Cross-Walking - Definition

Introduction

Cross-walking, or holding a cross in public, is a rising trend in evangelical circles. This brief article will explain what it is and what it hopes to accomplish.

What It Is

Cross-walking is holding a cross so that the general public is able to see it. Some crosses are plain with no message written on them, others have brief messages written on them. Locations for cross-walking include, but are not limited to, roadway intersections, festivals, public parks, college campuses, etc.

Standard cross messages point to the reality of a coming judgment or to the person and work of Jesus Christ. The most common message is, "ARE YOU READY", others include "REPENT & BELIEVE", "It is Finished", "JUDGE & SAVIOR", and "HE IS RISEN", etc.

Cross-walking is a public ministry meant to lead to the proclamation of the gospel and cause many to consider their standing with God and their eternal destiny.

Except in a few cases, where the gospel is written on the cross, cross-walking is NOT evangelism; it is meant to lead to evangelism. Evangelism is the explicit effort of telling someone that there is forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Examples of gospel presentations written on the cross are, "It is Finished" (Hebrews 10:14), "Peace by the Blood" (Colossians 1:19-20), and "Here Grace & Justice Kissed" (Psalm 85:10), etc.

Cross-walking is NOT a means of grace or a sacrament; when Jesus said, "Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:38).", he did not mean to lift a miniature cross in order to earn Heaven. His call was to turn (repent) from living in this world, and figuratively (using the language of the cross-execution technique) to die to the world by placing full faith in him and him alone.

Goals of Cross-Walking

The primary goal of cross-walking is to proclaim the excellencies of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. Cross-walking is far from the only way to do this, but it is a valid and useful tool for the church to engage many with the message of Christianity. These goals include starting conversations, reaching large numbers of people in a short time, confronting people in their sin, encouraging Christians, and killing pride in the cross-walker.

Conversation Starter

Cross-walking draws all sorts of individuals to ask questions, some ask "What does it mean?" others ask, "Why are you doing this?" Concerning the "ARE YOU READY" cross, the question is generally, "Ready for what?" Many other questions are asked regarding doomsday prophecies, particular sins, or certain denominations. Still others are people who are seeking direction and purpose in their lives, or asking for prayer. Some are hostile to the message of Christianity and want to debate certain points.

Cross-walking cannot be expected to start only one certain kind of conversation, but it does start conversations, and the cross-walker should always be prepared to proclaim the gospel of forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul said, "I endeavored to know nothing among you except for Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2)." The cross-walker should be prepared to share the gospel, all other doctrines and objections should be relegated to not being anxious as to what you will say. A great preacher once said, "The gospel is a proclamation, not an argument."

When used at intersections, the cross often causes drivers to park their cars to come speak to the cross-walker. Other times, when used locally, the cross-walker will be asked questions later, such as at work, or the grocery store, by people who recognized him.

Other times at intersections, the cross-walker may never know a conversation was started; sometimes conversations begin between passengers in cars that have seen the cross. Some of the best conversations are seen between children and their parents when the child asks about the cross he sees being held on the side of the road. This leads parents to hopefully work out their own salvation first, and then provide a teaching point for their child. Other times conversations may be started later, as someone seeks out a Christian or pastor to ask about the cross-walker, and why he would be holding a cross.

Cross-walking also starts conversations in public places, such as bar districts and parks. The most common question here is, "Why are you doing this?" The answer is, "I'm hoping it will start conversations." To which the questioner asks, "Has it started any?" At this point the cross-walker has broken the ice to have a conversation to share Jesus Christ.

To Reach the Unreachable

Cross-walking has a distinct advantage over many other methods of ministry, in that the demographic of people is as diverse as a location allows. Festivals, sporting events, and parks tend to attract a certain type of people, malls draw a predictable crowd, churches are filled with an unsurprising populace, but road-ways are filled with every age, ethnicity, religion, and personality.

Certain people will never set foot in a church, nor will ever frequent a place where they may be given a gospel tract or spoken to, but they do drive. Even locked in the privacy and exclusion of their vehicle, they may be confronted on their hell-bound journey just by seeing a cross on the side of the road.

During peak rush-hours, cross-walking also has the opportunity to impart the message of God's justice and mercy into more lives than practically any other ministry option. Television and radio ministries, as well as billboard messages, reach more, but cross-walking provides a personal touch and at practically no cost.

To Confront People in their Sin

The message of the cross, the message of an execution method, points first and foremost to the fact that something is not right in the universe. That men can die, and that they may be put to death by other men, should cause us all to stop and think about the state of the universe, and then about the state of our souls. The message of the cross is that things are desperately broken, but that they are fixable, but only fixable through the work of the Son of God willingly taking on death for his saints so that he would defeat it three days later.

Cross-walking confronts people with this message, that there is salvation available, but that they are helpless to save themselves. "ARE YOU READY" on a cross instinctively causes people to consider their eternity. Some will harden their hearts, while others may genuinely consider the question. It is vital to trust in the Holy Spirit that he is doing precisely the work the Father has called him to do, knowing that "The message of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being saved, it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18)."

The cross-walker ought to be in constant prayer that the Holy Spirit is convicting onlookers of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8).

To Encourage Christians

One of the reasons it is so important to realize that cross-walking is not just evangelism, even when an evangelistic message is present, is because it accomplishes many purposes. One of the purposes of cross-walking is to encourage believers who see the cross-walker, openly proclaiming Christ, to be bold in their own opportunities. Every believer should not be expected to cross-walk, but every believer is expect to be salt and light in their world.

The cross-walker hopes to encourage his brothers and sisters in boldness, intentional proclamation, and trust in their Saviour. The cross-walker himself is often encouraged through approving waves and friendly horn-honks.

To Decimate the Pride of the Cross-Walker

Cross-walking is seen by the world, and much of the church, as foolish. It ought to be, it the least likely way to convince someone of the truth of your position. But God has chosen the foolish things in the world to shame the wise, he did so first by giving eternal life through the death of his Son, he continues to do so by using broken and sinful men to propagate the message of his righteousness and love demonstrated on a cross.

To stand with a cross sets a person apart as a Christian, and not just a Christian, but a Christian who trusts in the sovereignty of God and the power of his Word to save souls. A cross-walker feels self-conscious, awkward, and like he is doing nothing to advance the kingdom of Heaven. These feelings do amazing work in the cross-walker, driving him to humility, causing him to exult in his Lord and Saviour, and to recognize that he may plant or water the seed of faith, but unless God causes that seed to grow, nothing will be accomplished.

Conclusion

In doing so, the cross-walker takes up, not just a miniature cross, but the cross Jesus was speaking of when saying, "take up your cross and follow me," and dies to the world, setting his affections on Heaven, carrying the message of eternal life to a lost and dying world, proclaiming the excellencies of him who bled and died but lived again, the only hope of sinners, the way, the truth, and the life.

In the Lord, the Christian's labor is never in vain, therefore consider taking a cross out with you to a public place. Watch God do work through it, both in those who see you, in those you speak to, in those you encourage, and in you as he lifts you up in your humility.

Further Resources

Tony Miano's Explanation of Cross-Walking
Tony Miano's Blog of Cross-Encounters
Order A Cross

Face Time

Early on Sunday Morning two millennia ago, the most terrifying sound the world will ever hear reverberated in the silence of a dark and sealed tomb. In the pierced pericardium of the Lord of Glory, just a whisper of truth, yet completely distinct, was the faint sound of a heartbeat. Undeniably this bruised, pierced, and suffering servant had defeated death; just as he said, he has risen (Matthew 28:6, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). He was dead, but now he lives.

