Also by David Watson

Fear No Evil
I Believe in the Church
I Believe in Evangelism
Is Anyone There?
One in the Spirit
Renewal for Life
You are my God
DISCIPLESHIP

David Watson

www.hodderfaith.com
Unless indicated otherwise, Scripture quotations are taken from the Revised
Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights
reserved.

First published in Great Britain in 1981, this reissue first published in 2014
by Hodder & Stoughton. An Hachette UK company

Copyright © 1981 the estate of David Watson

The right of David Watson to be identified as the Author of the Work has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written
permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of
binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a
similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 444 79202 7

Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH

www.hodderfaith.com
To the various members of the team who have worked with me in Christian
missions and festivals throughout the world, who have shared with me,
encouraged me, been patient with me, and have shown me more of Christ.
 Foreword

A jolly saint of the recent past (was it William Temple? I can’t be sure)
confessed to praying, ‘God who made me simple, make me simpler yet.’
Surely the very thought of such a prayer will jangle nerves in the modern
West, where middle-class respectability, worldly wisdom and – let us say it
straight out – spinelessness have muddled up and so watered down our
Christianity. But in the King James Version of 2 Cor. 11:3 simplicity
appears as a virtue, to be jealously guarded. ‘I fear,’ writes Paul, ‘lest …
your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.’
From Conybeare’s rendering of the Greek word as ‘single-minded
faithfulness’, Goodspeed’s as ‘single-hearted fidelity’, and the Jerusalem
Bible’s as ‘simple devotion’, we can see what sort of thing Christian
simplicity is – not naivety or dim wittedness, but sincerity and straight
forwardness in facing the moral and spiritual demands of being Christ’s
person. Sin in our hearts, by making us complicated and devious, foments
spiritual apathy and moral dishonesty; and sophistication in our culture, by
relativising values and encouraging detachment as a mental attitude,
reinforces both. God’s grace, however – by which I really mean our Lord
Jesus Christ, who is grace incarnate – reverses the process, making us
increasingly honest, straightforward and childlike in our life with God: in
other words, simple in the sense defined above.
Study of Scripture is the highway to this supernatural simplicity. Psalm
19:7 celebrates the Word of God as ‘sure, making wise the simple’ (i.e.
those who lack wisdom) – but God’s gift of wisdom from the Word, while
banishing that kind of simplicity, leads us ever deeper into the sort of
simplicity that I am speaking of now. The rule is, the wiser the simpler.
Simplicity was seen supremely in Jesus, and is a mark of stature in his
followers. If ever you have met a genuinely holy person, you know that
already.
David Watson’s writings seem to me to be shining examples of this kind
of simplicity. They are transparently clear, and ruthlessly straightforward in
facing up to the Bible’s often upsetting and bewildering practical
challenges. David Watson takes God at his word! So you will find
breathtaking, block-busting, Bible-based simplicity on every page of this
book.
He writes out of wide experience of ministry and leadership in the world
of charismatic renewal, and his vision of discipleship reflects what is
central in that movement. No bad thing! – for charismatic emphases have
proved infinitely enriching and animating to literally millions in our time.
He knows what is going on around him, and every chapter here focuses on
needle issues in following Christ today. The years during which he was
God’s instrument of new life in the once dying Anglican parish of St
Michael-le-Belfrey, York, made him one of the best-known clergymen in
England, as well as widely known elsewhere, and it is tested insights from a
very fruitful ministry that he dispenses in these pages. You do not have to
agree with every single statement to appreciate the authority and power of
his vision of life in Christ, and to be made most uncomfortable as the
searchlight of Watsonian simplicity swings your way.
I am not surprised that David Watson by his own confession found the
book hard to write; vivid searching books often are, and I can well believe
that the devil did not want this one written, and tried all he could to stop it.
But I am glad and grateful that David persevered till it was done. Now we
may all get the benefit.
This is an important book. Who should read it? Anyone who wants to
know what the charismatic lifestyle is at its best, and (more important)
anyone who wants to be a simple follower of Jesus Christ. But be prepared
to discover that you are being courteously dynamited! You have been
warned.
James I. Packer
Contents

Also by David Watson

Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Introduction

Chapter One: CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP

The unique pattern of the discipleship of Jesus
Called by Jesus
a) Motivation to live for him
b) Called into a common discipline
Called to Jesus
Called to obey
Called to serve
Called to a simple life
Called to suffer
Called irrespective of qualifications

Chapter Two: CALLED INTO GOD’S FAMILY

The priority of community
The unity of God’s people
God’s alternative society
Time to act

Chapter Three: CREATING COMMUNITY

Community and the cross
 Community and confession
Bearing with one another
Loving one another
Covenant love
Community as a means of growth
Holy Communion

Chapter Four: MAKING DISCIPLES

The need for discipling
The dangers of shepherding
Disciples and leaders
Marks of a disciple
Making disciples
Sharing lives
Teaching
Marks of a leader
The spirit of service
Spiritual authority
Willingness to exercise discipline
Training leaders
Summary

Chapter Five: LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

Spiritual birth
Shows us our need
Brings us new life
Assures us of salvation
Spiritual growth
Christlikeness
 Healing
Worship
Generosity
Spiritual gifts
Gifts
Service
Working
Manifestation
Spiritual power
Hindrances

Chapter Six: PRAYER

Why did Jesus pray?
Our approach
Silence
Worship and thanksgiving
How should we pray?
Humility
Reality
Sympathy
Expectancy
Persistency
Unity
Forgiveness
When should we pray?
Every morning
Before making important decisions
When very busy
When concerned about others
 When tempted
When in pain
At the moment of death
The power of praise
Experiencing God’s presence
Experiencing God’s victory
Releasing the power of the Spirit
Uniting Christians

Chapter Seven: THE WORD OF GOD

Hindrances to God’s word
Materialism
Activism
Humanism
Textualism
Literalism
Intellectualism
Anti-intellectualism
Hearing the word of God
Personal word
Written word
Spoken word
The prophetic word
Logos and rhéma
Understanding God’s word
The words
The context
Literary form
Culture
 Lessons for spiritual life
Listen to God’s word
Study God’s word
Obey God’s word

Chapter Eight: SPIRITUAL WARFARE

The biblical witness
The historical evidence
Discerning the spirits
Direct attack
Accusation
Exploitation
Counterfeits
Temptation
Possession
God’s freedom fighters

Chapter Nine: EVANGELISM

Breaking the ghetto mentality
Witness and evangelist
Motivation
Full of the Spirit
Seen God at work
Spurred on by suffering
Message
Method
Leading a person to Christ

Chapter Ten: DISCIPLESHIP AND SIMPLE LIFESTYLE

 Obedience
Faith
Integrity
Identification
Example of Jesus
God on the side of the poor
The early church
Love
Money talks

Chapter Eleven: COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

The path of obedience
The necessity of faith
The way of the cross
Old self has died
Pull of the world must die
The pain of relationships

Chapter Twelve: ABOUNDING IN HOPE

Where there’s death, there’s hope
Knowing Christ
Serving others
Do not lose heart

Appendix A: AN EVANGELICAL COMMITMENT TO SIMPLE

LIFESTYLE
Appendix B: A FURTHER DISCIPLESHIP COURSE
Select Bibliography
 Acknowledgements

During the writing of this book, I discussed its theme with Christian leaders
in different parts of the world, and I have a growing conviction that
Discipleship is one of the vital issues for today. The Christian church has
largely neglected the thrust of the Great Commission: to make disciples.
The result is that other religions and political groups have led the way, and
we see the effects of this all over the world. Further, some Christians, in an
attempt to correct the church’s failure to disciple its members, have swung
to extremes, leaving the whole matter in an area of suspicion and caution.
I am most grateful to Edward England, whose wisdom as a literary agent
is enormously valuable, for suggesting the theme to me in the first place; I
have personally benefited from the reading and study that has been
necessary to complete the book.
Helpful ideas have come from many sources, but I am especially grateful
to Liz Attwood, a present member of my mission team, for her shrewd and
honest comments throughout the painful period of writing which had to be
squeezed in between Christian festivals over the year. Her perceptive
remarks have been invaluable.
For the main task of typing I owe immense gratitude to Jeni Farnhill,
together with Bridget Hunt who helped with the first few chapters, Jennie
Lunn and Shirley Anderson who checked the final manuscript and Janet
Lunt for her diagrams.
The writing of this book has been during an exceptionally busy year,
including some tense problems in our church in York (which have
sharpened my understanding of certain sections of this book), and I have
deeply appreciated the patient encouragement given by my wife Anne.
Biblical quotations, unless otherwise stated, are from the Revised
Standard Version.
 Introduction

It is a widely held opinion that the battle of the ’80s will be between
Marxism, Islam and Third World Christianity. Western Christianity is
considered too weak and ineffective to contribute anything significant to
this universal struggle. Certainly the contest will be severe.
The ruthless determination of Marxism has been proved, sometimes in
horrifying proportions, ever since 1917. In a speech to an audience of
American Trade Unionists in 1975, Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, ‘During
the 80 years before the revolution … about 17 persons a year were
executed. In 1918 and 1919 the Cheka executed, without trial, more than a
thousand persons a month … At the height of Stalin’s terror in 1937–38, if
we divide the number of persons executed by the number of months, we get
more than 40,000 persons shot per month.’ Stalin became the greatest mass
murderer in human history. The militant fanaticism of Islam has likewise
been demonstrated in many Muslim countries in the world. Any convert
from Islam to Christianity stands in danger of his life, even from his own
family.
Numerically, Christianity is still the strongest religion of all. In a world
population approaching 4,000 million, approximately one-quarter of that
number profess to be Christians. In terms of its message, there is no greater
good news to be found anywhere than in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Who
else, in the history of the world, can answer the deepest cries of the human
heart? Everywhere we hear the cry for meaning in the meaningless muddle
of our existence, the cry for love in a world that is rapidly falling apart, the
cry for forgiveness in an age when peace of mind is rare, the cry for
freedom when human misery and oppression abound on every side, the cry
for hope amid the gathering gloom of the world – all summed up in the cry
for God. The clear, resounding answer to every cry is Jesus Christ! Not only
has he something highly relevant to say concerning all our deepest needs,
but by his living presence amongst us, he has the power to change the very
heart of man.
With such numerical strength, such a relevant message and so great a
spiritual power, why then is the Christian church, especially in the West, so
comparatively ineffective? The Centre for Study of World Evangelisation in
Nairobi recently produced a computerised survey based on an exhaustive
analysis of statistics from the world’s 223 countries, its 6,270
ethnolinguistic groups, its 50 major religions, and more than 9,000
Christian denominations (that last figure alone demands much sober
thought when Jesus died to make us all one in him). According to the
survey, during the year 1979 about 1,815,100 adult professing Christians in
Europe abandoned the faith to become agnostics, atheists, or adherents of
non-Christian religions or cults. North America also registered a decline of
950,000. All these were net figures, after conversions to Christianity had
been noted. However, during the same period, churches in the Third World
experienced phenomenal gains. In Africa the net gain was 6,152,800, or
16,600 each day. In South Asia the number evangelised was 34,813,000.1
Why is the church in the West in such sharp decline, compared with the
church in the materially poverty-stricken countries of the world? Why is
western Christianity too flabby to do anything much in the strenuous battle
against Marxism and Islam?
Solzhenitsyn said on BBC Panorama in March 1976: ‘I wouldn’t be
surprised at the sudden and imminent fall of the West … Nuclear war is not
even necessary to the Soviet Union. You can be taken simply with bare
hands.’
Why is that? It is because Christians in the West have largely neglected
what it means to be a disciple of Christ. The vast majority of western
Christians are church-members, pew-fillers, hymn-singers, sermon-tasters,
Bible-readers, even born-again-believers or Spirit-filled-charismatics – but
not true disciples of Jesus. If we were willing to learn the meaning of real
discipleship and actually to become disciples, the church in the West would
be transformed, and the resultant impact on society would be staggering.
This is no idle claim. It happened in the first century when a tiny handful
of timid disciples began, in the power of the Spirit, the greatest spiritual
revolution the world has ever known. Even the mighty Roman Empire
yielded, within three centuries, to the power of the gospel of Christ. All the
great revolutionary leaders have struggled with this intractable problem
which lies at the centre of everything: the nature of man. Che Guevara once
said, ‘If our revolution is not aimed at changing people, then I am not
interested.’ Revolutions are aptly named: they revolve. They turn one lot of
sinners out, and put another lot of sinners in. The trouble with virtually all
forms of revolution is that they can change everything – except the human
heart. And until that is changed, nothing is significantly different in the long
run. However, by the inward power of the Spirit, Christ offers a revolution
of love that can transform the innermost nature and desires of every single
one of us.
Something of the impact of Christ’s revolution can be clearly seen on
many occasions in the history of the Christian church right up to the present
day – but always, in human terms, when Christians were willing to pay the
price of costly discipleship. This is why Third World Christianity is
comparatively so vibrant. There may be political and sociological factors at
work as well, but it is often in these materially impoverished areas that we
have to look today to see the clearest living examples of New Testament
discipleship.
The future prospects of the affluent West are now so serious that the
Christian church cannot afford to ignore the plan that Jesus chose for the
renewal of society. He came with no political manifesto. He rejected all
thoughts of violence. He shunned all positions of influence in public life.
His plan, which was to change the history of the world in a way that has
never been equalled, was astonishingly simple. He drew around him a small
band of dedicated disciples. For the best part of three years he lived with
them, shared with them, cared for them, taught them, corrected them,
trusted them, forgave them, and loved them to the end. They, on their part,
sometimes failed him, hurt him, disappointed him, and sinned against him.
Yet never once did he withdraw his love from them. And later, empowered
by the promised Holy Spirit, this group of trained disciples turned the world
of their day upside down.
A Communist once threw out this challenge to a western Christian: ‘The
gospel is a much more powerful weapon for the renewal of society than is
our Marxist philosophy, but all the same it is we who will finally beat you
… We Communists do not play with words. We are realists, and seeing that
we are determined to achieve our object, we know how to obtain the means
… How can anybody believe in the supreme value of this gospel if you do
not practise it, if you do not spread it, and if you sacrifice neither time nor
money for it …? We believe in our Communist message, and we are ready
to sacrifice everything, even our life … But you people are afraid to soil
your hands.’
Discipleship sums up Christ’s plan for the world. Yet for all its brilliant
simplicity, it is the one approach that most western churches have
neglected. Instead we have had reports, commissions, conferences,
seminars, missions, crusades, reunion schemes, liturgical reforms – the lot.
But very little attention has been given to the meaning of discipleship.
This book is written in the hope that we can see again what it means to
follow Jesus, and how we can help others to do the same. Together with the
continuous renewing power of the Holy Spirit, this is our one real hope for
the future. Nothing else can save our present world from plunging headlong
into despair and destruction. God still wants his church to unite a world that
is falling apart without him and to be his agent in the healing of the whole
of his creation. For this to be possible, it is my strong conviction that Christ
is calling to himself those who are willing to dedicate their lives fully to
him, to commit themselves to all other true Christians out of love for him,
and to present their bodies to him as a living sacrifice for all that he wants
to do in his world today. That is what discipleship is all about, and it is what
this book seeks to explore.

Notes

1. From Evangelical Missions Quarterly, October 1979, p. 228

 CHAPTER ONE

The Call to Discipleship

‘When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die,’ said Dietrich
Bonhoeffer. In this startling statement we have the essence of the radical,
uncompromising nature of true Christian discipleship. Certainly there are
different forms of dying; not every Christian is called to literal martyrdom,
as Bonhoeffer was himself. But every Christian is called to a clear and
dedicated discipleship, whatever the personal cost may be.
The general concept of discipleship was by no means new when Jesus
called men and women to follow him. It is therefore not surprising that,
although the verb ‘disciple’ (manthano) occurs only 25 times in the New
Testament (six in the Gospels), the noun ‘disciple’ (mathetes) comes no less
than 264 times, exclusively in the Gospels and Acts. In secular Greek the
word meant an apprentice in some trade, a student of some subject, or a
pupil of some teacher. In the New Testament times we find the same
primary meaning with the ‘disciples of Moses’,1 who were students of the
Mosaic law; and the ‘disciples of the Pharisees’,2 who were preoccupied
with an accurate and detailed knowledge of Jewish tradition as given both
in the written Torah (the Old Testament) and in the oral Torah (the traditions
of the Fathers). These disciples would submit themselves entirely to their
Rabbi, and were not to study the scriptures without the interpretation and
guidance of their teacher, although they expected to become teachers
themselves after extensive training.
 Nearer to the specifically Christian concept come the disciples of John
the Baptist, who attached themselves to this New Testament prophet.
Following their Baptist teacher, they fasted and prayed,3 confronted the
Jewish leaders,4 and stayed loyal to John during his imprisonment5 and at
his death.6 Unlike the disciples of Moses or of the Pharisees, they were
fully committed to their master as well as to his message.
From all this we see that the basic idea of discipleship was widely
accepted by the time Jesus began his own ministry. At the same time, when
he took the initiative himself in calling people to follow him, when he
called them primarily to him and not just to his teaching, when he expected
from them total obedience, when he taught them to serve and warned them
that they would suffer, and when he gathered around him a thoroughly
mixed crowd of very ordinary people, it became obvious that Jesus had
created a radical and unique pattern of discipleship. In this chapter we shall
look briefly at the specifically Christian calling and then develop these
themes later in the book.

Called by Jesus
In Rabbinical circles, a disciple would choose his own master and
voluntarily join his school. But with Jesus, the initiative lay entirely with
him. Simon and Andrew, James and John, Levi, Philip and others – all were
personally called by Jesus to follow him. Even when the rich young ruler
ran up to Jesus and asked a leading question of this ‘good teacher’, Jesus
replied by spelling out the costly and total demands of discipleship, and
then added ‘Come, follow me.’
There may have been some who, attracted by the integrity of his person,
the quality of his teaching and by the power of his miracles, wanted to
attach themselves to Jesus and to his disciples, but always it was Jesus who
laid down for them the strong conditions that he required. Sometimes this
proved too much for them: ‘This is more than we can stomach!’ they once
said. ‘Why listen to such words?’7 And they left him, leaving only the
twelve whom he had chosen and called to himself after a whole night spent
in prayer. These were the ones in particular that God had given him.8 Yet
although there is a uniqueness about the twelve apostles, this fact of God’s
initiative and Christ’s calling lies behind all those who are his disciples.
‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should
go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask
the Father in my name, he may give it to you. This I command you, to love
one another.’9
Two points of interest arise from that particular statement. First, when we
see ourselves as disciples who have been personally chosen by Jesus, this
should alter our whole attitude towards him and motivate us for the work he
has given us. If someone is chosen to represent his country for the
Olympics, his whole attitude and approach to his event will be quite
different from someone who has himself chosen to go as a spectator. With
the first, there will be a total and sacrificial dedication to the task, partly
because of the privilege of having been chosen. There will be a strong sense
of responsibility which even the most enthusiastic tourist will not have. The
Christian church today suffers from large numbers who feel that they have
‘made a decision for Christ’, or from those who think that they have chosen
to join a certain church. Such man-centred notions spell spiritual death, or
at least barren sterility. It is only when we begin to see ourselves as chosen,
called and commissioned by Christ that we shall have any real sense of our
responsibility to present our bodies to him ‘as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God’.
Certainly the apostles could not get away from this awareness of divine
constraint. ‘As men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of
God we speak in Christ’;10 ‘Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of
God, we do not lose heart’;11 ‘Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an
apostle, set apart for the gospel of God … To all God’s beloved in Rome,
who are called to be saints’;12 ‘We know, brethren beloved by God, that he
has chosen you’;13 ‘You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So
glorify God in your body.’14 Such examples could be multiplied again and
again. It was this strong sense of God’s calling, of Christ’s initiative, of the
Spirit’s sovereign work, that enabled them to be bold in their witness, to
hold fast in their suffering, and to lead lives ‘worthy of the calling’ to which
they had been called.15
The second point is that he calls us into a common discipleship. He calls
us to share our lives both with him and with one another in love. That is
why his statement ‘you did not choose me, but I chose you’ is followed
directly by his command ‘to love one another’. Indeed, it is by this love that
we shall be known to be his disciples.16 And it is only by loving one
another that we shall be fruitful in his service and effective in our prayers.17
Discipleship is never easy; often there may be pains and tears, and
frequently we shall have to re-think our values and ambitions as we seek
seriously to follow Christ. But we are not called to face this challenge on
our own. Alongside the inward power of the Holy Spirit, God wants us to
experience the encouraging, supportive love of other disciples of Jesus. It is
in the strength of our relationships together in Christ that we can win the
battles against the powers of darkness and help one another to fulfil the task
that God has given us.

Called to Jesus
This again was something unique. The call by Jesus was also a call to Jesus.
The Jewish Rabbi and the Greek philosopher expected disciples to commit
themselves to a specific teaching or to a definite cause. But the call of Jesus
was wholly personal: his disciples were to follow him, to be with him, and
to commit themselves wholeheartedly to him. They were to have faith in
him, and could become disciples only by repenting of their sin and by
believing in him. For example, in the Gospel record of the call of Simon
Peter and Nathanael, the all-important factor is their response to the person
of Jesus. When Simon saw something of the commanding presence of
Jesus, ‘he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a
sinful man, O Lord.”’18 When Nathanael saw the perceptive knowledge of
Jesus, he said, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of
Israel!’19
In Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Vol. 4), the
writer makes the following comment: ‘The personal allegiance of the
disciples to Jesus is confirmed by their conduct in the days between the
crucifixion and the resurrection. The reason for the deep depression which
marks these days is to be found in the fate which has befallen the person of
Jesus. No matter what view we take of the story of the walk to Emmaus, the
fact that “He” is the theme of their conversation on the way (Luke 24:19ff)
corresponds in every sense to the relation of the disciples to Jesus before his
arrest and execution. On the other hand, it is nowhere stated or even hinted
that after the death of Jesus his teaching was a source of strength to his
followers, or that they had the impression of having a valuable legacy in the
word of Jesus. This is a point of considerable importance for a true
understanding of the mathetes of Jesus.’20
When Jesus called individuals to be his disciples, he shared his life with
them. Although there was a depth of sharing with the twelve that was not
common to everyone, in real measure he gave himself to all who responded
to his call. By his incarnation he identified fully with them, and in his love
he made himself vulnerable by opening his heart to them. Part of his great
attraction was that his loving compassion was so real and open that others
knew they could trust him. There was no deceit or guile about him. His
transparent openness and integrity drew others into a quality of a loving
relationship that they had not known before.
That is why they were all so shattered when such a perfect life of love
was smashed on a cross. Indeed, after the horrifying events of the
crucifixion it took some time for Jesus to restore the faith and commitment
of his disciples. But he did this by leading them gently back into a renewed
relationship with him. After Peter’s threefold denial comes the threefold
question by Jesus, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Repeatedly, in his
resurrection appearances, he came to his disciples, individually and
corporately, to reassure them of his living presence, and of his love and
forgiveness. They were to become witnesses to him – not Rabbis of his
teaching. They were to tell everyone about him, and, in the sharing of their
lives together, to manifest his life by being the body of Christ on earth.
When Buddha was dying, his disciples asked how they could best
remember him. He told them not to bother. It was his teaching, not his
person, that counted. With Jesus it is altogether different. Everything
centres round him. Discipleship means knowing him, loving him, believing
in him, being committed to him.

Called to obey
The disciples of a Jewish Rabbi would submit themselves as slaves to their
master until such time when they could leave their schooling and become
masters or Rabbis themselves. But Jesus calls his disciples to unconditional
obedience for the whole of their lives. We shall never graduate this side of
heaven. We shall never get beyond a life of obedience. To obey God’s will
is to find the fulfilment of our lives. ‘Not every one who says to me, “Lord,
Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven.’21 ‘Why do you call me “Lord, Lord,” and not do
what I tell you?’22
To be a disciple of Jesus means to follow him, to go the way that he goes,
to accept his plan and will for our lives. ‘If any man would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’23 It is a call to
say ‘No’ to the old selfish life of sin, and to say ‘Yes’ to Jesus. Inward
belief must be accompanied by outward obedience. Søren Kierkegaard once
rightly said, ‘It is so hard to believe because it is so hard to obey.’ There is
no true faith without obedience, and there is no discipleship either.
The world of today is being increasingly influenced by disciples of
another kind who understand this matter of obedience much more clearly
than the average Christian. A BBC radio programme about women
terrorists showed that they were loyal to the uttermost, they would never
betray a colleague, they were totally ruthless, and they were willing to go to
any lengths to achieve their objective. Bernadette Devlin said, ‘Before,
there came a time where one said, “This I can’t do!” Now there comes a
time when one says, “This I must do!”’24 An extremist leader of a violent
revolutionary group in North America said that they were cutting down
their numbers by two-thirds until they had an utterly dedicated group of
trained disciples who could bring about a revolution.
Should we expect any less if we are to see Christ’s revolution of love
changing the world scene of today? But until we respond to this
unconditional call to obey, flinging away the cautionary ‘Yes, but …’, we
shall never see the light of Christ scattering the darkness of this present
gloomy world. To say ‘No, Lord!’ is a contradiction in terms. Yet many
within the Christian church want the comfortable compromise of
conditional discipleship. In the long run, it is we who want to call the tune.
It is we who wish to have the final word, when to say yes and when to say
no. But the truth is uncomfortably clear: if Christ is not Lord of all, he is not
Lord at all. There are no half-measures in the discipleship of Jesus.
Malcolm Muggeridge vividly comments: ‘I have a longing past conveying
… to use whatever gifts of persuasion I may have to induce others to see
that they must at all costs hold on to that reality (the reality of Christ); lash
themselves to it as, in the old days of sail, sailors would lash themselves to
the mast when storms blew up and the seas were rough. For indeed without
a doubt, storms and rough seas lie ahead.’25 We need urgently in the church
today true disciples who will bind themselves to Jesus Christ in unswerving
obedience and loyalty. ‘The great tragedy of modern evangelism’, wrote
Jim Wallis, ‘is in calling many to belief but few to obedience.’26 Biblical
evangelism should centre on the kingdom of God, stress the rule of God,
and call people to radical obedience.
In this painful but liberating life of obedience, however, we are not to
battle on our own. We are to exhort and encourage one another ‘every day’:
‘Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart,
leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every
day, as long as it is called “today”, that none of you may be hardened by the
deceitfulness of sin.’27 Once again we may have to learn humbling lessons
from some of the fighting groups of today. The leader of El Fata, a
liberation movement in Palestine, attributed the strength of his movement in
these words: ‘I can always fall out with my comrade; I can always divorce
my wife; but my brother is always my brother.’ However strong and
binding other human relationships should be, none is unbreakable except
the bonds of family. This is how the liberation or terrorist groups see
themselves: brotherhood inseparable apart from death.
Within the family of God we are eternally united to one another. If such
understanding leads to qualities of love and trust which transcend ordinary
human relationships, the resulting corporate strength is immense. The Spirit
of God who enables us to call Almighty God ‘Abba! Father!’ is the same
Spirit who helps us to see every other true Christian as brother or sister.
Jesus calls us to absolute obedience, but only because he has first laid down
his life for us, placed his Spirit into our hearts, and given us to one another
in love.

