Josh Benner

Category: Commentary

  • Evangelism as a way of life

    Evangelism as a way of life

    Jesus calls all of his followers to make disciples, to follow the Great Commission, to share the good news of the gospel. To those with whom we share the gospel, there will be some who will want nothing to do with it but there will also be those who are drawn to the message.

    We can’t assume that people know the gospel. And that’s always been true. There has always been the need for personal evangelism. 

    But our society used to have more of a church culture where it was easier to assume that a person was at least familiar with the gospel. That there was some common ground. That people were churched. 

    The struggle of evangelism

    I think that’s at least part of the reason why personal evangelism has become such a struggle. Because for a long time, people didn’t think it was necessary. It’s not that churches would overtly say that evangelism was unnecessary. 

    But when one perceives the society as largely already being Christian, then the need for personal evangelism seems less pressing. 

    Sure, it might be needed in other countries where they don’t have the gospel. Missions were important. But did we truly look at our own household, our own workplace, our own community as our own mission field?

    Undoubtedly, some did. I’m not saying no one shared the gospel. But what I’m saying is that America had become so saturated in Christendom that we lost a culture of evangelization. Perhaps we never had it. 

    Our society is becoming less religious. And Bible believing churches are now dealing with the fallout of a society where evangelism was not emphasized in the past and where evangelism skills were not taught. 

    Again, I’m speaking in broad generalities. It’s not like no one has practiced evangelism. And some churches did a better job than others with outreach. But overall, evangelistic efforts lagged. 

    The industry of evangelical Christianity

    Over the last 30 years as we’ve seen declines in the church in America, we were also seeing a greater industry of Christianity. 

    Entire TV networks dedicated to televangelists, an explosion in book publishing, popular Christian music, Christian movies, Christian conference, Chrisitan celebrities. There was a rising megachurch movement.

    The emphasis with these things was often in being “practical.” Tips on raising good kids, tips on dating and finding a good spouse, tips on marriage and having a good marriage, tips on finances. 

    Many churches became a place to hear a self-help message rather than the message of Jesus who calls his followers to die to self.

    Again, it’s not that all churches became this way but those churches became the popular churches and it influenced other churches. 

    Sermons that lost their theological weight. Music that was emotive, self-centered and shallow. Youth groups that were more concerned with entertaining kids than teaching them about Jesus. 

    In the Bible, Jesus calls us to count the cost before following him. Jesus also tells us to take up our cross and follow him, but this was replaced by a prosperity Jesus who asked little of us. 

    It took more of an inward focus rather than living in the world as a disciple and a herald of the gospel message. 

    The practical Christianity industry did not necessarily focus on preaching the gospel, let alone sharing it with others. 

    And so we have a command of Jesus and many well-meaning Christians aren’t equipped and don’t know how to follow it. 

    Why do people share the gospel? 

    Motivations to evangelize

    Two reasons comes to mind. And they’re not mutually exclusive. One is a sense of obligation. That’s a fine reason to share the gospel. It is, after all, a command of Christ. 

    But there’s a second reason that’s also important and that is because you have such a love for God and a knowledge of the grace of Christ and see such beauty in the gospel of his grace that you want to share that with others. 

    Obligation, you can force yourself to do. And that can work. I have no doubt many people have been led to Jesus by those who were faithful to share the message but who, in that moment, didn’t really want to. And we should praise the Lord for those who are faithful. 

    You can force yourself to do something from obligation. 

    You cannot force yourself to have a genuine love for the gospel and a passion for making Jesus known. That can only come as the result of a love for Jesus and a life that is centered around Jesus. 

    Walking with Jesus

    Towards the end of the Book of Galatians, Paul will talk of walking in step with the Spirit so that we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). 

    Paul talks about the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 

    We don’t create that ourselves. It is a supernatural work of the Spirit. 

    In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul talks about the transformative effect of looking to God. 

    we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 

    Looking to God, knowing the truth of God, serving God, praying to God, having a constant God-centered mind is transformational. 

    In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks of the person who is blessed by living as kingdom people in the world. I won’t read them all but among them, Jesus says; 

    6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 

    7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 

    8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 

    And on and on. The Psalmist says taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). 

    As Christians, we need to live a life where you can be the kind of people who love Jesus so much that you want to share him with others. 

    If you look at evangelism as merely an obligation, then maybe you’ll talk to people about Jesus sometimes. But to evangelize out of love must come from living for Jesus as a way of life. 