In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of holiness declared Jesus Christ to be the Son of God (Romans 1:4). This proved that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, the resurrection, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by him (John 11:25, 14:6). The hymn declares, "Shout it out, Jesus is alive, he's alive! O happy day!"

But beloved, the first thing we need to see is that for many, this is not a happy day, in the vindication of Jesus Christ in his resurrection (1 Timothy 3:16), he proved, just as Noah proved that the ark was a promise of impending doom (Hebrews 11:6), that God has far purer eyes than to look on sin (Habakkuk 1:13) and has provided just one way of salvation (Acts 4:12). The Holy Spirit came to convict people of sin because they do not believe on Jesus Christ (John 16:9) and to show them judgment because Satan was dealt a death-blow at the cross (John 16:11, cf John 12:31, Genesis 3:15, Romans 16:20). The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a very bad day for most of the world, who have sought to dethrone him since the beginning, and seek to do so even today, but in his resurrection he has become King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), and he is set to tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty (Revelation 19:15).

Many will end up cowering, hiding, fleeing from the Eternal King, desperate not to see his face (Revelation 6:15-17). Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and he will destroy it from the surface of the earth (Amos 9:8).

And we may say, "Right! That is what unbelievers should be doing, fleeing from God for their sin!" And I say Amen, and Amen! But beloved, let me show you some believers who reacted similarly; without grace and mercy we would all flee from the face of God!

Look at Judges 13, I'd wouldn't be exaggerating to say this is one of my favorite passages of scripture. "A man of God came to me (Manoah's Wife), and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome." The messenger of God brought very good news, news of a coming, yet temporary and deficient, messiah (Samson) to judge Israel and redeem them from the grip of the Philistines. A brief conversation ensues in which the messenger calls for a burnt offering to be sacrificed. When the sacrifice is made, the messenger makes it clear to them that he is Christ. 'They fell on their faces to the ground...Manoah knew that the speaker was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God (Judges 13:20,21-22)!'"

Compare a moment when Isaiah sees God in a vision, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 6:5)!"

And let's transfer to the New Testament, "Now as he (Saul, later the Apostle Paul) went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground... (Acts 9:3-4, cf Acts 22:6-7, 26:13-14)" Paul, zealous for his understanding of God, was put on his face, and not just him, but his companions who traveled with him.

The glory of Christ is powerful, on the night he was betrayed, a band of soldiers sought him, when he declared himself to be the I AM, "they drew back and fell to the ground (John 18:6)."

Balaam responded similarly (Numbers 22:31), as did the Magi (Matthew 2:11), demon possessed men (Mark 3:11), and a healed woman (Mark 5:33); simply seeing God has this distinct effect on people; he is of far purer eyes than to look on sin; in his endless burnings, who can stand (Isaiah 33:14)? Who can endure the heat of his anger (Nahum 1:6)?

Others fall farther and harder, Uzzah, perceiving his defiled hands as cleaner than the earth, touched the holy ark of God and fell dead (2 Samuel 6:6-7), as did Ananias and Sapphirah (Acts 5:5,10). God is holy and puts people on the ground willingly if possible, forcefully if necessary (Acts 5:11).

Apostles are not immune, Simon Peter saw the full glory of Jesus Christ and fell down at his knees, begging, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord (Luke 5:8)!"

This is not limited to earth; in Heaven the appointed authorities will bow willingly before the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 5:8).

Jesus Christ is the Light of the World (John 8:12), he has messengers whom he has declared to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), and when his glory shines through them, many fall down in their sinfulness (cf Revelation 19:10, 22:8, Acts 10:25, 16:29, 14:11-15). It is vitally important that we point them to the Righteous One who became sin for us, who bore our sins in his body, who fell down himself.

The night Jesus was crucified, under the weight of the condemnation that he was about to endure at the hands of his Father, he went to the Garden of Gethsemane, and "going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, 'Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will' (Mark 14:35-36)." The second time he prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done (Matthew 26:42)." He prayed a third time (Matthew 26:44), knowing that to stand in the sight of God bearing the sin of the world would require an infinite payment, for each sin is costly, and unless the cup of the wine of the wrath of God were drained, the saints of God would be without hope. We cannot underestimate, nor even overestimate, the price which Jesus Christ paid for our souls.

Every fear which the previous mentioned prostrates had was well founded, God is of far purer eyes than that he can look on sin. Isaiah cried out in anguish, "Woe is me!" Manoah declared his sure ruin. Peter begged Christ to depart from his sinfulness. Ezekiel, a faithful prophet of God, though far from sinless, fell to the ground and wondered, "Ah, Lord God! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel (Ezekiel 11:13)?!" These fears were realized on the cross.

Jesus Christ was put to death as the wages of sin were paid out (Romans 6:23). He became a curse for us, as it is written "cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree (Galatians 3:13)." The sins of those who reproached God fell on Jesus Christ (Psalm 69:9), and the Father turned his back on the Son, causing him to pray the most heart-rending prayer in history, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani (Mark 15:34)?" And the only righteous man to ever live in all of history was put to a full end, it pleased is Father to crush him (Isaiah 53:10), he drained the well mixed cup of God's foaming wrath all the way down to the dregs (Psalm 75:8, Isaiah 51:17).

Manoah's wife prophesied oh so sweetly (which is why this is my favorite verse), "If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burn offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these (Judges 13:23)."

Jesus prayed, showing us the fulfillment, "This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs (Psalm 69:31)." Peter exposited, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-this Jesus, delivered up according to the definitive plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men (Acts 2:22-23)."

Look at how this plays out in the Apostle John's life:

"I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet...I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw...one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength (Revelation 1:10,12-16)."

John did what I would do, what you would do, what everyone will do, "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead." But beloved, look at what happens next, "But he laid his right hand on me." He said, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:17-18)."

Beloved, if your view of Jesus does not put you on your face, does not cause you to weep for your ruin, for your sin against heaven, does not cause you to dive for cover in the deepest darkest hole you can find, then your jesus is probably made up, and idols cannot save you. But the Living Christ, who laid his hand on John, bore the scars of crucifixion (John 20:25,27-28), and is mighty to save (Zephaniah 3:17, Isaiah 63:1), able to save to the uttermost all those who draw near to him in faith, he always lives to make intercession for his saints (Hebrews 7:25). Jesus Christ was dead, crucified for lawless men, giving himself for his saints (Galatians 2:20), but he has been raised for our justification (Romans 4:25).

Therefore, beloved, this Easter, make sure your view of Jesus Christ terrifies you; he sees to the very center of your being and all of your thoughts, words, and deeds are laid bare (Hebrews 4:13, Ecclesiastes 12:24). Recognize that without his willful atonement, you would be without hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12), that your soul would be the cost, that Hell would gape wide to catch your fall; fall prostrate on your face in humility, confessing your sins against Heaven (2 Corinthians 7:10), and then look to the cross where the Lord of Glory died and where justice and love kissed; it is empty. Look to the tomb where hope was buried; it is empty. Christ is risen, he has condemned every false way: he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by him.