Called to serve
Although the disciples were called by Jesus first and foremost to be with
him, they were also commissioned to go and preach the kingdom of heaven,
and to ‘heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.’28 As
soon as Jesus called Simon and Andrew to follow him, he told them that he
would make them into fishers of men.29 The seventy likewise were sent out
in the name of Jesus as messengers of peace: ‘Heal the sick … and say to
them, “the kingdom of God has come near to you.”’30 Jesus had come to lay
down his life for the sake of others, and his disciples were called by him to
do exactly the same. Yet they did not always understand this.
Jesus repeatedly found that he had to correct his disciples as they fell into
two equal and opposite temptations which crippled the spirit of service in
their lives. The first temptation was ambition. Several times they argued
amongst themselves as to who was the greatest. James and John asked for
the places of highest honour in the kingdom of heaven. This is the spirit of
the world: seeking for status instead of service. Jesus rebuked them:
‘Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever
would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came
not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’31
He later demonstrated this spirit of service in a way they never forgot, when
he wrapped a towel around his waist and washed their feet.
The second temptation was self-pity. ‘Lo, we have left our homes and
followed you,’ said Simon Peter as he began to feel the considerable cost of
discipleship. But Jesus assured him that those who left everything for the
sake of the kingdom of God would ‘receive manifold more in this time, and
in the age to come eternal life.’32 We need to be honest and real about our
own weakness and pain, but the moment we fall into self-pity we hinder
God’s working in our lives. It is only when we accept our human frailty,
knowing God’s grace to be always sufficient, and only when we are
ambitious for God’s kingdom alone, that we shall be able to serve others
with the loving, gracious and humble spirit of Jesus Christ. The servant
should not demand certain conditions of service. He has given up his rights,
and may well have to forgo normal comforts and rewards. As we grow in
years it is easy to look for privilege, position and respect. This was not the
way of Jesus.
Unfortunately, some forms of evangelism today encourage people to
remain thoroughly self-centred, instead of urging them to become God-
centred. In this advertising age it is all too easy to present Christ as the one
who will meet all your needs. Are you anxious? Christ will bring you
peace! Are you lost? Christ will give you new direction! Are you
depressed? Christ will fill your life with joy! All this is true, and it is part of
the good news of Christ that he longs to meet the deepest needs of each one
of us. But that by itself is only one half of the story. On its own, it mirrors
the deceitful approach of the false cults. In practice many of our needs will
be met as we give ourselves in service both to Jesus and to others. It is those
who are willing to lose their lives who will find them. It is only when we
give that it will be given to us – ‘good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give
will be the measure you get back.’33 It was when the seventy went out to
preach and heal that they returned filled with joy because of all that they
had experienced.
The needs of the world are vast. God in his love longs to reach out to all
those who, inwardly or outwardly, are crying out for help; but he has chosen
to work primarily through the disciples of Jesus. If we are taken up with our
own personal needs first and foremost, or if we are looking for position and
status in the church, we shall be of no use to God. We are called to serve;
and a servant must go where his master sends him and do what his master
commands.

Called to a simple life

A disciple of a Rabbi might have given up most material benefits in order to
study the Torah, but he would have known that such sacrifice was only for a
limited time. Later he would be rewarded financially for his diligence when
he took on the role of a teacher himself. This was altogether different with
Jesus. He laid on one side all earthly securities and material comforts. Often
he had nowhere to lay his head, and he lived in total dependence on his
Father’s love and faithfulness.
He also called his disciples to a life of humility and poverty. Although it
was the Father’s good pleasure to give them the kingdom, they were to sell
their possessions, and give alms. They were to take with them ‘no gold, nor
silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor
sandals, nor a staff; for the labourer deserves his food.’ They were to trust
their heavenly Father that they would ‘receive without paying’, and so they
must ‘give without pay’. Like their Master they had to be willing to leave
their homes, their families, their occupations, their securities – everything
for the sake of the kingdom of God. But as they sought first his kingdom,
all that they needed would be provided for them. In this they had to trust
their Father, and not be anxious as the unbelieving Gentiles.
It is fair to comment that such radical discipleship applied primarily to
those who were called into a life of full community with him. It was in the
total sharing of their lives and possessions together that they were to look to
God alone to meet all their needs. Other disciples who were not in such
close-knit fellowship seemed to have kept at least some of their material
possessions, since they helped to provide for Jesus and the twelve.
Nevertheless, all the disciples were encouraged to live a simple life, in
which they held their possessions ‘in common’; and this undoubtedly
became the practice of the early church.
The comparative affluence of many Christians today, especially those in
the West, almost certainly is a stumbling-block to effective and radical
discipleship. We must look at this more carefully in a later chapter, for it is
unlikely that God will entrust us with the true riches of his spiritual life and
power until we are genuinely serving him and not mammon. It is when we
can be trusted with material goods, learning to live on the New Testament
principle of ‘enough’, that God will entrust us with the gifts of his Spirit
that will immeasurably enrich our own lives as well as those we serve.

Called to suffer
When Jesus called his disciples to follow him, they had to be willing to
walk his way, and his way was the way of the cross. If they were to share
their lives together, they must share not only their joys but also their pains.
‘For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not
only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.’34
Jesus often tried to prepare them for this by speaking plainly both about
his own sufferings and those which his followers must experience. But
sometimes they could not, or would not, understand his warnings. When we
read in Matthew 16:21ff that ‘from that time Jesus began to show his
disciple that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed …’ Peter at once protested,
‘Heaven forbid! No, Lord, this shall never happen to you.’ For this he
received a stinging reply, ‘Away with you, Satan; you are a stumbling-block
to me. You think as men think, not as God thinks.’ And in case they were
under any further illusions, Jesus began to speak plainly about their
sufferings, too. ‘If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and
take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose
it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it …’ Life for the Master
ended with rejection, pain and agonising death. The disciple should never
be surprised if following Jesus leads the same way.
Many suffered from physical persecution. Peter and John were
imprisoned and later beaten for their boldness; Stephen was stoned to death,
and James killed with the sword. Before long ‘a great persecution arose
against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered.’35 Paul later
wrote about being beaten five times with the 39 lashes of the Jewish whip,
three times with rods, and once stoned. According to various Christian
traditions, most if not all the apostles suffered eventual martyrdom of one
form or another. During those early years of the church waves of bitter and
appalling persecution came from a succession of Roman emperors: Nero,
Domitian, Trajan; Pliny, Marcus Aurelius, Decius and Diocletian. In various
degrees of ferocity this continued up to AD 305, and of course has
continued throughout the entire history of the Christian church. It is
sobering to remember that in recent years countless thousands of Christians
have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith, and are still being so
today in various parts of the world. It is estimated that there were more
martyrdoms for Christ in the twentieth century than during the rest of the
church’s history. ‘This is not an age in which to be a soft Christian,’
comments Francis Schaeffer.
None of this should come as a surprise. Jesus constantly warned his
disciples about the physical dangers that lay ahead: ‘Beware of men; for
they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, and
you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake … Brother will
deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise
against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all for
my name’s sake …’36
Almost everyone suffered mental and emotional pain. It is not hard to
feel something of Paul’s sadness when he wrote, ‘Demas, in love with this
present world, has deserted me … Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to
Dalmatia … Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm …’37 There is
often much pain within the body of Christ: some may fall away from Christ;
some may separate from other Christians on matters of marginal emphasis;
others will leave to serve Christ somewhere else; often, too, we hurt and
disappoint one another, since at best we are a fellowship of sinners. The
need to forgive seventy times seven becomes apparent when we seriously
commit ourselves to one another as well as to Christ. Forgiveness is always
painful. It cost Jesus his death on the cross. For us, too, it may be a
crucifying experience to forgive someone who has hurt us, or even to be
forgiven when we know we have sinned.
Discipleship also involves spiritual grief. Paul once wrote concerning his
overwhelming burden for fellow Jews who did not believe in Jesus as their
Messiah: ‘I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I
could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake
of my brethren.’38 And during his ministry in Ephesus he said that ‘for three
years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.’39 God,
in his great compassion, ‘spreads out (his) hands all the day to a rebellious
people.’ Having made us in his image, he longs that we should share in his
love. Yet, by and large, we have turned out backs on him; we ignore or
reject his love, and, as a consequence, so often ignore or reject one another.
Since love will never force itself on unwilling people, he watches us fall
away from him and from each other; he sees us resenting, hating, fighting
and killing one another. He sent his Son that there might be ‘peace on
earth’, but we will not have this man to reign over us. So, mistrust,
confusion, bitterness and war pollute the face of this earth.
Is it surprising that a loving God is grieved, and wants us, too, to share in
his heart of grief? When Jesus weeps for his body, the church, that is torn,
wounded and broken, can we be unmoved if we are truly his disciples?
When Jesus weeps, as he once did over Jerusalem, for those who are blind
to ‘the things that make for peace’, can we remain indifferent? When Jesus
weeps, as he once did by the grave of Lazarus, when he sees today the
ravages caused by man’s sin, can we be apathetic? The more we seek to
love Jesus, and the nearer we come to his great heart of love, we should not
be surprised if we feel the pain of his godly grief.
Suffering is inescapably woven into the fabric of discipleship – ‘joy and
woe are woven fine’, to quote William Blake. But we shall often discover
that it is in the midst of suffering that God is working most profoundly in
our lives. It is a simple fact that those I’ve known with the greatest spiritual
sensitivity and depth have also been those who have experienced most
suffering. One Christian who spent over ten years in a Communist prison in
Czechoslovakia for his faith in Christ said that his torturers broke his bones
but not his spirit. He referred to those years as the richest years of his life.
‘We must pray,’ he said, ‘not that persecution will not come, but that we
may be worthy of it, open to the blessings God offers through it.’

Called irrespective of qualifications

Whereas the Rabbis would have accepted disciples only from the
ceremonially ‘clean’, from the righteous according to the law, and from
those with sufficient intelligence to study the Torah with a view to
becoming Rabbis themselves, Jesus called to himself a curious cross-
section of contemporary society. Some were down-to-earth fishermen;
James and John were sons of a Zealot; the second Simon was certainly a
Zealot; there was despised Levi, a traitor to his countrymen; and amongst
the twelve we find Greek and Semitic names, and probably a Judean as well
as Galileans. ‘The circle of the disciples is in fact a microcosm of the
Judaism of the time. In it we find all the powers and thoughts of the people,
even in their divergence.’40
Most interesting of all, there was Judas who betrayed Jesus. Since Jesus
knew in advance what Judas would do (Jesus called him ‘the son of
perdition’ in John 17), it was an exceedingly strange choice, except for two
supreme facts. First, Jesus loved Judas, even to the end. Second, Jesus had
come to fulfil all the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, he
therefore knew his role as the suffering Servant, and he knew also the role
that Judas had to play in betraying his Master, even to the detail of the thirty
pieces of silver. This foreknowledge of the treachery of Judas in no way
removed his responsibility and guilt; but it is significant that, after that
crucial night of prayer, Jesus chose all the disciples that his Father had
given him, including that ‘son of perdition’. Humanly speaking we might
have chosen for the special band of apostles men with far greater
qualifications than these twelve; but then God’s ways are not our ways, and
his thoughts not our thoughts. In his complete obedience to the Father, Jesus
called those who later failed and disappointed him time and again; but
never once did he withdraw his love from them. He loved them to the end.
 In this thoroughly mixed and fallible band of disciples, Jesus set the
pattern for the rest of the Christian church. ‘For consider your call,
brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not
many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is
foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the
world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the
world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no
human being might boast in the presence of God.’41
What we have seen about the unique concept of discipleship, introduced
by Jesus, refers not just to the twelve. It refers to all those who hear the call
of Jesus and who turn to follow him as their Saviour and Lord. Although
there was a special and unique relationship between Jesus and the twelve,
we cannot evade the strong demands made on Christian disciples by saying
that these applied only to the apostles. The call to obey, to serve, to live a
simple lifestyle, to suffer and, if need be, to die, is common to all those who
claim to be followers of Jesus. Above all, we are to commit our lives
unreservedly to him and to one another as members of his body here on
earth. The Christian church is not a club that we belong to in order that our
needs might be met; it is a body, a building, a family, an army – these are
some of the pictures used to show that, by accepting the call of Christ, we
have responsibilities that we cannot avoid if we are to be his disciples. It is
not a question of our feelings and personal choices; it is a matter of taking
with the utmost seriousness the conditions and demands of discipleship that
Jesus lays upon us. We are no longer our own. We have been chosen by
him, called by him, bought by him; we therefore now belong to him, and by
virtue of this fact we also belong to one another, however easy or difficult,
joyful or painful, we may find this to be.
If the cost is great, the aims, privileges and rewards are infinitely greater.
‘The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be
one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become
perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast
loved them even as thou hast loved me. Father, I desire that they also,
whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory
which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the
world.’42 To be a part of the fulfilment of such a profound and magnificent
prayer is surely worth the sacrifice of every part of our lives.
Notes

1. John 9:28f
2. Mark 2:18
3. Mark 2:18; Luke 11:1
4. John 3:25
5. Matthew 11:2
6. Mark 6:29
7. John 6:60, NEB
8. John 17:9
9. John 15:16
10. 2 Cor. 2:17
11. 2 Cor. 4:1
12. Romans 1:1, 7
13. 1 Thess. 1:4
14. 1 Cor. 6:19ff
15. Ephesians 4:I
16. John 13:34f
17. John 15:16f; cf. Matthew 18:19
18. Luke 5:1–11
19. John 1:44–51
20. Op. cit., Vol. IV, p. 446
21. Matthew 7:21
22. Luke 6:46
23. Mark 8:34
24. More Deadly than the Male, broadcast on 4th December 1978
25. Christ and the Media, Hodder & Stoughton, p. 43,
26. Agenda for Biblical People, Harper, New York, 1976, p. 23
27. Hebrews 3:12f
28. Matthew 10:8
29. Mark 1:17
30. Luke 10:1–20
31. Matthew 20:26–28
32. Luke 18:28–30
33. Luke 6:38
34. Philippians 1:29
35. Acts 8:1
36. Matthew 10:17, 21f
37. 2 Timothy 4:10, 14
38. Romans 9:2f
39. Acts 20:31
40. Kittel, op. cit., Vol. IV, p. 452
41. 1 Corinthians 1:26–29
42. John 17:22–24
 CHAPTER TWO

Called into God’s Family

Nothing is clearer in the Gospel records than the tremendous concern God
has for every individual. In an age when the individual seems increasingly
redundant and insignificant, it is a vital part of the good news of Jesus
Christ that every single person matters to God. He knows us and calls us by
name. He has a personal love for each one of us. ‘Zacchaeus!’ said Jesus to
the startled tax collector hiding up in his sycamore tree. It was this personal
approach that so quickly captured the hearts of many who were lost and
lonely. Here at last was someone who really cared for them as individual
persons.
Yet although that is part of the glory of the Christian gospel, it is equally
obvious that Jesus calls individuals, not to stay in isolation, but to join the
new community of God’s people. He called the twelve to share their lives
both with him and with each other. They were to live every day in
fellowship with one another, losing their independence and learning
interdependence, gaining new riches and strength as members of God’s new
society. They were to share everything together, their joys, their sorrows,
their pains and their possessions, and in this way become the redeemed,
messianic community of Christ the King. And it was not just the twelve
men; there were several women, too, who joined the small band and helped
financially to support them. Indeed all the disciples were called, at some
level into a depth of sharing that they had never known before. This is what
excited John, when he wrote about the reality of the shared life the apostles
enjoyed with Jesus, which now was made available to all believers: ‘That
which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may
have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son Jesus Christ.’1

The priority of community

Today we live in an age not only of personal insignificance, but also of
great loneliness. More than ever the church needs to recapture the priority
of community in Christian discipleship. In his three years of intimate
relationship with his disciples, Jesus has given us the model for the church.
He loved his disciples, cared for their needs, taught them, corrected them,
stimulated their faith, instructed them concerning the kingdom of God, sent
them out in his name, encouraged them, listened to them, watched them,
guided them; and he told them to do the same towards each other. The
church which rediscovers something of the God-given quality of such a
sharing community will speak with great relevance, credibility and spiritual
power to the world of today. The church, wrote Paul, is ‘built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets; Christ Jesus himself being the chief
cornerstone.’2 He does not say that it was their doctrine, institution or
religious activity that became the foundation of the church. God’s revealed
truth, given to us in the scriptures, is clearly of unique importance. But it
was the apostles themselves and the sharing of their lives that
pragmatically, if not theologically, formed the basis of the Christian church.
Although Jesus taught his disciples many truths concerning the kingdom
of God, he wanted them most of all to know him. This is the meaning of
eternal life.3 In their corporate life together they came to know him who is
the life, and in that way they were able to share that life – his life – with
others. The word ‘know’ that is used for ‘knowing God’ or ‘knowing Jesus
Christ’ is the same word as is used for a man knowing his wife. It speaks of
a deep, intimate, personal union. To achieve such knowledge, Jesus
therefore called his disciples into a living, loving community. He saw this
as top priority as he began the task of building his church.
This pattern that Jesus lived out with his own disciples was clearly
continued in the early church and became an outstanding feature of it. ‘All
who believed were together and had all things in common.’4 They
worshipped together, prayed together, worked together, witnessed together,
and shared their possessions together as the various needs arose. The reality
of their love for one another was a rich expression of the joy of their
individual conversion, and certainly made an enormous impact on the world
around them. Jesus said that love should be the hallmark of his disciples,
and he prayed that by the loving unity of their lives together others would
believe and know the truth about him. This is exactly what happened. It is
not surprising with such a community of disciples bound together in love,
that God added to their number day by day those who were being saved. In
their commitment to one another, as well as to Christ, they became the
visible manifestation of the body of Christ on earth, and experienced the
power of his resurrection. God’s power is always for God’s people, not just
for individual believers. According to the psalmist, it is ‘when brothers
dwell in unity’ that the Lord commands his blessing.5
The forming of the church into the new community of God’s people is,
however, only the means towards the fulfilment of the much wider plan that
God has for the whole of his creation. His master plan can best be summed
up in Ephesians 1:9–10, where Paul writes: ‘For he has made known to us
in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose
which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all
things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.’ Today it is obvious that
we live in a sick society, falling apart without God. Every aspect of this
world has been polluted by the sin of man and is in the power of the evil
one. Creation itself is ‘in bondage to decay’.6 For this reason. Christ came
to usher in the kingdom of God, and ‘God’s kingdom’, to quote a
memorable expression of Hans Küng, ‘is creation healed’. God wills,
therefore, to bring everything under the authority of Christ, that all things
might be united and restored in him.
To accomplish his great plan, God has chosen his church to be his agent.
But the church can accomplish this healing, reconciling ministry effectively
only if it has first experienced this reality within its own ranks. That is why
the existence of over 9,000 Christian denominations throughout the world is
an insult to Christ, a denial of the gospel, and the greatest hindrance to the
spread of the kingdom of God. It is only when Christians deeply repent of
tearing the body of Christ into thousands of separate pieces and pray
earnestly for the healing and renewing power of the Holy Spirit, that the
church can ever be God’s agent in reconciling all things in Christ. Until that
time, creation itself remains broken and bowed, ‘groaning in travail’ and
waiting ‘with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God’.5
To be both biblical and realistic, we have to realise that there is always
both ‘now’ and ‘not yet’ about the kingdom of God. To the extent that
Christ has come and is reigning over those people and structures that have
submitted to his Lordship, the kingdom of God is already manifest. ‘But we
do not yet see everything in subjection to him;’7 and because Christians are
no more than redeemed sinners who still live in a fallen world, we shall not
see God’s kingdom in all its power and glory until Christ comes again in
triumph to ‘put all his enemies under his feet’.
A biblical balance is therefore important. In so far as the church can
become a united and caring community of God’s people marked by love,
there could be ‘substantial healing’ within God’s creation, even if we have
to wait for complete restoration until the coming of Christ. God in Christ
has certainly begun to reconcile the world to himself, and has entrusted to
us both the message and ministry of reconciliation. But when a sick church
attempts to bring about the healing of a sick world, it should not be
surprised if it receives the cynical retort, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ That is
why it is crucial that all true disciples of Jesus repent of all negative,
unloving attitudes that divide us, and determine, as an act of the will, to be
totally committed to one another in the power of the Spirit of love. Only in
this way will God’s purposes ever begin to be realised for his world. God
has never withdrawn his plan for the church. It is ‘through the church’ that
‘the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the
principalities and powers in the heavenly places.’8 But until the church can
unitedly manifest the wisdom, power and love of God, the world remains
captive to the powers of darkness, and the devil and all his children
mockingly taunt, ‘Where is your God?’
Once we see that the church is to be God’s agent for the redemption of
his world, we can understand why the New Testament writers were so
persistent and emphatic about the urgent need for believers to be reconciled
to one another, to put away all bitterness and slander, to forgive one another,
and to walk in love ‘as Christ loved us’. Constantly in the epistles we find
this urgent stress on restoring or maintaining authentic Christian
community. Until the kingdom of God can be demonstrated in our
relationships of love with one another, we have nothing to say with any
credibility to an unbelieving and broken world.

The unity of God’s people

This is the burden of Jesus in his great high-priestly prayer in John 17.
Notice his repeated plea to his Father, made all the more powerful perhaps
because of his often painful experiences with his own disciples: ‘Keep them
in thy name … that they may be one, even as we are one … that they may
all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may
be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory
which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even
as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly
one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me …’ Since the nature
of the Trinity could be described as a community of perfect love, the reality
of God amongst us is seen not primarily in right doctrines (important
though these are), but in the church becoming herself a community of love.
Instead of allowing herself to be divided by sin, the church must seek
earnestly to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, however
painful that may sometimes be. In no other way will God’s reality and rule
be seen. It is only when we overcome the evil around us by persistent love
that the kingdom of God will be seen to be greater than the kingdom of this
world.
Our unity in Christ is, or should be, an expression of the life of God. It is
a vital way in which the invisible God manifests – or makes visible – his
own nature here on earth. The church is, or should be, ‘the word made
flesh’ for today. Others should be able to look at our fellowship of love and
say, ‘That is what God is like!’ It will not be the total truth about an infinite
God, of course. But it will be perhaps the most meaningful and relevant
truth that can touch the minds and hearts of all people of all races,
backgrounds, cultures and languages. Love is a universal language. God’s
love amongst God’s people is always the most convincing argument for the
truth of the gospel. The most fruitful church-based mission I have ever had
the privilege of leading was effective for precisely this reason. There was
such an obvious demonstration of the love of God within the church and
flowing out into the community, that all I had to say, in effect, was ‘This is
what you have seen and heard …!’ No wonder they flocked into the
kingdom of God, for there it was, right in their midst. Hardly anyone could
fail to see it, and a great many believed in the King.
When the early church visibly demonstrated that all racial and social
barriers had been broken down by the cross of Christ, and that, through the
power of the Spirit, they were now all one in Christ, there could have been
no greater evidence for the truth of the gospel in that ancient world. Today,
when I have seen the reconciling power of Christ draw together into a deep
loving fellowship political extremists, previously bitterly opposed to one
another, terrorists, Marxists, blacks and whites, oppressor and oppressed,
there is no more powerful proof that I could offer concerning the reality of
Christ to an unbeliever. If relationships such as these can be healed, creation
itself can be healed. God’s kingdom will come when we obey Christ’s new
commandment, and love one another as he has loved us.
That is why discipleship, based on community, is essential for effective
witness. Discipleship involves much more than the training of the
individual believer for personal evangelism, vitally important as this is. A
purely individualistic approach is not biblical. The New Testament makes it
clear that, although every Christian is inescapably a witness to Christ, not
every Christian is called to be an evangelist. The church is certainly
committed to evangelism, but the church as the body of Christ has many
members with different gifts. It is only when the various gifts of the Spirit
are allowed to develop ‘as he wills’ that the body of Christ can function
properly, and it is only then that the church can fulfil its commission to
evangelise. The reality of the gospel should first clearly be seen in the life
of the church. When that is self-evident, those who are evangelists in the
church simply have to explain the truth behind that reality, and can do so
with the support of other members in the body who are committed to
evangelism but are not gifted as evangelists.
Missiologists, such as Peter Wagner, have stressed the ‘3 Ps’ of
evangelism. There must first of all be presence evangelism, where the
church by its worship, life and witness brings to the world the sense of
God’s presence; and it is the present-day absence of this, due to the moral
and spiritual sickness of the church, that makes evangelism in many places
so difficult. Second, there is proclamation evangelism, when the truths of
the gospel are proclaimed at every level to those who have already sensed
the presence of God amongst his people. Third, there is persuasion
evangelism, when the evangelist seeks to persuade men and women to turn
in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ, on the basis that they have by now
sensed God’s presence and understood the proclamation of his message.
They are now being persuaded to respond. However, Snyder adds a fourth
‘P’, which is propagation evangelism. The ultimate goal of evangelism is
not to see people converted to Christ, nor even made into disciples. ‘To do
justice to the biblical understanding of the church we must go one step
further and say that the goal of evangelism is the formation of Christian
community …’9 If disciples are not formed into the community of God’s
people, God’s plan for the healing of creation cannot begin to be fulfilled.
Elsewhere Snyder makes this important comment: ‘Many churches do
not share the gospel effectively because their communal experience of the
gospel is too weak and tasteless to be worth sharing. It does not excite the
believer to the point where he wants to witness, and (as the believer
uncomfortably suspects) it is not all that attractive to the unbeliever. But
where Christian fellowship demonstrates the gospel, believers become alive
and sinners get curious and want to know what the secret is. So true
Christian community (koinonia) becomes both the basis and the goal of
evangelism.’10
Most evangelists and church leaders will say that whereas training in
evangelism is important, the most crucial factor is motivation. Christians
may know what to say, but lack the desire to say it. Almost certainly this is
due to the low level of Christian experience in the church itself. But when
the church becomes renewed in the Spirit, the life of Jesus will ‘spill out’ to
others. Any discerning person will at once recognise the reality – or lack of
it – behind what we are saying. If we are genuinely excited by the gospel
because Christ is alive within us, and if we are able to say ‘Come and see’
because the church manifests the life of Christ, evangelism will flow
naturally.

