It could have been any one of a dozen Saturday night church basement suppers I have been to over the years. Metal folding chairs on a linoleum floor. Long rolls of white paper for tablecloths. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas served on paper plates.
When I arrived, one of two hundred invited guests, the church members were standing nervously in small groups. Leaders whispered encouragement for them to greet us and start conversations or direct us to literature-laden tables where we could select free tracts-or a copy of the Quran.
There were other differences between this and other evangelism suppers. The banners on the wall read “Allah be praised” instead of “Jesus Saves.” After dinner, the program featured not reformed drug addicts telling how Jesus had turned their lives around, but Chicago suburbanites relating mind-opening experiences with one of the world’s fastest growing religions, Islam.
Actually, I wasn’t an entirely naive attendee of the dinner. While doing research for an article on the growing number of Muslims in the United States, I visited several mosques. A mosque member invited me to this Idd-Ud-Adha banquet, a yearly celebration of the prophet Abraham’s example of sacrifice and obedience to God.
As I listened to the chanting of the Quranic texts, the explanations of Muhammed’s life, the testimonies, and the questions and answers, I realized there is a great deal of spiritual hunger among my friends and neighbors in this metropolitan area. I thought of Mother Teresa’s statement: “Suffering is increasing in the world today. People are hungry for something more beautiful, for something greater than people round about can give. There is a great hunger for God.”
Could that be why two hundred had gathered here tonight?
In addition, I realized I was not offended by these explanations of a foreign faith. I learned a great deal. The people were kind. I admired their commitment, even when the content of that commitment did not square with my own understanding of truth.
I started thinking about how nonChristians react when we share our faith with them. Most people appreciate it. Most strongly identify with honestly expressed religious feelings. Most are curious about the content of faith. They may once have known a real Christian-if so, the memories may be pleasant. Or they may be ignorant of the gospel story-in that case, just the story alone merits telling.
I once talked an Asian Buddhist friend into reading the Book of Matthew. Later I asked how he’d liked it. “I cried,” he said. “Jesus was a wonderful person.”
We sometimes forget the power of Jesus’ story, indeed, the power of Jesus himself. Several years ago George Gallup discovered tremendous acceptance of Jesus among the American population: 87 percent recognized the important impact Jesus has had on Western culture; 70 percent believed Jesus was divine; 62 percent had no doubt that Jesus would be returning to earth.
With that kind of general acceptance of the principal figure of our faith, sharing the gospel should be easy. Simply present Jesus. The rest follows. Philipp Melanchthon, the great German Reformer, said that “to know Christ is to know his benefits.”
One person who discovered the singular power of Jesus’ name and story was British preacher Charles Spurgeon. Recalling his conversion, Spurgeon wrote: “The preacher read the text, ‘Look unto me, and be ye saved.’ Then he looked at me and lifting up his hands, he shouted, ‘Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothing to do but to look and live.’ I saw at once the way of salvation. Simply by looking to Jesus, I had been delivered from despair, and I was brought into such a joyous state of mind that, when they saw me at home, they said to me, ‘Something wonderful has happened to you,’ and I was eager to tell them all about it.”
And chances are, the people were eager to listen.
We live in a spiritually hungry world. Our culture is ready and open. We must tell them about Jesus.
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Throughout LEADERSHIP’s history, we have published a reader survey page. On that page we have often asked the question, “What is the most difficult problem you face in your ministry?” One of the most frequent answers has been, “Apathy in my congregation.”
We have tried to address that problem with articles on recruiting volunteers, maintaining church morale, and motivating foot-draggers. Pastors have shared ways they have discovered to stimulate and encourage.
Now we are offering a new resource in the form of an insert for church bulletins: What’s Right with the Church (see the card elsewhere in this issue).
We intend What’s Right to be a monthly, two-page pep pill for congregants who drag themselves to church and wearily serve. Compiled by our LEADERSHIP staff, the insert will tell stories of the good things happening in the church. It will show great church members past and present. It will highlight idea-triggering quotes from respected Christians, and, of course, a church-wise cartoon that will bring a smile to the lips of even the most hardened congregational Scrooge.
Our editors are bullish on pastors and bullish on churches. We pray that What’s Right with the Church will be a tool to make your church members bullish on pastors and churches, too.
Terry C. Muck is editor of LEADERSHIP and a senior vice-president of Christianity Today, Inc.
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