On the final day, every knee will bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). Some will do so willingly, but many will do so out of abject terror and/or violence done to them by ministering angels. Beloved, bow willingly, in sorrow for your sin against Heaven, and God promises that he will lift up the humble (Psalm 147:6), but dear reader, if you wait, if you bow out of compulsion, know that God promises that he will cast the wicked to the ground (Psalm 147:6).

I promise that every face will touch the ground in the presence of Jesus Christ, he puts people on the ground. God has accepted the sacrifice of his beloved Son, he delivered him up by lawless men, he has delivered this message to you. He has no delight in the death of the wicked, so turn from sin and turn to the Resurrection and the Life, and live; may he lay his hand on your shoulder before Judgment Day and declare to you with all authority, "Fear Not."

In conclusion, there are two responses on Judgment Day, those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who will step forward willingly and in anticipation to meet Christ (1 John 2:28), and those who will flee in terror (Revelation 6:15-17); there is no middle option. May your sins have been to a cross two-thousand years ago, may you trust in Jesus Christ, and may the fact that his pierced heart is beating today prove to be your comfort and not your condemnation.

I Don’t Believe in Coincidences – An Easter Story

Tonight ended a long debacle I had with the stereo in my car. Let me make a long story less long so you’ll have the context, I’m including part numbers in hopes that this pops up on a Google search and gives people the gospel who were not looking for the gospel. Back around October I ended up with a Saturn SC-1 through some cool circumstances, I love this little car for what it is, but because it’s old and has a lot of miles on it, the stereo was worn out; I use the stereo frequently to listen to sermons and James White and Al Mohler podcasts. One of the first things I did was pick up a Dual XR4115 aftermarket stereo for it, this is a bottom end stereo that does not even have a CD-player it’s so inexpensive. I installed it and was instantly disappointed, but it did play music through the auxiliary cable (it will not play the iPod (iPad mini) through the USB), so I decided I’d live with it. At a month it died, the screen went out, making it effectively worthless. I took it back to the store I bought it at to find out it had a one month warranty and I had missed it by just a few days. I was about to leave and go purchase a better unit somewhere else, when the store manager arrived, called the employee a bad name, and gave me a brand new XR4115 in replacement.

This unit has lasted for approximately the last three months. During this time it has started having issues, it won’t play the right front speaker from the iPod, but will from the radio, it stopped charging the iPod, and the screen has started to flash. I was expecting to be outside of the country for at least two years, and planned to sell the car shortly, but now I am staying and so am keeping the car for as long as it will run. Since I’m keeping it, I decided to put a better stereo in it. I have a Pioneer DEH-50UB in the truck, and it is the greatest stereo I’ve ever used, but they no longer make it. Its successor is the Pioneer DEH-64BT, so I decided to pick one up. I intended today to go visit a friend around noon and then stop at the store and get this unit afterwards. My visit lasted much longer, and I ended up at Walmart just after 7pm. I decided to go through the auto-department since I was only picking up one thing and then leaving. I pulled up to the back side of Walmart only to find that that door was locked for the night.

At this point I noticed four people sitting around a picnic table about a hundred feet away, I assumed they were Walmart employees on a break. I grabbed four $1Million bills from Living Waters and said a short prayer, and headed for the table. It became quickly apparent that the four weren’t employees, but teenagers, hanging out, listening to music, and smoking. I’d estimate them to be sixteen or seventeen, two boys and two girls. They were ecstatic about the bills, and thanked me for them, and one boy turned off the music as if knowing I was about to ask a question.

I asked if I could ask them the million dollar question, they agreed. I asked, “If you died tonight, would you go to Heaven?” Two said they hoped so and two wouldn’t answer. I told them that according to the Bible, good people go to Heaven (Psalm 24:3-5, Matthew 5:8, Matthew 5:20), and asked them if they considered themselves to be good people. They all said that they did (Proverbs 20:6). I told them I was going to give them the good person test.

I asked them if they had ever told a lie. They all said they had. I asked what that made them. One boy said, “Well, not a liar, because it’s not like I lie all the time.” I asked him if you had to murder all the time to be a murderer? He gasped/laughed and said, “Wow, I guess I’m a liar.”

I asked if they had ever stolen anything, they all said they had. I asked what that made them, they said a thief. I was surprised because usually I hear “stealer”. This one hit them pretty hard, I rarely see contrition at this point in the good person test, but these teens were already showing it.

I asked if they had ever taken God’s name in vain. They asked how they would do that? I said by saying things like Oh My God or Jesus Christ without reverence, they all said they had. I said that it was serious, because God will not hold them guiltless who takes his name in vain (Exodus 20:7).

Then I said, “Here’s the one that got me, I mentioned murder earlier, have you ever murdered anyone?” They all laughed uncomfortably knowing that based on how the test was going that something big was coming, “Here’s why it got me, Jesus said if we hate someone or call them an idiot or a curse word, we’re in danger of being judged as murderers (Matthew 5:21-22).” One student said, “Dang, I’ve murdered a lot of people.” I responded, "me too." We had about three seconds of silence while this sunk in.

I told them, “Based on your admission, you’re just like me, not good people, but liars, thieves, blasphemers, and murderers at heart. If that’s the way God judges us on Judgment Day, do you think you’d be innocent or guilty?” One girl quickly said guilty, but a boy jumped in and said, “But I think God knows my heart, and he’ll know that I tried my best.”

I said, “That’s actually not a good thing for us, God does know our heart, the Bible says that our heart is desperately wicked and deceitful beyond all things, who can know it? Only God can search the depths of our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9-10). The Bible says that the pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8), but our heart is sick and not pure (Ezekiel 16:30, etc). For example, don’t answer this, but our heart is where our actions start (Mark 7:21), like adultery, Jesus said it starts in our hearts and looking with lust makes us adulterers at heart (Matthew 5:27-28).”

These kids were already convicted, and that crushed the two boys. I continued that because our hearts aren’t pure, we are in trouble, all liars will have their place in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8), no thief, no blasphemer, no murderer, and no adulterer has any inheritance in the kingdom of Heaven (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). That’s the bad news.”

“But there is good news,” I continued, realizing it’s the day Jesus was crucified on, “God doesn’t want you to go to Hell (Ezekiel 18:32), so much so he did the most loving thing in history two-thousand years ago. Do you know what he did?” A girl said, “He gave his Son! Wait, that was exactly two-thousand years ago?” I said not exactly two thousand years, but close, and this weekend is Easter.

I got to the best part, that Jesus Christ, God the Son, God in the flesh (John 1:14, 1 Timothy 3:16), came into this world to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He lived a perfect sinless life, tempted in every way we’ve been tempted yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15), and that he willingly went to a cross to pay for our sins. Now we can go to Heaven when we die, not because we’re good people, but because we have a very good God who paid our fine on a cross, who three days later defeated death, and will give us his goodness, his righteousness, if we repent of our sins and put our trust in him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“It is possible for us to lay our lives down for each other, for example, I could lay my life down for you, but I’m not taking it back up again, I don’t have that power. But Jesus said, ‘No one takes my life from me, I lay it down, for my sheep (John 10:11), that I may take it back up again (John 10:17).’ Jesus proved to be Lord and Saviour by dying on a cross and resurrecting from the dead three days later.”