God’s alternative society

When the church commits itself to a pattern of corporate life based on
radical biblical principles, it immediately challenges the moral, political,
economic and social structures of the world around it. In this way, by its
very existence, the church is both prophetic and evangelistic. And only in
this way will the proclamation of the gospel make much impact amongst
the vast majority of people who, at this moment, are thoroughly
disillusioned by the church as an institution. For this reason it is impossible
to separate the call to discipleship, the call to community and the call to
mission. Without a strong commitment to discipleship, there can be no
authentic Christian community; and without the existence of such a
community, there can be no effective mission.
For many Christians in many churches, however, fellowship means little
more than casual acquaintance, or at best a working relationship because we
happen to belong to the same group which exists for some specific purpose.
When Jesus drew men and women into discipleship he was requiring a
depth of relationship that would be much more demanding and, as a result,
much more enriching and powerful. He wanted them to find their identity as
true sons and daughters of God, which included a total commitment both to
himself and to all others within God’s family. This was to be their life and
their security. That is why it is so hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom
of God, since his identity and security would almost certainly be in his
riches together with the status and power that these would bring. But what
Jesus promised his disciples, who nervously protested that they had left
everything to follow him, was that ‘there is no one who has left house or
brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and
for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses
and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with
persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.’11
The phrase ‘with persecutions’ is significant. Christ’s calling is to a
radical alternative society which will, by its existence and values,
profoundly challenge the existing society of today. ‘The church should
consist of communities of loving defiance. Instead it consists largely of
comfortable clubs of conformity.’12 No one will bother to persecute dull
conformity. But as soon as we adopt a lifestyle of ‘loving defiance’ which
challenges the status quo concerning covetousness, oppression or self-
centredness, there is likely to be some strong and bitter opposition.
Fellowship for those first Christians ‘meant unconditional availability to
and unlimited liability for the other brothers and sisters – emotionally,
financially and spiritually’.13 This striking statement exposes the
superficiality of many church fellowships today. It is interesting that the
word for fellowship (koinonia) in the New Testament occurs more
frequently in the context of the sharing of money or possessions than in any
other. If the church is to become a community of God’s people in the way
that Christ demonstrated with his own disciples, it means much more than
singing the same hymns, praying the same prayers, taking the same
sacraments, and joining in the same services. It will involve the full
commitment of our lives, and of all that we have, to one another. Yet it is
only when we lose our lives that we will find them, so bringing the life of
Jesus to others. In fact, this practical expression of love will speak more
powerfully of the living God than anything else.
To maintain values that are fundamentally different from those of the
world is never easy. Yet if the church is to be effective as God’s agent of
reconciliation, it must be both in the world, but not of the world. It is on this
issue that many evangelicals and ecumenicals today have taken largely
polarised positions, neither of which is biblical. Evangelicals have
frequently seen the church as a religious ghetto, separated from the world,
pre-occupied with its doctrinal and moral purity, and regarding itself as the
special object of God’s favour and blessing. As such, Christians go out to
the world in the style of spiritual commando raids, aiming to destroy its
strongholds, weaken its defences, and generally preparing the way for the
gospel, but living essentially apart from the world. Social and political
involvements in the world are therefore viewed with suspicion and
classified as ‘liberal’.
Ecumenicals, reacting strongly to this, and aware that God loves the
whole world, not just the church, have all too often secularised the gospel,
allowed the world to set the agenda, and so abandoned the distinctive
profile of the church in the world.
The church, however, is ‘God’s experimental garden in the world. She is
a sign of the coming age.’14 Both gospel proclamation and social action are
equally important. They are like two blades of a pair of scissors. If either is
missing, the cutting-edge is lost.
To maintain the distinctive quality of salt and light in a rotten and dark
society is far from easy. To withstand, therefore, the pressures of the world,
as well as offering the love and life of Jesus to the world, Christians need
urgently the strength and support of other committed disciples. It is all very
well Paul saying, ‘Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own
mould,’15 but on your own it is frankly impossible to defy the materialistic
and covetous pressures of society which assail us on every side. Ronald
Sider writes: ‘The values of our affluent society seep slowly and subtly into
our hearts and minds. The only way to defy them is to immerse ourselves
deeply into Christian fellowship so that God can fundamentally remould
our thinking, as we find our primary identity with other brothers and sisters
who are also unconditionally committed to biblical values.’16 On our own
we shall never stand against the principalities and powers that wage war
against us. If the circumstances leave us with literally no alternative – at
home, at work, in prison, or wherever – God’s promise is clear; there is
always ‘grace to help in time of need’.17 In normal circumstances, however,
we are able to overcome in spiritual warfare only when we are strongly
united in Christ.

Time to act
The training of the disciples by Jesus amounted to little more than a ‘crash-
course’. In less than three years he had to win their hearts, instruct their
minds, bend their wills, bind them together into his new society, and equip
them with the power and gifts of his Spirit. He knew that his time with them
was short. He knew, too, that he would send them out into a hostile world
which would oppose them, persecute and destroy them. There was no time
to lose. Although he had come to bring them ‘life in all its fulness’, and to
fill their empty hearts with his love and joy, he warned them of times of
suffering that would soon come upon them: ‘The hour is coming … when
you will be scattered … In the world you have tribulation … They will lay
their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering you up to the
synagogues and prisons … You will be hated by all for my name’s sake …
Many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another … And
because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold …’18
Such words were no empty threats. The persecution of the early church was
appalling in its severity and cruelty. It was only the love of Christ
controlling them that enabled them to conquer in his name. In their hearts,
God’s grace welled up within so that they were able to praise him with
inexpressible joy in the midst of horrific trials.
Only a fool would fail to see the parallels of all this to this present time.
Throughout the twentieth century countless millions of Christians were
imprisoned, tortured, beaten and killed for the sake of Christ. Vast numbers
suffer today. Yet in many Communist countries, where the going has been
tough, God’s grace is so evident that the disciples of Jesus, who are
patiently enduring such trials with considerable faith and love, are often a
strong rebuke to the coldness, apathy and complacency of the church in the
West. However there are many signs that even Christians living in
comparatively safe and secure surroundings need to be alert to the
sufferings that almost surely lie ahead for all of us. If we have any
understanding of the restlessness and aggression increasing everywhere
today, not to mention the vast nuclear stockpile, the population explosion,
the dwindling of the earth’s resources, the continuing economic recession,
and the militancy of Marxism and Islam, we must realise that we are very
near the time when men will be ‘fainting with fear and with foreboding of
what is coming on the world’.19
‘Strengthen yourselves in the time of peace’ is a line of a song we often
sing in our church. It is essential that we prepare ourselves now in every
way for the battles we shall later have to fight. We must deepen our
personal knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus; we must increase our faith
in our heavenly Father; we must learn how to be continuously filled with
the Holy Spirit; above all, we must drop our differences, forgive and be
forgiven, and renew our commitment to one another out of love for Christ.
It was the Christian community that withstood the persecution of the first
century, and it is Christian communities around the world that overcome
today the pressures that come increasingly upon them. It is when Christians
come together in the name of Jesus that he promises to be with them with
special strength and power. It is together that we can lift up that shield of
faith which can quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. Now is the time to
act.
Carlos Mantica, a leader of the City of God Christian community in
Managua, Nicaragua, wrote in 1978: ‘Since 1973 we had been warned
through prophecy that a period of trial would be coming soon, and we
began to take this seriously. When the time of testing came we were not
fully prepared but strong enough to withstand its first impact.’ Christians in
that country went through severe testings through the genocide, torture and
terrorism that flared up in 1977. Those who were deeply committed to one
another in true Christian community were, however, largely able to stand
fast in the midst of suffering – an experience known to God’s people
throughout the 2000 years of church history. Mantica shared some of the
vital lessons that they learned:

1. In war, the most important time is preparation time. For all of us the
most important time is now. When the time of real trial arrives,
preparation is over: you are either ready or unprepared. If you are not
prepared, you will suffer the consequences.
2. In times of trial, spiritual warfare becomes twice as intense. The world,
the flesh and the devil work against you very powerfully. Being as
strong as usual is not enough … It is important to have some kind of
fortress or stronghold.
3. This fortress is built with deep conviction, firm decisions, and strong
relationships … Our firm decision must be to choose God’s kingdom
and reject any other. To accept Jesus as our absolute and only Lord.
The Lord of our time. The Owner of our money and possessions. The
lord of our thoughts, emotions and acts …

Jesus decided that community should come before suffering so that we

could assist each other and many others when necessity arose. Now we
understand the importance of it and feel the need to strengthen our
relationships. In addition to God’s covenant with us, a covenant with our
brothers and sisters is the best insurance we can get for times of hardship.20

The superficial fellowship of many church fellowships will not be

enough. Personal belief in Jesus, regular devotional life, faithfulness in
church attendance – all these again will not be enough. We need to see
ourselves as members of one family, one body. We have been eternally
united in Christ, and must make that unity real now by strong loving
commitments to one another.

Guard your circle brothers,

Clasp your hand in hand.
 Satan cannot break
The bond in which we stand.

Joy is the food we share,

Love is our home brothers,
Praise God for the Body,
Shalom, shalom.21

Notes

1. I John 1:3
2. Ephesians 2:20
3. John 17:3
4. Acts 2:44; 4:32
5. Psalm 133
6. Romans 8:19–22
7. Hebrews 2:8
8. Ephesians 3:10
9. The Community of the King, IVP. pp. 104f
10. Op. cit., p. 125
11. Mark 10:28–31
12. Ronald J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. Hodder &
Stoughton, p. 163
13. Ronald Sider, op. cit., p. 164
14. David J. Bosch, Witness to the World. Marshall, Morgan & Scott 1980,
p. 225
15. Romans 12:2, J. B. Phillips
16. Op. cit., p. 164
17. Heb. 4:16
18. John 16:32f; Luke 21:12, 17; Matthew 24:10, 12
19. Luke 21:26
20. New Covenant Magazine, November 1978
21. Ann Ortlund (© Copyright 1970 by Singspiration Inc.)
 CHAPTER THREE

Creating Community

Discipleship involves a life of realism and sharing. We are called to share

our lives both with Jesus and with other disciples, but we cannot share what
we do not really know. ‘Know thyself’ is an ancient and wise maxim, but
the pressures of today are such that many people face an identity crisis: they
do not know who they really are. Partly this is due to the emphasis today on
doing rather than on being. In western society what seems to matter is what
we do, how much we achieve, what we accomplish. As we concentrate on
this, we may wonder who we really are; and until we have some knowledge
and security about this, we cannot possibly share ourselves with others.
Another reason for this lack of personal identity is the fantasy world in
which many people live for most of the time – a fantasy accentuated by
television, advertising and the press, and further aggravated by the
depressing hopelessness of much of the ‘real’ world around us. Because
most individuals cannot face the complexity and enormity of today’s crises,
the natural defensive mechanisms are either a dazed apathy, a straight denial
that any problems exist, or a retreat into a dangerous world of illusion.
The Christian is not immune from such personal conflicts. But being a
disciple of Jesus means not an escape from reality, as some critics suppose,
but rather the reverse. Jesus was a total realist. Far from withdrawing from
the real world of sin and pain, he was born into it and fully shared the
struggles, temptations, joys and sufferings of man. He faced squarely the
reality of man’s nature, crippled and twisted by sin, and laid down his life
that man might once again be restored into the divine image. He tackled
man’s last enemy, death, head-on; and by dying and rising again from the
dead gave man the only solid, realistic hope in the face of death that there is
in the world. Unlike the false prophets, he did not say ‘peace, peace’ when
there was no peace. He warned the people of his day of the coming
judgement of God upon Jerusalem, and told us all to expect wars, famines,
earthquakes and much tribulation before his coming again. He was also
honest and straightforward with people. He knew what was in their hearts.
Sometimes gently and sometimes ruthlessly he went straight to their
greatest needs, whether the individuals concerned knew them or not.
In the same way Jesus calls his disciples today to a life of realism,
openness and honesty. We are to take off our masks. We are to be real with
one another. We are to walk in the light, as he is in the light; only in this
way can we have fellowship with him and with each other. And if that light
of Christ exposes sin, the blood of Jesus goes on cleansing us from all sin.
In fact it is as we bear one another’s sins and burdens, learning to forgive
and accept each other, that the love of Christ will grow within us more and
more.
There is probably nothing which so shatters our fantasy dream-world, so
helps us to come to terms with our true identity, and so enables us to be
open and real with one another, as genuine Christian community. Here I am
not referring only to a particular lifestyle, living together under one roof,
although that may often speed up the necessary process of coming to terms
with ourselves and others. I am referring to all expressions of Christian
community, especially those that might be found – and should be found – in
a local church. There may be some, of course, who join a fellowship with a
fantasy-dream about Christian community, that here there will be heaven-
upon-earth, marked by perfect love, joy and praise. If such dreams do exist
– and undoubtedly they do – they need to be shattered, and through
Christian fellowship the disillusionment is likely to come soon. Bonhoeffer
comments: ‘God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely God
desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely
must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with
Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves … God is not
a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which
faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to
be what it should be in God’s sight … When the morning mists of dreams
vanish, then dawns the bright day of Christian fellowship.’1
In open fellowship with other Christians, we can be sure that we are
being real in following Jesus, and not just playing religious games, however
correct our theology may be. Christianity is all about relationships: our
relationship with God and our relationship with others. But such is the
nature of sin, and so powerful are the forces of darkness, we can easily be
both deceived and deceitful in our relationships. Jesus reserved his sternest
judgements against the hypocrites of his day. Many of them, no doubt, were
startled by the charge of hypocrisy. Were they not devout men who believed
in God and kept the law with great diligence? Were they not moral and
upright, highly respectable members of the religious society of that day?
Yet all the time they were play-acting in their relationship with God. There
was no reality about it. ‘This people honours me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me.’2 One of the best ways of checking our own
discipleship is by being genuine and open with others. It may be painful,
but always it will be fruitful.
This sense of Christian community for all disciples was so strong and
fundamental in the first century that salvation outside the church was
considered impossible. When individuals were added to the Lord, they were
added to the church. When they belonged to Christ, they belonged equally
to his body, the church. The severest punishment for gross sin was to be
excluded from the fellowship of the church. This was tantamount to
delivering the offender over to Satan, since God’s grace was to be
experienced especially in the church. And since the New Testament concept
of the church is neither a building, nor an institution, nor an organisation,
but the people of God, this means that the disciples of Jesus should gain
great strength from belonging to one another in Christ. Bonhoeffer once
wrote, ‘He who looks upon his brother should know that he will be
eternally united with him in Jesus Christ.’3

Community and the cross

The true basis for all fellowship is when two or more persons kneel at the
foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, trusting wholly in his mercy and love. It
may well be in fellowship with other Christians that the light of Christ will
shatter my self-righteousness and expose my sinful heart. At that point of
reality, I see how my sins crucified Christ and how they wound his body,
the church, today. Once I really face that, nothing that I can say or do
should surprise me concerning the image I have about myself. Also, as I
turn towards my brother, nothing he may say or do should surprise me
about him. I can no longer be critical or judgemental, since there, at the
cross, I have discovered the state of my own sinful heart.
Since the cross is at the heart of all fellowship, it is only by way of the
cross that fellowship is deepened and matured. This will involve the
frequent and painful crucifixion of all forms of self – self-seeking, self-
centredness, self-righteousness – and the willingness to remain weak and
vulnerable in open fellowship with other Christians. Often we try to meet
each other from positions of strength. We talk about our gifts, blessings and
achievements in the name of Christ. Mutual encouragement along these
lines may sometimes be necessary and helpful. But true fellowship, which
binds our hearts together in love, begins when we meet at the point of
weakness. When I am willing to be open to you about my own personal
needs, risking your shock or rejection, and when I am willing for you to be
equally open with me, loving you and accepting you with unjudging
friendship, we find ourselves both at the foot of the cross, where there is
level ground, at the place of God’s healing and grace.
John Powell once expressed the fears we have in being open to one
another in these words: ‘I am afraid to tell you who I am, because, if I tell
you who I am, you may not like who I am, and it’s all that I have.’4 We
naturally find it safer to maintain an image, to put on a mask, to hide our
real selves. This is not the way of fellowship or discipleship, but it explains
why many churches scarcely begin to demonstrate the quality of
community life that Jesus wants us to experience, and, because of this, have
so few (if any) real disciples. Keith Miller described the predicament like
this: ‘Our churches are filled with people who outwardly look contented
and at peace but inwardly are crying out for someone to love them … just
as they are – confused, frustrated, often frightened, guilty, and often unable
to communicate even within their own families. But the other people in the
church look so happy and contented that one seldom has the courage to
admit his own deep needs before such a self-sufficient group as the average
church meeting appears to be.’5
The breakthrough to genuine fellowship comes when Christians stop
relating to one another as righteous saints, and start accepting one another
as unrighteous sinners. A pious fellowship has no place for the sinner. In
such an unreal and super-spiritual atmosphere everyone must wear a mask.
We dare not be different. If the true facts about any one of us were exposed
the shock would destroy the system; so sin remains trapped in concealed
hypocrisy. It is only when we are free to say honestly who and what we are
that we discover our true freedom as children of God. In God’s presence we
can freely admit our sin, since we know from his word that he loves us and
accepts us in spite of what we are. He never ceases to love us, even though
he knows the worst about us. But until we come to that same point of
honesty with one another, we shall never experience the depths of God’s
love in our own lives, or the reality of that accepting, forgiving and caring
love expressed tangibly through each other.
When we close our hearts to one another, we close our hearts to God.
Instead, we should recognise the Spirit of Christ in one another. As we love
and serve each other, we are loving and serving him. Paul wrote that ‘we
regard no one from a human point of view’, because ‘if any one is in Christ,
he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come.’6
There is a sense in which we should try to see one another not as we are
naturally, but as what we are and can become in Christ. If we could
recognise the enormous potential that we all have in Christ, we should then
encourage each other to become what we are: in God’s eyes, complete in
him.

Community and confession

We live today in a sick church that desperately needs God’s healing. James
guides us to one important remedy in his epistle: ‘Confess your sins to one
another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.’7 Unconfessed
sin keeps us in the darkness, and breaks our fellowship both with God and
with each other. It wounds and tears apart the body of Christ. It robs both
the believer and the community of God’s shalom. ‘When I declared not my
sin,’ records David in the psalms, ‘my body wasted away through my
groaning all day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my
strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.’8 Christian fellowship
likewise becomes sick through the sin of any one of its members. The
whole body is infected. Simply because we belong to one another, the sin of
one member affects the whole. Fellowship is restored and the body healed
only when that sin is openly confessed and brought into the light.
This acknowledgement of sin in the presence of another brother is a
safeguard against self-deception. It is a curious fact that it is invariably
easier to confess our sins privately to a holy and sinless God than openly to
an unholy and sinful brother. If that is true, ‘we must ask ourselves whether
we have not often been deceiving ourselves with our confession of sin to
God, whether we have not rather been confessing our sins to ourselves and
also granting ourselves absolution. And is not the reason perhaps for our
countless relapses and the feebleness of our Christian obedience to be found
precisely in the fact that we are living on self-forgiveness and not a real
forgiveness?’9 That is perhaps why James, in the context of open confession
to another brother, gives the assurance that any sins committed will surely
be forgiven. Once sin is brought out into the light, it can be forgiven and
forgotten. Its power has been broken. It can no longer hold the believer in
bondage, or tear the fellowship apart. The sinner can honestly be a sinner,
and still enjoy the grace of God and the love of the brethren. This is the
moment where fellowship in Christ becomes a profound reality. ‘In
confession the Christian gives up all and follows. Confession is
discipleship. Life with Jesus Christ and his community has begun.’10
Wisdom may be needed in knowing too much to confess in any given
group. Although we should have the freedom to do this with almost any
Christian gathering at any time, it may not always be expedient or healthy
for the group. For example, if a leader is totally honest about his failures
with a young and immature group of Christians, they may not know how to
handle the situation. The openness may hinder rather than help. But each
Christian should have a peer group, or at least a counsellor, in whose
presence he can say virtually anything. Because of certain abuses in the
confessional system in the catholic traditions of the church, many
evangelical groups virtually deny the value of confession to another
Christian altogether. But the practice is both biblical and healthy.
Significantly, a common feature in many of the great revivals in the church
has been this open confession of sin to one another. As concealed sin is
brought out of the darkness, the light of Christ is able to shine as never
before. Fellowship and unity are restored. The Spirit is free to move with
power.

Bearing with one another

The more deeply we commit ourselves to loving fellowship with others, the
more we shall be hurt. As sinners we shall fail and disappoint one another
time and again. Yet it is precisely as we accept, with love and understanding
the foibles and frailties of others, the irritating habits that try our patience,
the sins that we have to forgive, that we shall be fulfilling the law of Christ,
the law of love. Jesus had to bear all this from his own disciples, and if we
want to follow him we must do the same. That is why Paul urges the
Christians at Philippi to have the mind of Christ. Just as he humbled himself
and became a servant for our sake, so we must humble ourselves and serve
one another out of love for Christ. We are to look not only to our own
interests, but also to the interests of others. We are neither to judge nor to
criticise; instead we are to love and to forgive. We are not to dominate
others, nor to use them for some selfish advantage, nor to mould them into
our image; instead we are to see others made in the image of God, to be
honoured and respected.
A Christian leader with some experience of community once asked me,
‘Have you come to that point in your relationships where you have to
depend on the Holy Spirit?’ He knew that we had gone through some
difficulties in our extended household. Once the honeymoon period – or
fantasy-dream – was over, we were all finding various aspects of our
discipleship being strongly challenged. We were surprised by the degrees of
selfishness and covetousness that were still very active in our hearts.
Through guile and deceit we tried in vain to cover up areas of darkness in
our lives. We were startled to find that such areas still existed and even
more depressed to discover our natural deceitful reactions to them. In self-
defence we became suspicious and critical of one another. Mutual love and
trust wore thin. We saw ourselves as spiritually bankrupt in a way that we
did not expect. The moment of disillusionment – and of reality – had
arrived.
 In any true community in Christ all darkness will sooner or later be
exposed to the light. Human love, for all its powerful emotions, is basically
self-centred and self-seeking. It desires to have, to possess, to capture; it
does not serve. Human love will not release the object of that love for the
good of the whole. It makes that object into an idol which it worships, and
which tends to dominate every other thought and action. Human love
manipulates both people and situations in order to achieve its end. It is
restless and insatiable, and, even when disguised as spiritual fellowship, is
destructive of true fellowship. ‘If we say that we have fellowship with him
(or with others) while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according
to the truth.’11
Once we accept the total inadequacy of human love for the building up of
community and confess our own natural sinfulness, we can know the joy of
God’s complete forgiveness, and then ask that his love, instead of ours,
might be poured into our hearts each day by the Holy Spirit. His love cares
for people as people. When we are controlled by the love of Christ we shall
be able to forgive, as often as seventy times seven. We shall care for the
needs of others and lay down our lives for them. We shall give to our
brother in need. We shall sacrifice time and money for him. We shall listen
to him, and let God speak to us through him. God’s love is wholly
concerned with maintaining unbroken fellowship, walking fully in the light,
being always open to God and open to others.

Loving one another

William Barclay describes Christian love like this: ‘Agapē is the spirit
which says: “No matter what any man does to me, I will never seek to do
harm to him; I will never set out for revenge; I will always seek nothing but
his highest good.” That is to say, Christian love, agapē, is unconquerable
benevolence, invincible good will. It is not simply a wave of emotion; it is a
deliberate conviction of the mind issuing in a deliberate policy of the life
…’12 Such love is, of course, perfectly revealed within the Trinity; it is seen
in the love that God has for the whole world; it is marked by the motivation
of the life and ministry of Jesus; it is measured by his total self-sacrifice on
the cross; it takes the initiative towards man in his sin; it calls for a response
of love towards the Great Lover; it is to be found amongst those who are his
disciples; it is the supreme mark of the Christian and of the Christian church
in the world. Without this love, we have nothing and are nothing.
Because of the supreme value of love, it may be helpful to look first at
God’s love for man, second at man’s love for God, then at man’s love for
man, and finally at the characteristic of love itself.
The essential nature of God is love.13 It is all-embracing love, since God
desires that all should be saved.14 It is unmerited love, in that while we
were yet sinners Christ died for us.15 It is sacrificial love, marked by God
giving us his Son and even making him to be sin for us.16 It is merciful
love, since God longs to wash away our sins; he does not keep his anger for
ever.17 It is conquering love, enabling us to overcome the trials and
temptations that God in his wisdom allows us to experience for growth into
full maturity.18 It is inseparable love, which nothing can ever break –
neither depression, disease, demonic forces, nor death itself.19 It is
chastening love, since this too is necessary for our ‘highest good’.20 It is
everlasting love, as the scriptures remind us some 180 times. It is also
jealous love, in that God expects the total devotion of our lives to him who
has given himself unreservedly to us.21
In response to this, our love for God should be exclusive, since our hearts
have room for only one supreme devotion.22 It must be obedient, which is
the ultimate proof of our love.23 It is always in response to his initiative,24
and is the foremost sign of the fruit of the Spirit.25
The Bible, however, is insistent that our love for God, although intensely
personal, is not to be private. It is to be seen in the love we show towards
one another. The Christian is to love those within his own family.26 If he
cannot show true Christian love in his own home, he is disqualified as a
leader of the household of God.27
In this age when the breakdown of family life has reached devastating
proportions and will cause immense problems for tomorrow’s world,
Christian homes, and not least those of Christian leaders, seem under
special attack. More than ever we need to help one another to work at our
marriages, to love, to repent, to forgive, and to strengthen our marriage
vows. Quality time with our children is equally important, particularly for
the active Christian worker. Although a reaction to marriage-failure can be
to make this special relationship something of an idol, Christian love
between husband and wife, parent and child will often be one area where
we greatly need the help of the Spirit of God.28
This nuclear family unit, although special and sacred in God’s eyes, is
not to be exclusive. Christian love must enable us all to form strong brother-
sister relationships with the wider family of God.29 If we fail here, we have
nothing to offer to the lonely, the single, the divorced and the widowed
members of the church, together with solo parents and numerous others
needing a genuine and tangible expression of the love of God amongst his
children. ‘See how they love one another!’ should be the outstanding
impression of the outsider towards the Christian Church. Agapē love also
reaches out to our neighbours;30 and Jesus made it clear that anyone in need
is our neighbour, regardless of differences of race, colour, creed or class.
Barclay comments: ‘More people have been brought into the Church by the
kindness of real Christian love than by all the theological arguments in the
world; and more people have been driven from the Church by the hardness
and ugliness of so-called Christianity than by all the doubts in the world.’31
Christian love includes enemies as well.32 This is one of the most striking
facts of God’s love shown to us in Jesus Christ, the one who prayed ‘Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do,’ is the same one who by his
Spirit can help us to forgive anyone, anything, always. This is why love is
the greatest and strongest force in the world. It overcomes evil with good. It
can break the hardest and cruellest heart. It is steadfast in the very worst of
storms. It changes negatives into positives, pains into joys, darkness into
light. ‘The Christian’s only method of destroying his enemies is to love
them into his friends.’33
How, then, can we summarise the nature of this extraordinary quality of
love – ‘love so amazing, so divine’? Love is sincere;34 it has an open heart
and an open hand; it knows nothing of corruption and deceit. It is
generous,35 marked by the sacrificial giving of time, money, energy and
gifts to those in any form of need. It is active,36 backing expressions of love
with acts of service. It is forbearing and forgiving,37 turning a blind eye and
a deaf ear to the faults and failings of others, and quickly releasing others
from the sins that have hurt. It is uniting,38 seeking always to make peace
and to heal the divisions within Christian homes and churches. It is
positive,39 believing the best about others, not fearing the worst. It is
sensitive,40 taking care not to say or do anything that will cause another
brother to stumble. It is upbuilding,41 so that even when the truth that is
spoken must sometimes hurt, always it aims to build up that person into
Christ. It is the summary of the entire Christian faith,42 the fulfilling of the
law, and must be the Christian’s first and foremost aim.
If that portrait of love leaves us somewhat breathless, it is meant to. God
does not require us to strive for such qualities in our own strength. Humanly
speaking this is quite impossible. But when we come to that point in our
relationships where we have to depend on the Holy Spirit, God’s grace will
be sufficient for us. There is no escape from the pain of crucifixion. Anyone
who is willing for discipleship in the context of community will know at
times tears, depression, perhaps even despair. But through the ashes of our
own failures can emerge the phoenix of a new quality of love, God’s love
assuring us of his constant forgiveness and lifting us out of darkness into his
marvellous light.
Bonhoeffer is right in stressing the impossibility of Christian community
without agapē, the love of God, and the certain destruction of such
community if the weakness of human love is not clearly seen for what it is.
‘The existence of any Christian life together depends on whether it succeeds
at the right time in bringing out the ability to distinguish between a human
ideal and God’s reality, between spiritual and human community.’43 The
failure to distinguish clearly between these two is the reason why many
fellowships have run into difficulties. When Christians try to open their
hearts to one another, and seek to love and serve one another in their own
human strength, the result is that natural desires are awakened, emotional
entanglements soon follow, and suspicions, jealousies and resentments are
quickly aroused. What may genuinely have begun in the Spirit has ended in
the flesh, bringing confusion and disaster. Unfortunately the natural reaction
from those who have been hurt, or from those outside who have witnessed
the carnal chaos, is to back away from deep relationships altogether, to
withdraw to a safe distance, to erect little barriers and defences so that no
further wounds can be inflicted. This too is a fleshly reaction and will be
another way of destroying the community of love that Christ longs to see in
his church.

