Witness Essentials E-Book

Daniel Meyer

• Herausgeber: IVP Bible Studies
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: The Essentials Set
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Seitenzahl: 374

Beschreibung

We know the radical difference the gospel of Jesus Christ makes, and we want others to see and enjoy its benefits. In fact, we don't want them to just pray a prayer and move on to the next interesting thing. We want them to sink their roots deeply into the grace of God. So often, though, we feel that we are inadequate to this important task--that we don't know enough or that we will offend our friends. Daniel Meyer has provided the tools you need to move forward: - the basics of the gospel message - the role of life change in our witness - how to present the good newsThe Bible studies, exercises and readings in this book will deepen your personal faith and equip you to minister to others with a new sense of confidence and calling.

Leseprobe

Witness Essentials

Evangelism that Makes Disciples

Daniel Meyer  

InterVarsity Press P.O. Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426 World Wide Web: www.ivpress.com E-mail: [email protected]

© 2012 by Daniel Meyer

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

While all stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information in this book have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

Cover design: Cindy Kiple Images: © Petr Morávek/Dreamstime.com Cosmic balloons: ©Pingebat/iStockphoto Businessman on ladder: ©James Lee/iStockphoto Money icons: ©Kathy Kankle/iStockphoto Family icons: ©bubaone/iStockphoto

For my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, whose gospel remains the best news I know

For my wife, Amy, whose colorful witness I continually admire

For my sons, Rush, Cole and Reed, in whom I pray God will bear his richest fruit

For my parents, Edward and Linda, whose loving insistence set me in the way of Christ

For Mike Coffield, who shared the invitation that led me into the kingdom

For those future disciples

Contents

A Word from the Author

Introduction

Part One

1: Believe in the Call and Power of God

2: Examine the News

3: Mourn the Changed Condition

Part Two

4: Yearn for People as God Does

5: Walk with People

6: Investigate and Invest in the Soil

Part Three

7: Testify to the Truth You Know

8: Nail the Sins That Slay You

9: Express Grace Under Pressure

10: Serve Needs

Part Four

11: Share the Invitation to Salvation

12: Point Out the Pathway

Appendix: The Three Ladders

Notes

Additional Resources

About the Author

Essential Series

A Word from the Author

In addition to those I have cited on the dedication page, I owe a debt of gratitude to many other persons whom God has used to advance his grace in and through me:

To my first mentor in evangelism, Ben Johnson, and the other authors cited in this book who have inspired my thinking on this topic;

To my colleague and friend, Greg Ogden, who graciously welcomed my contribution to the Essentials brand he pioneered;

To the staff and congregation of Christ Church of Oak Brook who kindly allowed me the margin to work on this book, and especially my assistant, Deb Reha;

To the mission partners of Christ Church whose practice of the essential elements of a faithful witness continues to inform me;

To Tamara West, Noel Anderson, Paul Watermulder and the other kind friends who provided such helpful feedback in the fieldtesting of this book;

And, finally, to that great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) who have passed on the faith to all of us.

May this curriculum further “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12 nrsv).

Soli Deo Gloria,

Daniel Meyer

Introduction

What Is Witness Essentials About?

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

Where Are We Having Trouble?

Some years ago, Christian leadership consultant Kent Hunter shared the results of a survey in which churchgoers were asked, “With which areas of the Christian life do you struggle most?” Here are the seven most frequently voiced answers in descending order:

7. Resisting temptation to immorality

6. Praying daily

5. Being a good family member

4. Loving everyone in a Christlike manner

3. Reading the Bible daily (or having a strong devotional life)

2. Seeking God’s kingdom first, not worldly ways

1. Being a witness for Christ[1]

In other words, there are many dimensions of discipleship with which average Christians have difficulty. Those surveyed, however, said that their number one area of confusion or challenge is how to be a more effective or faithful witness to Jesus Christ.

On one level, the fact that witnessing ranked so highly on people’s list of concerns is quite encouraging. Many Christians understand that Christ’s final charge to his disciples was on this subject. They know that Jesus wanted his followers to draw many others into the life of the kingdom of God. The expansion of the early church was a dramatic fulfillment of this vision. The great missionary movements throughout history have been a further reflection of that mandate. The explosive growth of discipleship in many parts of the planet today reminds us that followers of Christ are still having this kind of life-changing influence.

