Musings: Notes From My Daybook

Northlake staff is currently reading Robert Webber's Ancient Future Evangelism and it is offering a perspective that is healthy and wholesome. Webber is asking the question--one that haunts every church leader--why does evangelism seem so stilted and why do many people make a faith decision and then disappear?

Webber does not offer simple answers; rather he heads back into the first four centuries of the church to explore what what was going on in early Christianity. That move alone gets my attention. Before Constantine, Christianity grew and flourished in a pluralistic and diverse culture. As a minority "religion," Christianity had to find its way around without the power of governmental resources.

In a nutshell, that sounds a lot like today!

What do we find? First of all, conversion was not a moment or one time event. Conversion was a process, marked by teaching, growth, and rites that marked the way. Evangelism was not something the church did; it was, quite simply a way of living. Remarkably, Christianity did not grow because of great preaching (though great preaching was occuring!) or large evangelistic campaigns. Christianity grew through the social networks of people.

Relationships. Families, households, conections through the trade or guild, at every hand, faith in Jesus came through the connections of people. Inviting persons to worship, to gather in study groups, to hear preaching was happening. But more importantly, non-Christian people was invited into the communal, relational life of Christian people where they witnessed first hand the power of God in the Christian community.

Much more could be said about this. But what I am struck with is how disconnected our lives can be. And although it may work for long time Christians, I doubt very much that the gospel can be evidenced up close by a five minute conversation after an assembly on a Sunday morning. We need to consider the reordering of our lifes and lifestyles--if for no other reason than to intentionally model the truth of the Christian faith in relationships to others.

*Yesterday's worship featured a lengthy reading--Isaiah 1. In both services the text was read with power and thoughtfulness. I love to hear Scripture read well. It needs no introduction; it merely requires that we listen attentively.

*My son, William, made it back from Gatlinburg and Winterfest after a wonderful visit with dear friends from Indianapolis. Hello to all the Hoosiers!

*From the bookbag--two new books on the desk. One of the two is worth talking about. Ben Witherington, who vast commentary production is now occuping an increasing amount of my library, just released a book that has a lot of promise for conversation. Entitled What Have They Done with Jesus: Beyond Strange Theories and Bad History--Why We Can Trust the Bible, the book takes on the many contemporary attempts to blur Jesus' identity.