Covenant love
We need to remember that Jesus knows all about these human desires and
human reactions in each one of us. He saw various expressions of them in
his own self-seeking disciples when they became ambitious for positions of
influence in the kingdom of God, when they argued between themselves as
to who was the greatest, when they were jealous, critical and indignant with
one another. Later the risen Christ saw human desires, in their many forms,
manifesting themselves in all the churches. We sometimes think of only the
Corinthian church as being carnal; but the New Testament letters would
never have been written to any church apart from natural, human problems
arising within their fellowships. But never once did Jesus withdraw his love
from his disciples whose lives were not perfectly under the control of the
Spirit. Had he done so, none of us would have any confidence in our
relationship with him. Instead, as he binds himself to us in his covenant
love, he calls us to do the same for one another. Only in this way will we
help one another to grow up in Christ, with his love filling our hearts and
pervading our fellowship.
The basis of covenant love is commitment. It has nothing to do with
natural feelings and desires. We commit ourselves to our brothers and
sisters because we see Christ in them. We give ourselves to them in loving
service, laying down our lives for them, thinking first of their needs and
interests rather than ours. ‘Community demands great personal sacrifice.
Real community will not function without covenant love, the nature of
which is to love others more than oneself and to give one’s life for them.
Without a doubt, the practical experience of life in community will sorely
test and stretch the love of anyone who attempts it.’44 It is only God’s love,
given to us by his Spirit, that will ever make community possible. That is
why love, more than anything else, is the one unique feature – or should be
– amongst those who are Christ’s disciples.

Community as a means of growth

From what we have already seen about the intrinsic value of the community
for discipleship, it will have become clear that the environment of
community can be a major factor in spiritual growth. Paul, in Ephesians 4,
states that God gives various gifts to his church ‘to equip the saints (that is,
all Christians together) for the work of ministry, for building up the body of
Christ’. In fact, the New Testament sees all the gifts of the Spirit as having
this specific purpose, that of building up the whole community, not just the
individual. The only exception to this being the private gift of tongues,
which is to help the believer in his personal communion with God and thus
indirectly strengthen the body of Christ. It is only when I am personally
edified that I can hope to edify others.
God’s purpose in this is that we should ‘all attain to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ’. Paul’s emphasis again is on
our togetherness in Christ. It is as we seek together to deepen our
knowledge of the Son of God, that we shall grow into spiritual unity and
maturity, and thus reveal something of the glory of the fulness of Christ. No
individual Christian can do all this on his own. Paul here, and in other
passages, is thinking primarily of bodily growth, not individual growth. As
the body grows, the individual members will naturally grow. But each
member needs the life and gifts of the rest of the body before there can be
true development. For this to happen, we need gladly and readily to submit
to one another, learn from one another, listen to what God may be saying
through one another, and count each other better than ourselves.45 It is ‘with
all the saints’, whatever the age, maturity or tradition, that we shall be able
to know the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of God.46
There is an important place for solitude and for private prayer and
meditation, of course, but in the western church the emphasis has been
excessively and unhealthily on the individual. This is not the emphasis in
the New Testament. The numerous instructions in the New Testament
epistles were almost all for the churches and not for individuals. The
common word for Christian, saint, occurs sixty-two times, sixty-one in the
plural, and the one verse where it occurs in the singular says ‘Greet every
saint’! The overwhelming emphasis is on our corporate life together in
Christ. We belong to one another; we are to serve one another; we are to
strengthen and encourage one another.
The more we live as members of one another within the body of Christ,
the more we shall experience the gifts of the Spirit to edify that body. The
manifestation of the Spirit is given only ‘for the common good’. It is as we
live together in love that the Spirit will give his gifts as an expression of his
love within his body, the church. We all need one another. No one member
can say to another, ‘I have no need of you.’ In humility and love, we must
therefore be willing to bring God’s word or a spiritual gift to another
brother, whoever that brother might be. Those who are older and more
mature in the faith must humbly realise that they may need help,
encouragement, forgiveness and maybe rebuke from someone who is
possibly much younger, since, regardless of our supposed maturity, we are
all sinners in constant and desperate need of the mercy and grace of God.
God’s grace may come through any member of the body, and has nothing to
do with the spiritual maturity of the member whom God may choose. If that
member makes extravagant claims about his own ministry, that is another
matter; his gifts and ministry should anyway be carefully weighed and
tested by the leaders of that community. But to humble us and remind us of
our constant weakness, God may well use a ‘weaker’ brother to speak
clearly to a ‘stronger’ one. In this way we continuously realise our
indispensable interdependence, and so grow together into Christ.
I am grateful to those who are willing to speak the truth to me in love,
even when it hurts; and I am even more grateful when it comes from those
who are young enough to be my children. In this way we are beginning to
be the body of Christ, with each member serving the others. As we shall see
more fully in chapter 4, many problems arise when one Christian – the
obvious leader or teacher – is regarded as the ‘guru’ with all the others as
his disciples. Naturally, by virtue of greater knowledge or experience, one
member may have much to contribute. But essentially Christ is the
Discipler; he is the Shepherd of the flock; he is the Teacher in our midst.
Therefore it is the task of a Christian community to encourage each other
into maturer discipleship.

Holy Communion
The clearest expression of Christian community is to be found in the service
of Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist. It is here above all
that we thank God for the basis of all our fellowship, namely the cross of
Jesus Christ. Although once we were ‘separated from Christ, alienated from
the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having
no hope and without God in the world’, now we celebrate the fact that ‘in
Christ Jesus we who once were far off have been brought near in the blood
of Christ.’ We also rejoice that all human barriers have been broken down
through the cross, ‘for he is our peace, who has made us (all) one, and has
broken down the dividing wall of hostility.’47 We all come to the cross as
sinners, and God accepts us as his sons. We look up to him with confidence
saying, ‘Abba! Father!’ We turn to one another in love saying, ‘My brother!
My sister!’ Here, at this glorious fellowship meal, we realise again that we
are ‘no longer strangers … but members of the household of God’. Here is
the solemn guarantee of our eternal relationships with God and with one
another. Being members of one body, we eat of the one bread and drink of
the one cup. We praise and worship God who has joined us together through
the death of his own Son, and now no one can put us asunder.
It is at this eucharist that we remember the matchless and measureless
grace of God. We openly acknowledge that we have sinned against him and
against one another ‘through ignorance, through weakness, through our own
deliberate fault’. We do not attempt to hide our sin. This meal is for sinners
only. We are present at the table of the Lord simply because we have sinned
and need his forgiveness. And in the symbols of the bread and wine we
have the solemn pledge that, as we confess our sins God will remember
them no more. In this eucharist we thank God that our fellowship with him
and with each other is restored. Since the body of Christ was broken once
for all on the cross, the body of Christ on earth today can be healed. We
come therefore with expectant faith, knowing that the risen Christ is with us
to draw us back to himself, to bind our hearts together in love, to feed us,
strengthen and heal us, according to the unsearchable riches of his grace. As
we lift our hearts to him, we can also expect spiritual gifts to be given to
edify the body of Christ: gifts of prophecy, healing, faith and love. In
turning to one another, we can bring each other the peace and love of
Christ.
It is here that we must sort out our relationships with one another, for, if
we fail to do that, we shall be ‘guilty of profaning the body and blood of the
Lord’, thus bringing judgement upon ourselves.48 The situation which Paul
addressed with those words concerned partly the divisions within the
church at Corinth, and partly the material inequality of its members: ‘For in
eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal, and one is hungry and
another is drunk.’ Had they really loved one another, they would have
shared their food together, as well as repenting of the divisions within their
fellowship. Instead, by coming divided and unrepentant to the one meal
which spoke so powerfully of their unity in Christ, they were experiencing
God’s chastening in the form of physical sickness and even death. This
fellowship meal, which Jesus instituted with his own disciples, is both a
means of grace and a form of discipline for all who follow him today. It will
help to check that our relationships within the community are healthy and
right.
At this meal we are also spiritually strengthened in order to serve God in
the world. The focus on the death of Christ is a reminder that the disciple
must also take up his own cross and follow him. We are to walk with Christ
into this world of sin, willing to suffer for his sake in order to reconcile the
world through Christ. We offer our lives especially in service of the poor
and needy. As a thanksgiving for all that Christ has done for us, we present
our own bodies as a living sacrifice, and ask to be filled with the power of
his Spirit, that we might live and work to his praise and glory.
Not least, this fellowship meal should be a foretaste of heaven. We
remember that at best it is only a shadow of the marriage feast of the Lamb.
With our hopes fixed on the glory that is waiting for us, we do not lose
heart with the ‘slight momentary afflictions’ of this present time. If at this
moment our joys are mingled with tears, we take courage at this fellowship
meal that one day God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Until that
glorious day, we remain a community of God’s people, members of his own
household, encouraging and serving one another, renewed daily by God’s
love, as we work together for the kingdom of God.

Notes

1. Life Together, SCM, pp. 15–17

2. Mark 7:6
3. Op. cit., p. 13
4. Why am I afraid to tell you who I am?, Fontana. p. 12
5. The Taste of New Wine, Word, p. 22
6. 2 Cor. 5:16f
7. James 5:16
8. Psalm 32:3f
9. Bonhoeffer, op. cit., p. 90f
10. Op. cit., p. 90
11. 1 John 1:6
12. More New Testament Words, SCM, p. 16. (I am also indebted to William
Barclay for some of the study on ‘love’ in this section.)
13. 1 John 4:7f
14. 1 Tim. 2:4
15. Romans 5:8, 10
16. John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:21
17. Eph. 2:4; Psalm 103:8–10
18. Romans 8:37
19. Romans 8:38f
20. Heb. 12:6
21. Exodus 20:5
22. Matthew 6:24
23. John 14:15, 21–24; et al.
24. 1 John 4:19
25. Gal. 5:22
26. Eph. 5:25ff: 1 Tim. 5:8
27. 1 Tim. 3:1–5, 12; Titus 1:5–8
28. Note Eph. 5:18, followed by instruction on family relationships, 5:21ff
29. 1 Peter 2:17; Gal. 6:10
30. Luke 10:27; et al.
31. Op. cit., p. 21
32. Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27
33. William Barclay, op. cit, p. 21
34. Rom. 12:9; 2 Cor. 6:6; 8:8; 1 Peter 1:22
35. 2 Cor. 8:24; 1 John 4:11
36. Hebrews 6:10; 1 John 3:18
37. Eph. 4:2; Col. 3:12–14
38. Eph. 4:3; Phil. 2:2; Col. 2:2
39. 1 Cor. 13:4–7
40. Rom. 14:15; Gal. 5:13
41. Eph. 4:15; 2 Tim. 2:22–26
42. Rom. 13:10; Col. 3:14; 1 Cor. 13; 1 Cor. 14:1; et al.
43. Op. cit., p. 24
44. New Covenant Magazine, August 1977
45. Eph. 5:21; 1 Cor. 14:31; Phil. 2:3
46. Eph. 3:18
47. Ephesians 2:13f
48. 1 Cor. 11:27–29
 CHAPTER FOUR

Making Disciples

The Christian gospel is God’s good news for the whole world. This was the
startling truth that shook those first Christian Jews, that ‘God shows no
partiality, but in every nation … every one who believes in (Jesus) receives
forgiveness of sins through his name.’1 It took a little time for the apostolic
leaders to realise the significance of this, but the last recorded words of
Jesus before his ascension into heaven had been, ‘Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations.’2 This was his one master plan for the salvation of
the world, brilliant in its simplicity but strangely ignored by much of the
church in most generations. His disciples were to make disciples who
would make disciples, ad infinitum.
A disciple is a follower of Jesus. He has committed himself to Christ, to
walking Christ’s way, to living Christ’s life and to sharing Christ’s love and
truth with others. The verb to disciple describes the process by which we
encourage another person to be such a follower of Jesus; it means the
methods we use to help that person to become mature in Christ and so be in
a position where he or she can now disciple someone else. Since every
Christian is a disciple of Christ we must be careful not to develop
‘discipling programmes’ that become so specialised and stereotyped that
they develop into almost another denomination, or at least a faction within
the church.
 In recent years there has been a strong emphasis by a number of Christian
leaders in different countries along the lines of ‘shepherding, discipling and
submitting’. Some of this has been disturbing and divisive, for reasons that
we shall see later. Nevertheless, movements in the church which tend to go
to unfortunate extremes nearly always come into being as inevitable
protests to certain weaknesses in the church. In rediscovering emphases
which have been largely neglected it is all too easy to push those emphases
so strongly that they become unbalanced, contentious and even heretical.
The New Testament word ‘heresy’ originally referred to a divisive party
that was not necessarily linked with major doctrinal errors at all. Such a
group became a heresy or faction3 simply because of the strong personality
of its leader or the over-emphasis of what at heart was a biblical truth. But
we must not throw out the baby with the bath-water. If we need to be wary
of over-stressing certain aspects of discipleship, we must be equally wary of
over-reacting to what is still a vital biblical principle that the church has
neglected to its own peril.

The need for discipling

Certain failures in the church have made the shepherding movement, with
all its excesses, inevitable.
First, many Christians, especially in some of the mainline churches, have
been deeply disturbed by the lack of doctrinal and moral discipline within
the church. An article in The Times newspaper4 on the Church of England’s
Doctrine Commission Report said, ‘What the 18 theologians hold in
common is a belief in the likelihood of God, and reverence for Jesus. They
disagree about everything else.’ When ordained clergymen openly deny the
divinity of Christ or reject the bodily resurrection of Christ, clear discipline
needs to be taken. Given the need for compassion when any Christian,
including a leader, is wrestling with honest doubts on even most basic
doctrines, we need also the courage to stop such a theologian or teacher
from exercising a public ministry whilst working through their personal
uncertainties. The Roman Catholic Church has often shown here the
discipline that other churches have lacked. The attitude of many churches
towards illicit sexual relationships is another disturbing example of the
weakness of Christian discipleship today.
 Second, there is a desperate lack of commitment on the part of numerous
professing Christians, and a corresponding reluctance in Christian
preaching to speak much about the cost of following Jesus. Little reference
today is made of self-denial and the cross. We may rejoice that Jesus has
died on the cross for us; but what about taking up our cross daily to follow
him? For far too long the church has endorsed the ‘club’ mentality of
church-membership. A ‘good’ church member, reveals Juan Carlos Ortiz, is
‘like a good club member: he attends the club, pays his dues, and tries not
to embarrass the club.’ Where, however, does the New Testament speak
about church-club membership? Nowhere! We are members of the body of
Christ, and members of one another, both ideas stressing our total
commitment to Christ and to each other. Lack of commitment is marked by
shallowness of fellowship, flabbiness in evangelism, absence of body
ministry; neglect of spiritual gifts, sterility in worship, feebleness in prayer,
and general lack of love.
Who wants to belong to such a sick and ailing body? Yet in this
meaningless world of ours, increasing numbers of people are looking for
something worth living for, perhaps even dying for. It is one reason why the
cults are increasing in numbers, when the established churches are
declining: the cults call for strong discipleship. So do all the revolutionary
and terrorist groups that are capturing so much of the world today. The
‘shepherding movement’ is an understandable protest about the failure of
the church to take the radical demands of Jesus seriously.
Third, there is a depressing lack of direction in numerous churches. Many
of the debates and activities in the church are like playing bridge on the
Titanic after it has hit the iceberg. Most people are profoundly aware of the
uncertainty of this present age, and everywhere there is a sense that time is
running out fast. Countless Christians are deeply frustrated by lack of clear
leadership from the top. Someone once commented that when an institution
no longer knows what it is doing, it tries to do everything. The need for
business-like discipling and for coming to grips with the real and urgent
issues of today seem more important than ever. Large numbers of Christians
are wanting to follow leaders who have the courage to give a clear
prophetic call to the church, and who will train and mobilise the church for
the tasks that are obviously relevant for today. In other words, many
Christians are willing and wanting to be discipled.
 Fourth, with the renewed biblical emphasis on every Christian being
involved in the ministry of the church, and with increased openness to the
gifts of the Spirit, confusion and excess inevitably arise where there is not
firm leadership and wise pastoral control. The sad fact is that, concerning
this spiritual renewal, many clergy and ministers are cautious and
suspicious. When the laity are often rearing to move forward, the clergy are
dragging their feet. Subsequently, this new-found freedom in the Spirit
frequently has taken place in home-based ‘renewal fellowships’ that may be
lacking in experienced leadership. When the gifts of the Spirit are not
carefully weighed and tested, some fleshly self-display is almost inevitable.
Due to the lack of encouragement and teaching by the ministers of local
churches, Christians, who may genuinely have been blessed by the Holy
Spirit, will look elsewhere for spiritual guidance.
Fifth, according to the tradition of the church, there has been either gross
neglect in the area of evangelism, or an over-dependence on the big-time
evangelist to do the job committed to the church. Neither attitude is biblical.
Although some are called to be evangelists for the benefit of the whole
church, the New Testament lays the emphasis clearly on the witness of
every Christian. Dr James Kennedy illustrates the value of this in the
following graphic way. If you were an outstandingly gifted evangelist with
an international reputation, and if, under God, you could win 1,000 persons
for Christ every night of every year, how long would it take you to win the
whole world for Christ? Answer, ignoring the population explosion, over
10,000 years. But if you are a true disciple for Christ, and if you are able
under God to win just one person to Christ each year; and if you could then
train that person to win one other person for Christ each year, how long
would it take to win the whole world for Christ? Answer, just 32 years! In
churches where discipling is taken seriously, there are few, if any,
specifically evangelistic services with a gifted evangelistic preacher. Many,
however, are still being won for Christ through the individual witness of
each Christian.
The need for some discipling or shepherding programme should now be
apparent. ‘Unless disciples are adequately built, there will not be enough
competent leadership to carry on the work of the church.’5 If the church as a
whole does not take this need seriously, it has only itself to blame for any
unhelpful and divisive alternatives.
The dangers of shepherding
There are many biblical references to the leader of a church taking on the
role of a shepherd. ‘Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock,’ said Paul
to the Ephesian elders.6 ‘Tend the flock of God that is in your charge,’
wrote Peter.7 ‘Feed my lambs … Tend my sheep … Feed my sheep,’ said
Jesus when he reinstated Simon Peter as leader of the church.8 Yet in many
churches the whole concept of shepherding is viewed with suspicion and
dismay. Why is that? There are some obvious pitfalls to be avoided.
First, serious discipling has all too often become legalistic and
authoritarian. Rules and regulations covering a wide range of expected
behaviour (not all spelt out in the Bible) have become the norm, often
marked by a narrow pietism, an unhealthy separation from the world, and
an intense spirituality that shows little of the spontaneous love and joy
characterised by the New Testament church. All this can lead to a hard
unbending Christianity which seems far from the gracious gentleness of
Jesus Christ. I have seen many Christians who once were relaxed and
radiant, beginning to look cowed, anxious and fearful again, because they
have come into the bondage of strict human shepherding. The pressures
may not be structural, but emotional. Through the genuine and detailed care
of mature Christian couples, those under their pastoral care, especially
single girls, can feel strong emotional ties that are not easy to break. Similar
pressures can also exist within a single-sex discipleship. Strong loyalties are
established, so that any deviation can seem like rebellion. If you go along
completely with those over you, all is well; but if you choose differently,
however slightly, there is either a major confrontation until you conform
once again, or else you are out on a limb. The emotional pulls to conform
are therefore immensely strong; only as you do so will the fragile security
of your submissive relationships with other Christians remain intact.
Similar dangers were known in New Testament times. Paul once urged
the Colossian Christians not to ‘submit to regulations, “Do not handle, Do
not taste, Do not touch” … according to human precepts and doctrines.’
Such self-discipline often appeals to deeply committed Christians, but
invariably it leads either to self-righteousness or to a false sense of guilt.
Paul commented that such ‘rigor of devotion’ may seem godly and wise,
‘but in actual practice they do honour not to God, but to man’s own pride.’9
The Galatian Christians, too, had fallen into a similar trap. Paul wrote, ‘O
foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?’ Some of them had followed
Peter who ‘drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision
party’. Due to pressure of the Judaisers, Peter and others with him had
slipped from their Christian liberty into religious legalism. Paul urged them,
‘For freedom Christ has set us free, stand fast therefore, and do not submit
again to a yoke of slavery.’10 Legalism and licence – those are the two main
dangers which rob us of our true freedom in Christ. Yes, there must be
leadership and discipline within every church; but when this effectively
quenches the Spirit in people’s lives, and causes Christians to draw back
from one another, becoming cautious, critical and fearful, Paul’s teaching is
highly relevant.
Second, strong shepherding can develop into a new priesthood. In some
cases, every disciple submits virtually every area of his or her life to a
shepherd, and every shepherd (with not more than twelve disciples under
him) submits his life to another shepherd – all in a pyramid structure.
Submission is often practised more widely than within the fellowship of a
local church. For example, the leaders of one church might submit their
lives to the leaders of another church, which could be many miles away;
and they in turn might submit to international leaders in another country
altogether. Such submission can involve tithing to a shepherd, detailed
accountability to that shepherd, and obediently accepting guidance from
that shepherd on matters concerning marriage, family, housing, work,
finance, lifestyle and so forth.
The ‘new priesthood’ of such a system is now clear. How can I hear the
voice of God? I must listen to my shepherd. How can I know the will of
God for my life? I must ask my shepherd. What is the right interpretation of
this passage of scripture? My shepherd will teach me. One woman, trying to
explain the blessings of all this to me, said, ‘It is such a relief not to have
the responsibility for making decisions yourself.’ That, however, is the
point of danger. When shepherding assumes detailed control over the lives
of others, there will be a serious loss in personal responsibility, maturity and
even significance. Since almost every Christian finds guidance difficult, it
may initially be a relief to let someone else make the decisions instead. In
the long run, however, this will keep a disciple in an unhealthy dependence
on a human shepherd instead of a healthy dependence on the Great
Shepherd. Pastors and teachers are part of God’s gift to the church to teach
faithfully the biblical principles involved in decision making, and no doubt
to help us think through complex issues more objectively; but we must each
give an account of ourselves to God. We are personally responsible to him,
and should not allow ourselves to be in situations where we can blame
others for the mistakes we have made in our lives. Responsibility and
maturity go closely together. Paul and the writer to the Hebrews lamented
the immaturity of those who should by that stage have been teachers and
leaders themselves; instead they still needed others to nurse them and be
responsible for them.11
Carl Wilson comments that in certain groups the leaders ‘are beginning to
claim the right to speak for Christ in telling people what to do, without
having any clear scriptural authority for what they say. Some … are
claiming an authority that actually puts them between Christ and the people.
They tell them when to marry, divorce, go to school, and the like … If the
people of the churches concede to clergy the right to make decisions of life
and doctrine apart from the clear teaching of Scripture, it will inflict the
deathblow to disciple building in the churches, even as it did in the early
church.’12 The apostle Peter, for this reason, urged the elders not to be
domineering over the flock.13
In the same way, caution needs to be exercised over strong prophetic
utterances. These may be part of God’s word for a church, but when these
prophecies are held with almost greater authority than scripture itself,
serious problems can arise. It is worth noting that the New Testament
envisages prophecy as a gift of the Spirit through any member of the
congregation for ‘upbuilding and encouragement and consolation … You
can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged.’14
Here there is little hint of any strong or ‘heavy’ prophecy which becomes
God’s agenda for the church. Sometimes God may want to speak strongly
and clearly to a church; if so, we should expect it to be confirmed from a
number of quite different sources.
Third, dominant shepherding inevitably becomes divisive. When a group
of disciples lean too much on one leader, the natural consequence will be a
competitive and carnal spirit, ‘I belong to Paul, I belong to Apollos, or I
belong to Cephas.’ It was precisely those factions that were about to destroy
the temple of the Spirit at Corinth, and Paul had to speak clearly as to what
they were doing to God’s church, God’s building. It was not primarily a
rebuke to the leaders; it was a warning to those who were exalting leaders
above their God-given role. So Paul pointedly asks, ‘What then is Apollos?’
Not ‘who’, notice, but ‘what’! ‘What is Paul? Servants …’ He went on to
stress that the leaders were nothing in themselves; all the growth and life
came entirely from God. If the factions at Corinth continued on the divisive
way, grouping themselves around various leaders (or shepherds) they would
destroy God’s temple; and ‘if any one destroys God’s temple, God will
destroy him.’15 No man can damage God’s work with impunity.
It is tragic, but not surprising, that unfortunate emphases on shepherding,
discipling and submission have been the cause of sharp controversy within
the charismatic renewal (in particular) in different parts of the world. In
many instances, groups of varying sizes have separated themselves from
churches which, for all their faults, God was undoubtedly blessing.
Independent house churches have arisen which may have flourished, but
have also aggravated the deep wounds within the body of Christ.
In 1976 a measure of reconciliation over this very issue was reached
between prominent leaders in North America. The leaders of the Christian
Growth Ministries, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida – associated strongly with the
‘shepherding movement’ – issued a statement which began: ‘We realise that
controversies and problems have arisen among Christians in various areas
as a result of our teaching in relation to subjects such as submission,
authority, discipling, shepherding. We deeply regret these problems and in
so far as they are due to fault on our part, we ask forgiveness from our
fellow believers whom we have offended.’ The signatories were Don
Basham, Ern Baxter, Bob Mumford, John Poole, Derek Prince and Charles
Simpson.16
Bob Mumford later expressed the situation like this: ‘In the past, we
taught people to act as they “felt led”. The result in many places was chaos.
In an effort to help people more accurately interpret the leading of the Holy
Spirit we asked people to “check out” their guidance with a pastor or
shepherd for a confirming word. The result in many cases was a
bureaucratic system which squashed spontaneity and removed the joy of
seeing God work … Without question, there have been situations where
leaders have “played the Holy Spirit” to believers under their care,
requiring a type of allegiance that only the Lord has the right to demand …
As leaders we must become secure enough in our people to allow them to
make mistakes in learning to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit …’17
It is one of the great needs for today to keep the necessity of discipling
high on the church’s list of priorities, while being fully aware of the dangers
of excesses, and always seeking to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace.