“The way this all works out is if we’re all standing in Heaven someday, and I desperately hope to see you all in Heaven someday, and someone, maybe an angel, asks, ‘How did you guys get in here?’ We’re not going to be able to say, ‘because I was so good, or great, or awesome’, we’ll say gladly, ‘because Jesus Christ is my God and Saviour, and he sought me and bought me and to him belongs all the power, honor, and glory, forever and ever’ and everyone there will say, ‘amen.’ (Ephesians 2:8-9, Revelation 5:12-13)”

“Does this make sense?”

A young man answered, “This makes a lot of sense.” He looked at a girl and said, “This is the way God speaks to us, by sending a messenger.” (I don’t know the context behind this statement, but I have a feeling the Holy Spirit was doing something to prepare them for this conversation (John 16:8-11))

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” I said, “you have no idea how many crazy things happened to put me here at this exact time, and for the door there to be locked, at the very least I meant to be here three hours ago. So this Easter, really think about these things, repent towards God and put your faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone (Acts 20:21). The Bible says that if we are in Christ we are new creations, the old has passed, and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).”

“Do you guys have Bibles at home?” I asked in order to provide some follow-up, they all said they had Bibles, “Open up those Bibles, never trust a man over the Word of God. I recommend you start in the book of John,” one girl mouthed John to herself to help remember, “it was written by one of Jesus’ closest friends, it will tell you who he is, why he came, and why it’s important to you. Since it’s Easter, I recommend you start in chapter 17, that’s where the crucifixion starts (John 17:1), but you can start at chapter 1 too.”

They thanked me and told me that I had given them a lot to think about. It was a blessing to be in exactly the right place at the right time to share in the blessing of preaching the excellencies of him who bled and died and lived again.

This Easter, tell someone about the hope that lives within you, Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Absorbing Offense - Christian Forgiveness

The kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. One servant owed more than $6 BILLION, and he could not pay. Begging for patience he promised to pay all; out of pity for this servant, his king not only let the man go, but forgave him the debt. The servant went out and immediately found a fellow servant who owed him $12 THOUSAND. He seized him, and began to choke him, and demanded the man pay what was owed. When the debtor begged for patience, his pleas were ignored and he was thrown into prison until he paid the whole debt. (confer Matthew 18:23-35)

The above story is not the entire parable, but it contains important points I wish to make to you, dear saint, to stir you up towards good works and compassion towards the brethren (I will address the rest of the parable later in this article). The topic at hand is what happens to our sins against God, and what happens to others’ sins against us. Does this debt just vanish? Or does someone else pay it? Look at the above parable, the debt against the first servant is absorbed by the king (Matthew 18:27), the debt against the second servant is required to be paid by that servant (Matthew 18:30). Someone has to pay the debt, it cannot just go away; when a sin is just ignored, the Bible says, “He who justifies the wicked…is an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 17:15).” Sin must be paid for, and it will be paid for (Romans 2:4-5).

Did you notice the disparity between what a sin against God costs and what a sin against us costs? The debt owed to the king was several billion dollars, the debt owed to the servant was 0.000012 billion dollars. Clearly the king in this parable represents the Father (Matthew 18:35), and because God is infinitely more worthy than us, who are worthless (Romans 3:12), we must recognize that a sin against God is much more weighty and pressing than a transgression against ourselves. The Apostle Paul makes this point by writing to Corinth, “he caused [pain]…in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you (2 Corinthians 2:5).” Whichever sin is committed against us, no matter how big we think it is, it is nothing in comparison to our sin against God. This is why three Gospels tell us in three different ways to pray, “forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us (Luke 11:4, Mark 11:25, Matthew 6:12).”

So what happens to our sins? In another parable Jesus tells that there were two debtors, one owed $60 thousand, and the other owed $6 thousand. When they could not pay, the moneylender cancelled the debt of both. (confer Luke 7:41-42) Their debts were just canceled? No, not just canceled, cancelled on account of the moneylender who absorbed that $66 thousand. Now, let me make a brief caveat, sin cannot be calculated as money can, each one of your sins has been worth you going to Hell for, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), a single lie makes you a liar, and all liars will have their place in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8), and we’ve all sinned much more than a single lie, and we can’t pay for any of our sins (Zephaniah 1:18, Psalm 49:7-9). Our debt was infinite, it required an incalculable payment. We were storing up wrath for ourselves on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment would be revealed (Romans 2:5). God has promised to repay perfectly in vengeance the sin debt against himself (Deuteronomy 32:35). Truly the danger to our souls for our infinite debt was only matched by the heinousness of our sin. The only one worthy to pay our debt was the infinite and eternal Creator God, and we had offended him and made him our enemy; we were without payment, without hope, and without God in the world. But while we were yet sinners he came to our rescue. As our Creator was fulfilling the law to learn the obedience which was required for our substitutionary payment, he forgave the sins of a crippled man and recreated his legs to walk, saying only, “Man, your sins are forgiven you. I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home”, to which the Creator’s enemies were quick to say, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus did these things, “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Jesus Christ is God, and is able and willing to forgive sins. (confer Luke 5:17-26)

At the appointed time, the Creator, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, the Son of God, put on flesh, learned obedience, and went to a cross as the payment for sin. He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification (Romans 4:25). God has made us alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14). In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the satisfaction for our sins (1 John 4:10).

Therefore beloved, we ought to love one another as God loved us (1 John 4:11). No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us (1 John 4:12). You must put away sin, all of them; anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk; rather forgive one another, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive (Colossians 3:8,13).

How many times and to what extent must we forgive? Jesus said, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him (Luke 17:3-4).” Absorb the debt of others' sins against you just as Christ absorbed your debt; you are never so Christlike as when you forgive someone, “it is the glory of a man to overlook an offense (Proverbs 19:11).” The Apostle Paul exhorts you, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:31-32).” And beloved, have you noticed that most of these passages do not place the requirement of repentance for forgiveness? Sometimes it is necessary to absorb even the offense of lack of repentance when you are certain the person is a brother. (confer Philippians 4:2)

But what if you won’t forgive? Solomon exhorts and then insults you, “Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:9).” The Apostle James implores you, “be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:19-20).” Paul tests you for the genuineness of your conversion, “Turn to forgive and comfort him…I beg you to reaffirm your love for him, for this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything (2 Corinthians 2:7-9, compare Hebrews 5:9).”

Will you be Christlike in absorbing offense against yourself, paying it in your own soul, and forgiving sin? Christ whom you profess has done so completely, “I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me (Jeremiah 33:8).” He has in a single sacrifice perfected all those who were once his enemies, but are now being sanctified. Will you not forgive those who have a small debt against you when you have been forgiven such a larger debt? Can you not overlook their offense and forgive them as Christ has forgiven you?

Is your answer still no? Look back to the parable we began with, the servant who will not forgive his fellow servant after being forgiven so much by his king is found out. Are you this servant who holds others accountable to pay when your debt is supposedly canceled? Christ then says he never knew you, and this is your fate, “You wicked servant! Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ In anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart (Matthew 18:32-35).” The wages of sin is death, each sin is infinite. It will require an infinite and eternal retribution to pay for only one sin against the King, and dear reader, we both know that our debt is closer to the $6 BILLION mark than the lesser debt.

