As
I continue this Eastertide series on inviting evangelism, I want to review just
a bit. Last week I quoted Dr. Jim Singleton from Gordon-Conwell Seminary –
“creating a culture of evangelism in our congregations is hard work!” – and
asked you to craft and share a brief statement that tells the Story to one
other person, asking them to give you feedback on how you did. I encouraged you
to make your telling of the Story a part of your own story: core and
compelling, allowing your personal rhythms of faith and life into the
conversation. What I did not do is share with you how I tell the Story.
It’s about time I walk my talk.
For
me, sharing the Story flows from the beautiful narratives of Scripture, and it
is difficult to know where to begin. Do I tell the Story from the place of
justice and jubilee (Luke 4)? Or perhaps I tell the Story from the starting
place of God’s joy (Luke 15)? Should I claim the blessedness of my brokenness
(Matthew 5) or proclaim the comforts of prayer (Philippians 4)? From the depths
of Job’s despair to the heights of Jesus’ cross, the options are endless.
For
me, however, my spirit is drawn to Matthew 28 and the Great Commission. In this
passage, we are commanded to make disciples – not just converts but disciplined
followers of the Lord Jesus – and told to teach each other to observe all that
he has taught us to do – not just believe a certain way but live and move and
have our being pointed in the direction of God’s life in, with, among and
through us. And the key to this commandment is the middle step: baptism.
It
strikes many as odd that in the middle of the Great Commission are found these
words: “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit.” What does baptism have to do with making disciples, many wonder?
In the same way Communion is the sacrament of community, so is baptism the
sacrament of identity. In baptism we discover our identity, our true name:
before the beginning of time God knew us, chose us and called us by our true
name – Beloved of God – and we are held in the arms of God’s everlasting love
until after the end of all things.
The
Great Commission, then, can be paraphrased like this: As you go into the world,
help people learn that life with Jesus is a life of Belovedness. Teach them
that their true name is “Beloved,” and teach them all that it means to live
into the fullness of their Belovedness. Teach that life with God in Jesus
Christ is not about becoming morally good enough, nor is it about being
sufficiently spiritual, but rather it is an invitation to join in the eternal
dance of justice and joy with the Triune God. God, through Jesus, has done
everything needed for this to happen; we need only say yes to God’s invitation
to join in the dance.
Here
is your homework: choose three of your favorite Scriptures and craft one to
three sentences about how these verses / passages connect your life with God’s
life. How might these Scriptures invite a personal story that invites another
into the Story? Share what you craft with one other person – ask them to tell
you honestly how you did.
What
on earth are we doing for heaven’s sake,
Brad
Munroe
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