Disciples and leaders

One of the most encouraging truths about the disciples of Jesus is that they
were very ordinary people, with all the human faults and failings that we
see only too often in ourselves. It is part of the integrity of the Gospels that
we see the disciples as ambitious and selfish, sometimes arguing amongst
themselves as to who was the greatest. We see them weak in faith, anxious
and fearful, constantly receiving gentle rebukes for their failure to trust in
God. We find them impulsive and immature in their words and actions, self-
confident when warned about temptation, lazy when urged to pray,
impatient with the children, weary of the crowds, bewildered and depressed
by the events leading to the crucifixion, in spite of repeated teaching by
Jesus that this must happen. We notice how slow they were to learn, how
quickly they forgot spiritual lessons taught in the most dramatic ways. In
other words, they were just like most of us! Yet these were the men that
Jesus chose to be disciples and trained to be leaders.
Many ministers have told me that they have no leaders within their
congregation, and they see this as a serious hindrance to their work. Perhaps
they look longingly at some large and thriving church which seems to be
bursting with leaders. Naturally those churches seem to have a potential for
growth which other less fortunate, leaderless churches do not. In the vast
majority of cases I very much doubt if this is true. We have simply missed
the way in which Jesus first made disciples and then trained them into
leaders out of some very raw material. How he did it, and what we can learn
for ourselves, we shall see later in this chapter. But notice first that the
marks of a disciple and the marks of a leader are very nearly identical. True,
a spiritual leader will have the God-given charisma of leadership as well;
but most of the other characteristics will be the same, since every true
leader must first learn to be led. Until he is a learner, he will never be a
leader. In taking the task of making disciples seriously, we shall also be
providing the church with the leaders that are so urgently needed.

Marks of a disciple
What are we aiming at, when we talk about making disciples? Let me
mention a number of characteristics that I have observed over the years. I
am not claiming that this list is complete, or that every disciple will display
the full range of qualities; but at least we should know what we are hoping
and praying to achieve. Let me put it in the form of questions that we need
to ask; and although these questions are masculine in form, they refer to
either male or female.
1. Is he willing to serve? This was a repeated lesson that Jesus had to teach
his status-seeking disciples, especially when he humbled them dramatically
by washing their feet. (John 13; cf. Mark 10:35–45)
2. Is he learning to listen? When Simon Peter was full of bright ideas on the
Mount of Transfiguration, God told him to ‘listen’ to his Son. (Luke 9:35)
When Martha was impatiently bustling around preparing a meal whilst
Jesus was talking, she was gently rebuked for not being like Mary who was
sitting quietly listening to the Master. (Luke 10:41f)
3. Is he willing to learn? When Jesus spoke about his coming sufferings and
death, Peter blurted out, ‘God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’
The stinging reply was something that Peter never forgot. (Matthew 16:22f)
4. Is he willing to be corrected? How well does he receive honest criticism,
when others speak the truth in love? (Matthew 18:15)
5. How well does he submit to those who are over him? (1 Thess. 5:12f;
Hebrews 13:17) Is he willing to do this, even when he does not understand
all the reasons why, or when he does not naturally enjoy what he is being
asked to do?
6. Can he share his life with others, in open and honest fellowship? (1 John
1)
7. Is he learning humility? Can he rejoice with those who rejoice, and be
genuinely glad when others are blessed in some way or other? (Phil. 2:3f)
8. Is he learning to examine his own life before criticising others? (Matthew
7:1–5)
9. Does he know his weaknesses? Is he learning to overcome them through
the grace of God? (2 Cor. 12:9)
10. Is he a perfectionist? This will lead him into either self-righteousness,
self-condemnation, self-pity, or a judgemental spirit. ‘We all make many
mistakes’ (James 3:2; cf. 1 John 1:8–10). Is he learning to accept himself,
as God accepts him in Christ – just as he is?
11. Is he able to forgive? (Matthew 18:21f)
12. Has he stickability? Or does he give up easily? How does he handle
discouragements? (Ephesians 6:10ff; cf. 2 Cor. 4:7ff)
13. Is he to be trusted? (1 Cor. 4:2) Is he reliable? Will he get on with a task
without constant nagging? Is he willing to trust others, even when they have
disappointed him and let him down?
14. Does he mind his own affairs? Or is he always wanting to pry into the
lives of others, becoming a busybody or even a gossip? (John 21:21f; 1
Tim. 5:13)
15. Does he do little things well? (Colossians 3:17)
16. How does he use his leisure? Does he see that all his time is a gift of
God to be used wisely? (Ephesians 5:15–17)
17. Does he aim first and foremost to please God? Or does he seek the
praise of others, or gratify his own desires? (John 12:43; 2 Cor. 5:9)
18. Is he quick to obey when God speaks to him? When fisherman Peter
obeyed instantly the instructions of Jesus on the Sea of Galilee, however
foolish those instructions may have seemed to him, there were astonishing
results (Luke 5:4–9) This proved a vital lesson (which had to be learned
more than once!) in the years ahead.
19. Has he faith in God, especially when there may be no outward signs to
encourage his faith? (Luke 18:1–8; Mark 11:12ff)
20. Where is his security? Is he willing to trust ultimately in the love and
faithfulness of God, or does he look for more temporal and material
securities first and foremost? (Matthew 6:19–34) Is he willing to move as
the Spirit leads him on, to make adjustments and changes, or does he resist
change?
21. Has he a clear understanding of God’s priorities for his life? (Acts 6:2–
4)
Making disciples
The golden rule is to start small. Although Jesus spent some time with the
crowds, and at least on one occasion sent out seventy disciples on a specific
mission, it is clear that he spent most of his ministry on this earth with the
small band of twelve. And of those twelve, he concentrated especially on
three, James, Peter and John. Those three were with him in the sick-room of
Jairus’ daughter, on the Mount of Transfiguration, and in the Garden of
Gethsemane. No doubt Jesus risked the jealousy of the other nine by giving
certain privileges to those three; no doubt he caused envious questions to be
asked by other followers when he spent so much time with the twelve. But
it is impossible to disciple more than a small group at any given time if
those disciples are to grow into true spiritual maturity. On those twelve
depended the whole future of the Christian church. One failed completely
and all the others were disappointments from time to time. But as Jesus
persisted with them, loving them to the end, he was laying a firm
foundation for the whole church of God.
Any wise leader will likewise concentrate his time with a small group of
committed Christians, twelve probably being the maximum number for
effective discipling. In fact, the fewer the better. Paul clearly spent much
time with Timothy, Luke, Titus, Silvanus and a few others. He told Timothy
to entrust what he had learnt from the apostle ‘to faithful men who will be
able to teach others also’.18 Concentrating on a few at depth, so that they in
turn will be able to do the same with others, is in the long run far more
effective than the much more superficial teaching of a larger group. Here
especially, ‘small is beautiful’ – and fruitful.
One vital point is to understand exactly who is the discipler in any group.
The common and natural answer is the most mature and experienced leader
present. A much healthier model, however, is to see Christ as the primary
Discipler, so that we all seek to encourage one another, correct one another,
and build one another up in love. Those with greater knowledge and
experience will of course have more input than others; but we all genuinely
need one another in order to grow up into Christ in every way. He is the one
we are to listen to, learn from, and obey; and he may well speak to us
through any member of the group. The Spirit distributes gifts as he wills,
and all are for the common good.
 When any Christian leader sees himself, or is seen by others, as the
‘guru’ of the group, problems are likely to follow. Dominant leadership will
not help, but hinder spiritual growth and development. Also, every leader
needs constant encouragement or even correction; the Holy Spirit might
well use a much younger and less experienced member of the group to
speak clearly to that leader. Remember that it is out of the mouth of babes
that we find perfect praise! The writer to the Hebrews, although urging the
Christians to remember their leaders, to obey them and to submit to them,19
also knew the vital importance of mutual ministry to one another: ‘Exhort
one another every day … let us consider how to stir up one another to love
and good works … , encouraging one another …’20
At present I work with a small team that travels with me everywhere, as
we lead Christian missions or festivals in different parts of the world. It is
nearly always the same team, and naturally we spend much time together,
working closely as a team, and praying together. But even at home, in
between these special engagements, we meet all together at least four times
a week. We usually begin with a time of worship and praise. Then we share
together what God has been saying to us or doing in our lives, nearly
always relating this to verses or passages from the scriptures that we have
been reading during the previous day.
These ‘sharing times’ are neither pooling our problems nor just picking
out nice devotional thoughts from the Bible. They are times of reality when
we let down our masks, say what is going on in our thoughts or lives, and
link this with what God may be teaching us in our present situation. For
example, I might share that I have felt under pressure recently trying to
write this book; but when reading Psalm 37 this morning I felt God was
reminding me to ‘take delight in the Lord’ and to be more aware of his
loving presence always with me. Another member of the team might wish
to comment by adding what he or she also had been learning from the Lord
recently when under pressure, or by gently ‘speaking the truth in love’ to
me by saying that I had allowed my work to make me tense and irritable
with the team during the last few days. Our one desire is to encourage each
other to grow up into Christ in every way, and to do so in the atmosphere of
God’s unchanging love. Occasionally these times can be painful as we have
to face up to where we really are with the Lord and with one another; they
could lead to deep repentance, maybe even tears. Much more often we have
great fun together, and nearly always these are times of immense mutual
encouragement. We all know the dangers of any public and ‘platform’
ministry; we know too that the credibility of what we do on the stage or in
the pulpit will depend entirely on the quality of everyday relationships, with
God and with each other. It is in the sharing of our lives together that the
life of Jesus will be more clearly manifest amongst us; and we have nothing
of lasting value to offer others apart from Jesus.
The precise patterns of our team meetings vary, of course. On some days
we try to give ourselves to intercession for some forthcoming festival or
tour; on other days we study the Bible more carefully together, or tackle
some theme, such as counselling, personal evangelism, or anything else that
may be immediately relevant. Always these are learning times, but the
learning may be relational or devotional, not merely cerebral.
Is this concentration of time as a very small group a matter of spiritual
indulgence? Should we not make ourselves much more widely available to
a larger number of needy people? I think not. Because so much of our
ministry is in reaching out to numerous people with all their various needs,
our time of mutual discipling is all the more important, and the spiritual
fruitfulness of it soon becomes apparent. Further, although the work of this
particular team may be specialised, the principle of sharing, caring, praying
and working in small groups is vital for every church. If the present
programme of any church makes such discipling impossible, the sooner
adjustments are made, the better. A man may kill himself trying to attend to
the needs of his whole parish or congregation; but if he can give himself to
a small group of disciples, many or all of whom may later become leaders,
his congregation will eventually thank him that he was not so immediately
available to everyone during those earlier years.
In many areas today there is a growing shortage of trained clergy and
ministers. George Martin, in Today’s Parish, suggests a plan for the
impending dearth of priests in the Roman Catholic Church: ‘Perhaps
pastors should imagine that they are going to have three more years in their
parish as pastor – and that there will be no replacement for them when they
leave. If they acted as if this were going to happen, they would put the
highest priority on selecting, motivating, and training lay leaders that could
carry on as much as possible of the mission of the parish after they left. The
results of three sustained years of such an approach would be quite
significant. Even revolutionary.’21

Sharing lives
There is an ancient proverb which says:

I hear, I forget
I see, I remember
I do, I understand

This is precisely the way in which Jesus trained his disciples. Luke, writing
to Theophilus about his Gospel, said, ‘I have dealt with all that Jesus began
to do and teach …’22 The doing came before even the teaching. Jesus had
no formal curriculum, no planned course of instruction, no classroom
syllabus. Instead, he called his disciples to be with him. Jesus said to them,
‘You also are witnesses because you have been with me from the beginning
… You are those who have continued with me in my trials … I have given
you an example …’23 They watched him at work, they worked with him,
they asked him questions when they failed or did not understand, they went
out in pairs to practise what they had learned, they came back to report,
they asked more questions, they received further instructions. In this way
they slowly but surely learnt about the kingdom of God. ‘The apostles
returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught’ (note the
order again).24
This is discipling at its best, when deep personal relationships are formed
within a small group of Christians who are living together, working
together, sharing together. According to Moses Aberbach this was also the
ideal rabbi–disciple pattern of education at the time of Jesus. The disciple
would spend as much time with his teacher as possible, often living in the
same house. ‘Disciples were expected not only to study the law in all its
ramifications, but also to acquaint themselves with a specific way of life,
which could be done only through constant attendance upon a master …
The rabbis taught as much by example as by precept. For this reason the
disciple needed to take note of his master’s daily conversation and habits, as
well as his teaching.’ Following a teacher meant not only following his
teaching, but literally to walk behind him. Apparently assisting one’s master
at the bath house was so commonly associated with discipleship that the
saying, ‘I shall bring his clothes for him to the bath house’ became
proverbial for ‘I shall become his disciple.’ Yet there was nothing distant
about this relationship. The rabbi would try to raise his disciple as his own
son, caring for him, providing for him, encouraging him, correcting him,
until the day came when the disciple would become a teacher himself.25
All this was strikingly similar to the pattern of New Testament
discipleship. Although Jesus asked more of his disciples than any other
rabbi dared to ask, and although he gave more by laying down his own life
for them, the principles of teaching by example, learning by looking and
doing, were all very much the same. Jesus was the Good Shepherd who
cared for his sheep, provided for them, called them by name, knew them,
kept them, loved them. The sheep in turn knew the voice of their shepherd
and followed him.
Especially vivid was the warm and tender relationship that developed
between the apostle Paul and Timothy, whom he called ‘my true child in the
faith’, ‘my son’, ‘my beloved child’.26 For a time Paul took Timothy with
him on his various missionary journeys, so that Timothy would learn simply
by being with such an experienced Christian leader. Later Paul sent
Timothy off on missions of his own, and then appointed him to look after
the large and flourishing church at Ephesus. He wrote to Timothy two
lengthy, pastoral letters, giving him many instructions about how to handle
various issues that had arisen in that key church. He told him how to pastor
older men, younger men and women. He gave him specific instructions for
specific situations. He guided him about his personal health. He gently
rebuked him for his timidity, and urged him to stir up the gift of the Holy
Spirit within himself. In every firm, loving, thoughtful way he cared for
Timothy as a loving father would care for his son. All the time, in keeping
with the father-son relationship of Hebrew families, Paul was forming
Timothy into the position of spiritual leadership that Paul had served for so
long. Just as a Hebrew father trained his son to take over the running of the
family business, so Christian discipling means laying down our lives for
others, training them to take over the responsibilities we have accepted until
now.
Certainly, this seemed to be Paul’s usual pattern wherever he went.
Writing to the Christians at Thessalonica, he said: ‘We were gentle among
you, like a nurse taking care of her children. So, being affectionately
desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of
God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us …
You know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you
and encouraged you and charged you to lead a life worthy of God …’27
Paul was also thrilled with the way they were taking on responsibilities for
themselves. ‘The word of the Lord (has) sounded forth from you …’28 As
the disciples develop in spiritual maturity, so their opportunities for
Christian ministry should correspondingly grow.
Most people blossom when given responsibilities. Unless leaders train
others to take over the tasks that they have done, the expansion of any
church will cease at a certain limit. ‘True multiplication occurs when
disciples are trained in evangelism and disciple building. No matter how
dynamic the pastor, no matter how financially stable and well organised the
church, expansion will not continue if people are not trained to minister.’29
This is exactly the method of Jesus: ‘As the Father has sent me, even so I
send you.’30 Steadily their responsibilities grew, and likewise their maturity
developed. He sent them out on their own, standing back whilst they tried
for themselves; then gently correcting them, instructing them still more,
until the time came when he could leave them altogether, knowing that his
Spirit within them would continue to be their helper and guide. ‘Jesus
seems to have given his men as much responsibility as they could
reasonably assume. He sent them out on their own, allowing them to have a
ministry without him. Thus, he was preparing them for the time when he
would no longer be present. It is best not to do for a disciple what he can do
for himself. He must be given an opportunity to act independently and
responsibly.’31
All this means that disciples must be made or formed – not just informed,
as the church has tended to for so long. Just as God ‘has predestined us to
be conformed to the image of his Son’, so Paul was willing to be ‘in travail
until Christ be formed in you’.32 Imparting information is not enough,
however important this may be as part of the whole process. More than that,
we must share our lives with one another to such a degree that God is able
to share his life in us and through us, until he forms us into the pattern that
he wants us to be, into the likeness of his own Son, and until he develops
the gifts and ministries he has given us into full maturity. Ultimately God is
concerned, not with academic and theological knowledge, but with life – his
life within us. He wants us not just to know about Jesus, but to be like
Jesus, filled with the Spirit of Jesus, bearing the fragrance of Jesus,
controlled by the love of Jesus. Such a quality of life is caught, rather than
taught; and however important it may be to ‘devote ourselves to the
apostles’ teaching’, as did those first Christians, it is even more important
that the life of Jesus be manifest amongst us.

Teaching
It would be a profound mistake, of course, to put true spiritual life in
opposition to good biblical teaching. The words of Jesus are the words of
life, as his disciples clearly appreciated.33 In the context of a common life,
Jesus spent considerable time teaching his disciples. Take for example his
sermon on the Mount, or his discourse during the last supper, or his forty
days of teaching about the kingdom of God after his resurrection. Paul and
the other apostles also spent as much time as possible preaching, teaching,
instructing, exhorting, or writing letters. As Paul told the Ephesian elders, ‘I
did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and
teaching you in public and from house to house … I did not shrink from
declaring to you the whole counsel of God …’34 The New Testament
epistles are eloquent examples of the importance the early church gave to
Christian doctrine and its practical out-working in the various churches.
Look at the way in which Paul urged Timothy to ‘attend to the public
reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching’, to ‘follow the pattern of the
sound words’, to ‘guard the truth’, to ‘preach the word, be urgent in season
and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience
and in teaching’, to become ‘a workman who has no need to be ashamed,
rightly handling the word of truth’.35
In no way do I want to minimise the enormous value of good, thorough
biblical teaching at every level. The church’s failure to take preaching and
teaching sufficiently seriously – the standard of preaching in many churches
is abysmally low – is one reason for the general spiritual malaise that we
see almost everywhere today. At the same time, when the emphasis in many
church circles is on theological study, Bible courses, conferences, seminars
and classroom work, it is important to realise that the training of New
Testament disciples was largely along very different lines. Paul for
example, could be both strong and encouraging with Timothy because of
the excellent relationship that had developed between them over the years.
Timothy’s life and ministry had largely been formed by the Holy Spirit
working through Paul. It was real, alive and powerful. Paul was simply
urging him not to let his natural nervousness pull him back in the face of
pressure from within and persecutions from without, but to go on to wage a
good warfare for Jesus Christ. Certainly teaching was and is of immense
importance for Christian maturity. But above all we must look for God’s
love and life expressed through individual Christians and through churches.

Marks of a leader
We have already seen that good discipleship is excellent preparation for
good leadership. The charisma of leadership, however, is not given to every
disciple, and there are certain qualities that we need to look for and develop,
in order to produce the leaders that are needed for the church. Every natural
ability comes from God and can be used in his service. The apostle Paul, for
example, used his considerable intellectual gifts to the full, and the
theological wealth in his epistles has stretched the minds of the most able
commentators ever since. We need men and women today who can discern
the significant trends in modern philosophy and psychology, politics and
sociology, and then interpret these trends for the benefit of the whole
church. Unless we understand what the world is saying and doing we
cannot speak with the cutting-edge of a relevant and maybe prophetic word.
We need Christians with academic skills to grapple with the exegesis of
biblical passages, to engage in serious theological debate or religious
dialogue, to be alert to issues within the church that may cause moral or
doctrinal disarray, and to communicate the gospel to secular man using all
available media.
At the same time, it is interesting to note that the biblical picture of the
disciple or leader has no specific reference to academic qualifications. Paul
and Luke had plenty; Peter, James and John, very few. Most of the mainline
churches place far too great an emphasis on academic training, and far too
little on spiritual renewal and life. The result is that church leadership today
is not lacking in intellectual credibility – and in some situations that is
necessary and good; but the overwhelming and desperate need of the church
almost everywhere is for spiritual renewal. A. W. Tozer remarked that ‘the
only power God recognises in his church is the power of his Spirit; whereas
the only power recognised today by the majority of evangelicals is the
power of man. God does his work by the operation of the Spirit, while
Christian leaders attempt to do theirs by the power of trained and devoted
intellect. Bright personality has taken the place of the divine afflatus. Only
what is done through the Eternal Spirit will abide eternally.’ People are
hungry for life, and churches are not able to share life that they do not
possess.
It is also a mistake for churches to be on the look-out only for natural
leaders – those who would be leaders in any walk of life. Such persons may
certainly be potential leaders in the church, since all good gifts come from
God. But someone with a natural flair for leadership does not necessarily
make a good spiritual leader; in fact his ‘natural’ strength may well have to
be broken by God until he comes to genuine and humble dependence upon
God for resources that he does not possess on his own. We see a hint of this
when Jesus said. ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among
you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and
whoever would be first among you must be your slave.’36
Paul, too with all his intellectual ability, natural strength and spiritual
experience, had to learn through a painful thorn in the flesh – some physical
handicap? – that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. He went on to
say, ‘I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me.’37 Spiritual leaders, like disciples, have to be
made; they are not born. And when Jesus, the master-trainer, took three full
years to make his leaders (not entirely successfully, from a human point of
view) we can hardly expect to do the job ourselves in a shorter time. Nor
will a course of lectures on Christian leadership be any substitute for
imitating the way in which Jesus shared his life with the twelve, guiding
them, loving them, correcting them, encouraging them, forgiving them and
praying for them.
What especially are we to work and pray for, in order to shape a disciple
into a leader? Together with all the qualities mentioned earlier, there are
several particular ones that we need to encourage.
 First, a Christian leader must have the spirit of service. A ruler tells
people what to do, but a leader shows people by his own example. Jesus
first washed the feet of his disciples, and then said, ‘I have given you an
example, that you should do as I have done for you.’38 Paul was able to
write to the Philippians, ‘What you have learned and received and heard
and seen in me, do.’39 He rejoiced that the Thessalonians ‘became imitators
of us and of the Lord’;40 and he urged Timothy to ‘set the believers an
example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.’41
Moreover, a true leader will serve another Christian in a way that
develops his full potential. As the disciple grows into maturity, the true
leader will increasingly step back to allow the disciple to step forward. The
coach of a football team is not the star performer; he does not score all the
goals or points; he does not steal the limelight. In most football teams the
coach is not well known to the public at all, compared with the players. His
task is behind the scenes, enabling those whom he serves to come into their
own. Likewise if the Christian is in any way ambitious to be the star
himself, he disqualifies himself as a leader. ‘A true and safe leader is likely
to be the one who has no desire to lead, but is forced into a position of
leadership by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and the press of the
external situation … The true leader will have no desire to lord it over
God’s heritage, but will be humble, gentle, self-sacrificing and altogether as
ready to follow as to lead, when the Spirit makes it clear that a wiser and
more gifted man than himself has appeared.’42 It is clear that John the elder
had trouble with Diotrephes, ‘who likes to put himself first’. Evidently he
was a hopeless leader, since he had not learnt this first priority of service.43
Second, a leader must possess spiritual authority. The evidence of this
has nothing to do with status, but with obedience to God, and being filled
with his Spirit. The seven helpers in Acts 6 who were chosen by the
congregation and appointed by the elders, were marked out as being ‘of
good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom’. There was no question as to
their spiritual authority. Stephen, for example, was described as a man ‘full
of faith and of the Holy Spirit … full of grace and power’. He did ‘great
wonders and signs among the people’, and spoke fearlessly when on trial
for his life. We are told that ‘his face was like the face of an angel.’ The
mark of God’s presence was manifestly with him.
 Bob Mumford once wrote: ‘Real authority is never taken, it is given. No
leader should ever take more authority in the life of one of his charges than
he is given by that believer.’44 The danger comes when the believer gives
too much authority to the leader, either to avoid personal responsibility or
because of the requirements of that particular fellowship. Exercising a
healthy and balanced authority within a church is not easy; it comes only
from walking constantly with Jesus, controlled by his Spirit, sensitive to his
people, equipped with spiritual gifts, and becoming increasingly like Christ.
Such a leader is quick to take advantage of momentum. When the Spirit
seems to be moving in a certain direction, the leader must be willing to
hoist his sails and go with the wind of the Spirit. He therefore needs to
make clear decisions. He may need time to wait upon God and to seek the
counsel of other Christians. But a good leader will make firm, and on the
whole quick decisions, even though sometimes he may humbly have to
acknowledge that he was wrong. He must also have vision. He must learn to
listen to the Lord, to know where he is going, to impart the vision to others,
and to inspire them to go with him.
Although the spiritual authority of any leader is given to him by those he
seeks to lead, ultimately it comes from God; and it will come to those who
are supremely concerned to ‘obey God rather than men’.45 The perfect
model, of course, is Jesus himself. When Jesus walked this earth, he was
Son of man as well as Son of God, and he showed us by his own example a
life of absolute obedience. In John’s Gospel we see this especially clearly. ‘I
can do nothing on my own authority’ (5:30); ‘I have come down from
heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me’ (6:38); ‘I
have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself
given me commandment what to say and what to speak.’ (12:49) It was in
his perfect submission that Jesus found his spiritual authority and power.
That is why Jesus was so impressed with the faith of the centurion who
came to him about his sick slave. As the soldier explained, ‘I am a man set
under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one “Go”, and he
goes; and to another “Come”, and he comes; and to my slave “Do this”, and
he does it.’ It is when we ourselves are willing to be ‘set under authority’
that we shall find we have spiritual authority over others.46 God gives his
Spirit to those who obey him, and our obedience to him might well be
tested by our obedience to those whom he has set over us. Significantly, it is
an immediate consequence of what it means to be filled with the Spirit that
we should ‘be subject to one another out of reverence to Christ’,47
especially to those who are over us in the Lord. ‘Obey your leaders and
submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who
will have to give account.’48 Just as the leader must one day give an
account of his leadership, so the disciple must one day give an account of
his submission to leadership.
Within the Trinity, any danger of an imbalanced submission is, of course,
safeguarded by the perfect bond of love. Love again is the vital controlling
factor within a Christian fellowship. ‘Indeed, outside the context of
committed, loving relationships, authority and submission can be
incomprehensible or frightening. But we know that we are not called to go
it alone. Rather, we are called to community, to the development of
meaningful relationships and the sharing of our lives.’49 Within such a
context, carefully ordered structures of relationships are vital for the health
and harmony both of the church and of the individuals within the church.
Only in this way will the kingdom of God be seen amongst us and advanced
in the world.
In a helpful article called Where Does Authority Come From? Steve
Clark, a co-ordinator of The Word of God community in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, gives some of the scriptural protections against the abuse of
authority.50 He mentions four in particular. First, authority within a church
or community should always come from a group, and never just from one
individual. In New Testament days whenever a church was established,
elders (always in the plural) were appointed for the oversight of that church.
Second, clear qualifications were given so as to ensure, as far as humanly
possible, that the right people were in authority. Paul gave full instructions
about the sort of men who should be chosen as leaders in the church to
Timothy and Titus, for example,51 Third, Jesus made it clear that authority
must be marked by humble service, as we have already stressed. Fourth, it
is God who ultimately ‘executes judgement, putting down one and lifting
up another.’52 He is the one who calls leaders into their position within the
church, and it is the task of the church to recognise those whom God has
called. When mistakes are made, or when a leader stumbles, we need to
trust that God is well able to correct and discipline, since he is finally Lord
of his church.
 This brings us to the third mark of a leader: the willingness to exercise
discipline, although always to do this ‘in a spirit of gentleness’.53 A
younger Christian, with whom I was working closely at the time, once said,
‘I’m sorry that I’ve been going through a difficult time for the last few
weeks. I know I haven’t made it easy for anyone. But I wish you had said
something to me. I needed your correction, but it never came.’ Had I
sufficiently loved this man, I would have taken the necessary steps of gentle
discipline before he came out with this cry for help. Sometimes our
reluctance to correct another Christian stems from a profound awareness of
failures in our lives. God, however, has given us the responsibility of
admonishing one another,54 and this does not spring from our own
righteousness or spiritual superiority. It is a vital expression of our care for
each other within the one body of Christ. So, whilst not hesitating to
exercise this God-given responsibility, we must do so only in humility.
‘Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted.’ Jesus taught us never to
criticise or judge, otherwise we ourselves would be judged. If we see a
speck in a brother’s eye, we must first check to see if there is a log in our
own eye; perhaps that speck in our brother’s eye is only a reflection of the
beam in our own.55
Whenever giving correction, it is important to concentrate on issues that
are of some weight, not on the trivial matters that may happen to irritate us.
Constant correction is discouraging; too little correction leads to
carelessness. Always we need to be positive. Paul, in his letters to the
churches, repeatedly sought to encourage his readers with the evidence of
God’s grace in their lives, even when later in the letter he had some strong
things to say. We live in a world which is quick to condemn and slow to
encourage; so it is especially important that we speak positively about what
is good. Correction should also be accompanied by teaching: what went
wrong, and why? How can it be put right the next time? Even if the lesson
has been taught before, we must not fight shy of constant repetition; the
apostles knew the value of this, as did their Master.
The leader needs also to give clear warnings: about false teaching and
teachers, about temptations and trials, about the activities of the evil one.
‘Warn every man and teach every man’ was Paul’s constant concern.56
Prevention is better than correction and the good church leaders will not be
ignorant of Satan’s devices.
 The pattern of discipline within any church has been given clearly to us
by Jesus in Matthew 18:15–20. Discipline within the leadership itself will
also follow the same guidelines; but Paul gives an important principle to
Timothy which, if acted upon today, would save much of the destructive
gossip about Christian leaders that causes such devastation within the
church. ‘Never admit any charge against an elder except on the evidence of
two or three witnesses.’57 I am grateful to Stanley Jebb for helping me to
see the significance of this verse. We should never listen to any negative
criticism against any Christian, especially a Christian leader, unless the
critic is willing to repeat the charge in the elder’s presence, or even if
necessary to be a witness in court. Then, there must be at least two or three
witnesses. Even then, we only receive the charge; we do not believe it or act
upon it until further investigation has been made. Slander or false
accusation is one of the commonest works of the devil to divide Christians
from one another. ‘Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual
up-building.’58