    Is your faith something that you just sort of attach onto your life and ultimately doing what you want to do? Or is it what drives you? 

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  • Sermon: Part of a new age – Galatians 1:1-5

    The world is dead in sin but the gospel promises us another world. In Galatians 1, Paul talks of how Jesus has rescued Christians from “the present evil age.” We have been rescued and delivered for something else but we often still live so much like the rest of the world. Through the gospel, Jesus points us to a new life.

    Sermon transcript

  • Blessed are the persecuted. Matthew 5:10-12

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    10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
    -Matthew 5:10-12

    Almost 2,000 years ago when Jesus preached these words, they also would have been radical to his audience. Persecution is never looked at as a blessing.

    But in Matthew 5, Jesus says that it is.

    Part of what Jesus is saying in these verses is that there is blessedness for the person who’s life is so clearly devoted to God, who is so clearly living out their Christian faith, that they face opposition because of it.

    If a Christian goes through life and never faces opposition, you might be living too comfortably in the world.

    If you never face any heat because of your faith, you might not be associating with anyone who disagrees with what you believe.

    In 2 Timothy 3, the Apostle Paul talks about persecution.

    “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

    ALL who live for Christ will be persecuted.

    Persecution is part of the Christian life. The Bible does not shy away from this fact.

    Shortly before the time of his crucifixion, Jesus said to his disciples in John 5:18-19:

     “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

    Something doesn’t have to be a matter of life and death to be persecution. In American society, we don’t generally hear stories of a person being killed just because they are a Christian. It’s not absolutely unheard of, but it’s rare.

    The persecution American Christians face is often times more social or legal. That can still put us in situations where it’s tempting to sin, where it’s tempting to respond a certain way that we shouldn’t. That still puts us in situations where it’s easier to just go along with what the world is doing than taking a stand for what you believe.

    I know a mechanic who’s a Christian. He was committed to being honest in his dealings with customers. He was so honest that his boss didn’t like him and eventually fired him.

    My wife told me a story about how when she was in high school, she was interviewing to be part of a local youth leadership program in her community. While she was at her interview, one of the people making the decision saw that she was a student at a Christian high school. He started berating her with questions about her faith, questioning how she could believe in Jesus. Asking nothing about this youth organization. Essentially just harassing her about her faith.

    Again, the gospel is a message that some find offensive. “To one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life (2 Corinthians 2:16).”

    There have been examples of groups trying to silence coaches of public school teams from praying with players before games, even when it’s voluntary. I read a story today about the Freedom from Religion Foundation suing a public school in Ohio. A local pastor was leading a Bible study with students at lunch. It was optional. But FFRF still needed to swoop in and sue. There have been legal pressures on Christian universities to cover abortions for staff.

    Those are just a few examples.

    But in living for Jesus, in a fallen world, it is inevitable that there will be times when a person’s faith comes under fire.

    Responding 

    When a person is being persecuted and has a choice of if they’re going to respond in a Christlike way or if they’re going to respond in a hostile way. You can be light to a dark world or you can just spread the darkness.

    The Apostle James talked about the various trials that Christians face:

    “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).”

    As evil as the persecution that Christians face can be, it’s an opportunity to respond with love. Jesus told us to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44).

    God can use those situations as a way to strengthen us in our own faith. To focus us on what we truly value.

    Another part of the reason why persecution is seen as a blessing is that the harsher the persecution, the more that is taken away from a person, the more someone is able to live in total dependence on God and reliance in his ability to preserve them. That’s not to say that the persecution is good in itself. It’s obviously not. That’s not to say that sin is good. It’s not. But through the evils that people commit, God can still use that for good.

    Again, if you’re not ever facing any pressure because of your faith, you might not be living in a way that is distinct from the world. I’m not saying we should go out of our way to be combative. The verse does not say that all persecution is good. It’s when a person is following Jesus and is persecuted for righteousness’ sake that blessed a person.

    It’s a radical idea. But let us remember that we have a savior who faced the ultimate persecution for righteousness’ sake.

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  • Megachurch pastor takes leave of absence for inappropriate online relationship

    Influential megachurch pastor Matt Chandler announced yesterday that he was being placed on leave as a result of an online social media relationship.

    We shouldn’t jump to conclusions. And the more facts we get about this situation, the better. But I am a believer that when popular ministry figures acknowledge (as Chandler does) or are credibly accused of potentially disqualifying sins, that people should be investigated. We have created a culture where it is appealing to become an influential pastor. It brings money, fame, and power. The character of these individuals does matter. 

