20th August, 2010

BEV HOLMES-BROWN

"Why do Christians feel the need to tell everyone about their faith?” a friend asked me one day, clearly struggling to be polite and listen any longer. The question was not posed from curiosity; she obviously felt that my necessity to tell her about the God who had swept me off my feet was an invasion of her privacy and an unwanted challenge to her own Buddhist beliefs.

PICTURE: www.sxc.hu "We share the Gospel because the power of God resides within it; a power that is a preserver of societies bringing hope, deliverance, safety and freedom to all."

I am sure that as a new convert my zeal was partnered with insensitivity. Urgency consumed me and I could hardly contain all that I had learned about my God. I cannot remember what I answered that day but I have since discovered there are many ways to answer this question.

God in His infinite wisdom confounds our complex logic with a Gospel so simple that a child can share it.

There is a central component to the Gospel message that Christianity has inherited from its Judaic roots; it begins with the transformation of an individual and burgeons into the deliverance and rescue of institutions, communities and populations.

Why do we feel the need to share the Gospel?
We share the Gospel because the power of God resides within it; a power that is a preserver of societies bringing hope, deliverance, safety and freedom to all.

History gives many examples of rot and decay destroying nations from within. A poignant example of evil at work within a land is found in historical depictions of 18th century England.

Author, J. Wesley Bready described this period as one of "deep savagery". In his book, England, Before and After Wesley (known as This Freedom Whence? in the US), he wrote: “the wanton torture of animals for sport, the bestial drunkenness of the populace, the inhuman traffic in African negroes, the kidnapping of fellow countrymen for exportation and sale as slaves, the mortality of parish children, the universal gambling obsession, the savagery of the prison system and growing prevalence of lawlessness, superstition and lewdness, the political bribery and corruption, the ecclesiastical arrogance and truculence, the shallow pretensions of Deism, the insincerity and debasement rampant in the Church and State - such manifestations suggest that the British people were then perhaps as deeply degraded and debauched as any people in Christendom."

When the world of men had began to challenge the existence of God and philosophies broke free of the acceptance of religion without question, men and women of faith turned to God, not to science and logic, for answers.

God’s response was to break the shackles of dry and empty religion from them so that they could clearly see what was happening within their own societies. Men like John and Charles Wesley and George Whitfield travelled the length and breadth of Britain and even to the Americas to bring news of God’s power. The populace needed to know that hope was not futile; that their lives were valuable to God. They preached the Gospel and through their message called for social reform.

Author and teacher, Rev John Stott has studied this period, especially the ensuing Evangelical Revival which "stirred Continents". John Wesley, he notes, had particular influence: "historians have attributed to Wesley’s influence rather than to any other the fact that Britain was spared the horrors of a bloody revolution like France’s".

France’s response to the injustice and cruelty of the day was a bloody revolution that was hungry for change and hungry for victims to lay the blame on. In England revival fires ignited the hearts of men and women, who instead of looking for the guilty, held themselves to blame.

Consider the legacy of the Gospel in England...
The same message preached to the early church was preached in the 18th century; it was no respecter of persons. Wealthy parliamentarians as well as common folk accepted God’s challenge to be changed on the inside before changing the world they lived in. Importantly, revival led to a "widespread philanthropy" or as some say, "a great humanitarian movement" that has impacted generations.

Consider the champions born into the legacy of the 18th century revival...
David Brainerd, William Carey, William Wilberforce, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Simeon, George Muller, David Livingstone, George Whitfield, The Earl of Shaftesbury, Charles Finney, William & Catherine Booth, James Hudson Taylor, Samuel Marsden, Joseph Frey, C.T. Studd...

Consider their victories...
They defended the rights of child workers, women, convicts, aborigines, Jews, lunatics, slum dwellers, low caste Indians and even animals; they fought to abolish footbinding, exposure of baby girls and the opium trade in China; hanging and the slave trade in the UK; the maltreatment of lower castes and the burning of widows in India; they helped combat leprosy, small pox and malaria in Thailand and helped establish strong churches in the nations of the world, many of which became safe havens for the weak and the vulnerable.

Why do Christians feel the need to share their faith?
The Gospel is more than words spoken, it provokes action and change. It empowers men and women who would never have considered themselves able, in their own strength, to change the world.

The words, “God loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die for you", were all I needed to hear to find Him, but the Gospel is more than a call to salvation, it is also a message of hope; a hope that sees further and higher and deeper than obstacles to change would otherwise allow.

It is alive and powerful, a divider and discerner of philosophies and intentions; an explosive force that disarms and subdues whilst bringing healing, wholeness and life.

The simplicity of the Gospel is its greatest power, of that I am convinced. The Lord has determined that His love would be the sword that would slice through the complexities of life.

In the light of the despair and hopelessness we see all around us, we have no choice but to preach the Gospel, to share our faith.

Recommended Reading:
New Issues Facing Christianity Today – Rev John Stott, Zondervan

Bev Holmes-Brown lives on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia with her husband Arthur and two children. In 2001 she began Link-Zone, a Christian Resource ministry with a mandate to “believe and pray for the reformation of values, systems and wisdom". Link-Zone seeks to promote the work of Aussie Front Liners, seeking out resources and tools that will bless and equip them whilst also sourcing exceptional material that will help believers understand and engage in contemporary battles. The website can be found at www.Link-Zone.net.

FOR MORE OF SIGHT-SEEING...  | more... |