Training leaders
All that has been said already about making disciples will be relevant for
the training of leaders. However, one further structural development in the
small group pattern for church growth is important to mention.
Howard Snyder once noted, ‘Virtually every major movement of spiritual
renewal in the Christian church has been accompanied by a return to the
small group and the proliferation of such groups in private homes for Bible
study, prayer, and discussion of the faith.’ John Wesley saw the necessity of
this, and it was a powerful factor in the revival which swept England,
influencing not only the personal religion of countless individuals, but
causing immense social changes as well. Wesley himself was influenced by
the astonishing effectiveness of the Moravian movement, which was largely
due to their constant attention to their relationships with one another based
on small groups. To establish and maintain true Christian fellowship at
depth, Count Zinzendorf organised numerous small cells (banden)
consisting of 8–12 people. These contributed immensely to the spiritual
health of the church, and also became the springboard of evangelism. In this
century, the extraordinary growth of the church in South America is partly
due to two main factors: first, the emphasis on the power and filling of the
Holy Spirit; and second, to the development of the cell structure, with many
thousands springing up and multiplying all the time.
However, the leadership of these groups and cells is all-important to
healthy growth and expansion. In our church in York, we have found value
in developing a ‘support group’ consisting of the leaders of a number of
house groups in a given area. The leader of this support group will be an
elder who has pastoral oversight of all the groups represented. In so far as
this support group of leaders is able to be open to God and to each other, so
that same openness is likely to happen in the groups they lead. Thus the
reality of spiritual life in the support group is vital: worshipping, praying,
sharing, studying, caring. If these and other ingredients are increasingly to
be found, they are likely to be reproduced in the rest of the fellowship. In
this way, there is the continuous training of leaders, comparable to the ‘in-
service training’ so widely practised in the secular world.

Summary
Paul, when writing to the Colossians, declared that it was his aim to
‘present every man mature in Christ’.59 This is the ultimate goal in making
disciples. Since God is the God of all life, his concern is that we should
become whole people, not just religious people. Sometimes the Christian
church gives the impression that it is only interested in religion. In fact,
William Temple once called it the most materialistic of all religions since it
affected every area of life: everything was to be redeemed for Christ.
Maturity in Christ refers therefore to our relationships at home and at work,
our leisure, our use of time and money, our involvement in society – in
other words, our whole style of living.
We must never restrict discipleship to religious events, when we gather
together for prayer, Bible study or evangelism. It is the sharing of our lives
together. Making disciples is not easy. Paul wrote, ‘For this I toil, striving
with all the energy which he mightily inspires within me.’ Always it will
mean hard work, coupled with spiritual wisdom and discernment that are
gifts of the Holy Spirit. That may be partly the reason for the failure of the
church as a whole to take discipling seriously. Few, if any, of us feel
qualified for the task. Paul, however, spoke of the mighty inspiration of the
Spirit when it came to making others mature in Christ. We must trust the
Spirit’s resources as we seek to obey Christ’s Great Commission.

Notes

1. Acts 10:34–43
2. Matthew 28:19
3. I Corinthians 11:19
4. 16 February, 1976
5. Carl Wilson, With Christ in the School of Disciple Building, Zondervan,
1976, p. 25
6. Acts 20:28
7. 1 Peter 5:2
8. John 21:15–17
9. Colossians 2:20–23
10. Galatians 3:1; 2:12; 5:1
11. I Corinthians 3:1–4; Hebrews 5:11–14
12. Op. cit., p. 24
13. 1 Peter 5:3
14. 1 Corinthians 14:3, 31
15. 1 Corinthians 3:5–17
16. Quoted by Michael Harper in This is the Day, Hodder & Stoughton,
1979, p. 156
17. Quoted in Fulness, volume 24, 47 Copse Road, Cobham, Surrey,
England
18. 2 Timothy 2:2
19. Hebrews 13:7, 17
20. Hebrews 3:13; 10:24f
21. Quoted in Pastoral Renewal, July 1978
22. Acts 1:1
23. John 15:27; Luke 22:25: John 13:15
24. Mark 6:30
25. Information from Pastoral Renewal, July 1978
26. 1 Tim. 1:2, 18
27. 1 Thessalonians 2:7f. 11f
28. 1 Thessalonians 1:8
29. Carl Wilson, op. cit., p. 101
30. John 20:21
31. Ibid., p. 209
32. Romans 8:29; Galatians 4:19
33. John 6:68
34. Acts 20:20, 27
35. 1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 1:13f; 4:2; 2:15
36. Matthew 20:25–27
37. 2 Corinthians 12:9
38. John 13:15
39. Philippians 4:9
40. I Thessalonians 1:6
41. I Tim. 4:12
42. A. W. Tozer, ref. not known
43. 3 John 9f
44. Op. cit., p. 18
45. Acts 5:29
46. Luke 7:1–10
47. Ephesians 5:18, 21
48. Hebrews 13:17
49. Bob Mumford, New Covenant, January 1977
50. New Covenant, January 1977
51. I Timothy 3:2–13; Titus 1:5–9
52. Psalm 75:7
53. Galatians 6:1
54. Colossians 3:16
55. Matthew 7:1–5
56. Colossians 1:28
57. I Timothy 5:19
58. Romans 14:19
59. Colossians 1:28
 CHAPTER FIVE

Life in the Spirit

For about sixteen years I have suffered from asthma. Fellow-sufferers will
know what a crippling condition this can be. When you are gasping for
breath you are literally fighting for life. You cannot talk, walk, work or do
anything.
The church in many parts of the world today is in a chronic asthmatic
condition. A century ago, Edwin Hatch wrote the hymn:

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

Fill me with life anew;
That I may love what Thou dost love
And do what Thou wouldst do.

That is a prayer we need to pray with all our heart today: that the breath of
God’s Spirit might bring new life to the whole church and to every
Christian.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn has said that he sees Christianity as the only
living spiritual force capable of undertaking the spiritual healing of Russia –
or of any nation for that matter. Moreover, the world situation is now so
serious that he believes that spiritual revival may be essential for our
physical survival. The mood of our materialistic affluent society is that of
apathy, cynicism, frustration, alienation and increasing hopelessness. In our
spiritually bankrupt generation, people are looking not for religion but for
reality. As an alternative to knowing God in convincing personal
experience, few people want to recite a meaningless creed in a dreary
service. Unless God is manifestly in our midst, the world has no time for
the church. Unless we become the living, loving, caring body of Christ on
earth, why should anyone believe in the Saviour?
The call of Jesus to his disciples was absolute: they had to deny
themselves, take up their cross and follow him – no turning back. His
commitment to them was also absolute. He gave his life for them on the
cross; and he promised to give them his Spirit of life in their hearts. Without
either of these supreme gifts of his grace, their discipleship would have
been hopeless and disastrous. Instead they became the greatest spiritual
revolution the world has ever seen. When the Spirit came upon them at
Pentecost, nothing could stop them. Despite threats, imprisonments,
beatings and killings, their enraged opponents had to acknowledge that
these timid, ordinary men and women had turned the world upside down. It
was a stupendous missionary achievement which probably has never been
paralleled in the history of the Christian church. Devoid of human
resources, they were totally dependent on the power of the Spirit of God.
Today, the church has numerous resources: buildings, investments,
treasures, theological colleges, libraries, films, cassettes – the list is
impressive and could go on. Much less impressive is the evidence of the
Spirit’s power today, despite the need for this being much greater than ever.
In the closing hours of his ministry on earth, Jesus several times spoke of
the coming of the Holy Spirit. He called him another Counsellor, who
would be with the disciples for ever. All that Jesus had been to them during
those three short years, the Spirit would be to them always and everywhere.
He would guide and teach, encourage and rebuke, strengthen and empower.
He would be the Spirit of truth, not received or understood by the world,
but for ever dwelling in all those who followed Jesus. He would teach them
all things, and bring to their remembrance all that he had said to them.1 In
particular there are four main aspects of the Spirit’s work that are important
for us to know and experience: spiritual birth, spiritual growth, spiritual
gifts and spiritual power.
Spiritual birth
The wife of an Anglican clergyman wrote to me one day in these words:
‘You prayed that the Holy Spirit would make my Christian life new, and he
did just that … I was filled with new life and joy, and I saw praise and love
on every page in my Bible. Now I did not know about Jesus; I knew him!’
During this imparting of new spiritual life, there are several stages where
the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit is the key. No man can do this work for
him. First, he shows us our need. ‘When he comes,’ said Jesus, ‘he will
convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement.’2 Over
the past few years I have had the privilege and joy of seeing a number of
terrorists and long-term prisoners come to a living faith in Christ. In their
letters to me they have almost all used exactly the same words in describing
their experience: ‘for the first time I feel free.’ No one can escape the
relentless pain of a guilty conscience. Most of us try to hide sin by the
cover-up of activity.
Our conscience, however, is that God-given faculty within us that is
constantly vulnerable to the Holy Spirit’s action. Suddenly and
unexpectedly we may feel guilty for something we have done, or not done,
in the past. ‘Nothing is more characteristic of the human sense of guilt than
its indelibility, its power of asserting itself with unabated poignancy in spite
of all lapse of time and all changes in the self and its environment … The
past is not dead; it can never, in this life, be buried and done with.’3 That is
why the apostle Paul refused ‘to tamper with God’s word, but by open
statement of the truth’ he aimed clearly at ‘every man’s conscience in the
sight of God’.4 He knew well, from his own humbling experience, how the
Spirit of God could make the word of God like a two-edged sword piercing
through all the barriers and defences in order to expose a guilty conscience.
It is only through the awakened conscience that we shall be aware of any
spiritual or moral need of God; and it is only when the Holy Spirit
convinces us of this need, that we shall begin to call on God for his mercy
and forgiveness.
Second, the Holy Spirit brings us new life. Since God is Spirit, we must
be spiritually alive before we can know him. Naturally, through our sin, we
are spiritually dead; we have separated ourselves from God by going our
own way, not his. We are in the kingdom of darkness, or the kingdom of
Satan. How can we come into the kingdom of God? How can we be born
again, born spiritually? Jesus never really answered that question for
puzzled Nicodemus, but he pressed home the point firmly: ‘That which is
born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do
not marvel that I said unto you, “You must be born anew.”’5 There is no
substitute for this.
Without the new birth we cannot see the kingdom of God. Imagine you
were visiting York, and I tried to show you the beauty of the stained glass in
York Minster. From the outside, you cannot see it, however accurately and
eloquently I might explain it to you. It is only when we go inside that you
can see what I am talking about. Until we step into God’s kingdom by being
born again, we cannot see the spiritual truths – we shall be blind to them. ‘I
once … was blind, but now I see’ is how John Newton expressed it in his
famous hymn ‘Amazing Grace’.
Nor without the new birth can we enter the kingdom of God. Just as the
air is all around me and I need to breathe it in, in order to live physically, so
the Spirit of God is all around me, and I need to breathe him in (or receive
him), in order to live spiritually. Malcolm Muggeridge, after a spiritual
journey lasting for much of his life, discovered the reality of Christ, and
shortly afterwards described the situation in these words: ‘I come back to
the Christian notion that man’s efforts to make himself permanently happy
are doomed to failure. He must indeed, as Christ said, be born again … As
far as I am concerned, it is Christ or nothing.’6
Third, the Spirit assures us of our salvation. ‘When we cry “Abba!
Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are
children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs
with Christ.’7 Once we have this deep, inner assurance – variously called
the ‘witness of the Spirit’ or the ‘sealing of the Spirit’8 – then we can be
ready for anything through Christ who strengthens us. It explains why Paul
was able to say, ‘I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us’, and why he
was so absolutely convinced that ‘nothing whatever could separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus.’9 Yet, through the low level of spiritual
experience in much of the church, Christians today often lack assurance
concerning their relationship with God or their forgiveness of sins. The
result is invariably a weak and uncertain faith that, instead of shaking the
world, will easily be shaken by it.
In much evangelistic work I realise that some who ‘come to Christ’ are
simply coming into assurance of their faith. They already have a true
relationship with God; and in that sense I accept the accusation that I am
often ‘preaching to the converted’. But William Temple used to say that
‘until a man is converted and knows it, he is not the slightest use to God.’
Therefore whether an evangelistic event is leading to conversions, or only
to assurance of conversion, is immaterial. Without assurance of the real
thing, we have virtually nothing to offer to God in terms of fruitful service.

Spiritual growth
When Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit being a Counsellor, he used a word
meaning ‘one called alongside to help’ – a helper. In every area in the
spiritual growth of any Christian or any church the Spirit’s initiative is
absolutely essential. Some of these areas have been examined elsewhere in
this book. However, a quick glance at other aspects of the Spirit’s work may
be helpful.
1. Christ-likeness. The primary and sovereign work of the Spirit is to
glorify Christ.10 One way of doing this is by opening our blind spiritual
eyes to see the glory of Christ ourselves, and then by working within every
part of our lives that he might, with increasing measure, reveal Christ’s
glory through us to others: ‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding
the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree
of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.’11 This
transforming, restoring work begins the moment we commit our lives
personally to Jesus and receive his Spirit into our hearts. God’s image in us
has been marred and sullied by sin. Having redeemed us through the death
of his own Son, God sends his Spirit into our hearts to start on the repair-
work. It is a delicate and lengthy operation, which depends in some
measure on our willingness to co-operate. Our natural self is always pulling
against the Spirit. ‘For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the
Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature
wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you
want to do …’12 In this passage, Paul goes on to describe what human
nature does, and then contrasts it with the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy,
peace, and so forth.
Because there is such confusion about spiritual growth, and because
many Christians fall into the bondage of trying hard to become what they
think they ought to become, a simple diagram may help.

We know that we ought to be full of love, life, power, faith and wisdom;
but for many it seems a hard, long and bewildering struggle. They see the
situation like this – with these Christ-like qualities detached from us – the
question seems to be, how can we get the love and life that we do not
possess? What we need to realise is that all that we need is in Christ; and
once we are truly ‘in Christ’ ourselves, we are complete in him. We already
have in him all the love and life, all the power, faith and wisdom we need.
We simply have to claim it, and begin to enjoy the unsearchable riches God
has already given us in Christ. It is important to see how different this is.
Instead of trying to get something that we do not possess, it is a question of
letting the Spirit release from within us what we already have in Christ. Our
task is to abide in him, and then trust his Spirit to work in and through us.
2. Healing. The healing ministry in the church has, until more recently,
been largely neglected, or else left to the lunatic fringe. Biblically, however,
Christ’s command to the disciples to go and preach the gospel was nearly
always linked with the specific instruction to heal the sick. This is a vital
part of God’s salvation. Indeed, the English word ‘salvation’ is derived
from the Latin salvare, ‘to save’, and salus, ‘health’ or ‘help’. It means
deliverance from danger or disease, and implies safety, health and
prosperity. Although in new covenant times the word passed more from the
physical to the moral and spiritual – but by no means entirely so – God is
concerned with the ‘wholeness’ of every one of his children. Paul stressed
that he worked with all the energy that God mightily inspired within him to
‘present every man mature (teleion) in Christ’.13 The word teleios means
full-grown, whole, mature, perfect. That is God’s plan: that we should be
complete in Christ.
Through sin, we are naturally separated from God, and often from one
another. We may also in some measure be alienated from ourselves –
emotionally fractured, wounded and scarred, and so in need of inner
healing. Until we are made more whole within ourselves, we shall be
trapped by certain negative attitudes and reactions. It was the mark of Jesus
that always, in every situation, he reacted perfectly in love. It was a holy
love which God could blaze forth with righteous anger when confronted by
hypocrisy or oppression; but even though he was often sinned against,
always he responded in love. God therefore seeks to work in us by his
Spirit, so that we too have this positive response of love, regardless of the
situation we are in. For this, some inner healing is necessary for every
disciple of Christ.
 God’s original plan for his creation is that every child born into this
world should enjoy the protective love of his parents and family. As the
child begins to develop, limited stress is allowed into the child’s experience
as part of the developing process, but harmful stresses are kept away by the
protective love of the family circle. Even Jesus had to learn obedience
through suffering, and therefore some pain is necessary for healthy
growth.14
Through the fall of man, however, that protective circle of love is
partially broken in every family. Thus every child experiences some
harmful stress that causes wounds – perhaps deep wounds. Further, as the
child itself is born with sinful tendencies, it will also hurt and wound itself
by negative reaction to various situations. Thus we all grow up with
personalities that are in various ways, aggressive, defensive, critical and
moody. In other words, we do not act and react in a Christ-like way towards
one another. When the parental circle of love is badly damaged through the
breakdown of marriage and family life, the scars will, of course, be more
serious. For example, the crime-rate amongst those from broken homes is
inevitably much higher than amongst those from loving and united homes.
Thus we have the problem, not only of ‘battered babies’, but of emotionally
battered children, teenagers and adults.
As we grow up, we learn to protect ourselves from further hurts by
erecting our own defences or masks. So we keep our distance from others;
or we hide our real selves by an outward show of self-confidence, shyness,
jollity, aggression, or whatever. We become experts at cover-up; we do not
like to see ourselves as we really are, and we certainly do not want others to
know the truth. Also, these protective masks keep us from being vulnerable.
Since we refrain from opening our lives to others, we protect ourselves
from further hurts, which would only aggravate the wounds that are hidden
but still there.
Many Christian fellowships, therefore, are superficial in relationships: we
relate to one another over matters of doctrine or aspects of work, but often
do not know one another and are frightened of being known. Our society
teaches us not to admit our own weaknesses; and the church can make this
worse when it encourages us to think we should always be victorious,
radiant, loving, peaceful and strong! We may subsequently find ourselves
relating to people who will both reinforce our defences (‘not good to be
introspective’), and refrain from probing too deeply into those inner areas
that are still wounded. We join a Bible study or prayer group, or get
involved in some Christian action; but still we do not face up to who we
really are. We still need inner healing.
God’s plan of salvation is clear. Through the death and resurrection of
Christ we can be reconciled to God, and begin to know the healing of our
relationship with him. Through the coming of his Spirit into our hearts, we
receive a new birth and a new life – ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’.15 As
we allow Christ to be Lord of our lives, so his Spirit begins to change us
into his image, from one degree of glory to another.16 The fruit of the Spirit
is thus increasingly manifest in our lives: love, joy, peace and so forth.
However, it is through our new relationships in the family of God that the
work of Christ and the operation of the Spirit can be applied more
effectively within us. Our salvation, or wholeness, is complete in Christ, but
we need to open our lives to God and to one another in order for his Spirit
to heal our inner hurts and to renew us in God’s love.
For this healing to be effective, several steps have to be taken. First, we
must be willing to let those protective masks go. In fact, we may well need
the help of other Christians to see what those masks are; we can be
amazingly blind to our own defences! Also, it may be only in the security of
accepting Christian love that we shall be willing to drop those masks, and
so admit areas of failure, hurt and need. This is a humbling and often
painful stage, and it may require sensitive love to melt those barriers down.
Second, we must openly confess to God our real selves, our deep desires,
attitudes and reactions, humbly asking for his forgiveness and for the
healing love of his Spirit. Since God is outside time, we can in prayer go
back to those moments when we were hurt, and in our hearts release or
forgive that person who has hurt us, or maybe confess some wrong done to
another person, asking for God’s help to put that thing right, if we are still
able to do so. In other words, we are specifically asking for the Holy Spirit
to heal those inner hurts that have been revealed to us as we let those masks
fall.
Third, by the open sharing of our lives with one another in love, we work
out and make real the healing of the Spirit. In a caring Christian fellowship
we can speak the truth in love, be honest and real with one another, pray for
each other, and so receive God’s healing through the caring fellowship to
which we all should belong. It is still God who heals, but his Spirit is able
to move more freely through the lives of Christians who are genuinely open
to one another in caring and unjudging love. ‘Confess your sins to one
another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.’17
All three steps are vital for the wholeness that God has made possible
through the gift of his Son and his Spirit. My own cultural background has
been totally against that third step of openness and sharing, and I have also
been very reluctant to let the masks fall! Yes, in private I could tell God
everything, ask for his forgiveness, and pray for the transforming power of
his Spirit. So far so good. But still my masks and defences were firmly in
position. Gradually, through the gentle love and tenderness of other
Christians, I allowed some of these defences to go. It was shattering to be
known as I really am, and I felt sure that I would be both judged and
rejected. But in an atmosphere of God’s unshaken and compassionate love,
shown through my brothers and sisters (who in turn needed all this just as
much as I did!), I began to experience in greater depths than ever before
God’s deep inner healing of my whole personality. God is far from finished
with me yet; but I am profoundly aware of much greater wholeness caused
by the healing Spirit of Christ, as he works directly in my heart and also
reaches me through other Christians, in so far as I keep my life open to
them as well as to God.
Other forms of healing are also gifts of the Spirit and expressions of the
love of God. Always we must bow to God’s sovereignty in salvation,
including healing, and usually God will work in us through medical means.
Every good gift comes from above. But we must not limit God’s action for
today, or deny possibilities that our minds cannot understand. The same
Spirit who worked many wonders and signs through Christ and the apostles
is still available to us who believe. He longs, probably much more than we
realise, to release us from physical sickness, from mental disorder and from
Satanic bondage. And even if his immediate will seems not to bring
physical healing, his Spirit within us can reveal God’s strength and beauty
in the midst of our felt weakness – a truth that is proved in the lives of
countless Christians all over the world.
3. Worship. This is the first priority of every Christian. Worship is crucial
to the first and great commandment. It should be our immediate desire
when we come into God’s presence. It should be our natural response when
we first commit our lives to Christ. It is the first mark of the Holy Spirit in
our hearts. Yet, if nothing is more important than worship, nothing is more
impossible without the help of the Spirit of God. ‘God is Spirit,’ said Jesus,
‘and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really
is.’18
This is one reason why all the revivals in the history of the church have
been accompanied by great singing and praise. The Spirit creates within us
a desire to worship and to adore God; and, as we do so, his Spirit moves
more freely amongst us. The church that is concerned about spiritual
renewal or revival must be a church that takes seriously this foremost
matter of worship. To begin with, our hearts may be cold and unresponsive.
But if we offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the Spirit of God will begin to
turn those cold hearts of stone into warm hearts of flesh.
In order for this to happen, we must take time to worship. Many forms of
worship keep the congregation at a very cool level of communication with
God. We stand up to sing one hymn, then sit down to pray; we stand up to
sing again, then sit down to read; we stand up to sing once more, then sit for
another reading; so it continues. The pattern may vary; but in this way it is
hard to enter into any form of intimate worship, and that is what worship
needs to become. By far the commonest word for worship (proskuneo),
coming 66 times in the New Testament (the other six words come only once
each), means ‘I come towards to kiss’. This is the language of intimacy and
love. Christianity is a love-affair with God and with his Son Jesus Christ. If
I am to express my love with any feeling towards someone, I must give
time to that person. So it is with God. A. W. Tozer once said that ‘worship
means “to feel in the heart”. A person that merely goes through the form
and does not feel anything is not worshipping … Worship also means “to
express in some appropriate manner” what you feel.’ With the much-needed
help of the Spirit, we need to bring ourselves to that place where all that is
within us will bless his holy name.19
The Spirit comes to give us ‘access … to the Father’.20 He comes to pour
God’s love into our hearts, for we can love him only in response to his love
for us.21 Always he takes the initiative. The Spirit comes to release us from
self-consciousness, to deliver us from unhelpful inhibitions, and so make us
more aware of the presence of the living God. The Spirit helps us to express
our love in ways that delight our Father, honour his Son, and encourage his
family: ‘O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!’22
It is by the power of the Spirit that we worship God and offer ourselves in
his service. ‘Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your
praise and glory.’
4. Generosity. One remarkable sign of the Spirit’s presence after
Pentecost was the extraordinary generosity of the early church. They ‘had
all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and
distributed them to all, as any had need … No one said that any of the
things which he possessed was his own … There was not a needy person
among them …’23
Why is the giving of most western churches abysmally small compared
to this first-century church, or indeed to many Third World churches today?
Proportionately, the most sacrificial giving today comes from areas where,
like the Macedonian church in the New Testament days, they experience ‘a
severe test of affliction’ and ‘extreme poverty’.24 In such circumstances,
they are forced to trust God for everything; there is no alternative. But,
through their genuine and active faith in Christ, the Spirit is able to perform
miracles, not least the miracle of generosity. Paul speaks constantly about
Christian giving as ‘the grace of God’ – it is always an expression of the
gracious work of the Spirit of God in the lives of his people. For those of us
in comparative affluence, we do not have to trust the Spirit, at least for our
material needs; there is an alternative. Consequently our faith is not so
active, and the Spirit is less able to pour God’s grace into our lives.
Writing about the early church, Clark Pinnock says, ‘This concern for the
needy, this willingness to sacrifice one’s own possessions did not arise (it
seldom does) from a merely human resolution to be less selfish and more
ethical. It arose out of an encounter with the Spirit. Perhaps the reason that
today we are afraid to risk our property, to dig into our savings, to choose
less lucrative careers, is that we are not really yielded to God, not really
living in the full unhindered presence of the Spirit. The love of God does
not overflow in our hearts, and we fear that God is unable to take care of
us.’25

