Tag: Great Commission

Apologetics: A Reasonable Defense

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, EvangelismLeave a comment

Ask most church goers what it means to do apologetics and you will most likely be met with blank stares, an explanation about how we are to apologize to others, or tales of boredom as they tried sitting through a lecture or trudging through a book full of philosophical arguments. While the study of Apologetics can take you off into heady arguments, that’s not all Apologetics is.

Apologetics?

Apologetics simple means to offer a reasonable defense. At a minimum, that requires us to tell others what we believe and why we believe it.

Be Ready Always

As Christians we are called to do just that – offer a reasonable defense for our faith. Peter makes this clear when he says,

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” (1 Pe 3:15–16)

The context in which Peter gives his command wasn’t peaceful. Christians were living in exile, experiencing ostracism for their faith, and suffering persecution. Yet Peter tells them not to fear or cower, but to be ready to offer a reasonable defense for the hope within. Christians, then, in all walks of life, locales, and cultural climates must be ready to offer a defense of their faith.

Tied to Our Mission

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus commands His disciples to go and make more disciples. In order to be obedient to Jesus’ command, we must be able to tell others what and why we believe what we believe, which means we must spend time preparing ourselves to offer a reasonable defense.

“When we become Christians, we do not leave our mind in the parking lot. We are called to think according to the Word of God, to seek the mind of Christ and an understanding of the things set forth in sacred Scripture.” – Burk Parsons

So if your neighbor notices you are a Christian and asks what you believe, you should not only be able to answer his or her question, but you should also be able to tell them why you believe it. Hearing that means many of us need to get busy learning what we believe and why.

Suggestions to Get You Started

The first place we have to start is with God’s Word. It is the foundation of our beliefs because it is the place where God reveals who He is, who we are, what He has done and is doing, and how we are to live. There are a variety of tools to help you read through the Bible. Here is a great list.

Next, I would suggest looking into the Theology and Biblical Theology books listed on my Book Recommendation page. These will give you both an overview of the biblical storyline and a deep understanding of the theology and doctrine of God’s Word.

Lastly, take a look at the New City Catechism. It is a quick way to build your doctrinal and theological knowledge.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you know what you believe and why?
  2. Are you ready to give a defense?
  3. How will you prepare yourself?

Resources

With Gentleness and Respect by Burk Parsons TableTalk Magazine January 2016, pg 2

An Apology for Apologetics by Stephen J. Nichols TableTalk Magazine January 2016, pg 6

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On The Gospel’s Role in the Great Commission

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Evangelism, Practical, QuotesLeave a comment

The Great Commission actually begins with a great announcement. Before there can be a mission, there has to be a message. Behind the sending of the church lies the Father’s sending of his Son and Spirit. Before we go, we must stop and hear – really hear – what has happened that we are to take to the world. The evangel (good news) comes before evangelism.

We must hear this gospel not just at first, for our own conversion, but every moment of our lives if the Great Commission is to be a joyful delight rather than an intolerable burden with an impossible goal.

Hear it again, with all the supporting evidence of Christ’s incarnation, life, death and resurrection: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you allow the gospel message to spur on your Great Commission activity?

Resources

Michael Horton, The Gospel Commission.

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What is a Disciple?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Pastoral3 Comments

Disciples

Since the beginning of the year, I have been participating in a discipleship process with Gerry Lewis from the Harvest Baptist Association – Dangerous Pastors. Part of the process was to come up with a definition of a disciples. For the last nine months or so I have been thinking about my definition. What I have come to is that:

A disciple is someone who follows Jesus in loving God, loving others, serving the world, spreading the gospel, and bringing others along to do the same.

I believe Scripture supports this definition. So let’s break that definition down using God’s Word.

A Disciple is Someone Who Follows Jesus in Loving God.

We see evidence that this is what a disciples does in Matthew 22. If you remember, a lawyer, one of the Pharisees, comes to Jesus to test Him.

In verse 36 he says,

““Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” (Mt 22:36)

To which Jesus replies,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” (Mt 22:37–38)

So Jesus tells us that a disciple is someone who loves God.

A Disciple is Someone Who Follows Jesus  in Loving Others

The second thing Jesus says to the lawyer who questions Him in chapter 22 is:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 22:39)

Which is the second greatest commandment. Then He goes on by saying,

“On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” (Mt 22:40)

So according to Jesus, a disciple is someone who not only loves God, but also loves others.

A Disciple is Someone Who Follows Jesus  in Serving the World

In Matthew chapter 20, the mother of the sons of Zebedee come to Jesus asking if her sons could be placed over everyone else in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus responds by telling her He can’t do that because it is up to His Father who gets those seats.

Hearing this, the other disciples get mad at the two brothers for trying to edge them out, for trying to use their mom to get a position they wanted, so a fight ensues among the disciples.

Seeing His disciples fighting, Jesus steps in and says,

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” (Mt 20:25–28)

So Jesus tells us a disciple is one who serves, just like He is one who serves, which means it shouldn’t be about us and our comfort. Rather it should be about others and what we can do for them. How we can serve them.

So according to Jesus, a disciple is not only someone who loves God and others, but they are also someone who serves the world.

A Disciple is Someone Who Follows Jesus in Spreading the Gospel

Matthew 28 tells us we are to go and spread the gospel, to bring the good news to our neighbors, to our family, to our friends, to our co-workers, to city, to our state, to our country, and to the nations. Jesus is commanding us, He is commissioning us, to spread the good news just as He has been doing throughout His entire ministry.

So according to Jesus, a disciple is not only someone who loves God and others, serves the world, but they are also someone who spreads the gospel.

