GOD CAUSES INCREASE "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God GAVE THE INCREASE. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that GIVETH THE INCREASE. " (1 Corinthians 3:6-7) -- Tomorrow:
Institutionalism has many things against it, but none is so great as its tendency to attempt the automation of life. To hear the average religious zealot talk, you would think expressions like "evangelism," "soul-winning," "church growth," "personal evangelism," "missions," and "world missions" are in the Word of God. It might surprise you to know they are not. I have heard men say with great zeal and conviction, that "evangelism is the only real work of the church." Mind you, Jesus did not say this, nor did His Apostles! The efforts of such men are more related to those Pharisees whom Jesus berated, than to the "Apostles doctrine." Hear Jesus' cutting words. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves" (Matt 23:15, NASB).
I suspect that many cries to "evangelize" are not driven by an awareness of the effectiveness of Christ's death, or that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor 5:18-20). In some circles, it represents an effort to pump life into a deteriorating movement. In other circles, it has become a means of promoting the institution. Such motives are tragedies, and also transgressions.
Let no one suppose for a moment that I am set against the spread of the Gospel and the making of disciples. What I am affirming is that this is the manner of the Kingdom. It is not something that is taught, else Jesus and the Apostles would have done so. When people are "joined to the Lord," increase is what happens. That is the manner of the Kingdom. The great awakenings of history did not occur because men embraced a method of evangelism or missions! Rather, it was the result of perceiving and embracing the truth as it is in Christ Jesus.
Luther shook the citadels of dead orthodoxy because he had seen something! The Wesleys were used of God to bring men closer to God because their hearts burned within them. The Campbells brought down bastions of tradition because their hearts had been enlarged. They all were but servants in the hands of the Lord, planting and watering the Seed of the Kingdom. The increase came from God, just as it will do in our day!
The fact of the matter is: these human expressions are not even found in God's Word-- anywhere; i.e., "evangelism," "personal evangelism," and "missions." "Evangelist" is found once, and "evangelists" twice (2 Tim 4:4; Acts 21:8)--but never "evangelism!" What men call "the great commission" (Matt 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16) is never quoted, or referred to, by any of the Apostles in any of their epistles--a most arresting consideration! Peter referred to the mount of transfiguration (2 Pet 1:18), and Paul referred to the institution of the Lord's table (1 Cor 11:23 28). No inspired man ever told the church they should "make disciples." Search and see for yourself.
And why did they not do so? Simply because the early church was alive, and thus engaged in the dissemination of the Gospel by nature--their new nature. Commanding the early believers to spread the Word would have been like exhorting them to breathe or eat.
It is ironical that the early church was active in spreading the Word without being told to do so, while the contemporary church is being told to evangelize, yet is not doing so with any consistency. It appears to me that perception is required more than strategy, and faith more than technique. If all of the time spent developing and presenting workshops on "soul sinning" were spend drawing near to God with a pure heart and a purged conscience, the blessing of God would be experienced.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Christ, I thank Your for spiritual life that is not merely an emulation of Your own, but is rather a manifestation of it.
Wednesday, New Series: LEAVING THE FIRST PRINCIPLES --