In our desire to equip people to demonstrate and declare the Gospel more effectively we have come to realize that we need to regularly expose them to Gospel experiences that both shape them in the Gospel as well as train them in how to more effectively share the Gospel.
In this and the following posts I will share some of the “Gospel Pathways” that I have been developing to accomplish this.
In this post I want to share with you how we are training people to preach the Gospel through the Lord’s Supper. I have done this with the Missional Community that I lead as well as the Leadership groups that I am training to plant new churches.
We have the communion elements ready to celebrate our Lord’s Death. I then ask each person to particularly identify with one of the elements (the bread or the wine) and share how they are aware of their need for the gospel in light of how the bread or wine speaks to them. This gives each person the opportunity to express the Gospel in light of their need and how the Gospel satisfies their need.
For example, someone might say: I particularly identify with the bread this week because I am realizing that I have been trusting in my own works to make me righteous before God instead of trusting in the righteous life of Jesus lived on my behalf in human flesh. Or, someone might say, I am so grateful for the cup this week because I have been overcome with the reality of my sin this week and I need to be reminded that Christ blood was poured out for me for the forgiveness of my sins.
Before we begin this process I encourage each person to listen closely to the person on their right because they will be serving them the elements in light of the gospel need they expressed after everyone has shared. This gives each person the opportunity to listen for the Gospel need in others and then “preach” the gospel into their situation.
It might sound like, This bread is to remind you that Jesus’ righteous life lived in his body that was given for you on the cross is the righteousness of God exchanged for your sin and His blood was poured out for you to forgive you of your sin, including trusting in your own righteousness.
Throughout the experience the group gets to hear the Gospel need proclaim 8-12 times and then observes 8-12 different Gospel proclamations specifically applied to a unique person and situation. At the end of the night, the group will have grown in their ability to express their Gospel need, listen for the Gospel need in another's life, proclaim the Gospel contextually into that person's life and situation AND listen to 8-12 other people proclaim as well.
Now that they’ve come to realize that they can listen for the Gospel need and preach the Gospel appropriately to that need, I instruct them to listen in the same way to the people in their life and sphere of influence this week. I encourage them to listen to where people are looking for a substitute for their own sense of unrighteousness and are seeking to “pay off” their sin or seek out a sense of cleansing through something other than the life and blood of Jesus. Then, I encourage them to “preach” the life and death of Jesus contextually into their friends’ lives and situations. (Granted everyone is in a different place in their understanding of the Gospel and will need different levels of training or follow-up, but this experience really helps to clarify where people are at).
I have found that most people don’t believe they can effectively preach the Gospel to their unbelieving friends until they’ve successfully done it with believers – think about it – most pastors who get to preach it to the church week in and week out still don’t share it with their neighbors! How would we ever expect the members of our churches to confidently share it if they never have the opportunity to practice with other believers?
This is not only a great training experience, but a wonderful worship experience as well!
Let me know what you think and give it a try with the group you're leading. I'd love to hear how it goes.
Jeff,
ReplyDeletethis is incredibly insightful. This happened this past week in our group though it was unintentional. We were working through identifying how to best articulate the Gospel to the people in our lives.
My hope was that we could practice on one another. But what ended up happening was even better. Some in our group do not know Jesus. As those who do were articulating the Gospel, those who dont yet know Jesus were getting it.
I learned that what you said is exactly right. Until we are able to articulate the Gospel to one another in our smaller groups, we wont be able to articulate it in situations that feel less safe.
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteThe level of your intentionality reflects your understanding that the Gospel should be infused in everthing. I have been blessed and I have been able to bless others through your teaching at SOMA of using the Lord's supper to proclaim the Gospel. I was someone who lacked courage and when the leader sets the context for the Lord's supper, it serves as the catalyst for those that lack courage. Instead of a ritualistic ceremony, it becomes real as sin is confessed and Jesus is proclaimed. I know that God works through our confession and proclaiming His Name, Lord Jesus! We need to "practice" proclaiming and hearing the Gospel. Great insight, it is representative of how the Gospel needs to shape everything. I love hearing how your group gets to say it and then hear it 8-12 times.
"I have found that most people don’t believe they can effectively preach the Gospel to their unbelieving friends until they’ve successfully done it with believers"
ReplyDeletethis statement makes absolutely no sense to me....
If the "gospel" is a tangible reality in one's life, and not just a set of doctrines we hold to, then the idea of "practicing" on other believers becomes mute... Maybe instead of all the constant focus on "training" and techniques, and all the rest, we should take a closer look at how much of a reality the Gospel is in our everyday lives. Because if Jesus has taken us and made us new, and overturned every stone in our heart, brought us from death to life, we won't need to "practice" talking about it in "safe" arenas, it will simply eminate out of us...
Daniel
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteMaybe another way to think about it is with Duet 6:4-9 in mind...talk about it along the way, when we sit, rise, walk, lie down etc...
I agree it really should be out of the overflow of our hearts and lives that our mouths speak, but the heart is not changed without speaking the gospel to each other (Romans 10:14-17) and our ongoing transformation happens by having our minds renewed in the gospel (Romans 12:1-2).
So my hope is to prepare people to give an answer for the hope they have (1 Peter 3:15). The other reason we do this is that we become more aware of where people are at in there understanding and ability to articulate the gospel.
Learning to understand and articulate the gospel better is definitely a good thing... (man, do I suck at articulating the Truth sometimes, especially in person!)
ReplyDeleteI guess my comment wasn't solely a response to what I read here, but to what I seem to be encountering all over the place, with all the talk I keep hearing about being "missional"...
Not sure who coined that term, but I'd guess it's a result of people looking at the state of the conventional church, and noticing just how self-absorbed, and "inward-focused" it has become. (and I'm definitely not gonna argue with that) But to turn around then say, "Well, what we need to do instead is be outward-focused, we need to be missional!", seems to miss the whole point. Living a life which looks like you're on a mission, is only a by-product of a sincere concern for lost people. Just deciding to "be missional" doesn't really get to the heart of why people are being inward-focused in the first place...
Sometimes it just seems that there are many very well-intentioned people out there, who want to help prepare others to give an answer for the hope that they have, BUT, seem unwilling to accept that many of those who they are striving to "equip", simply don't have that Hope in the first place. (and yeah, I know that may sound harsh, but...) In those cases, we can find ourselves trying to do the impossible, trying to educate people into the Kingdom, instead of pointing them all the way back to the cross. I think we can easily run the risk of unwittingly replacing the role of the Holy Spirit in people's lives, who is ultimately the one who teaches us everything...
Just my two cents anyway, for what it's worth...
Daniel