In much of the Western world, however, Christian witness is obviously struggling. A lot of churches are shrinking. The credibility of the Christian message is sinking. A strategy for reversing these trends is absent from many Christians’ thinking. This is puzzling. Why are the final and arguably most important instructions Jesus gave to his disciples before his ascension also the last ones that many Christians feel comfortable following?

Why Are We Struggling to Be Witnesses?

The answer to this question and the remedy to this problem is the focus of this book. To approach the challenge, however, let’s consider some of the factors that may contribute to the current struggle. As I’ve listened to churchgoers talk through the years, several key themes repeatedly emerge:

The public speaking factor

. For many people, the call to be a witness for Christ immediately suggests the need to make a speech about theological matters. Repeated studies suggest that the prospect of public speaking ranks just ahead of going to school naked or dying a horrible death on the all-time fear list for most individuals. Given this reality, it isn’t hard to see why a lot of people feel very anxious about the call to be a witness.

“Is there a way of being a witness that doesn’t involve me standing up and speaking publicly about my faith?”

The bad actor factor

. Compounding this tension is the fact that many of us have noticed the reception given to certain kinds of Christian witnesses. As Michael Simpson observes:

Evangelism as most people know it is an unnatural act. Christians knock on strangers’ doors, interrupting their time with their family, stop random people in the street, divert vacationers’ enjoyment, and flash Bible verses at sporting events. Others stand on street corners spouting the promise of eternal damnation at passersby with a white-knuckled grip on a well-worn Bible, which appears more as a weapon than a beacon of hope.[2]

Even when we understand that this is not the only style of witness possible, the damage done by these “religious telemarketers” makes the thought of being a witness even more daunting for ordinary people. None of us wants to come across like the sort of voice that Caller ID and pop-up blockers were invented to screen out. “I don’t want to be viewed like one of those obnoxious people.”

The competency factor

. Underlying all of this is the fact that many Christians are not sure what they’d say or how they’d go about saying it if they actually got serious about witnessing

. “Where would I start? What would I say if I came up against an atheist or somebody with hard-core questions?”

Many Christians think,

It’s better if I leave evangelism to the “gifted ones,” the professional pastors and missionaries.

The terminology factor

. I’ve found that many people are also confused about the meaning of the words that swirl around this area of the Christian life.

“Is witness the same thing as evangelism? Is evangelism a component of witness or is witness a part of evangelism? What exactly

is

the gospel that I am supposed to share with others? How does all of this fit into the subject of discipleship?

I don’t know what all this terminology means.”

The priority-passion factor

. Hiding beneath the surface of some people’s difficulty with witnessing is often a deeper sentiment:

“I don’t think that my being a witness matters that much.”

Some feel that their church or fellowship seems to be going along OK without their witnessing efforts. Those who occupy a shrinking circle may feel that it is too late to turn things around. While acknowledging some nagging uncertainty about the topic of hell, a lot of Christians seem to feel little passion for evangelism, or assign it a low priority compared to other spiritual activities.

The alternative ministry factor.

All of these factors lead many to invest their energies in ministry areas where they feel greater clarity, passion or prospect for success. Others simply try to get out to church more often, or brush up on the Bible, or use their time and talents to help out elsewhere. While bearing witness to Christ ranks at the top of the list of disciplines in which believers sense they ought to be better, many conclude:

“I’ll just minister in other ways.”

What’s Your Interest in This Subject?

The fact that you’ve picked up this book suggests that in spite of these factors, or perhaps because of them, the subject of Christian witness matters to you. Maybe you want it to become an even more vital part of your discipleship. Perhaps you are looking at this material because you are eager to equip others for this calling. Take a few moments to assess your place in this story.

1. As you survey the factors outlined in the section above, which ones do you recognize in your own experience or that of other Christians you know?

2. What other issues or dynamics do you believe prevent followers of Jesus today from being even more luminous representatives of the faith?

3. What particular questions about the subject of Christian witness do you hope will be addressed in the course of this study?

Who Is This Book For?

All of the issues described thus far (and other issues we’ll discuss in chapters ahead) spurred me to write this book. Witness Essentials is for anyone who has ever struggled with how to bear witness to Christ because of lack of vision, intention or means. It is for people who may feel that their own faith and discipleship needs a fresh start or a kick-start to move to a new level:

Students and young adults

who believe that the way of Jesus is beautiful and good but need help seeing how to live it out beyond the “God box” of a religious institution.