Spiritual gifts
Jesus promised his disciples that they would do the same works that he did
during his earthly ministry, and even ‘greater works’.26 He then went on to
speak of the coming of the Holy Spirit. It was through the power and gifts
of the Spirit that this promise was fulfilled.
Throughout the world during this century there has been a fresh
discovery of some of the gifts of the Spirit that seemed lost to the church
since the first few centuries. There have also been numerous spurious and
counterfeit ‘gifts’, sometimes with tragic consequences – and this has made
some Christian leaders cautious, if not critical and antagonistic. Although
this is perfectly understandable, the answer to misuse is not disuse but right
use. In order to discern whether certain manifestations are from the Holy
Spirit or not, we need to look at the scriptural teaching concerning them.
To begin with, our attitudes must be positive and right, and the scriptures
give us several cautionary words. First, don’t resist the Holy Spirit. As
Stephen proclaimed to the Jewish leaders, whenever God does something
new there are those who will always resist what he is doing.27 We must be
very careful when we speak against some possible activity of the Holy
Spirit, for, as Gamaliel once pointed out, ‘you might even be found
opposing God!’28
Second, don’t quench the Holy Spirit. In the church at Thessalonica, it
seems that some of the younger Christians were not willing to submit to the
leaders of the church; Paul tells them to respect those who labour among
them and to esteem them very highly in love. But some of the church
leaders were critical at the enthusiasm of some of the younger members,
and objected when they exercised certain spiritual gifts, especially
prophecy. Paul therefore writes to the leaders, ‘Do not quench the Spirit, do
not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is good …’29
The reason for splits in some church fellowships over spiritual gifts is
usually that some people push them too hard, whilst others (often the
leadership) oppose them too readily. A wiser approach is to encourage what
is good, and gently correct what is wrong.
Third, don’t fear the Holy Spirit. One woman said anxiously to her
minister, ‘I hope that nothing supernatural will happen in our church!’ The
trouble is that, through fear, it may not! Some are frightened of the dangers
involved when the Holy Spirit is allowed full control. In our fears, we tend
to box God up in the narrow limits of our own understanding. We tell him
what we want, and what we don’t want. We define the ways in which we
are prepared for him to work – ways that are safe and respectable, that will
not disturb or confuse, ways that we can easily grasp and keep firmly within
our control. But God’s ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our
thoughts. Sometimes the Spirit is a most uncomfortable Comforter! Often
he cuts right across our preconceived patterns of thought. Cardinal Suenens
has said, ‘The Spirit of God can breathe through what is predicted at a
human level with a sunshine of surprises.’ Never be afraid of the Spirit’s
renewing power. God is the Giver of all good gifts. Moreover he gives, not
a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love and a sound mind.30
Fourth, don’t grieve the Holy Spirit. Sometimes there can be much anger,
bitterness and resentment arising over spiritual gifts – not to mention the
dangers of pride or jealousy. When the Holy Spirit comes to unite us in
Christ and to fill our hearts with God’s love, it is tragic if we allow negative
attitudes towards one another to dominate our thoughts. ‘It is better to be
loving than to be right.’ Unless we keep our relationships harmonious, we
grieve the Spirit of God, no matter how ‘right’ we may happen to be.31
Fifth, don’t be ignorant of the Holy Spirit, particularly when it comes to
his gifts.32 The fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel at Pentecost referred
specifically to the bestowing of gifts upon all who called on the name of the
Lord. In particular, gifts of revelation are mentioned, to help us understand
the will of God. For example, it was through prophecy that the first great
missionary journey of the church was launched, and the gifts as a whole are
given to edify the church for service in the world.
What, then, are these gifts? It may be helpful to focus on four main
words in 1 Corinthians 12:4–7.
1. Gifts. Paul speaks of ‘varieties of gifts’. The word ‘varieties’ comes
three times in verses 4–6, and certainly there is a rich and wide variety.
There are nine gifts mentioned in verses 8–10, three more in verse 28; and
there are further lists in Romans 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. And there is
nothing to suggest that these lists are meant to be complete; they are simply
examples of what is meant by spiritual gifts. Moreover, in the New
Testament, there is no sharp distinction between ‘natural’ and
‘supernatural’. All good gifts are from God, even if some – miracles, for
example – more obviously demonstrate the unusual action of God in his
world. The word charisma means a gift of God’s love; and Paul refers to
many such gifts, including forgiveness, eternal life, fellowship, leadership,
marriage and celibacy.
We must therefore never despise any of God’s gifts or treat them as
unimportant. I have heard some Christians speak scornfully of the gift of
tongues, for example. But if, in love, you gave me a gift and I scornfully
refused it, you would be hurt. All God’s gifts are good and beautiful, even
‘the least’.
Further, since these gifts come entirely from God, we must depend upon
his Spirit for the right exercise of them before they become true spiritual
gifts for the benefit of the church. We may naturally possess the gift of
music, administration or hospitality. Such gifts can either be expressions of
God’s love, or opportunities for self-display. If I see the gift as ‘mine’ to be
used for self-fulfilment, I rob others of God’s intended blessing. But if I see
the gift as ‘his’, praying that he will control it by his Spirit and use it to his
glory, then it will become a true spiritual gift for the building up of the
church.
2. Service. The word for service, diakonia, implies an eager readiness to
serve. God will give us gifts, or use the talents he has already given us, if
we have a genuine desire to serve Christ and to strengthen his body, the
church. God will never force his gifts on an unwilling servant.
It may be important here to stress the relationship between the gifts of the
Spirit and the body of Christ, since Paul holds the two very strongly
together in 1 Corinthians 12–14. One reason why the church has lost certain
spiritual gifts may well be that it has so often failed to become, in any real
sense, the body of Christ. It is only when we are much more deeply and
lovingly committed to one another as members of the same body that God
will entrust his gifts to us. They are varieties of service within the body of
Christ.
This truth is also a valuable safeguard against an independent use of
certain gifts. All should be weighed and tested within the community of
God’s people. For example, a man may think that he is called to preach and
teach, but any such calling must first be tested and proved within the church
of which he is a member. The recognition of our gifts by the congregation,
and especially by the leaders of that church, is an extremely important
protection against the abuse of spiritual gifts. All the warning lights should
flash if any person is not willing for his or her gifts to be tested.
 However, once we see that these gifts are for ‘service’, we need to use
them. If we do not, we deny one another these expressions of God’s love.
As Paul wrote, ‘Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,
let us use them.’33
3. Working. Spiritual gifts are ways in which God works in and through
his church today. They are ‘living movements of Christ’s body’, to quote
James Dunn. Someone is healed or converted – God at work! A generous
gift of money is given – God at work! A new atmosphere of joy and love is
experienced in a church – God at work!
It is vital that we should keep our hearts wide open to the fresh working
of the Holy Spirit all the time, because God is always wanting to do a new
thing amongst his people. He is the God of today. He speaks today, acts
today, saves today. Although we may look back with thanksgiving at all that
he has done in the past, we need to develop an expectant faith, believing
that God wants to do something new and fresh in our midst today. In so far
as we remain expectantly open to God, he will distribute his gifts according
to his will, and we shall see God at work amongst us.
4. Manifestation. Spiritual gifts are given to manifest, or to make visible,
the invisible God. We may not be able to hear God very easily, but through
prophecy or exposition of the scriptures, God may speak. We may not see
God, but when we love one another God abides in us and reveals his
presence to us. Therefore all true spiritual gifts should manifest God’s spirit
amongst us.
Further, such manifestation of the Spirit is continuously being given
(didotai – present tense in the Greek) to each Christian, providing we are
open to God and willing to serve, in the ways already described. Our gifts
and ministries may change in the course of time, but every person is vitally
important within the whole body. Those who seem to be ‘weaker’ are in
fact ‘indispensable’.34 In his most helpful book Fire in the Fireplace,
Charles Hummel writes: ‘Suppose you are walking near a lake and hear a
cry for help. As you turn toward the water you see that a child has fallen in,
whereupon you run to the spot and pull the youngster out. It is obviously
absurd to argue about which member of the body was most important to the
rescue – ears, eyes, feet or hands – since each met a specific need. If any of
them had not functioned at the right time the child would not have been
saved.’35 Every gift is vital within the body of Christ; each needs the other.
It may often be through the combined use of several different gifts that a
person is literally saved – rescued from the kingdom of Satan to the
kingdom of God’s Son.
When spiritual gifts are exercised in an atmosphere of God’s love –
Paul’s great chapter on love comes sandwiched between these two major
chapters about gifts – they are always ‘for the common good’. This word in
the Greek, sumpheron, means literally ‘for the bringing together’, ‘for the
healing, restoring, renewing, strengthening’ of the body of Christ. Love
controls the gifts. Love ensures that they are always used for edifying the
body of Christ, never for self-display or for manipulation over others. Love
protects the fellowship from the misuse of gifts. Love encourages what is
good, and gently corrects what is not so good. Love is ‘the more excellent
way’ of bringing spiritual gifts to one another. Love cares about the needs
of others, so that spiritual gifts become genuine expressions of the love of
Christ for members of his body. That is why we should make love our first
and foremost aim and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.36

Spiritual power
Cardinal Newman once said that the church is like an equestrian statue: the
front legs are lifted up ready to leap forward, every muscle of the back legs
is standing out and throbbing with life. As you look at the statue you expect
it to spring forward at any moment. Unfortunately, when you come back
twenty years later, it has not moved a fraction of an inch. Yet look at the
early church twenty years after the outpouring of the Spirit; they had moved
forward by astonishing leaps and bounds. There was one simple reason: the
power of the Spirit was with them.
How can we know this inward power? The answer, said Jesus, is that we
must ask our heavenly Father for it. ‘If you then, who are evil, know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’37 However, there may be
various reasons which prevent us from either asking or receiving the
renewing power of God’s Spirit.
Lack of personal commitment is one common reason. Jesus gave the
promise of the Spirit to those who were already committed to him as
disciples. They had left all to follow him. As Peter later said, ‘God gives the
Spirit to those who obey him.’38 A woman wrote to me after a service in
our church: ‘On Sunday I yielded all my life to Jesus, problems and all,
praised him for everything and told him I was happy to accept whatever he
planned for me. I was suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit, and my life since
then has been transformed.’
Another hindrance to the power of the Spirit is unconfessed sin. The third
Person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit – he will not fill a vessel that is
unholy or unclean. We cannot make ourselves clean, but we can repent of
every known sin, trusting in the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from all sin. It
may be important to ask the Spirit to search every part of our life, in order
to show us anything that is displeasing to God. It is only when we have
done this, humbly and honestly, and only when we have dealt with every
thing that he has revealed, that we can ask God to fill us with his Spirit.
The following word of prophecy was given during a time of prayer in our
church: ‘I have seen in your hearts that you long to be more devoted to me;
yet at the same time you feel that you cannot, because there are things that
weigh you down, parts of your life that you are ashamed of, things in the
past you are trying to hide. Little children, come to me with these things.
Let us look at them together … and then they will all be gone. You are like
houses with rooms that are dark and dirty, and you are trying to hide the
dirt. But I am coming to help you to clear up those rooms, for anything that
comes to my light becomes light. I love you so much. Come to me and talk
to me. Do not hide from me, but come to me …’ God always loves us just
as we are. It is when we come to him, confessing our sins, that he will wash
them away and fill us once more with the light of his Spirit.
Complacency is another common problem which keeps us spiritually
lifeless. Jesus sets the promise of the Spirit in the context of the story of a
man who was disturbed at midnight by a friend banging on the door, asking
for some food to give to a late-night visitor. Because the friend was so
persistent, the man eventually got out of bed and gave him whatever he
needed. Jesus often taught by contrast. If a grumpy man at midnight will
give someone whatever he needs, how much more will your loving
heavenly Father give you whatever you need, especially the power of his
Spirit. But there has to be some evidence on our part, that we really want
this, and that we long to use God’s gifts to glorify Christ and to serve other
people. Before we come to this point, God may have to strip us of spiritual
pride or complacency.
Some years ago I was studying the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. Over a
period of two or three months, God took me, in my own experience,
through the first four Beatitudes. As his Spirit moved gently in my life, I
began to see how spiritually poor I really was: alone, on my knees before
God, I was bankrupt – in my heart I knew it, though I had often tried to
cover it up with active Christian ministry. Then God caused me to mourn or
weep for my spiritual poverty. I became genuinely concerned for my lack of
love for Jesus, for my low level of faith, for my disobedience in various
areas in my life. In this way, God made me meek, or humble, before him. I
saw myself at the foot of the cross, silently weeping for my spiritual
poverty. Then I became very hungry and thirsty for righteousness. I longed
for a life that would truly glorify God and please him in every way. Pride
and complacency had been stripped away. It had been a painful and
humbling experience, but God was preparing me to be filled with his Spirit.
I came to see the wisdom in all that God was doing in my life.
Lack of physical hunger is usually a sign of sickness – similarly if we are
not hungry for God, something is wrong with our spiritual health and we
need God to break that hard shell of complacency with our hearts.
One of the most common hindrances is unbelief. We do not believe that
God will do anything new in our lives. We may have asked him to do so –
perhaps many times – but nothing seems to have happened. Jesus therefore
encourages our faith by saying, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and
you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you …’ He goes on to repeat
the same words in another form. In this way he is saying to us, effectively
six times, ‘It will happen, it will happen, it will happen …’ As soon as we
take him at his word, we need to express our faith in him by praising God
that it is now already true. Feelings and experiences vary considerably: they
come in God’s way at God’s time. It is always a mistake to wait for certain
types of experience that may have been known by someone else. The vital
thing is to trust God’s promise, claim it for ourselves, start praising God that
it is now true, and let the fulfilment of that promise work out in God’s way
and in God’s time.
Fear also is frequently a problem. What am I letting myself in for? What
changes will there be? What will God do in my life? Jesus knew that this
would always be a natural human reaction whenever God does something
new in our lives, so he said, ‘What father among you, if his son asks for a
fish will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will
give him a scorpion?’ There is no sting-in-the-tail with God. He never plays
tricks on his children. And if we, who are evil, know how to give good gifts
to our children, ‘how much more will the heavenly father give the Holy
Spirit to those who ask him?’
It is important to stress that this is not a once-for-all experience. Those
who claim that they have been ‘baptised’ or ‘filled’ with the Holy Spirit
could well be asked, ‘Well, where is it?’ The inward renewing of the Spirit
may certainly bring about a release, a fresh experience of the love of God,
or a leap in spiritual reality. Something may certainly happen, however we
describe it or explain it. But the scriptural command is to go on being filled
with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18 – present imperative in the Greek). Every
day we need to come to Jesus for fresh cleansing of our sins, and then fresh
filling of the Holy Spirit. We read several times after Pentecost that the
disciples were filled (again) with the Holy Spirit. There may also be times
of special ‘anointing’ for some specific work.
Whatever the experiences may be, we should never be afraid of opening
our hearts fully to the Spirit of God and his love. James K. Baxter puts it
beautifully in these words: ‘Can we say it more simply? Lovers have many
ways of expressing their love, but especially two. One is the words, “I love
you”, the other is the kiss. God’s word to me, reduced to essence, is “I love,
but especially two. One is the word, “I love you”, the kiss. And the baptism
in the Holy Spirit? That’s simply allowing myself to be kissed.’39
It was once said of John Wesley that he had ‘a strangely warmed heart
allied to a strangely cool head. The latter on its own will always find deeply
convincing reasons for playing it safe, remaining open-ended, instituting a
dialogue, exploring in depth, setting up a commission, running a pilot
scheme, circulating a paper, doing some research – in fact anything rather
than going out on to the streets of Jerusalem drunk with the Spirit, and
showing others how.’40 We need urgently to recapture the vision of living
daringly for the Lord, throwing ourselves totally upon the power of his
Spirit, without whom we are nothing. This is the greatest and most pressing
need of the church today. Everything else we do is like trying to sail a boat
when the tide is out, and the wind is still.
 ‘The crisis of the church is not at its deepest level a crisis of authority or
a crisis of dogmatic theology. It is a crisis of powerlessness in which our
sole recourse is to call on the help and inward power of the Holy Spirit.’41
Nothing less than that will save the church from senile decay, and the world
itself from plunging headlong into self-destruction. God has never
withdrawn his promise. He still gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
The next step is up to us.

Notes

1. John 14:26
2. John 16:8
3. A. E. Taylor, quoted in The Mark of Cain by Stuart B. Babbage,
Paternoster Press, 1966, p. 73
4. 2 Corinthians 4:2
5. John 3:6f
6. From a sermon in a London church, preached on 4 February 1968
7. Romans 8:16f
8. 2 Corinthians 1:22
9. Romans 8:18, 31–39
10. John 16:14
11. 2 Corinthians 3:17f
12. Galatians 5:17, Good News Bible
13. Colossians 1:28
14. Hebrews 5:8
15. Colossians 1:27
16. 2 Corinthians 3:18
17. James 5:16
18. John 4:24, Good News Bible
19. Psalm 103:1f
20. Ephesians 2:18
21. Romans 5:5; 1 John 4:19
22. Psalm 34:3
23. Acts 2:44f; 4:32, 34
24. 2 Corinthians 8:2
25. Post American, 1105 W. Lawrence, Chicago, Illinois 60630, USA
26. John 14:17
27. Acts 7:51
28. Acts 5:39
29. 1 Thessalonians 5:12–22
30. 2 Timothy 1:7
31. Ephesians 4:25–32
32. 1 Corinthians 12:1
33. Romans 12:6
34. 1 Corinthians 12:22
35. Published by Mowbrays, Oxford, 1978, p. 121f.
36. 1 Corinthians 14:1
37. Luke 11:13
38. Acts 5:32
39. Thoughts about the Holy Spirit, p. 62
40. The British Weekly
41. James K. Baxter, op. cit., p. 6
 CHAPTER SIX

Prayer

Jesus was alone with his disciples. He was deep in prayer, revealing an
intimacy with his Father that was unknown to his disciples. They watched
him at a distance, intrigued by his total concentration and restful
communion with his Father in heaven. ‘Lord,’ they said, when he had
finished and re-joined them, ‘teach us to pray …’
A quick glance at the Gospel records will show that Jesus constantly
taught, exhorted, encouraged and inspired his disciples to pray. Prayer was
the breath that he breathed, the driving force of his life, the secret of his
astonishing ministry. So it was with the apostles: ‘I bow my knees before
the Father … we have not ceased to pray for you … constantly mentioning
you in our prayers …’1
Likewise, prayer has always been a primary mark of the saints of God in
every generation of the church. George Whitefield, who retired punctually
at 10 pm every night, rose equally promptly at 4 am in order to pray. John
Wesley spent two hours daily in prayer, and commonly said that ‘God does
nothing but in answer to prayer.’ Martin Luther commented, ‘If I fail to
spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through
the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three
hours daily in prayer.’ The leaders of the Clapham Sect, such as William
Wilberforce, who initiated enormous social reforms in England, habitually
gave themselves to three hours of prayer each day. They organised
Christians throughout the country to unite in special prayer before critical
debates in Parliament. They knew, and persistently proved, the power of
prayer. William Temple replied to his critics who regarded answered prayer
no more than coincidences, ‘When I pray coincidences happen; when I
don’t, they don’t.’
With such examples of the heroes of faith, it is hard not to feel a crushing
failure! I suspect that most of us are ashamed at the poverty of our prayer
life. In western society in particular, we are consumed by activism and have
lost the prayerful meditation of our eastern brethren. The prayer of those
first disciples, then, is highly relevant for us; ‘Lord, teach us to pray …’

Why did Jesus pray?

If Jesus was the Son of God, equal with his Father, why did he spend so
much time in earnest prayer? Was it really necessary for him? The answer is
twofold.
First, he was not only God; he was also man. And man, created in the
image of God, is meant to live in complete and constant dependence upon
his Creator. The essential nature of sin is independence: I live my own life
my own way, doing my own thing. Consequently, God’s image in me is
sullied and scarred. If I want that image to be restored, I need to turn from
my sins, trust Jesus as my Saviour, and live in total dependence upon God –
a dependence marked by prayer. ‘How much it matters to pray is the
measure of what we are expecting from God,’ wrote Thomas Smail. The
chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever. But we cannot
begin to enjoy God until we spend time with him.
Secondly, Jesus was also the perfect man. Unless he had remained
blameless and sinless, he could never have become our sinbearer. Only as
the spotless lamb of God could he take away the sin of the world. We are
expressly told that he was in every way tempted as we are, yet without sin.2
How did he win this constant battle against temptation? It was simply
through continuous prayer. ‘Pray,’ he told his disciples, ‘that you may not
enter into temptation.’3
If Jesus found it absolutely essential to be constant in prayer, how much
more should we. ‘Prayer – secret, fervent, believing prayer – lies at the root
of all personal godliness,’ wrote William Carey. Prayer keeps us trusting
God for everything, opens the way for the Holy Spirit to transform us into
the image of Jesus, and enables God to touch the lives of others whom we
meet.

Our approach
God knows that the natural self recoils from prayer. Our fallen nature seeks
to hide from the presence of God. ‘No one (naturally) seeks for God.’4 It is
precisely at this point that we urgently need the help of the Holy Spirit, and
indeed he is given to assist us in prayer: ‘The Spirit helps us in our
weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit
himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.’5 When we do not
know God’s will, or when we stumble for the right words, the Holy Spirit is
there to help us in our prayers. He knows the mind of God since he is the
Spirit of God. He can therefore put within us the longings of God’s heart,
and interpret our own fumbling prayers so as to make them effective and
powerful.
Similar to these ‘sighs too deep for words’, yet distinct from them, is
‘speaking in tongues’. This is a valid form of communication from the
human spirit to the Holy Spirit. It is not so much irrational as suprarational.
The mind does not always have to articulate in grammatical sentences
before there is meaningful communication between two people, especially
when they love one another deeply. ‘If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays
but my mind is unfruitful.’6 Is that, then, meaningless prayer? Of course
not! He who speaks in a tongue ‘edifies himself’, ‘he utters mysteries in the
Spirit’, he speaks to God. God, who searches the hearts of men, knows the
cries of our hearts, regardless of intelligible speech. But it must be ‘in the
Spirit’. The apostle Paul knew that the Christian is always engaged in a
spiritual battle, not least when we turn to prayer. Here, especially, ‘we are
not contending against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
the powers …’ Since these evil powers will do their utmost to make prayer
difficult, dreary or impossible, we must ‘pray at all times in the Spirit’.7
To begin with, we must learn silence – to be still, until we consciously
know that God is God, and that he is with us at this moment, both as a
loving Father and as a mighty God. We must train ourselves to listen to him,
to be led by his Spirit in prayer, to be sensitive to his guidance, to
understand his will, for ‘if we ask anything according to his will he hears
us.’8 We should pray specifically that the Holy Spirit will inspire, guide and
strengthen us in prayer.
Posture can often help in cultivating this inner silence. Although varying
the posture can be important – and we may pray equally effectively whilst
standing, kneeling, walking, or lying down – it is generally found that
sitting upright in a chair, both feet on the ground, the arms relaxed on the
thighs, is a good posture for releasing muscular and nervous tension. It is
then sometimes easier to receive the still, small voice of the Spirit as he
draws us gently into a conscious awareness of the presence of God. A few
deep breaths, deliberately relaxing any part of the body that may be tense,
can all help before a profitable time of meditation and prayer.
Such stillness before God should lead naturally on to worship and
adoration. Worship is the opening of my heart to the love of God, it is the
coming of a child to his Father, it is drawing near to love and to adore.
Passages of scripture, particularly the psalms, may encourage us to worship.
So may hymns, songs or choruses. Examples of God’s beauty in creation
may also stir us into adoration. We should enjoy our freedom in prayer as a
true son or daughter of our heavenly father. We can be natural, bold and
joyfully confident as we pray. ‘For you did not receive the spirit of slavery
to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we
cry “Abba! Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit
that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and
fellow heirs with Christ.’9 We have a ‘new and living way’ into God’s
presence, and may with confidence draw near to his throne of grace.
God therefore longs for us to enjoy the ‘glorious liberty of the children of
God.’ We may express our worship in word, song, movement, dance, or
languages given by the Holy Spirit. ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that
is within me, bless his holy name!’10 The scriptures are full of exhortations
to use everything we have in praise to the Lord: ‘Let Israel be glad in his
Maker, let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise his name
with dancing, making melody to him with timbrel and lyre! … Clap your
hands, all people! Shout to God with loud shouts of joy! … Sing praises to
God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! … I will bless
thee as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on thy name … I will
sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also …’11
 Thanksgiving, too, is another essential ingredient in prayer. The practice
of prayer becomes dull, if not meaningless, when we lose sight of the glory
and greatness of God, or forget his countless benefits. As soon as we take
anyone for granted, our relationship with that person begins to crumble.
Expressing our appreciation for one another is a very important part of
building relationships. ‘To say that God wants our praise is to say that he
wants us to have the glorious joy of loving him and living in intimate
communion with him … Love grows and deepens only if it is expressed.
Perhaps we have not grown in love and joy because we have failed to
express our love and joy in praise. Love and praise call for each other.’12
Interestingly, in one place where Jesus burst into spontaneous
thanksgiving to his Father, we read that he ‘was filled with joy by the Holy
Spirit’.13 As we open our hearts to the Spirit, we shall begin to know the joy
of God, or the love and compassion of God, or maybe his grief, when we
pray. Prayer will simply be thinking God’s thoughts after him, letting him
use our bodies as a temple of his Spirit – a temple filled with praise or
intercession. When, in obedience to God, we hoist our sails and begin to
worship, give thanks and pray, whatever our feelings may be, we shall
frequently find the wind of the Spirit filling those limp sails, inspiring us in
our fellowship with God.

How should we pray?

