. My success has come from simply finding out what people need an showing them how to get it. Then, they repsond positively to my acts fo love, and I get to tell them about Jesus. That is one reason why I can relate to Dave's frustration. Every day I have to fight with "fundamentalists" who think that church can only be done one way. On the other hand, let us never forget that it isn't our responsibility to "save" anyone. That job belongs to Christ Jesus. Our job is to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. If we do that, I'm convinced that God will do his part.

Rick Cruse

Posted: August 28, 2008 12:56 PM

While I too came away initially disappointed that there was no "answer" given, I nonetheless appreciate the issue raised as it speaks directly to questions being discussed here in my own church family. At the same time, had there been an "answer," it would likely have been an answer suited to the author's context and not my own. Thus, I am forced (and assisted) to formulate better questions to answer right here. As for Hmmmph, it's clear he's never been in a cross-cultural context which demanded learning another's language and another worldview, not to embrace it (the latter) but to know how to clearly speak truth into it. I would also say he's doing a good job of preparing himself to be offensive to all sorts of people. Good thing Jesus was not afraid to to be missionally and culturally sensitive (John 1:14). By the way, is Hmmmph a first name, or a last?

Bill Robberson

Posted: August 28, 2008 11:45 AM


I am not an idiot and yet I came away from this article shaking my head. I suspect the author should have waited until he could clarify his own thoughts before attempting to educate others. One should not write or publish for the masses until one is has something to offer.

Rita	Posted: August 28, 2008 9:55 AM

Mr. Fitch seems worried to me (I could be wrong--that's just the impression I have from his article). If that's the case, please don't worry, Mr. Fitch: I doubt whether one _can_ cram every aspect into a simple tool. I've used tracts and the Evangecube before, and I agree with you--in many respects they're just a taste (for those who are curious) or just a beginning (for those who believe). But a small stream can lead to a big ocean.

you try everything to get a convert and then...

Posted: August 27, 2008 6:10 PM

The mission of the church is to worship God in spirit and in truth and to announce the good news that Jesus is King. By serving Christ and by serving the Supper and staying straight within the clear confines of an upright and proper religion people who are thirsty will know where to go for real clean spiritual water. My own finding faith came when my life was in a mess and I tyhought that it time for me to go where the air is clear and the water pure, meaning "going to church". If they wanted to reflect my lifestyle back at me so that I would feel comfortable I would have ended up a heretic and a scoundrel, or even more of a scoundrel than I was. Matthew 23:15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. Thankfully Sam Andress has got it right as has one or two other posters here.

Ray	Posted: August 27, 2008 5:43 PM


The size of the Gospel is not the problem. What matters is the size of the commitment to model a Christ-like life that is visible to the community you live in. As St. Francis of Assisi said, "preach the Gospel, use words if necessary". It reminds me of what G.K. Chesterton said. "it's not that the Gospel has been tried and found wanting, it is that it hasn't been tried".

Raymond Takashi Swenson

Posted: August 27, 2008 3:58 PM

Unless a sin has been committed against another, isn't it better to make confession more of a confidential matter with one's minister, rather than relying on the developing forgiveness (and repentance) of other imperfect people who are more concerned with their own sins? As for the competition between a church and the temptations of suburban life, I don't see how a church that calls people to enter a fellowship with Christ and other Christian believers can avoid calling on people to make sacrifices, giving up things in their former lives, even very good things, for the more excellent way of the Gospel and the new life it offers. Finally, why take six months BEFORE you baptize people? In my (LDS) church, baptism is followed by conferral of the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands (as Peter and John did in Samaria). The Spirit helps people to change their desires and behaviors, to enter a new life. They can become people they never thought they could be.

John Wallace

Posted: August 27, 2008 3:42 PM

Excellent article! There is a similar tension reflected in the writings of the Puritans--between those who emphasized saving faith as continual and those who emphasized saving faith as transactional. Those who emphasized the continual nature of faith tended to make faith so elusive that seekers became discouraged concerning their prospects. So called "missional" churches may be finding that their discomfort with counting "conversions" puts them in closer company with John Gill than Andrew Fuller.

Leroy

Posted: August 27, 2008 2:47 PM

Ironically this article which asks is your gospel too big (or too small) fails to define the term "gospel" and confuses it with the implementation of God's plan commenced with the resurrection of Jesus and the inauguration of his new covenant/new creation. I don't understand how someone who is supposed to be a Big Time theologian could fail to define terms that are central to this article or fail to understand the difference between the gospel, "Jesus, God's messiah is the risen Lord" (as Paul tell us) and the implementation of God's rescue mission redefined around the person of Jesus, which would include, among other things, announcing the gospel, caring for widows and orphans, etc. Moreover, how could anyone equate Jack's walking out when lashed out at for continuing to struggle with a "marijuana addiction" with rejecting the gospel. Such thinking absurd and dangerous. Rejecting the gospel is denying the that Jesus, God's risen messiah is Lord. Nothing more; nothing less.

Adam S

Posted: August 27, 2008 2:16 PM

I had prepared myself to disagree with the article. But I think the author has many good points. Having moved from the city to the suburbs and participating in the "desert of the suburbs" I get how hard it is to connect with people. We have friends that we have known for years and live less than a mile away, but with church, school, children, took us TWO years to schedule a time to go hang out. I work out of the home and nanny my niece and will often go days without leaving the house. I seek out ways to pray with others and want to regularly prayer walk the schools in my neighborhood as part of my attempt at ministry, but naps, work and life often push the desire into just a wish. I have tried getting a small group at my church (not hard enough I know) but it hasn't worked out so far. And to "Hmmph" surely the way to reach people for Christ is to insult those that are honestly seeking the Holy Spirit looking for ways to reach out to those around them.

Sam Andress

Posted: August 27, 2008 1:10 PM

Within my church community, we call that "tool" the Eucharist. People hang out with us for a while, either they've left the establishment churches long ago or they never had any part of the church. Every week we take the Eucharist and someone in our community announces, "Christ has broken and poured himself out for the healing of the world. This table is open to all who identify themselves with this Body of Christ." See, even as a long time Christian, Eucharist has become for me a continual conversion of the self. For it is the only marking of the church beyond words and opinions. It is such a beautiful thing when after several weeks someone has just been sitting and then one week the rise, one week they walk foward bumping into the other members and member themselves to the broken and poured Body of Christ. We also have a 7 week Lenten course through the Nicene Creed which ends with Baptism on Easter Sunday for those who make the public proclamation of Jesus' Lordship.

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