Other Christian laypeople

who want a deeper understanding of the message of Jesus, a better way of sharing their faith in him and a greater positive impact on the life of others.

Church or parachurch staff

who are looking for an enjoyable, biblical and practical tool to help themselves and the people they influence become more winsome witnesses of the life-changing love of Jesus Christ.

My goal is to help you and the other Christ-followers you may influence to (1) grasp the gospel message in its fullest meaning and implications; (2) practice evangelism in an attractive and respectful way; and (3) advance life change that blesses others and brings glory to God. Jesus has given his followers the most magnificent calling in history. It is now our time to answer it anew. Come join me in thinking further about what that means.

In What Contexts Might This Book Be Used?

Witness Essentials has a flexible format suitable for use in a variety of different individual, group and organizational settings. It will be of use to

An aspiring individual

. To guide the personal devotion and growth of someone seeking to further develop his or her capacity for influence.

A mentoring relationship

. To spark learning and discussion between a mentor and an apprentice.

A ministry team

. To help them (e.g., elders, church staff, evangelism or mission teams) clarify their calling and move on to greater impact.

A small group or Bible class

. To catalyze the thinking and practice of people interested in exerting greater influence for the kingdom of God.

A congregation

. To serve as the basis or supplemental resource for a sermon series that helps church members think about their role as Christian witnesses.

What’s Included in Each Chapter of Witness Essentials?

Each chapter of this book contains five common elements:

Core Truth

. At the start of each lesson is a carefully crafted nugget of truth that summarizes some key aspect of the ministry of Christian witness in a catechetical (question and answer) format. The other four elements of each chapter simply expand on this core insight.

Memory Verse.

Throughout history, God’s people have strengthened their witness by implanting his Word in their minds. For this reason, each lesson contains a verse or two that you are invited to commit to memory, along with some study questions to help you plumb the meaning of these wonderful texts.

Inductive Bible Study.

Each chapter also invites you to read a longer passage of Scripture that unpacks a key dimension of the core truth. The study questions will help you do some deeper Bible study, apply scriptural truth to your work as a witness and enhance your appreciation of the reading that follows.

Reading.

The reading included in each lesson develops the ideas presented in the core truth. Through a blend of storytelling, biblical illustrations and practical tips, you’ll develop a richer understanding of Christian witness.

Application Exercise

. At the close of each chapter is an exercise that gives you the opportunity to distill the main points from the reading, identify some personal takeaways and reflect on how these insights or practices can improve your influence on the lives of others.

How Can I Adapt Witness Essentials for My Setting?

Àla carte format. While designed to be used together and in the sequence described above, each of the chapter elements can also be employed as freestanding resources.

You may wish to use the core truth page alone to spark discussion or conversation.

You can use one of the Bible studies as a personal or group devotional.

You could assign one of the readings as an advance study assignment for a group, team or class and then process it when you meet together using the application exercise.

Relaxed format. Most people who use the Essentials books in a group setting find that the content of each chapter creates more discussion than can be contained in a single group meeting. It is not uncommon for groups to devote two or even three ninety-minute sessions to processing a single chapter. To make best use of the time:

Be certain that group members do the studies and reading on their own in advance.

Confine your discussion to no more than three or four questions on each page.

Focus on the topics and questions that most intrigue or trouble group members.

Focused format—for small group use (90 minutes). A group can get through an entire chapter in one sitting, provided that a disciplined facilitator is designated to focus interaction as follows:

Core Truth

(whole group—10 minutes):

Ask the group to share key words or phrases that particularly struck them. What was the important insight that spoke to them?

Memory Verse

(pairs or triads—15 minutes):

Recite the verses to each other and then interact over the inductive questions.

Bible Study

(whole group—25 minutes):

Capture the highlights of the biblical passage by interacting over the inductive questions.

Application Exercise

(pairs or triads—30 minutes):

The group leader suggests which of the application questions and/or activities are to be discussed.

Closing

(whole group—10 minutes):

Come together for any closing remarks and/or invite participants to share where they were personally engaged or stretched by the application exercise.

