Friday, July 14, 2017
“Listen,
O heavens, and I will speak! Hear, O
earth, the words that I say! Let my
teaching fall on you like rain; let my speech settle like dew. Let my words fall like rain on tender grass, like
gentle showers on young plants. I will
proclaim the name of the Lord; how glorious is our God! He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how
just and upright he is! Deuteronomy 32:1-4(NLT)
Holy
Scripture is all about God – who He is, and what He’s about. In Scripture we also learn who we are, and
what God wants us to do. It’s that plain
and simple. As a way of life God wants
His people to share with others this good message of God.
Recently,
Laura Auten, who is the District Superintendent of that part of the United
Methodist Church in which I serve, shared some thoughts about evangelizing which deserve
the attention of every believer/follower of Jesus Christ. Laura wrote about the method and mission of
sharing this Good News effectively:
“Dear friends, one of my summer practices is
to have morning coffee on the back patio at the parsonage before the day gets
too hot. The birds, flowers and trees in
my backyard bring a peaceful beginning to my day. The birds fly from tree to
shrub, back and forth, calling and singing. Gil Rendle uses the image of birds searching
for food to explain the church's necessary focus on Jesus' unchanging mission
for the world. Rendle says that the intent of birds do not change. They are looking for food! However, birds will adapt how and where they
look for food. This food can be found in
many locations, even different locales depending on the weather. And, bird food comes in different forms:
fancy bird feeder food, bugs, grass or worms! The basic mission never changes,
but the strategy for achieving the mission is constantly changing and is
flexible and adaptable.
“Congregations of disciples would do well to
remember the birds! As followers of
Jesus, we have a mission that never changes, to make disciples of Christ who
transform the world. More precisely, it is God who makes disciples and we
point the way for others to know and love Christ. We show others where we have found food and
nourishment! How wonderful that the
strategies and the ways to witness to and serve Christ are bountiful and
infinite![ii]
Did you
note that Laura didn’t hold up a program or a three-step, sure-fire process for
evangelizing? Listen again:
The basic mission never changes,
but the strategy for achieving the mission
is constantly changing and is flexible and adaptable…
We show others where we have found food and nourishment!
This is so
very like what Bishop D.T. Niles liked to quote:
Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread.[iii]
For
Methodists who have a particular affinity for the covered dish supper, (and
what true Methodist doesn’t?), this ought to be a slam-dunk, understandable
concept. After all, we know food!
For You Today
When
you’ve found good food (or Good News), let the other beggars you know in on
your secret!
NOTES
[ii]
Laura
Auten, District Superintendent, Uwharrie District of the United Methodist
Church, Vital Web email, July 2017
[iii]
D.T. NILES, New York Times, May 11,
1986