But dear reader, if you will repent of your sin, trust in the Resurrected Christ, you then have assurance in the sufficiency of his payment, the complete appeasement of your debt. This repentance will play out in forgiveness, in reconciliation, in love of the brothers. Fret yourself not with keeping tabs on those who are not Christians, for Psalm 37 tells their fate,

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
__Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the evildoers shall be cut off,
__but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
__though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

- Psalm 37:8-10

But for you, forgive as you have been forgiven, and

Wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. - 1 Thessalonians 1:10

One Response to the Hunger Games

The Last Roman "Triumph"

From Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Chapter III

As was customary on such occasions, there were bloody combats in the Colosseum, where gladiators, armed with swords and spears, fought as furiously as if they were on the field of battle.

The first part of the bloody entertainment was finished; the bodies of the dead were dragged off with hooks, and the reddened sand covered with a fresh, clean layer. After this had been done the gates in the wall of the arena were thrown open, and a number of tall, well-formed men in the prime of youth and strength came forward. Some carried swords, others three-pronged spears and nets. They marched once around the walls, and stopping before the emperor, held up their weapons at arm's length, and with one voice sounded out their greeting, Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant! "Hail, Caesar, those about to die salute thee!"

The combats now began again; the glatiators with nets tried to entangle those with swords, and when they succeeded mercilessly stabbed their antagonists to death with the three-pronged spear. When a glatiator had wounded his adversary, and had him lying helpless at his feet, he looked up at the eager faces of the spectators, and cried out, "Hoc habet!" "He has it!" and awaited the pleasure of the audience to kill or spare.

If the spectators held out their hands toward him, with thumbs upward, the defeated man was taken away, to recover if possible from his wounds. But if the fatal signal of "thumbs down" was given, the conquered was to be slain; and if he showed any reluctance to present his neck for the death blow, there was a scornful shout from the galleries, "Recipe ferrum!" "Receive the steel!" Privileged persons among the audience would even descend into the arena, to better witness the death agonies of some unusually brave victim, before his corpse was dragged out at the death gate.

The show went on; many had been slain, and the people, madly excited by the desperate bravery of those who continued to fight, shouted their applause. But suddenly there was an interruption. A rudely clad, robed figure appeared for a moment among the audience, and then boldly leaped down into the arena. He was seen to be a man of rough but imposing presence, bareheaded and with sun-browned face. Without hesitating an instant he advanced upon two gladiators engaged in a life-and-death struggle, and laying his hand upon one of them sternly reproved him for shedding innocent blood, and then, turning toward the thousands of angry faces ranged around him, called upon them in a solemn, deep-toned voice which resounded through the deep inclosure. These were his words: "Do not requite God's mercy in turning away the swords of your enemies by murdering each other!"

Angry shouts and cries at once drowned his voice: "This is no place for preaching!--the old customs of Rome must be observed!--On, gladiators!" Thrusting aside the stranger, the gladiators would have again attacked each other, but the man stood between, holding them apart, and trying in vain to be heard. "Sedition! sedition! down with him!" was then the cry; and the gladiators, enraged at the interference of an outsider with their chosen vocation, at once stabbed him to death. Stones, or whatever missiles came to hand, also rained down upon him from the furious people, and thus he perished, in the midst of the arena.

His dress showed him to be one of the hermits who vowed themselves to a holy life of prayer and self-denial, and who were reverenced by even the thoughtless and combat-loving Romans. The few who knew him told how he had come from the wilds of Asia on a pilgrimage, to visit the churches and keep his Christmas at Rome; they knew he was a holy man, and that his name was Telemachus-no more. His spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted zeal he had tried to convince them of the cruelty and wickedness of their conduct. He had died, but not in vain. His work was accomplished at the moment he was struck down, for the shock of such a death before their eyes turned the hearts of the people: they saw the hideous aspects of the favorite vice to which they had blindly surrendered themselves; and from the day Telemachus fell dead in the Colosseum, no other fight of gladiators was ever held there.

Crown of Boasting

God has blessed me in the ministry of reconciliation for the past six years; I look back at so many evangelists I’ve known in that time who started running strong but quickly fell aside; I hear stories of those who claim to have been zealous gospel preachers in their youth but who have settled down in their old age. This was one of my greatest fears for a long time, because I did not want to be a preacher only because it was an interesting hobby, I did not want to make evangelism my idol as I’ve seen so many do, and I most certainly did not want to shame Jesus Christ by falling aside and loving something else more than him, as he prayed for us so did I pray, “Let not those who trust in you be put to shame through me, O Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel!” (Psalm 69:6)

I am writing this article to share my scriptural basis for evangelism and why I feel so blessed that Christ has given me a solid understanding of how to sustain evangelism. It begins four years ago, at an evangelistic meeting as many of us were introducing ourselves, I realized that I wasn’t just an evangelist, I was a pastor who evangelized. In other words, I loved people more than preaching. This seemed completely out of place at the time, but this has never changed. Boasting only in Christ, I’ve watched this group one by one fall from being zealous evangelists; there but for the grace of God go I.

As I’ve continued to read my Bible, I’ve found that my statement of being a pastor first, and an evangelist second, is not just biblical, but extremely biblical. I have in front of me a list of seventeen passages which say exactly what this article is going to say, and I’m sure my list is not exhaustive. The call is not hidden in the Bible, in fact it’s seen in one of the most popular evangelistic verses quoted, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...teaching them…” (Matthew 28:19-20) The call is not just to preach the gospel, it’s not just to make converts, but the call is to make disciples, to train them, to see them obedient to Jesus Christ. Paul rephrases the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20 this way, “Christ we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” (Colossians 1:28-29)

The biblical model is not just to love making converts, for anyone can make a convert (Philippians 1:15-18), but to love those converts and rejoice in their faith. My favorite Bible verse says, “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20) This is not to imply that Paul’s converts here are perfect disciples, far from it, Paul quickly clarifies, “For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God? We pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith.” (1 Thessalonians 3:8-10) And to one of the worst churches in the Bible, Paul writes of his motives, “by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord…” (1 Corinthians 15:31) The joy and boasting that Paul has in his disciples is founded in the work that Christ has done in them and through them.

And are they Paul’s disciples? Paul takes a definite possession of his converts (Philemon 10, 1 Corinthians 4:14-15, Galatians 4:19, 2 Timothy 1:2, Titus 1:4, 2 Corinthians 11:28), he was the means by which the faith came to them, he taught them, he exhorts them, he corrects them, he worries about them, he prays for them; he forever recognizes that it is Christ working in him that brings this, but that does not diminish his joy one bit, in fact in another place, it increases his joy, “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.” (1 Corinthians 3:5-8)

And by no means is this just the sentiment of the Apostle Paul, just in the 1 Thessalonians verse we see that this joy is shared by Paul, Silas, and Timothy. In another Epistle, John shares the sentiment, “I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 3-4)

Peter takes personal possession of Mark in 1 Peter 5:13, but he makes sure that we realize it's our responsibility and privilege to do the same for those under us, “I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” (1 Peter 5:1-4)

The winner of souls, the maker of disciples, is lauded throughout scripture. Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.” “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3) Elsewhere this passage is pointed at an individual, Levi the priest, “He walked with me in peace and righteousness, and he turned many from iniquity.” (Malachi 2:6) Beloved, may these be verses which God is pleased to apply to you.

