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Know God vs. Know about God - the "isms" problem |
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Written by Ken
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Feb 18, 2010 at 03:14 AM |
~Is Evangelism an "ism"? Good thread. Really out there in the bare nerves territory, but I think that is what you intended. I like the original devotional very much.~
The comment above is a comment made to me concerning a post I made on a message board. Below is what I was led to write:
This got me thinking yesterday morning after I read it and got ready for work. So while I got to work at 7am and not a person around… prime time to type out what the Lord ministered to me.
First let me say that Evangelism is needed and needed more in the Body of Christ and many are led to Evangelize as we all, in one way or another, spread the Gospel, witness, and testify about God and how He works in our lives. Kinda surprises me that the Testimonies Forum on this board is not the most used of all forums.
First, I was reminded of the Great Commission and now that I can, I’ll find the scripture on Bible Gateway and paste it into this post. We have this in scripture twice so I’ll post both of them:
Mt 28: 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Mk 16: 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[b] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Well, we know this as Evangel”ism” these days. I’m not a highly educated man, I didn’t graduate high school but did pass that GED test so I don’t know when man got a hold of this command and applied the word Evangel”ism” to the Great Commission.
I have discussed these scriptures with others and many of those others are on this message board but not all as I have discussed this in Bible studies and amongst friends. After these talks I feel that the term “Evangelism” is simply mans way to accomplish the Great Commission. Why do I feel this? Well, as with pretty much all the ism’s of man, Evangelism has limited God concerning this command. I have been told by some others that God didn’t mean for us to include the signs! I say, if He didn’t mean what He said, why waste His breath?!!
OK, if He didn’t really intend them, why are the words from Jesus’ mouth stating what to do… well, an answer to this… man removes this portion from today’s Evangelism because Jesus didn’t “instruct” on the know how of healing, casting out demons, speaking in tongues, and that if we’re poisoned it won’t affect us. We are completely satisfied to go out and speak about Jesus under our own power and not His power.
Here is an example from the Bible which leads me to wonder why Evangelism, as man defines the Great Commission, has removed God’s Power and thus limits us to only the human effort of spreading the Gospel. Let’s look at this scripture:
Luke 10: 1 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also,[a] and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. 5 But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us[b] we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ 12 But[c] I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.
Woe to the Impenitent Cities
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.[d] 16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”
The Seventy Return with Joy
17 Then the seventy[e] returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather[f] rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus Rejoices in the Spirit
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All[g] things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” 23 Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; 24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”
Allot to read but today’s Evangel”ISM” suppresses and hinders some of what we read about in this example. The Body of Christ can’t do as God commanded and the answer is because Evangelism has been placed somewhere between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and by doing this… has disrupted the relationship and thus removed the power of God from us being obedient to God’s command which we know as the Great Commission.
There are examples we read of spreading the Gospel and no need for any signs, so signs are not necessary but man has been reduced to… they are never necessary by always doing this task their way and not God’s way as the Holy Spirit leads. Many are led to Christ and they accept Christ, Praise God.
But what if the Holy Spirit wanted to do something for those being spoken to… wanted to heal someone for example and due to today’s concept of Evangelism, the Holy Spirit was quenched because the planned agenda and script, or some “proven” method of the Evangelist… that doesn’t include the movement of the Holy Spirit.
I read some threads on this board asking about the Body of Christ and why we (the Church) cannot move in the Power of God? Well, it’s because we have placed various “isms” into our relationship with God and God isn’t gonna work through our understanding. He isn’t gonna tell us HOW to go out and spread the Gospel and while doing that, also heal, cast out demons, speak in new tongues. I can hear God saying, “Oh by the way, do this MY way and I’ll ENABLE you to do all I want and I’ll protect you from poison so DON’T worry about HOW… just DO!”
We just do it in obedience as the Holy Spirit leads us and we don’t need the “knowhow”, all God needs is people who are gonna allow themselves to be used so HE enables the healing, and casting and speaking in new tongues, and also protect us.
Evangel”ism”, mans way, limits us because we can’t accomplish all the tasks of the Great Commission except the, go out into the world and speak to others about God and baptize those who accept Jesus as their Savior. Nothing wrong but this still has us limited to doing it under only our strength and our resources without the Power of God because this “ism” puts human understanding to spreading the Gospel, designed methods, published “how to” books based on these methods, etc.
Today when a person Evangelizes and is followed by signs, it is only the type that they were holding up in their hands or nailed to walls for others to read.
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Inspiration 