Focused format—for large group/class use (90 minutes). For a group larger than twelve persons or in a more formal classroom setting, the following format provides room for some active teaching:

Introduction

(pairs—5 minutes):

The teacher/trainer asks the participants to pair up and share their summary of what the lesson is all about and any truth or insight that was particularly helpful.

Core Truth

(teacher—5 minutes):

The teacher/trainer highlights key words and phrases, underscoring their importance to the central truth.

Memory Verse

(pairs—15 minutes):

Paired members recite the verses to each other and then interact over the inductive questions.

Bible Study

(whole group—5 minutes):

The teacher/trainer uses the inductive guide for group interaction, adding his or her own research and insight to further unpack the text.

Application Exercise

(pairs or triads—30 minutes):

The teacher/trainer assigns interaction over a few of the application items.

Closing

(whole group—10 minutes):

The teacher/trainer asks the class members to share any growth steps that they experienced as a result of this lesson. She or he then offers any closing exhortation desired and underlines the assignment for next time.

Focused format—for ministry team use (45 minutes). Ministry teams generally meet at regular intervals (e.g., monthly) and have to balance the spiritual growth dimensions of team life with the ministry tasks to be accomplished. This format is designed for the narrower window of study that these dual demands necessitate.

Advance preparation (as needed):

The team leader asks teammates to complete all the parts of the lesson, including the Scripture memory, in advance. State that when you are together, you will pay special attention to the “Application Exercise” section.

Whole group discussion (10 minutes):

1. How would you summarize what this chapter is all about?

2. Was there a particular truth, spiritual insight or practical measure that particularly spoke to you?

Triad discussion (30 minutes):

1. Recite the Scripture Memory verse(s) to one another. What was the value for you of memorizing this particular Scripture?

2. Discuss the questions in the Application Exercise that seemed most helpful.

Whole group closing (5 minutes):

Solicit any insight or action step from the triads that could be beneficial for the whole ministry team to hear.

What Are the Key Terms Used in This Book?

The different ways that various people define key terms (such as evangelism) create confusion that inhibits witness. For this reason, I want to lay down some definitions at the outset. You are welcome to challenge my understanding, but you will at least know what I intended to say. Each of the following terms is presented in order of the breadth I consider them to encompass—the most embracing to the least.

Salvation.

I understand salvation to mean the gracious action of God in Jesus Christ whereby human beings are spared the penalty due upon sin, are made right with God and become full heirs of all his promises through the merit of Christ alone. A major aim of this book is to reclaim the full biblical value of this word. In some circles, salvation has come to be thought of almost solely in terms of justification. While this is its preeminent effect, I understand salvation to embrace also the sanctification, revelation, redemption, resurrection and glorification which God has promised to his heirs. More on this in chapter two.

Gospel

. Except when it is used in reference to a particular New Testament book, I take this word to mean the good news of salvation proclaimed by the prophets, angels, Christ and his church through the ages. I will often capitalize this word as a reminder of the larger understanding of salvation stressed above.

Discipleship

. This term is used to refer to the life lived in response to the reception of the gospel of salvation and in submission to Christ’s lordship.

Witness

. I define witness as the process by which someone bears external evidence of discipleship, to the end that God is glorified and others are drawn toward him. While many people equate witness with verbal testimony, in its fullest biblical sense witness or witnessing refers to the message a disciple’s

whole life

gives to the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

Evangelism

. This term refers to the specific act by which a witness invites someone to receive the gospel of salvation and become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Disciple

. This word identifies someone who is actively walking the pathway of discipleship marked out by Jesus. I will sometimes use the word

Christian

to describe such a person, but I believe that this term has become devalued in our time for reasons that will be described.

Nondisciple

. I will use this term as my preferred way of speaking of someone who is not yet a disciple of Jesus. It embraces those who would not call themselves “Christian,” but also those who may describe themselves as Christians in a cultural sense but who have not yet accepted the new identity, power and purpose for living that an intentional journey with Jesus entails.

Mnemonic devices. Throughout this book I have made liberal use of acrostics (words whose individual letters signify additional concepts) and alliterations (words beginning with the same consonant) in order to make key concepts and frameworks easier to remember and employ. Translators from the English text will be free to abandon these conventions as faithfulness to their context requires.