    Chandler’s story

    One of the peculiarities of the revelation of Chandler’s leave of absence is that he was allowed to announce it to the church. This also allowed him to get out ahead of the controversy and give his own narrative. 

    Chandler begins with his series of events, “Several months ago, a woman approached me outside here in the foyer. She had some concerns for how I was DM’ing on Instagram with a friend of hers. I didn’t think I had done anything wrong in that. My wife knew that, her husband knew that. And yet, there were a couple of things that she said that were disorienting to me.” 

    Chandler says he immediately contacted the church’s lead pastor, Josh Patterson as well as the chairman of their elder board. He said he went home and told his wife about the exchange and that the elder board looked into it. Chandler says “We cannot be a church where anyone is above the Scriptures and above the high heavenly call into Christ Jesus.” 

    He says that the elder board had some concerns but that the conversations were not romantic or sexual but that the conversations were “unguarded and unwise” and that the concerns were “really about frequency and familiarity” and language Chandler had used which was “coarse and foolish.” 

    Because of Chandler’s inability to see what he was in was probably revealing some “unhealth” in him, but that he agreed with the board’s decision to put him on a leave of absence. 

    Chandler again thanks the elders for holding him accountable saying “do you know how easy it would have been to make it nothing and just let me not address whatever this is?”  

    Commentary

    I think this is part of the problem with Chandler being able to speak in this situation. Even if I take his statement at face value. He starts off by talking about how his wife and the other lady’s husband knew about the conversations (minimizing the issue). He didn’t think they were doing anything inappropriate. 

    Plus the wording of his statement is vague. It was unguarded and unwise but it wasn’t romantic. It was coarse and foolish but it wasn’t sexual. 

    So what was it?! What did he say that was so bad that he got put on leave? The really striking phrase to me is “do you know how easy it would have been to make it nothing and just let me not address whatever this is?” I feel like that could almost have a double meaning, but perhaps that’s me being cynical.. 

    So you have Chandler speaking and saying he hadn’t thought it was a big deal but he is also totally respecting the decision of the board (to suspend him for something that is totally undefined and unclear). 

    It makes it look like the Village has the highest elder standards of any church in America! Their standards are so high that they would even suspend a rockstar pastor without it even being an overtly, obviously, disqualifying sin. 

    Do they have the highest standards? Time will tell. 

    The church’s story

    According to a statement from the church who had commissioned an investigation in to Chandler’s texting, emails, and social media, they said that the messages were not “romantic or sexual in nature” but that “the frequency and familiarity of the messages crossed a line. They revealed that Matt did not use language appropriate for a pastor” 

    The church’s statement agrees with Chandler that “the messages were not romantic or sexual in nature, the frequency and familiarity of the messages crossed a line.”

    The best possible light

    I think that the best possible light, and what I hope is the reality is that Chandler made some mistakes and that the church is holding him accountable. That’s how it’s being framed. The church has crafted a narrative of how they want things to appear. 

    If it’s all true, then yes, the Village could be looked at as a model of pastoral standards, ministerial integrity, and Biblically restorative discipline. Again, I hope that’s the case. But for now, all we have is their side of the story. 

    The worst possible light 

    There are no shortage of skeptics out there who want to assume the worst, to assume that there’s much more under the surface, that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Sadly, that is something we’ve seen before with ministry scandals. 

    If it’s the worst case scenario, it would be another fall from grace from another popular pastor. And it would be a sad day for me, someone who’s always really appreciated Chandler’s ministry. In my early 20s, Chandler’s sermons were a major influence on my faith. I had never heard anyone preach like him before. He was engaging and matter of fact. He was funny. I found his sermons smart without being pretentious. I felt like he wasn’t afraid to address the gritty and difficult parts of life, while painting a beautiful picture of what living life for Jesus could be like. For all of those reasons, I again say with sincerity, that I hope that everything he and his church have said is true. If it’s true, I hope they also have a healthy process for restoration and that he can eventually be restored to ministry and to continue to do the work he’s done for nearly two decades at the Village which has blessed so many across the world. 

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  • Evangelism Training Podcast Interview: Dr. Randy Newman

    Randy Newman is an evangelist, author, seminary professor. He also works with the C.S. Lewis Institute, and in this episode, we talk about Dr. Newman’s latest book “Mere Evangelism” which pulls evangelistic insights from the writings of C.S. Lewis, the greatest Christian apologist of the 20th century and a man who is as popular today (nearly 60 years after his death) than he was during his own lifetime.