I hope it is not I who have convinced you, but the scriptures themselves, that loving others through discipleship is the goal of evangelism rather than simply making a convert. Making converts is wonderful, but are they worth boasting over? Paul doesn’t boast in numbers, he boasts in Christian fruit, “we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.” (2 Thessalonians 1:4) It is God the Father who calls Ephesians 2:8-10), it is Christ who died (1 Corinthians 1:13), and it is the Spirit who works (Philippians 2:12-13), we do nothing (John 3:27, 6:63), our boasting is confined to the work we see God doing in our disciples, but boast we do, and exhort them to walk all the more in the truth revealed to them, “Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.” (Philippians 4:1)

My beloved, I pray you are working in such a way as to be able to boast in your disciples, that you have means to strive together with your brothers in the faith, that you see growth in them and are looking forward to giving an account of them on Judgment Day. (Hebrews 13:17) Beloved, far be it from me to tell you how to do this, my exhortation is only to do it. I could suggest youth ministry, college ministry, senior ministry, homeless ministry, Bible study, orphan ministry, widow ministry, hospital ministry, chaplaincy, street evangelism where you learn people's names and pray for them, etc etc, but beloved, do not let me stifle you, only find someone who needs Jesus and make them a disciple. And may they find such love in you that they cannot but boast in the work Christ has done through you in their lives, “that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.” (2 Corinthians 1:14)

Do the work of an evangelist, but love the church first and foremost. Do not boast in numbers, but in people. Charles Spurgeon, famous on earth and in Heaven, with much to boast over both on earth and in Heaven, said it this way, “A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.”

“And because of God you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”(1 Corinthians 1:30-31)

St. Patrick's Day - Savannah - Update

Friday and Saturday Vernon, Evan, and I were blessed to preach in Savannah to an estimated one-million revelers. We had great conversations, sermons, and responses and the exhortation of the Apostle is more true than ever, "Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)

The following are the prayer requests I sent out to my beloved church, with pictures added. Most of these pictures are courtesy of Vernon. I must apologize for not being much of a photographer on this trip, I missed some great conversations Vernon had. Pray for the youth pastor of a local church there, he definitely knew the true gospel, and was striving for ways to arrest the descent he sees of so many youth into the animism and paganism that is overtaking Savannah; we encouraged him, Vernon with the message of Patrick the evangelist to Ireland, and myself with a copy of "The Way of the Master".

Friday, and Saturday Morning:

We've had a great first day here in Savannah. On Friday we set-up on River Street, and almost immediately had people stopping to ask questions. My best conversation was with Neil, a South Korean student who grew up Catholic and rejected God for the religion of evolution. After taking him through the law, he admitted to believing there was a god, but that it couldn't be the God of the Bible. We had a long discussion on evolution and creation, and I kept bring it back to the law. I concluded with, "'Till sin be bitter, Christ will never be sweet." He took my card and I'm hoping to hear from him again.

After this, the sky opened up and everyone ran for cover. We ended up in a massive impromptu party in a tunnel with our crosses, just standing there garnered us all sorts of glares. After about an hour the rain let up and we headed back out.

As I was preparing to preach, a Jewish Evolutionist came by and said, "One question: how old is the earth?" I responded with just a tad over 6000 years. He didn't like this answer, nor did several others walking by. This led to a great long conversation; the argumentative people kept changing with new people entering all the time, and we kept going over the gospel. At the end we got mired into a discussion with an Emergency Room Surgeon named Zackary who thought you couldn't be a scientist and a Christian. He didn't want to even consider his conscience, but I kept bringing him back to his conscience that he had sinned against the Creator God who holds the universe in the palm of his hand. Finally as we were going nowhere fast I left him with the same thought I left Neil, that until sin is bitter, Christ will never be sweet.

Finally I stood up and preached on the foolishness of the cross to the perishing. We had some very angry hecklers who started dancing and screaming, but they drew a massive crowd and I didn't finish preaching until the police came to shut the hecklers down because they were on the verge of violence. At that point it was almost 2am and so we called it a night. The only act of violence was minor, a drunk threw a beer at Evan but in his inebriation missed and only hit the very bottom of Evan's cross.

The parade this morning drew thousands of people, we quickly handed out our 1500 Patrick specific tracts then headed to lunch. On the way we passed a big park with many people in it, so stopped to share the message of Christ with them. Preached on the law which promised life, but brought death when transgressed, and now leads us to Christ.

Keep praying for us, there are lots of inquisitive lost people here, as well as angry hardened people, pray for our boldness and for the word to go out and call lost sheep home.

Saturday:

Thank you for your prayers this weekend, they most definitely were answered. One of my favorite proclamations of the gospel is, "He is Risen!" because in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ he has proven to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Saturday we proclaimed to Savannah that Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life, that there is eternal life for the one who turns from sin and trusts in the gospel. We received many different responses, but indifference was rarely one of them.

The parade started at 10:15am, we very quickly handed out 1500 St Patrick's Day specific tracts. We watched the parade from a restaurant, then headed out to engage people with the gospel. We brought two crosses, they say "Repent & Believe" and "Foolish to the Perishing" on the front and both say "He is Risen" on the back. Almost instantly we had crowds gathering around us asking questions. The most common question was, "Why are you holding a cross?" My answer is usually, "I'm hoping it will start conversations." Frequently the follow-up question is, "Has it started any?" To which I reply, "If you died tonight, do you think you'd go to Heaven?" Many great gospel presentations ensued.

Pray for David, a young soldier who may have some serious mental and/or demonic issues. We talked for about half an hour and during that time he claimed to be both an atheist and a born-again Christian. He was certain that he was not just a good person, but a great person. Pray that the seed planted will take root and call David out of the darkness into the light of Christ.

We talked to three young men, 20 years old or so, one was so convicted after the law that he walked off without saying anything. I tried to get him to stay for the gospel, but he wouldn't. The other two stayed and were intrigued by the gospel, but both had grown up in dead churches and told sad stories of hypocrites who showed no fruit of the Holy Spirit, and so both denied any power in Christianity to change lives. I implored them to trust Christ and that God is true even when every man is a liar.

Afterwards we set up with our crosses at Ellis Square, a mid-sized park that became a major hangout as the day progressed. It was far too loud anywhere to preach, but many stopped to hear the gospel. One man was so furious that he spent several minutes screaming at me, he kept saying things like, "You're a fool!" "You're an idiot!" I pointed to the cross which says the message of the cross is "Foolish to the Perishing" and explained that God has chosen the foolish things in the world to shame the wise. He was finally escorted off by a man who was easily seven feet tall; Vernon affectionately named this reveler the "Jolly Green Giant".

Evan spoke with a young lady who seems to be in a church that is preaching the truth, but she does not seem to have yet repented. Pray that their conversation will call her to repentance. I spoke to a similar girl who has been through "The Way of the Master" training course but has at least a toe still in the world. I exhorted her to tell someone about Jesus that night: history has several examples of evangelists saved under their own preaching.

The son of a pastor came next, he asked if I believed in predestination. I said, "the word is in the Bible." He said he believed he was predestinated to not be saved. I said that sounded like a wicked excuse to sin. We talked for a while longer and he seemed convicted and ran off. He left his girlfriend though, and we continued the gospel conversation. She said she wasn't a Christian, but that I was definitely sharing Christ in the wrong way. I asked her how she was sharing Christ and she said she wasn't. I replied that I liked the way I was doing it better than the way she wasn't. She went away thinking.

The last good conversation of the night was with a Catholic young man who asked to take a picture with the cross. He then asked, why are you doing this? I said, so I can ask you if you're going to Heaven. He said he hoped so, but after the good person test he showed visible contrition. Pray for him, because his girlfriend told me his motives in taking the picture with the cross were not good at all, but we know that what was meant for evil God can easily turn for good, that many are saved.