Conclusion

In the coming pages, we are going to reflect together on the wonderful role that you and I have been called to play as witnesses of Jesus Christ and the gospel of his kingdom. We are going to catch a fresh vision of the staggering influence God wants our lives to have upon the people of this world and how it can happen. As Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, once wrote, “God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him. . . . God uses men [and women] who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him.” If you are willing to lean on and learn of Christ, amazing things can happen. Let this be your prayer as we go forward:

Almighty God, you alone possess the power to draw human hearts to yourself and accomplish the salvation that you have purposed. Humbly leaning upon you and your grace, do in me and through me what you long to do. Use this book to teach me more of your way, to fill me with a greater desire to walk in it, and to bring forth the good for which you have made me your disciple. Through Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Part One

Seeing the Big Picture

The job of being a witness can feel overwhelming at the start. Where do I begin? Is there a job description for this? Am I qualified for this work? If you think to ask such questions, it is a sign that you’re serious about your role. That is appropriate. After becoming a faithful disciple, the most important question Christians ought to ask is: How do I become a faithful witness? How do I let what God is doing in me move out through me to this world he so loves (John 3:16)?

Before rushing into the “how-to” part, however, it will benefit you greatly to have an understanding of the big picture first. Think of this section as a Newcomer’s Orientation to the larger historical, theological and cultural context in which you’ll be doing your job. You might not be such a newcomer to the work of witness. Nonetheless, if you can get an even deeper appreciation for the bigger setting, you’ll find that the how-to’s we’ll explore later will make even more sense.

Believe in the Call and Power of God (chap. 1). We’re going to start by examining the broad historical context in which you and I do our work as witnesses. We are part of a magnificent movement of God’s grace spreading through history. We’ll look at Christ’s original use of the word witness and the compelling charge and promise he associated with it. We’ll then see how that commission worked its way out through the centuries. Seeing what God has done in the past and promised for the future will keep us from being discouraged when the work of witness gets challenging in our time.

Examine the News (chap. 2). Next we’ll zoom in on the theological and practical content of the message we’re seeking to share. Many people have a sadly limited understanding of what the gospel truly is. If we’re going to pass it on, it is also essential that you and I see the full meaning of the salvation Christ offers to people. We’ll look at the message of Jesus in light of the serious human issues revealed in our everyday news. You’ll walk away from that chapter with a much deeper appreciation for just how good the good news truly is.

Mourn the Changed Conditions(chap. 3). We’ll close out this section of the book by reviewing some of the massive changes in the cultural context in which disciples in the West seek to share their faith today. As public support for Christians has died out, many Christians have entered into a grieving process that has made it even more difficult to bear witness constructively. Understandable though this is, it is now time to accept this death and move on. The good news is that the present conditions offer us a marvelous opportunity to recover the character of a first-century faith.

With this introduction, then, let’s start our study of this bigger picture.

1 Believe in the Call and Power of God

Looking Ahead

MEMORY VERSE: Acts 1:8

Bible Study: Hebrews 11:1–12:3

Reading: The Spreading Life

 Core Truth

What is the life-changing call and promise that Jesus gives to his disciples?

No less than the first disciples, we are called by Jesus and empowered by his Spirit to play a personally active role in the ultimately unstoppable expansion of Christ’s life-redeeming influence, until that coming day when God completes the renewal of his creation. There is no vocation more significant and satisfying than being a witness to the life-changing love of Jesus Christ.

1. Identify key words or phrases in the question and answer above, and state their meaning in your own words.

2. Restate the core truth in your own words.

3. What questions or issues does the core truth raise for you?

 Memory Verse Study Guide

Copy the entire text here:

Memory Verse: Acts 1:8

The last words that people speak before leaving loved ones are often very significant. On the last day of his earthly ministry, Jesus issued a specific charge and promise to his disciples concerning the role they would play in his ongoing work in the world. These words are of profound significance for all of us who seek to follow Christ today.

1. Putting it in context:Read Acts 1:1-11. What do you imagine the disciples may be thinking and feeling as they stand with Jesus in this scene?

2. According to Acts 1:1-3, what reason would the disciples have for trusting the promise that Jesus makes to them in verse 8?

3. In verses 4-5, Jesus issues a very specific instruction to his disciples. Why was this command and promise important to the work he would ultimately do through them?