A Disciple is Someone Who Follows Jesus in Bringing Others Along

If you think about it, that is what Jesus has been doing throughout His entire ministry. Almost right away, He called Twelve Men to follow Him, and He brought them along on the journey with Him. As He did, He taught them what it meant to Love God, Love Others, Serve the World, and Spread the Gospel.

We are to imitate Jesus. We are to bring others along on the journey with us to help them grow in these areas as we are growing in these areas.

So according to Jesus, a disciple is not only someone who loves God and others, serves the world,  spreads the gospel, but they also bring others along to do the same thing they are doing — Loving God, Loving Others, Serving the World, and Spreading the Gospel.

Question for Reflection

  1. What is your definition of a disciple?

Resources

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What Disciple Making Should Look Like

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Evangelism, Pastoral, Practical3 Comments

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you believe the church is your building or the people?
  2. How is your church training its people to engage those in their circle of influence with the gospel?
  3. What do you believe works better an event/program driven church, or a church on mission? Why do you believe what you believe?

Resource

This is Discipling from The Foursquare Church on Vimeo.

How do you know when you are evangelizing?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Evangelism, Pastoral, Practical3 Comments

When I was in seminary we had to take a class on Evangelism. Part of our assignment was to go out an evangelize. We had to comb the neighborhood, mall, bus station, or wherever, in order to share the gospel with someone. While I did not see anyone come to Christ through my efforts, there were others in class who did.

As we geared up for the assignment, the question that came up was: How do we know when we have evangelized someone? That is the question I want to answer today.

How do we know when we are evangelizing?

Scripture makes it clear that we are evangelizing when we speak the good news of the gospel to others.

In 1 Corinthians 1:17, Paul was sent to preach the gospel. There he says,

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

In Matthew 28:19-20, we find Jesus’ great commission. There He says,

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

In Romans 10:14-15, Paul says,

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!

The common thread running through these verses is that we must actually speak to another person the truths of the gospel. If we are doing anything else, we are not evangelizing.

So then, we are not evangelizing when we:

  • Have a conversation about spiritual matters, but not about the gospel
  • Hand out gospel tracks
  • Help someone out
  • Work for social justice
  • Live in a manner consistent with Scripture

All of these things can provide in-roads to talk about the gospel with others, but they are not in and of themselves gospel proclamation.

Evangelism occurs when we verbally proclaim the gospel to others.

Evangelism is not bringing others to faith

If evangelism is the proclaiming of the gospel to others, that means that we don’t have to see someone come to faith in Christ in order to count that as evangelism. 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 says,

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

It is our responsibility to spread and water the gospel seed. It is God who brings the growth. We are not responsible for changing someone’s heart because we can’t, only God can do that.

Word of Encouragement

Knowing that evangelism takes place when we speak the gospel to others should:

1. Motivate us to spread God’s Word – No one is saved through the results (Godly Living, Mercy Ministries, etc) of the gospel. Instead they must actually hear God’s good news proclaimed.

2. Free us from beating ourselves up – It is not our fault if someone does not believe. God is the one who brings the growth. We are the one’s who are called to faithfully spread and water the seeds of the gospel.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you believe the gospel is spread through your actions or through the preached Word?
  2. How do you enter into conversation with others about the gospel?
  3. Do you find acts of mercy to be a good way to gain credibility to speak with others about the gospel?
  4. What mercy ministries have been effective for making in-roads to gospel proclamation at your church?

Resource

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An Impossible Task Powered by God

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals1 Comment

As Christians, we have been called to an impossible task. Jesus told us that we are to make disciples by going and sharing the gospel with our neighbors and the nations, teaching them all the commandments of God, and baptizing them (Matt. 28:18-20).

Not only are we to do this work because Jesus commanded us to do so, which is a good reason, we are also to spread God’s gospel because we are God’s ambassadors (see my last post: Be an Ambassador). We are the means God uses to bring His message to others.

An Impossible Task

At first thought, this task seems impossible. There are people in our own backyards and around the world, who want nothing to do with Christianity. Whole nations have rejected it. Laws have been passed to punish those who spread it. Friends, family, and co-workers deride us for believing it. And that is just what others are saying. If we honestly examine ourselves, we will find doubt, fear of man, and a desire for our own comfort ripe within.

With so many people, and even ourselves, against us being ambassadors for God, how are we empowered for this mission? Others do not empower us, nor do we empower ourselves. So then, how are we empowered to overcome the obstacles of gospel proclamation and disciple making?

The Holy Spirit Empowers Us

In Matthew 28:20, after Jesus gives the Great Commission, He tells His disciples,

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Then in John 14:15-18, He tells His disciples after He leaves He will ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to them. For He will not leave them as orphans in the world.

In keeping with His earlier promise, before Jesus ascends, He says to His disciples,

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).

And indeed the Holy Spirit is sent to them on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). On this day, the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus’ disciples, empowering them to be God’s ambassador to the nations.

Likewise, all those who believe in Jesus as their Savior receive the Holy Spirit and are empowered for their God given mission (Rom. 5:5).

Conclusion

So then, God empowers us for the mission He gives us. We do not take up His mission in our own strength. We are to rely on God for strength, wisdom, and courage to carry out His mission. A mission that seems impossible but is not when we rely on God to strengthen us. One way we can rely on the Lord is through prayer. Asking Him to work in us and among those He has called us to reach with the gospel.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you try to do God’s work in your own power?
  2. Can you think of a personal example, or a biblical example, where men tried to act in their own strength to do the work of God?
  3. Would you share a personal example where God has worked through you to reach others with the gospel as you relied on Him to do so?

Resource

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