WHY EVANGLISE?

Colossians 4:1-6

During April last year, Australian tests on a new drug were called off two months early. Not because something had GONE WRONG. But because something had GONE RIGHT. It was the trial of a new Breast Cancer drug. And on a group of 1500 women, half of them had been given this drug called Tamoxifen and the other had been given sugar pills that did nothing. To compare, and test whether Tamoxifen had any effects.

But then news came that the same tests in the United States had already proved that TAMOXIFEN ACTUALLY WORKED. That this new drug could cut the rate of breast cancer by 45%. They've finally found something that can HELP.

Now what do you do when that happens? What do you do if you’re running the Australian drug trial, and suddenly you KNOW that Tamoxifen actually helps. And here you’ve got 750 women taking sugar pills that do nothing.

Well, they did the right thing. They announced the results. Called off the trial. And the 750 women on the placebo were offered the real drug.

On the other hand, you've got the story that everyone's been talking about this week where exactly the OPPOSITE HAPPENED. There was a study in Europe that apparently showed that MORE FOLIC ACID in your diet can actually help prevent Alzheimer's disease. Simple. And incredibly dramatic results that showed the correlation. Problem was, the study was funded by a drug company. And with something as simple as eating more broccoli, there's no money in it. So they just closed down the research. And said nothing to anyone.

What do you think of people who'd do that? Such great news. Such simple news. And they do nothing with it.

It's wrong, isn't it. When you've got LIFE SAVING NEWS. And you don't pass it on. You just keep it to yourself.

So let me ask you, what do YOU DO? If you’ve got a message like that. A message of HOPE. A message that’s GOOD NEWS for people who are otherwise headed for death.

Because when you’re a Christian, when you’ve come to follow Jesus, you’ve heard news EXACTLY like that. You’ve accepted it yourself. And you’re called to pass it on.

In a world that’s hurting, where people are lost, you know that you’ve been FOUND. By Jesus. In a world where people are INSECURE… you’ve found security. And acceptance. With God himself. In a world where people are loaded down with guilt, you’ve found FORGIVENESS. In a world that's headed for death and judgement, you’ve found eternal life. In a world full of alienation, full of loneliness, you’ve been made part of a new family. In a world without PURPOSE, you've found MEANING. And a reason to live. In a world with no HOPE… You've got future glory. All of that because the Son of God has made himself known; has paid the penalty for your sin; has brought you back into a right relationship with the God who made you. You’ve got all that.

What are you going to do with it? I want to spend a little bit of time thinking with you this morning about the whole question of SHARING THE GOSPEL. The GOOD NEWS about Jesus.

Because in spite of the fact you probably ENJOY ALL THOSE BENEFITS of being a Christian, TELLING OTHER PEOPLE ABOUT IT is something that’s HARD TO DO, isn’t it. A challenge that makes even tough men quiver. Not to mention tough women.

Sometimes we call it EVANGELISM; which is a word that simply means SHARING THE GOOD NEWS.

And the trouble is, it’s a word that’s got all sorts of bad press, hasn’t it? I mean, say the word EVANGELIST, and what comes to mind? A slick American guy with a greasy hairdo and a great big bible. Yelling at people. Weird people who go around door to door. And won’t leave when you want them to. Or religious fanatics with long beards who stand on the footpath in the city with those sandwich board signs on them. During assembly last week in the city, we'd come out into the town hall square for our lunch break. And every day, there'd be one at Speakers Corner. Waving a bible around. Talking to the air. Nobody even stopping to listen. Least of all us good Presbyterians. We just walked by too. Embarrassing, isn't it?

That’s evangelism. At least, that’s how people imagine it. And so as soon as I want to start talking about SHARING THE GOOD NEWS, that’s maybe what you’re thinking of.

Well, RELAX. Take it easy. Because today I don’t want anyone to walk out of here a religious fanatic. I don’t want anyone to walk out of here and put on a sandwich board sign. And start preaching on the footpath. I mean, you can if you like. It’s up to you. But that’s NOT WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.

What I’m talking about is something far bigger. And that is, being so committed to FOLLOWING JESUS… that people SEE IT IN YOUR LIFE. And they HEAR IT FROM YOUR LIPS. In natural ways that flow out of what you're doing everyday. And the other thing I want to say is, gospel work is TEAM WORK. You’re not in it on your own.