4. Jesus tells his disciples that they will be his witnesses. When you read that word, what images come to mind?

5. In verse 8, Jesus describes four spheres in which his disciples are to be his witnesses. What are those spheres?

6. What might be the equivalent environments in your life?

7. How have these verses spoken to you?

Inductive Bible Study Guide

Bible Study: Hebrews 11:1–12:3

The book of Hebrews describes the glorious heritage of faithfulness to God and by God in which followers of Jesus stand. This history is instructive to believers in the present as we face the challenges and opportunities of witnessing to Christ in our time.

Deep in our hearts, we all want to find and fulfill a purpose bigger than ourselves. Only such a larger purpose can inspire us to heights we know we could never reach on our own. For each of us the real purpose is personal and passionate: to know what we are here to do and why.

Os Guinness

1. Read Hebrews 11:1–12:3. How would you define faith and its importance in light of Hebrews 11:1-2?

2. What are the common characteristics (e.g., circumstances, convictions, conduct) of the faithful people described in chapter 11?

3. Review Hebrews 11:39-40. These verses suggest that though they did not experience the fulfillment of all that God had promised, these disciples kept their faith. How easy or hard do you find this kind of faithfulness in your life?

4. Review Hebrews 12:1-2. What are the specific instructions we are given in these verses and the realities the writer cites to motivate this behavior?

5. Review Hebrews 12:3. What are the two dangers the writer is trying to warn us about as we seek to be like Jesus and the “cloud of witnesses” who have gone before us?

6. As you consider your calling to be a witness in the cause of Christ, what could make you “grow weary” or “lose heart” (Hebrews 12:3)?

7. What questions or issues does this passage raise for you?

Reading: The Spreading Life

The Seed of Death?

When it comes to sharing the gospel today, many of us frankly feel somewhat apathetic or insecure. One reason for this deficit is the absence of a clear and accurate picture of the role that the Christian mission and people like us have played in the great sweep of history. Renewing that vision is the aim of this chapter.

This quest for the truth becomes more urgent in light of the particular version of history being advanced by a variety of articulate atheists or “anti-theists” today. They assert that a seri-ous study of the past demonstrates that Christianity—along with other religious beliefs—is not benevolent, or merely benign, but actually bad. It is antiquated, superstitious and ultimately destructive. It is responsible for incalculable bloodshed, unforgivable injustice and mind-numbing ignorance. Far from being a blessing to human civilization, “faith” has been a blight to human advancement. One of the “new atheists” sums up the conclusion this way: “I can’t believe there is a thinking person here who doesn’t realize that our species would begin to grow to something like its full height . . . if it emancipated itself from this sinister, childish [religious] nonsense.”[1]

Although this opinion is being peddled with fresh packaging today it is hardly new. This view of history first gained prominence back in the late eighteenth century with the widespread reading of Edward Gibbon’s book The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon caricatured Christianity as having brought down the grandeur of classical civilization—fettering the human spirit and the life of the mind to which Greece and Rome gave birth. As Christ-ianity expanded, says Gibbon, it weakened the Roman Empire, paving the way for the church to take over and subject the Western world to its superstitions and regressive rules.

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Proverbs 29:18 KJV

As this storyline goes, the church went on to ban books, suppress science and womanhood, and plunge once-noble Europe into the Dark Ages. Bent on taxing people to fund their material and moral excesses, the church’s leadership crusaded across the Middle Ages, skewering infidels, racking skeptics and burning dissidents. Thankfully, however, some courageous intellectuals finally revolted against the church’s Darth Vader–like grip and birthed the Renaissance. They followed it up with the magnificent Enlightenment, staving back blind religion. In time, thank Man’s goodness, these bright thinkers managed to invent the modern era and bring us to the present moment when—if with John Lennon we dare to imagine—we can be free of the Christian disease once and for all and enter a new age of progress and peace. In fact, we would have had that better world a whole lot earlier if that Easter hoax had never happened.

This is what is being taught as “history.” Can you see why people steeped in this tale might be resistant to the Christian message or discouraged about sharing it with others?

The Enemy Is Partly Right

As we’ll see, however, this storyline is quite a revision of history. Before going there, however, it would serve God’s reputation and our credibility well to make the same confession once voiced by Tony Campolo: “We have met the enemy and they are partly right.”[2] Jesus once said that only the truth can set us fully free to be his people (John 8:32). The painful truth is that atheism has a foothold today in part because there have been many times in history when people of Christian faith (or marching beneath some other religion’s flag) have sinned boldly against God and people. Whether by ignorance, pride, greed or some other deadly sin, they have repeated the very atrocities by which ostensibly religious people crucified Jesus because he threatened their institutional power or personal throne.

