Greetings,
First, Alice and I thank you for your generous Christmas gift to us, and thank you for your wonderful presence in our lives not only at Christmas but throughout the year. You have been thoughtful and supportive in ways that were unexpected and very much appreciated. You have certainly convinced us that you are a courteous, caring and compassionate congregation…which brings me to my second point.
This month I will conclude my discussion of the four commitments we make in our membership vows to the Barrington United Methodist Church: “Will you be loyal to the United Methodist Church, and uphold it by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service and your witness?” The last and newest commitment, that we will support our church by our witness was added by the General Conference of 2008. The General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) offers the following explanation of why the change was made:
When the Association of Annual Conference Lay Leaders submitted its proposal to GBOD, our Board agreed that the vows of “prayers, presence, gifts and service” were primarily “inwardly” focused and institutional in character. They offered little insight or inspiration for disciples of Jesus Christ to engage in God’s mission of transforming the world. .. Adding “and witness” to the list may help our members, new and old, to recognize their responsibilities not only to “show up,” but to “show forth” God’s saving love in all that we do.
Now, when we join the church one of the promises we make is to witness to our faith. We promise God that we will get out and tell others that we are a “courteous, caring and compassionate congregation.” And invite them to join us! That’s right; we are now required by our membership vow to become evangelists.
For many of us EVANGELISM is an unpleasant and unpopular word. But this should not be the case. In the original Greek euangelizomai meant a “messenger of good news”, and as followers of Christ we are both hearers of the Good News and witnesses to the power of the Good news. As Harold DeWolf, Martin Luther King’s professor at BU, once said, “The New Testament church engaged in evangelism as naturally and normally as a robin sings or a happy child plays.” After all, if what we find in our Christian experience is really Good News, we will naturally want to share it with anyone we care about…won’t we?
Several years ago, at our first church, the phone rang at the parsonage and a normally calm parishioner was almost hysterical. He had discovered that an upscale clothing store in the town 15 miles away was having an unadvertised going out of business sale and he wanted to be sure we knew about it. Shirts and Suits were 50% off and shoes were 90% off! He was so excited on the phone that I was praying that he was standing close to a bathroom.
Of course Alice and I piled into the car immediately, and at the store we became almost as frenzied as he was. I bought two suits, three pairs of shoes plus ties and shirts…it was Good News…so good that we went back the next day to get “just a few more things”. But when we neared the store the traffic was a parking lot, and police had been called into the store for crowd control…Good News spreads quickly because people want to share their good fortune with others. Now when was the last time you went to a church that required police officers to do crowd control?
Alice and I are United Methodists because one day, our new neighbor invited us to “HIS CHURCH”. We went, people were warm and welcoming, and God was there too so we stayed! Ours is not a unique story. The well known UMC church growth expert Lye Schaller collected statistics on how church members found their way to church, and discovered that:
3% - 8% Walk in
3% - 6% Like Sunday School
4% - 10% Come for a program they like
10% - 20% Like the pastor
10% - 25% Respond to an evangelistic visitation
60% - 90% Were brought by a friend or relative.
Do we get more excited about a great sale than we are about our relationship with God? If God has done good things for you, don’t you want God to do great things for your children, your friends and neighbors? Contrary to current popular opinion, evangelism is not something done only by particular (or peculiar people) at special times and places, but a normal, faith-filled, day-by-day reaction to realizing that God loves us, forgives us and wants to be very close to us. Witnessing is not preaching or selling religion. Witnessing is showing and telling your friends about how glad you are that God is in your life, and offering to help them meet God. As the Sri Lankan evangelist D. T. Niles put it: “It is one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.”
Witnessing to others is the most compassionate thing we can do for others. It is perhaps the most important ministry and mission of the church. It is also one of the most uncomfortable things God asks us to do. But remember that if we handle the conversation, God will handle the conversion. To rephrase a popular advertising slogan of a few years ago: When you care enough to offer the very best, offer them Christ.
If we really do have open doors, open minds and open hearts, then we have to open our mouths too. If you do not tell them who will…the pastor, the Superintendant or the Bishop? Who has more creditability with your friends and family than you do?
If you are interested in knowing more about our commitments as members of the church, please join me in a small group study of “Why I Am a United Methodist” by William Willimon during Lent. Then, during the great Fifty Days, between Easter and Pentecost, we will discuss “Faith Sharing” by Eddie Fox and George Morris. These books are great and they help us to understand just how good the Good News is.
Charlie