We’re in Colossians chapter 4; the end of a letter from the apostle Paul to his Christian friends in the city of Colossae. And Paul is the world’s first great missionary. The first great evangelist. When it comes to telling people about Jesus, he’s a specialist. But even for Paul, can you see it’s A TEAM EFFORT. It’s a team that’s made up of people like him on the front line. And Tychicus who you see in verse 7. And Aristarchus in verse 10.

But as well as that, there are a whole lot of ordinary people like the Colossian Christians backing him up. Especially backing him up in prayer. Now that doesn’t let them off the hook. Because they’ve got a SPEAKING ROLE as well. But it’s not necessarily the same as Paul; he’s doing the big public stuff, taking on the Jewish leaders, speaking in the synagogues. Which is why you’ll see there in verse 3 that he’s ended up in chains. High profile, high risk. But at this point, can you see he’s asking the Colossians to BACK HIM UP. And especially by their prayers.

So have a look what he says in verse 2 and 3. "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains."

Paul says, no matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter if you’re the sort of person who only opens your mouth to change feet, no matter if you’re old and shut in, PRAY. Pray for the people in the front lines of gospel ministry, who are publicly proclaiming Christ.

Muriel Doyle was a very old lady when I first met her back in Sydney. Spending her final years in the Salvation Army Retirement Village at Collaroy. And you know, every day she’d be up at the crack of dawn, praying. Praying for her minister. Praying for missionaries. Praying for anybody she knew who was involved in TELLING OTHER PEOPLE ABOUT JESUS. And I know some of you do the same.

We PRAY, because in the end we DEPEND ON GOD to open doors to our message. To open ears and hearts. And will you notice in verse 4, the prayer isn’t that Paul will be a fancy talker; not that he’ll bowl them over with his eloquence and big words. The prayer is for something else. That I reckon a lot of Christians have lost sight of. And a lot of churches have lost sight of. But it’s something worth holding very dear. And that’s SIMPLICITY. CLARITY.

Now it’s a funny thing – the Colossians, these people Paul’s writing to, they LOVED MYSTERIES. And especially when it came to religion. Maybe you know people like that today. Who love that tingly spooky feeling of mystery. Smoke and incense and deep secrets.

Can you see how Paul turns that stuff on his head? He says the only mystery he’s got to talk about is THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST. And he doesn’t want to be MYSTERIOUS ABOUT IT at all. Or deep. Or clever. He says, PRAY THAT I’ll be CLEAR when I explain the MYSTERY OF CHRIST. Funny how many churches get that exactly back to front, isn’t it. And the CLEAR ends up mysterious. They end up being MYSTERIOUS… about the CLARITY OF CHRIST.

… taking Opportunities

Now the biggest difference between Paul and the Colossians he's writing to, is he’s on the front line… as God opens the doors, he’s MAKING opportunities for the gospel. The challenge he puts to the Colossians in verse 5 is just that they’ll TAKE opportunities.

But the goal is exactly the same. Clearly telling people about Jesus. And using the WAY THEY LIVE… as a walking, living advertisement of what it means to follow him.

These days they reckon teaching materials have got to be MULTIMEDIA, or people just won’t pay attention. Multimedia means YOU SEE IT. And YOU HEAR IT. Pictures and sound. Like you get with CD Roms on your computer. Well, that’s how it’s got to be with our EVANGELISM. The way we spread the good news about Jesus. So the people around us SEE IT in our lives that we follow Jesus. And they HEAR IT from our lips.

Have a look in the passage at the key verse. Colossians 4, verse 5. And you’ll see that’s what Paul’s saying.

"Be wise in the WAY YOU ACT toward outsides; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always FULL OF GRACE, seasoned with salt… so that you may KNOW HOW TO ANSWER EVERYONE."

The way we act. And the things we say. A multimedia presentation of what it means to follow Jesus.

See, the problem is a lot of Christians want to say this. They want to say, WHAT IT BELIEVE IS PRIVATE. So I’m not going to SAY ANYTHING TO ANYONE. I’ll just LIVE IT. And let my actions speak for themselves.