Over the centuries, Christians have at times been racially, sexually, politically and socially bigoted in ways contrary to the full counsel of Scripture. We have sometimes looked to our own interests more than to the character of Christ or the needs of the world God so loves. We have justified our actions by selective reading of the Bible. If we’ve grown up believing that the Christian church or our Christian nation or anything other than Christ himself is substantially holier than everyone else, then the attacks of contemporary atheists are actually God’s good gift. They invite us to recall that we too need the Savior and that he is not done renovating our lives.

The greatest challenge facing the church in any age is the creation of a living, breathing, witnessing colony of truth. . . . The challenge is to allow ourselves to be so utterly shaped and filled by the holy culture of the Kingdom of God that wherever we are—whether gathered together in worship here or scattered for service elsewhere—we never lose our distinctiveness. To meet one of us in the workplace or in the school or neighborhood ought to turn heads, and prompt questions, and inspire desire to know from what other nation we come.

Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon

At the same time, if we allow the antitheist’s rewriting of history to stand unchallenged, we will sacrifice truth, imperil the future and cripple our ability to present the evangelistic witness still so needed in our day. To paraphrase Max DePree’s famous maxim about leadership: “The first responsibility of a witness is to define reality.”[3] Here, then, is the larger reality that is the true context for our witness and the greater story into which God is drawing you.

The Pando Pattern

High in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah stands a magnificent aspen forest. If you could visit that place today, you would be amazed by the beauty and abundance of life beneath that golden canopy. What would be less obvious is that what appears to the eye as a massive forest is, in reality, just one tree. That’s right: one tree. At the center of that forest stands a particularly ancient tree that researchers have dubbed “Pando”—a Latin word meaning “I spread.” Over the ages, Pando spread out its roots across a span of more than 100 acres. It sent up more than 47,000 individual offshoots. Each of these shoots became a new spire reaching toward the heavens, a new crown of leaves moving to the wind, a new sanctuary for the creatures who find life beneath Pando’s sheltering arms. Many regard Pando as the world’s most massive living entity.[4]

But that honor truly belongs to Another.

Following his crucifixion, the body of Jesus was taken down from the cross, prepared for burial and laid in a tomb like a seed in the ground (Luke 23:50-56). Fearing that his disciples might try to steal the corpse and propagate the myth of his resurrection, the local religious leaders went to the Roman governor, Pilate, and convinced him to secure the grave. Pilate ordered the tomb sealed and an armed detail posted at the entrance to guard against any possible invasion (Matthew 27:62-66). What no human authority anticipated, however, was that the source of invasion would not be from outside the tomb but from within it. As Jesus had promised, his seed had fallen to the ground and died. It was now about to rise up again and spread out into the world with a power and productivity no human eye could yet see (John 12:23-34).

On Easter morning, the disciples went to the tomb and found the guards gone, the stone rolled away and the corpse of Jesus missing. The grave clothes in which they’d wrapped his body now lay on the ground like an empty seed casing. To their utter shock, they met the “dead” man, now clearly alive in a way that recast forever their understanding of Life and proved the reliability of all that Jesus had taught them (Luke 24).

Over the next forty days, Jesus appeared to his followers at many times and places, in a manner that seemed designed to demonstrate conclusively that this was no hallucination (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). Jesus continued to teach his disciples about the kingdom that God sought to bring forth on the earth (Acts 1:3). Finally, Jesus told them that it was time for him to leave them, but gave the assurance that they would not be left alone. Christ promised to send his Holy Spirit to them and that this Spirit would supply them with all they needed to accomplish the next stage of God’s purposes in history. “Do not leave Jerusalem,” he said, “but wait for the gift my Father promised” (Acts 1:4).

The disciples were filled (as we often are) with misgivings (Acts 1:6). They saw a world in need of such dramatic change and could not imagine how the work of Christ could go on without him walking next to them. But Jesus clarified his plan even further. He said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). You will become the body through which I now live on earth. You will be the ones through whom I draw the world to myself. I will supply you with the power to accomplish my purposes.