We've had a great evangelistic time here, and great fellowship. Thank you once again for the prayers, continue to pray for those who heard the message of the cross, that it would not be foolish to them, but the power of God to salvation. May the Lamb who was slain receive the reward of his suffering!

Public Acknowledgement of Sin, and Subsequent Repentance

Saints,

After much prayer, counsel, and scripture reading, I have been convicted that I have misrepresented Christ and his word in the skipping of step three during the church discipline issue of March 5th, 2012. This letter is my public repentance and a record of what has gone on between me and God.

On March 4th and 5th, I believed I had exhausted all means of moving to step three of church discipline (bringing the matter before the church and calling for public repentance), and because the accused was unreachable, I moved on Titus 3:10-11, to warn once, then twice, then to have nothing to do with the person, knowing they are warped, sinful, and self-condemned. Fortunately, even while I moved directly to step four (declaring the person to be unrepentant and an unbeliever), several who read this treated my step four as step three, and God protected the church-discipline proceedings from my sin.

Upon prayer and scripture reading, I was especially convicted by the danger which a skipped step places the sinner in, as evidenced by the sin (my sin) which is committed in Matthew 18:31 when steps were skipped, “When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.” The proper response for these fellow servants was to confront their friend first privately, then with witnesses, then in a larger setting, and only finally turn him over to the master.

Beloved, I skipped the “larger setting” or bringing it before the church, and moved directly to the dangerous step of turning the person over to the Master. I sincerely apologize for the damage this may have caused the name of Christ, and the unity of the body. I have learned much from this sin and subsequent conviction, and pray that you are able to learn from my mistake, sin, and experience instead of having to walk this road yourself.

In the future I will make every effort to see church discipline carried out in precisely the way which it is described in Matthew 18:15-20 and 1 Timothy 5:19-21, among others. Church discipline is a wonderful gift given to the church by Christ by which we may reclaim brothers who are in sin, and I pray that I will never fail to follow it faithfully again, and that you likewise will strive to uphold Christ’s word perfectly.

Believer, rejoice with me in the words of that great hymn,
My sin, oh the bliss, of this glorious thought:
My sin, not in part, but the whole
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Oh my soul.

For Christ and his bride,
Canyon Shearer

Post Script: Concerning the matter at hand, step three was completed inadvertently to my actions and sin, and many others have witnessed the dangers I noted, as well as other fruit that has emerged in the time that has elapsed, and so we have unfortunately reached step four, not in my faithfulness, but in the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thinking Through Church Discipline

Introduction

Someone sins against you, or their sin becomes apparent to you; what do you do? Should you immediately find his pastor? Should you tell your friend? Should you post it to your prayer list? Should you stand him up in church and point your finger at him declaring his sin to the world?

No, if you do any of that, you are sinning against God and the person whom you are backbiting. God hates backbiters (Proverbs 6:16,19). There is a real danger in the church today of people who refuse to practice the process of church discipline laid out in Matthew 18:15-20. If someone sins against you, you are to go directly to them in private, it is not until step three, taking it to the church, that you are even required to mention this to the person’s pastor.

This is a hard process, it hurts, it hurts emotionally and spiritually, and you may even receive a black eye for it (Proverbs 9:7). Spiritually you may gain your brother, or you may earn yourself an enemy (Proverbs 9:8). But in all of this you are emulating Christ, who sought his greatest enemies, confronted them in their sins, and he received for his efforts spittle, violence, berating, and death, but when these people did turn, he received them as brothers, and the joy that was set before him.

Because it is hard, most churches won’t do it. I learned from a false teacher yesterday that she wanted a pastor who would never confront someone in their sins; of course that’s her desire, it’s so she can walk in every form of sin and commandeering attitude and be free from the fear of earthly rebuke. But if you love the church, you must be willing to call them to repentance, to desire for them to be saved from sin, and for them to love the discipline of God that produces righteousness, and to have an extreme fear of heavenly rebuke that is remedied only in the perfect love of Jesus Christ.

So beloved, will you honestly and sincerely endeavor to hold faithfully to biblical teaching on church discipline? This blog will hopefully encourage you towards that end.

The Goal

The goal of church discipline is to NOT finish church discipline. We never want to get to excommunicating a member, declaring them an unbeliever, and turning them over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh. WE DO NOT WANT THAT. If you want that, then reader, stop here and examine yourself. The Apostle Paul was willing to give up his own salvation and be condemned himself, if his friends and family could be saved (Romans 9:3); if you cannot say the same, then you have not met Paul’s God, because Paul’s God put on flesh and gave his life not just for friends and family, but for horrible wicked sinners; that’s love demonstrated (Romans 5:6-8).

Our goal is to see sinners saved, both from the effects of bad theology, and if it is bad enough, from the consequence of facing a furious God with no Mediator.

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. - James 5:19-20

The First Step

The first step is not to go right to your pastor or elder or supervisor or Sunday School teacher or mom or ANYONE else; you must go to the person who has sinned. I’ve seen pastors crushed by the tattle-tale mentality of many churches, where every minor issue is brought to top-tier attention, and often without the sinner even knowing anyone had an issue against him.

I remember years and years ago when I was in elementary school hearing a teacher scold someone by saying, “Don’t tattle.” I was perplexed because I thought the teacher was saying, “Overlook people doing things wrong.” Granted, she didn’t explain herself well at all, but looking back I assume what she meant, and what is biblical, is “Don’t tattle, handle this situation on your own first.”

The “I’m gonna tell” mentality that permeates many people in churches today is a backbiting divisive nasty belief that MUST be crushed. You’ll not only overburden your pastors/elders damaging their shepherding efficiency, but you’ll spread dissention, distrust, and ultimately you might even destroy a church.

Beloved: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother (Matthew 18:15).” I promise if you take this route, you will win many brothers.

The Second Step

The first step in the second step is to ask if the first step has been accomplished. If someone comes to you with a complaint against someone else, and they haven’t gone to that person privately, you must refuse to listen to them or even consider their issue.

If the first step has been legitimately taken and the sinner will not listen, then the second step can be accomplished. Now you involve one or two other people. Should it be your pastor/elder now? It can be, but there is no requirement for it to be. Preferably the person or persons you bring to be the second witnesses will know nothing of the details, this way they can not only hear the accusation, but they can see the response as well. A large part in repentance is not necessarily what you say, but your attitude. A believer will respond in love, joy, peace, kindness, but an unbeliever will respond with self-justification and rivalry, and maybe even flee from the conflict. We’re not just looking for repentance, we’re looking for teachability as well, look at what Jesus said,

If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church... - Matthew 18:16-17

If you’ve never read the vision in Ezekiel 8-9, I’d encourage you to do that today. In that story God sends angels to decimate Jerusalem, while an evangelist precedes them marking any who will mourn over their sins, and these are saved from the angels of war. The call is not for sinlessness, for we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, the call is for a recognition of sin and the ability to have sin pointed out to us; then we can work through repentance and reconciliation, and seek a Saviour.