Let me ask you to try something. Next time you’re watching TV, turn off the sound. And see how you go. Try it when you’re watching the news. And see what you can learn. ACTIONS WITHOUT WORDS. Try it watching Oprah, or the Seven Nightly News. Or a movie.

You won’t have a CLUE. And that’s the trouble with Christians who want to say they’ll SHOW THE GOSPEL WITH THEIR LIVES. But they won’t talk about it. Because all people are going to see is what they’ll assume is someone BEING GOOD. Someone nice. And the credit’s going to go to YOU. Instead of Jesus.

Paul says, BE WISE HOW YOU ACT towards unbelievers. Make sure you’re showing them what a REAL CHRISTIAN looks like. Which generally ISN’T the American Evangelist with the slicked back hair and the smooth talk and the big black bible. Be YOU. Be AUTHENTIC. Authentically Christian.

But as well as that, be ready to speak. Ready for opportunities. So that you’ll KNOW HOW TO ANSWER ANYONE. Anytime.

That’s what he says. Verse 6. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Conversations. Full of grace. Gracious in the way you speak. But also, full of talking about GOD'S GRACE TO US. In Christ. When's the last time you did that? And seasoned with salt. Not bland. With flavour.

And know how to answer everyone. That's a big ask, isn't it?

But let me put the challenge. Have you got a CLEAR PICTURE in your own mind of our gospel MESSAGE? Someone says to you, okay, what’s all this CHRISTIANITY STUFF ABOUT ANYWAY? They say, I can see you’re living differently to other people. WHY IS IT?

What are you going to say? Have you got it CLEAR? Or not? Paul says it’s IMPORTANT TO BE CLEAR. That’s what he wants the Colossians to pray that for him. And he wants it for us as well. Clarity. And ready answers. They go hand in hand.

He’s not saying you need a theology degree. He’s not saying you need to know every verse in the bible off by heart. But what you DO NEED TO DO is understand what it is that people need to hear. And what their questions are. And to understand that our message is more than just YOU SHOULD BELIEVE IN GOD. Or YOU SHOULD BE GOOD. Which is about as far as a lot of Christians get.

Have you bothered doing that? Putting the work in? Or do you just turn to goo? If you’re serious, there are books you should be reading. Like John Chapman’s KNOW AND TELL THE GOSPEL. A great book you can get at Koorong. Or things you can do to help you remember what you learn here on Sundays, or in your home group. Like TAKING NOTES. Talking about the things you’re learning with your Christian friends. Nutting things out. Asking me when you’re not clear about things. And especially, working your faith in Jesus DEEP INTO YOUR OWN LIFE AND THINKING. Asking yourself the sort of questions other people are asking. And nutting out the answers until you’re satisfied.

Can I challenge you today… what you have if you’ve come to know Jesus.. what you have, are the words of ETERNAL LIFE. And the world around us NEEDS THAT. So what are you doing?

As a church, you’re part of a team. Maybe the challenge for you is to work at PRAYING. Devoting yourself to it. Praying for opportunities. Praying for open doors. Maybe you’re a front line type person. Making opportunities. But even if you're not, you've got a responsibility to TAKE THEM... when they come along.

Because the point is, we've got GREAT NEWS. And a responsibility to share it.

So here’s the challenge. To make the most of every day and every opportunity; as an opportunity to live and speak the good news of Jesus. And to be praying ESPECIALLY for next week, when Dave Thurston will be with us; praying for friends who maybe you can invite along. Praying that God will move in people's hearts.

Look, like I said last week, it's not going to be like on of those guys waving a bible around in the domain. Dave's an ordinary down to earth guy. And that comes across. But God's given Dave some great gifts in being CLEAR WITH THE GOSPEL. And we should be praying that next Sunday that's what we'll hear. The essence of the gospel message, CLEARLY COMMUNICATED. And at the same time, we're going to work at being CAREFUL in the way we welcome outsiders who might come along. Being careful that we explain things, that we put them at ease, that we make sure they feel at home and understand what's happening. That's what next Sunday's all about. In a sense, if we're serious about EVANGELISM, it's what every day is all about.

Hear those words again…

Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt… so that you may know how to answer everybody.