This promise was every bit as outrageous as the original assertion that he would rise from the grave. But given the fulfillment of the first promise, the disciples dared to trust the second. They obeyed Christ’s command to stay in Jerusalem, though they risked arrest. They waited “all together in one place” (Acts 2:1).

And then, very suddenly, the Power came. “Like the blowing of a violent wind,” like “tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them,” the Holy Spirit of God filled the house and, more important, their hearts, so that they began to proclaim the message of the kingdom of God (Acts 2:2-4). Bursting out from the building they’d been hiding in, those first disciples became an unstoppable force of boldness and blessing. As Acts goes on to record, they became a wave of witnesses through whom God began to turn the Roman world upside down (Acts 17:6).

The Life of Christ Spreads

In his book The Rise of Christianity,[5] Rodney Stark reports that at the time of Christ’s death (c. a.d. 30) there were only a handful of believers, hardly enough to constitute a single church. Thirty years later, there were still only an estimated 3,000 converts, a handful of struggling churches, and mounting opposition and violence from the surrounding culture. Sociologists of religion tell us that it is at this sort of juncture that new spiritual movements typically face the brutal fact that the forces against them are too great. They surrender their efforts to expand, turn inward and begin to die. That is why what actually happened next has forced more than a few skeptics to conclude that Christianity had its roots in something (or Someone) substantially different than other movements.

Rodney Stark found that between a.d. 60 and 100, the number of Christians suddenly more than doubled to 7,500, and then exploded to more than 40,000 people by the year 150. By a.d. 200, the total number of Christ-followers exceeded 200,000. It quintupled to one million by 250 and then rocketed to a staggering six million by the turn of 300. Over the next fifty years, the church more than quintupled again, producing some 33 million confessing Christians—half the citizenry of the Roman Empire. Over the coming centuries, the church of Jesus would continue to spread out till its branches defined the character of what we now call Western civilization.

The phenomenal growth of Christianity’s tree prompts the question Why? Rodney Stark writes: “How did a tiny and obscure messianic movement from the edge of the Roman Empire dislodge classical paganism and become the dominant faith of Western Civilization?”[6] The answer is an essential one for anyone interested in being part of the continuing movement of the gospel today. It is a very different story from the one you or the people you seek to reach may have been told.

Reclaiming History

As the witnesses of Jesus began to spread out from Jerusalem in the middle of the first century, Roman civilization was already on the rocks. It was nothing like the Golden Society that Edward Gibbon so romantically pictures. Roman culture was morally wasting, ravaged by political divisions and scandalized by widespread slavery, the commonly accepted abuse of children, and a widening gap between the haves and the never-would-haves. When the Huns, Goths and other northern tribes finally poured down into the heart of Europe they found a society so soft and rotting that they sliced through it like a laser through an overripe tomato. It was not the church but Roman decadence and barbarian pillaging which created the Dark Ages.

People today are routinely taught that it was the support of the Roman Empire under Constantine that led to the explosive growth of Christianity. In reality, however, it was the collapse of that Empire that unleashed the church to play the strategic role God had for it in this part of history. As Dinesh D’Souza observes, “Slowly and surely, Christianity took this backward continent and gave it learning and order, stability and dignity.”[7] Bit by bit, the distinctive beliefs and practices of Christ’s followers began the profound reshaping of Western civilization.

Learning and literature. Because Christians believed that Christ was Lord of all the earth and that God had left the stamp of his eternal nature in the heart of all people (Ecclesiastes 3:11), Christian monks highly valued what was left of classical civilization, particularly its arts and letters. As Thomas Cahill has documented well, the monks studied, copied and hid away the manuscripts that preserved the learning of late antiquity—saving for us the remaining treasures of Greece and Rome.[8]

Commerce and capitalism. Because Christian theology held that God was the divine Logos (John 1:1-5)—the great mind that brought intelligent structure and order out of chaos—Christian monasteries became radiant centers of organized community and personal industry throughout Europe. They applied biblical principles of private property, civic stewardship and limited government to a world that had largely lost these values. Out of the wasteland of the Dark Ages, Christians produced hamlets, towns and eventually cities. The principles of commerce and elected leadership practiced in those monastic communities created the foundation for capitalism and democratic society as we know them today.

Dignity and charity