On this point, let me make a radical claim; church discipline can work both ways. It may be that the accused is not the one in error, but the witnesses are. I can give you an example, someone was once accused of rejecting the adage, “God hates the sin but loves the sinner.” Discipline got to step two, at step two the accused approached the group (slightly more than three, but less than seven), and admitted that he was against Southern Baptist tradition, and that he wanted to examine the scriptures, because he did not want to be found misrepresenting God. They did examine the scriptures, some more diligently than others, and at the end of the day one of the accusers, while reading Hosea 9:15, turned to a biblical understanding of God’s hatred towards the practitioners of sin.

The point of that little story is that the accused demonstrated Christian character and fruit, and it was readily apparent to some of the called witnesses that he was not deserving of further discipline because of his teachable and humble spirit. This is one reason why we have two or more (I wouldn’t suggest going over the scriptural three, though some do) witnesses, because the first witness may be wrong. If all witnesses agree, then the goal is to show the accused that scripture and saints stand in opposition to his beliefs and/or actions.

The Third Step

The first step in pursuing the third step is to make sure the first step has been completed. The second step is to make sure the second step has been completed. Once you are certain that one person has personally and privately confronted someone in their sin, they were unresponsive, one or two others witnessed their sin and confronted them, and they were unresponsive, now you take it before the local church body. At this point you have some conscientious decisions to make, how many in the local church? Some churches only bring it before sparsely populated meetings; that is wrong, and not what is in view. Others don’t think it can be done because of the small size of their church; Jesus says this only needs two or three gathered in his name (Matthew 18:20). As much as possible the pastor should inform, at the same time, the entire church (1 Corinthians 5:4) of the issues, and with the entire church calling the accused to repent:

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church... - Matthew 18:17

The Fourth Step

The fourth step obviously starts with step one, two, and three; step four, except in an exceptional case which I’ll discuss in the next section of this article, cannot occur without those steps being taken. If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector (Matthew 18:17).

After these steps, Jesus Christ is in agreement with the church in declaring the person to be outside of the camp. Elsewhere the Bible says this person is turned over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh (1 Corinthians 5:5), again with the goal being that they turn and live. The call is to avoid this person and treat them as an unbeliever (Romans 16:17), let them be ashamed, not out of malice, but out of love and desire to see them saved (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15).

When the Process Fails

The third step, as evidenced both by Jesus in Matthew 18 and Paul in 1 Corinthians 5, is to be done in front of the gathering of believers. Some schismatics and sinners will flee from rebuke, they fly from any hint of potential damage to their pride. If you cannot, under any circumstances, get this person to step three, are they safe from chastisement and have they escaped discipline?

By no means. Scripture provides an option for reaching out to a sinning professed believer who is unreachable through step three of prescribed church discipline. In no wise should this be normative and in no wise should it be done brashly. Matthew Henry states, “They are not easily and soon to be given up and cast off, but competent time and means must be tried for their recovery. Upon continued obstinacy and irreclaimableness, the church has power, and is obliged, to preserve its own purity, by severing such a corrupt member which discipline may by God’s blessing become effectual to reform the offender, or if not it will leave him the more inexcusable in his condemnation.”

This is in regards to Titus 3:10-11 concerning divisive people within the church. None is so divisive as one who runs from church discipline while still claiming to be a member of the church universal. Adequate time must be given to attempt to win this person, though the passage does not say it, myself and commentators agree the two warnings must have some degree of separation.

John Calvin put it this way, “neither shall we have a right to pronounce a man to be a heretic, nor shall we be at liberty to reject him, till we have first endeavored to bring him back to sound views.”

Now you may say that that Titus 3:10-11 is just shortened version of the model of church discipline in Matthew 18, but John Gill, Matthew Henry, Charles Spurgeon, and John Calvin did not see this. John Gill said, “this is not to be understood of private admonition, by a particular person or persons; as in the case of private offences (Matthew 18:15,16) but of public admonition, in the name of the church.”

This is not a job for individuals, Spurgeon said, “When it comes to unbelief of fundamental and vital doctrines, we who are like Titus, set in office over a church, must deal with such deadly evils with a strong hand.” Calvin said similarly, “He does not mean that of a private individual, but an admonition given by a minister, with the public authority of the church.” The note in the Geneva Bible says, "the ministers of the word must at once cast off heretics, that is, such as stubbornly and seditiously disquiet the Church, and will give no ear to Ecclesiastical admonitions."

May Titus 3:10-11 be our last resort, for it concludes by saying, “such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.” John Calvin clarifies, “we must not rashly or at random pronounce any man to be a heretic; for he says, ‘Knowing that he who is such is ruined.’ Let the bishop therefore beware lest, by indulging his passionate temper, he treat with excessive harshness, as a heretic, one whom he does not yet know to be such.”

How to Escape Church Discipline

We’ve looked at these passages, and if you’re in sin, a faithful church will see to it that everything possible is done to reclaim your soul. Maybe you thought you could escape by running from the church, but then you realized that there is a contingent for processing those who do such. Scripturally, you can avoid church discipline. Some think it’s through a legal option:

You Should Sue

A church that has set you outside the camp publically has declared that you are not a Christian, do not bear a Christian character, and that no Christian should associate with you. That is most certainly defamation of character. But don’t forget what Charles Spurgeon said, “If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him. For you are far worse that he thinks you to be.”

But in our modern world there is always the option to take it to the courts. Never mind that you’re completely ignoring 1 Corinthians 6:1-8; that’s probably why you’re in this predicament to start with. Take it to court.

But you may be interested to know that there is already legal precedent, and has been for nearly a millennia, with people who sue churches over being disciplined. In Alabama, in Yates v. El Bethel Primitive Baptist Church, the magistrate there declared that the state has no authority over church governance. Just recently in Texas, Westbrook v. Penley, the state clearly and convincingly articulated their limited jurisdiction and that they had no authority over the church or a pastor in the church. Church discipline stood.

So legally you can’t get out of church discipline. Your only hope, your only true option, is to do it biblically.

Listen and Turn

Should you turn, should you have sorrow, should you demonstrate even the smallest bit of Christian contrition, then the call is to reaffirm love, to welcome back into fellowship, and to rejoice that a brother has been regained, your soul is saved from death and your sins are covered.

Listen to the concerns of brothers who bring charges against you, if you are a believer, then surely you can see some truth in what they say, even if it is not what you want to hear. If discipline were fun, everyone would be constantly confessing their sins so that their brothers and sisters would help them work through them, but we need discipline.

For the Christian we have such a blessing to have a Heavenly Father and his Glorious Son who love us enough to discipline us (Hebrews 12:5-17, Revelation 3:19).

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. - Hebrews 12:11 (Compare Luke 6:40)

It is the churches goal to see all of its members obtain the grace of God, and to protect its members from bitterness and disunity; the only way to do this is through faithfully holding to the trustworthy Word as taught.

Oh, why will you die!? God has no delight in the death of the wicked! Turn, and live! (Ezekiel 18:31-32)

Conclusion

Church discipline is a wonderful gift given from Christ to his bride. It provides a solid avenue of correction, and a stated goal of full reconciliation without having to complete the discipline. I pray that you are encouraged to always start at step one and to never jump over this step, I pray that you are discouraged at those who have had to be taken to step four, and more discouraged by those who skip step one; I pray that you are encouraged by godly leaders who are able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it (Titus 1:9).

It is essential that we pray for one another, that we exhort one another, that we be well acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. For all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:15-17). May our first love be Jesus Christ, may we love the body of Christ as much as we love the head. May we strive through church discipline to see to it that no-one among us fails to obtain the grace of God.