When it comes to prayer, there are no experts. We are all children learning
from our heavenly Father.
From the example and teaching of Jesus, however, there are a number of
important characteristics of effective prayer.
1. Humility. There is only one way into the presence of God, and that is
through the blood of Jesus. We cannot approach God’s throne at all until we
have confessed all known sin, and have found God’s forgiveness and
cleansing through the death of his own Son. Even then, we still need the
help and inspiration of the Holy Spirit who gives us ‘access to the Father’.14
In other words, prayer is no more than our humble response to God’s
initiative. In his great love, he gave us his Son, and sent his Spirit into our
hearts crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Prayer means saying Yes to God. It means
submitting our lives to his will, bowing to his sovereignty, discovering and
enjoying the Father’s love.
If we believe that God’s way is perfect and that in everything he works
for good with those who love him, we shall not conceive of prayer as trying
to twist God’s stern arm, attempting to persuade a reluctant God to do what
he does not want to do. Apart from the futility of that, it betrays an utterly
false image of God. He is far more willing to bless than we are to pray. He
longs that we and others should know his inexhaustible love. But we can
frustrate God’s will for our lives by rebelling against him, and by insisting
on our way, not his. When Jesus told us to pray ‘Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven’, he was not asking us to resign ourselves to some terrible
fate! Such a thought is like the man in the parable of the talents who said to
his lord, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man …’15 If we have any
understanding that God is an infinitely gracious, gentle, tender, loving
Father – strong, pure, holy, yes, but essentially loving – and if we have any
concept of being his children, then to submit to his perfect will for our lives
is the best and greatest thing we could ever do.
We need, then, humility and simplicity when we pray. When the disciples
tried to protect Jesus from being troubled by little children, he rebuked
them. ‘Let the children come to me,’ he said, ‘and do not hinder them; for
to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not
receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.16 The kingdom of
God is full of children and the child-like. We are not to remain childish. In
our thinking and living we are to become mature; but we are to stay as
children, delighting in the Father’s love.

You must surrender yourself to me.

You must realise that you are neither big enough nor strong enough.
You must let yourself be guided like a child.
My little child.
Come, give me your hand, and do not fear.
If there is mud, I will carry you in my arms.
But you must be very, very little,
For the Father carries only little children.17
 There are many times when we shall have to teach our heart to say, ‘I do
not know.’ If I could understand all God’s ways and workings, he would be
no bigger than my mind and not worth believing in – he certainly would not
be God. Sometimes in our talking, or even in our prayers, we speak as
though God were on trial, having to justify his existence to us, having to
explain his actions. When the psalmist was baffled by the age-old question
of the prosperity of the wicked and the sufferings of the righteous, he
sought to work it all out in his mind. It was ‘a wearisome task’, he
complained, until he went into ‘the sanctuary (or presence) of God’. Then it
was to him clear that he had become bitter towards God. Therefore he went
on, humbly and wisely, to say:

When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,

I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee.
Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou dost hold my right hand.
Thou dost guide me with thy counsel, and afterward thou wilt receive
me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is nothing upon earth that
I desire besides thee …18

When we do not understand, but still submit ourselves to the Father’s will,
we shall be profoundly aware of his love and know his peace and strength
flooding into our lives again.
2. Reality. The glorious fact about prayer is that we do not have to
pretend to God. He knows all about us anyway. He simply wants us to share
every part of our lives with him, and that includes our fears and failings, our
moods and emotions, our thoughts and anxieties – everything, even those
things of which we are deeply ashamed. Read the psalms, and see the total
honesty of the psalmist: ‘How long, O Lord? Wilt thou forget me for ever?
How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long must I bear pain in
my soul …?’19 Constantly he told God all about his doubts and difficulties,
his anger and despair, his confusion, pain and joy. He kept nothing back
from God. All masks were off. His prayer was real.
So it was with Jesus. We see no stoicism in the Garden of Gethsemane:
‘Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me …’ Three times he
prayed the same prayer, with his sweat like great drops of blood falling on
the ground. He shrank from the appalling ordeal of the cross, even though
he submitted himself perfectly to his Father’s will. Again, look at the
transparent honesty of the apostle Paul. In his letters he wrote specifically
about his own weaknesses no less than twenty-two times. He admitted that
at Corinth he was ‘nervous and shaking with fear’. At times he even
despaired of life itself. His whole life, including his prayer life, had this
refreshing touch of reality about it.
Do not be afraid of bringing your most secret thoughts and desires to
God: all he looks for in us is honesty. As soon as we are open with him, he
will work gently in our lives to mould us more into the likeness of Christ.
3. Sympathy. We may sometimes think that our failure in prayer is due to
‘lack of faith’. Often that may be true. But perhaps more often we fail
through lack of sympathy or compassion. Jesus was repeatedly ‘moved with
compassion’ when he saw the enormous needs of sinful, suffering men and
women. Such compassion naturally led to prayer and practical help. ‘If we
have God-given compassion and concern for others; our faith will grow for
them far more as we pray. In fact, if we genuinely love people, we desire for
them far more than it is within our power to give, and that will cause us to
pray.’20
Compassion means ‘suffering with’ someone – trying to enter into their
pains and problems: ‘Remember those in prison, as though in prison with
them.’21 Anne Townsend has written, ‘If I can imagine what it must be like
to be the one for whom I am praying, then I find I can begin to intercede for
that person. My imagination leads me on to want to be more deeply
involved with him in his own life. This involvement leads to caring; caring
to love; and love to intercession. I may never meet the one for whom I pray;
but I may come to love him enough to offer him one of the most precious
gifts one person can offer another – that of intercession, “love on its
knees”.’22 Prayer is the greatest expression of love we may have to offer – a
totally unselfish expression – as the individual who is blessed by God may
seldom, if ever, know that we are praying for him.
Compassionate praying will also be positive praying. It is never helpful
to pray about all the problems in detail. If we do, at the end of our prayer
we are conscious mainly of the problems! Instead, we should focus our
mind on the Lord, perhaps thinking of those aspects of his nature, or
particular promises that he has given, which are relevant to those problems:
‘Lord, thank you that you supply our needs … , thank you that your grace is
always sufficient … , thank you that your steadfast love never ceases … ,
thank you that you are sovereign in all things …’ Negative thoughts, filled
as they often are with fear, unbelief, anxiety, anger or bitterness, may
considerably hinder God’s working in our lives. We need therefore to ‘bring
every thought captive to obey Christ’ when we pray.23 In Acts 4, when the
disciples were commanded threateningly not to teach any more about
Christ, they came together for prayer. They said nothing about the
considerable danger they were in, apart from ‘Lord, look upon their
threats’, but they rejoiced confidently in the Lord’s sovereign control over
everything.
Positive prayer, sensitively used, is also the prayer of the evangelist or
healer. The recipient is encouraged to believe that God is doing something
now in answer to the prayer of faith. Such prayer will also help us to
believe, when we are praying secretly on our own. Even the psalmist in
depression came through to the point where he could say, ‘Hope in God; for
I shall again praise him, my help and my God.’24 Many of the prayers in the
psalms struggle through to this point of faith, when the psalmist looks
forward expectantly to a time of deliverance and blessing.
Compassionate praying will also have breadth in its dimension. We shall
not want to stop with our circle of friends, our church activities or our
evangelistic programmes. We shall be prayerfully concerned about social
injustice and needs: unemployment, poverty, racial discrimination, the
plight of the homeless and oppressed, the sick in mind or body, the broken-
hearted, the lonely, the helpless and hopeless – the list is never-ending. It is
not hard to see why the Clapham Sect, for example, with their deep
spirituality coupled with compassionate concern for people, had to spend
three hours each day in prayer. The trouble of much of the church today is
that we have largely polarised different emphases. Those engaged in social
action often have little time for prayer; those committed to serious prayer
are often detached from social needs. No wonder the church has largely lost
its prophetic voice to the nation.
4. Expectancy. When we ask for something in prayer, we should start
looking for the answer and expect God to work. When the early Christians
gave themselves in prayer after the arrest of Simon Peter, they could not
believe it when Peter came to them! They did not expect an answer to their
prayers. God ‘is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or
think.’25 At the same time he wants us to pray believing that he is going to
answer our prayers.
The English word ‘believe’ has often a weak connotation. We believe in
theory that something can happen, but we may not be at all sure that it will.
The word ‘believe’, however, comes from two Saxon words: be, meaning
‘to be’ or ‘to exist’, and liefan, meaning ‘as if it were done’. Thus, ‘to
believe’ means ‘to accept something as though it were already done,
already true, already accomplished.’ Jesus once said, ‘Whatever you ask in
prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’26
The scriptures are full of illustrations of expectant faith. When the Virgin
Mary was promised the gift of a son, she began to praise God that it was
now true: ‘The Lord has done great things for me.’27 When Jesus was about
to raise Lazarus from the dead, he ‘lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I
thank thee that thou hast heard me …”’28 When Paul described the nature
of the faith that saved he quoted the example of Abraham: ‘No distrust
made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his
faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what
he had promised.’29
Knowing and claiming the promises of God in the scriptures can help us
to pray with expectant faith. It is through these promises that we know the
will of God, at least in general terms. And, ‘if we ask anything according to
his will he hears us,’ wrote the apostle John.30
5. Persistency. There is possibly no area of our lives where we can be so
careless and lazy as in the matter of prayer. We may neglect it altogether.
We may give lip-service to it by trotting off a few familiar phrases, but our
heart and mind may wander in many directions. Certainly God works in our
lives by grace and, thankfully, not by what we deserve. He may therefore
answer even our casual prayers; but normally he waits until our whole
being is concentrated on him. ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is
within me, bless his holy name!’31 ‘These things I remember as I pour out
my soul.’32 ‘I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.’33 The
scriptures are full of examples of men and women who gave themselves
unreservedly to the Lord in prayer.
 In contrast, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for honouring God only with
their lips, when their hearts were far from him.34
Jesus also told his disciples that ‘they ought always to pray and not lose
heart.’35 He underlined this principle with his stories of the importunate
widow and the friend at midnight. God wants us to rely on him for
everything (only then shall we enjoy his love), and thus in his wisdom he
sometimes delays in answering our prayers to see how much we really want
something for his praise and glory alone.
The first disciples knew the absolute importance of persistence in prayer.
After the ascension of Jesus into heaven, when they knew they could not
witness to him in their own strength, they all ‘with one accord devoted
themselves to prayer.’36 Several times in Acts Luke uses this word
‘devoted’ in connexion with their prayer life; it means a refusal to give up
or get discouraged; they determinedly stuck to it; they knew it was
essential. When the church in Jerusalem was growing by leaps and bounds,
the apostles checked on their priorities. They appointed others to attend to
the increasing pastoral and administrative demands, ‘but we will devote
ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’37 That is why God’s
Spirit was so free to move in power.
6. Unity. Jonathan Edwards used to say that every significant spiritual
awakening in the church has always been preceded by a concert of unusual,
united and persistent prayer. Every lessening of prayer has led, sooner or
later, to a depressing sterility: the glory of the Lord rapidly departs. It is a
lesson which the church has had to learn painfully time and again. The flesh
rebels against prayer, and the devil will seize the opportunity for suggesting
endless reasons for not praying. Only the Spirit of God can help us to ‘keep
alert with all perseverance’.38
It is partly for this reason that united prayer is strongly encouraged in the
New Testament, as well as personal prayer. Jesus promised that he would be
present in special power whenever two or three of his disciples met for
prayer.39 The early church were always praying together, ‘devoting’
themselves to prayer. In this way we encourage one another, stimulate faith,
identify ourselves as members of the body of Christ, and bring spiritual
gifts to build each other up in him.
Corporate prayer often needs good leadership by those who are sensitive
to the Spirit. It may be helpful to start with a time of worship, consciously
lifting our minds and hearts from ourselves to the Lord. Too many prayers
are earthbound. We are to ‘set our minds on things that are above’,
encouraging one another to know that the Lord is with us. We need to raise
the level of corporate faith and expectancy. Short bursts of praise and prayer
from as many as possible are far better than the long prayers of the
‘professionals’. Such perorations might impress some like-minded saints,
but they will kill most prayer meetings. Encourage sensitivity both to the
Spirit and to one another. It helps when one theme at a time is ‘prayed
through’, rather than jumping randomly from one topic to another. 1
Corinthians 14:26 is the New Testament model for such gatherings:
everyone should have some contribution, each bringing different gifts to
glorify Christ and to strengthen his body.
7. Forgiveness. This, too, is crucial for effective prayer. We must first
know God’s forgiveness by confessing every known sin to him, repenting of
it, and asking for his cleansing. Here we must distinguish between the
Spirit’s conviction and the devil’s nagging. The devil is the accuser of the
brethren, who accuses God’s people day and night.40 The symptoms of his
nagging will be a general sense of guilt, or a lack of peace, but no specific
reason for this. When the Holy Spirit convicts, however, we shall nearly
always be 95 per cent certain what it is all about. He will place his finger on
some particular area of our life which is not pleasing to God. We must ask
the Spirit to search our hearts, and not allow the devil to rob us of God’s
peace.
We must also forgive one another. ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive,
if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in
heaven may forgive you your trespasses.’41 Repeatedly this note about
forgiveness comes in the teaching of Jesus. Nothing can so quickly and so
easily spoil our relationship with God and with one another than an
unforgiving spirit. Immediately it hinders prayer. As soon as I hold on to sin
in my heart, the Lord will not listen.42 Because he wants us to enjoy
continuous fellowship with him, he withholds answering our prayers until
we have repented of all known sin and come back to him with our whole
heart. That is why Paul urged the Ephesian Christians not to let the sun go
down on their anger. If they failed to forgive, they were cutting themselves
off from the grace of God, forfeiting his protection, and thereby giving
‘opportunity to the devil’.43
 Jesus once promised: ‘If two of you agree on earth about anything they
ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.’44 The word ‘agree’
means literally to be ‘in symphony with’ or ‘in harmony with’. It is much
more than a common mental assent concerning the object of prayer. It is a
promise for those whose lives are in love and harmony with one another;
and, significantly, this promise is set in the context of the sorting out of
relationships, even if this means forgiving someone ‘seventy times seven’.
It is only when we forgive others that God can forgive us – and it is only
when God forgives us that we can pray at all.

When should we pray?

The example of Jesus is once again our perfect pattern. Although his whole
life was one continual life of prayer, there were certain times and seasons of
prayer which are particularly instructive for all true disciples.
1. Every morning. If we take the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel as
depicting a typical day in the ministry of Jesus, we see the force of verse
35: ‘And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went into a
lonely place, and there he prayed.’ Although there may be a few people
whose metabolism makes this virtually impossible, there is no doubt that
the most important time of prayer for the vast majority of Christians is first
thing in the morning, if possible before breakfast and the rest of the day
starts. It helps us to tune in to God from the start, thus enabling us both to
commit the entire day in prayer to God, and to help us turn to him much
more readily at various times throughout the day. In any war,
communications are vital. Every day begins with a careful check on these
communications, so that throughout the day orders can be passed on
immediately and calls for help can be instantly heard. Without this, any
army would be in total disarray. Exactly the same applies within the army
of Jesus Christ.
Before we think that we are one of those whose metabolism makes all
this impossible, however, let me say that I have personally never found it
easy getting up in the morning to pray! Virtually every day is a real battle;
but because I believe it to be a battle worth winning, I have taken active and
practical steps to ‘pommel my body and subdue it’! For many years I have
used two alarms to wake me up, since I sometimes find that one on its own
may fail to wake me. In the early days after my conversion, I used to have
one alarm clock by my bed, then another cheap but very noisy alarm
outside my door set to go off ten minutes after the first. Because the second
alarm would wake the whole household (and make me thoroughly
unpopular), I had some motivation to get out of bed as soon as the first
alarm had sounded. This scheme never failed! In many ways, I am ashamed
to have to resort to such methods when rising to pray means rising to enjoy
the Great Lover; nevertheless I am grateful to those who helped me to see
that this is an important daily battle to take seriously and win!
2. Before making important decisions. The entire future of the Christian
church rested on the choice of those first disciples. Although Jesus probably
knew in advance that one would betray him, another would deny him, and
all would fail in many ways time and time again, it was crucial that he
should get this choice right. Therefore ‘he went out to the mountain to pray;
and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called
his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles.’45
Humanly speaking, it was an amazing choice: uneducated fishermen,
patriotic freedom-fighters, a traitor (tax-collector), a traitor-to-be, ambitious
men, impulsive men, pessimistic men, fallible men. Jesus could hardly have
chosen a more mixed bunch if he had tried. Yet these were the God-given
disciples who were to be the leaders of the Christian church, when
instructed in the faith, and equipped by the power of the Spirit. No wonder
Jesus spent all night in prayer.
‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,’ wrote James.46 ‘But let
him ask in faith, with no doubting …’ Humble and earnest prayer before
God is essential if we are to know the wisdom which ‘comes from above’.
Major decisions will nearly always call for special times of prayer.
3. When very busy. In the midst of an enormously busy ministry, when
‘great multitudes gathered to hear (Jesus) and to be healed of their
infirmities’, we read that ‘he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed’.47
Most Christian work is tiring and draining. On top of the usual physical and
mental demands there rages a spiritual battle. When ministering to others,
Jesus sometimes knew that power had gone out from him.48 He felt sapped
of his strength. He needed, therefore, constant renewing of body, mind and
spirit. For this reason he would regularly escape from people, both to relax
and to pray. Without this, he would soon have nothing to offer. He would
literally have ‘dried up’.
God once rebuked his people through the prophet Jeremiah in this way:
‘My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain
of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water.’49 Very easily that can be the tragic picture of the
Christian worker or the Christian church. All the right words and actions
may be there, but the vital life-giving water of the Holy Spirit has dried up.
Only the Spirit gives life. We need his living presence continuously flowing
through us if we are to meet the spiritual thirst in others. ‘Beware of the
barrenness of a busy life,’ used to be a constant warning of Bishop Taylor
Smith, and it is highly relevant in the feverish activism of our western
society.
4. When concerned about others. ‘Simon, Simon,’ said Jesus tenderly on
one occasion. ‘Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like
wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you
have turned again, strengthen your brethren.’50 If we turned our concern for
other Christians more readily into prayer, we should be far more effective as
a church against all the forces of the kingdom of darkness. Instead, we so
often criticise one another, or slander, attack, judge. A friend of mine said
that the army of Christ must be the only army in the world where its
soldiers constantly fight with one another. In this way, we are doing the
devil’s work for him. But when we turn criticism into prayer, we lift up the
shield of faith on behalf of the one being attacked, we release the Holy
Spirit’s power to encourage or convict (as the need may be), and we keep
the love of God flowing between us when the devil is out to divide us.
5. When tempted. ‘Pray,’ said Jesus to his disciples when they were about
to be severely tested, ‘that you may not enter into temptation.’51 They were
very tired and sleepy, admittedly; but with three of them together they could
have encouraged one another in prayer. Sadly they were soon overtaken by
fear. When Jesus was arrested, they struck out in panic, and then fled for
their lives. Out of fear Peter denied Jesus. Later they all huddled behind
locked doors ‘for fear of the Jews’.
In contrast, it was only through fasting and prayer that Jesus withstood
the tempter’s deceit in the wilderness, and later in the garden. We cannot
resist temptation in our own strength. Many times I have had to say to God,
‘Lord, I cannot do this thing by myself. I’ve tried, and failed. Please be my
strength and shield in the midst of temptation.’ Repeatedly I have found
that, when there is this expressed dependence on him, God’s grace is
sufficient in time of need. We might prefer a fully automatic security system
to protect us from the evil one, but God wants us willingly to abide in his
love, where alone we are safe from the ravages of sin.
6. When in pain. ‘Father, forgive them,’ prayed Jesus as the fierce nails
were driven through his hands and feet; ‘they know not what they do.’
Consciously turning our thoughts towards God, and especially praying for
other people, can wonderfully relieve pain. During times of extreme
discomfort, when seriously ill, I used to spend much of the night in active
prayer. It was the only thing that kept me sane, and it made me profoundly
aware of God’s never-failing presence and love in the midst of what seemed
like a prolonged nightmare. I have also seen the incredible spiritual beauty
in the lives of those who, racked with constant pain, had every reason to
become bitter and sour, but who deliberately gave themselves to sacrificial,
unselfish prayer. No one in his right mind will ask for seasons of pain, but
God can use them to transform us more into the likeness of Jesus, providing
we accept prayerfully his sovereign will for our lives.
7. At the moment of death. ‘Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!’
Death has been described as the old family servant who opens the door to
welcome the children home. Sometimes, of course, death takes people
suddenly and by complete surprise. But if we know that we are being
welcomed home, how good it is to enter that door talking with the one
whom we are about to see face to face. If we cling too tightly to this present
world, we may find that difficult. But if we hold loosely what we possess
now, it makes sense to look forward eagerly to sharing the glory of God.
Ideally, of course, our whole life should become a life of prayer. When
we wake, eat, walk, work, rest, chat or retire for the night, we should
cultivate enjoying the Father’s presence: rejoicing in him, praising him,
thanking him, talking to him, listening to him, saying sorry, keeping silent.
As we share our life with him, so we allow him to share his life with us.
To prevent laziness or carelessness, intercessory prayer cards or calendars
may be helpful; but let them be servants, not masters. It is good, whatever
system we may have, to learn to be spontaneous in prayer as well. I
frequently pray for people as I meet them in a street or in a home; I usually
pray before answering the telephone or going to the front door. When I
remember to do this, my attitude to that person can be much more positive
and sensitive as a result. If all of us, as Christian disciples, could seriously
pray – however briefly – for all those we meet each day, the cumulative
impact of the love of God on society could be staggering.

The power of praise

A cursory glance at the psalms will indicate that the prayers of the saints are
shot through with praise and adoration. Even in times of pain, depression,
loneliness or fear, the psalmist turns his mind to some aspect of God’s
faithfulness, mercy or justice for which to worship him. ‘Great is the Lord
and greatly to be praised’ – not because we happen to feel great, but
because he is eternally great, and therefore eternally to be praised.
Moreover, whenever we honour God by giving him a sacrifice of praise,
always he honours us.
It was often in response to praise that God’s people experienced his
presence in powerful and unmistakable ways. ‘When the song was raised,
with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the
Lord … , the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.’52 Of course, praise
by itself will not automatically produce the required results. In 1 Chronicles
13, David was bringing the ark of God back to Jerusalem, but he and those
with him had been careless about the precise instructions given for carrying
the ark. Therefore, although ‘David and all Israel were making merry before
God with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines
and cymbals and trumpets’, the anger of God broke out on Uzzah when he
touched the ark, and he died there. Repeatedly God had to show his people,
sometimes in dramatic and tragic ways, that he requires obedience, not the
mere performance of religious duties; without that obedience, all our praise,
however fervent, is vain worship and empty words.
Nevertheless, I have known numerous occasions when God’s presence
has been manifest through the worship and praise of his people. I was
present at an international Anglican conference for spiritual renewal, held at
Canterbury in July 1978. There were 350 leaders present from all over the
world, including thirty bishops and a good number from the Third World.
The final Communion Service, held in the Choir of Canterbury Cathedral,
was profoundly moving. There was a magnificent spirit of praise, yet at the
same time God warned us through the preached and prophetic word that
there would be suffering, even martyrdom, for some of those present. At the
time of the ‘peace’ we were encouraged to greet one another, and I turned to
the person on my right. I discovered that he was an American tourist who
was drawn into the Cathedral by the sound of singing and praise. I asked
him what he thought of the service. ‘I have never been anywhere that is so
alive,’ he replied. I gently enquired if he really knew the One who makes us
alive, Jesus Christ, or was he not sure about it. He told me he was not at all
sure; so we slipped round the back of the Choir, and as the praise started up
again I had to shout the gospel to him. Suddenly he grabbed me by the
wrists: ‘Can we pray?’ he asked. So I led him in a simple prayer by which
he could give his life to Christ. I shouted it at him phrase by phrase, and he
shouted it back. In that priceless way he became a true Christian, and a few
minutes later received the tokens of God’s forgiveness and acceptance in
the bread and the wine. He even met his own Bishop of Colorado
immediately after the service! God has broken into that young man’s life in
a marvellous way; and it all began with the power of praise. His only
hesitation was that he hoped he was not one of those who might soon be
martyred!
We also see in the Bible God’s victory experienced in answer to praise.
The classic example of this is in 2 Chronicles 20, when Jehoshaphat and the
people of Israel were faced with a seemingly impossible battle. They gave
themselves to humble prayer and fasting, and God directed them through a
word of prophecy. They were to stand still and see the victory of the Lord
on their behalf. They worshipped God for this promise of his help, and they
sent the singers ahead of the army to praise the Lord: ‘Give thanks to the
Lord, for his steadfast love endures for ever.’ Then we read these significant
words: ‘And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush
against the enemy’ – and they enjoyed an astonishing victory. Paul wrote,
‘always and for everything’ give thanks to God.53 Again, ‘give thanks in all
circumstances’.54 It is by praise that we declare our trust in the Lord who
saves, lift up the shield of faith to quench every fiery dart of the evil one,
turn our negatives into positives, and allow the Lord to demonstrate his
power.
 Closely connected with this, praise also releases the Spirit of God in our
lives. After the ascension of Jesus, the disciples met together constantly for
prayer, and were, in particular, ‘continually blessing God’.55 It was in this
context that the Spirit of God was poured out upon them at Pentecost; and
when he filled their lives, they worshipped in languages given to them by
the Holy Spirit ‘telling … the mighty works of God’. Indeed, they
continued day by day praising God; and with such a worshipping, sharing
and loving fellowship, it is scarcely surprising that ‘the Lord added to their
number day by day those who were being saved’.56 Moreover, when they
met their first strong and dangerous opposition, they immediately resorted
to prayer – which was almost entirely praise – and the result was that ‘they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with
boldness.’57
Paul later urged the Ephesian Christians to be continuously filled with the
Spirit, ‘addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart …’58 Praise
often precedes a fresh move of the Spirit of God, and afterwards is the first
sure sign of the Spirit’s renewed presence. In the words of Pope Paul VI,
‘The fresh breath of the Spirit has come to awaken latent energies within
the Church, to stir up dormant charisms, and to infuse a sense of vitality and
joy. It is this sense of vitality and joy which makes the Church youthful and
relevant in every age, and prompts her to proclaim joyously her eternal
message to each new epoch.’59
Praise also contributes greatly to the unity of all true Christians. When
we fly in an aeroplane, the walls and hedges which seem big at ground level
at once lose their significance; and when the Spirit of God lifts us through
praise more consciously into the glory and beauty of God, the barriers at
ground level become meaningless. When there were tensions within the
church at Colossae, Paul urged them above everything to put on love
‘which binds everything together in perfect harmony’. Three times in one
paragraph he exhorted them to be thankful.60 Here is one of the great
secrets of maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Praise
helps to fix our minds upon the Lord, opens our ears to hear his word, and
prepares the way for God to pour his love into our hearts. A truly praising
church will be a loving church.
 Praise, in other words, is (or should be) a foretaste of heaven. There, ‘day
and night they never cease to sing’ praises to God. ‘And I heard every
creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all
therein, saying “To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be
blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever!”’61 Praise is the
language of heaven, and therefore can bring a breath of heaven into our
midst here and now. More often than not we shall have to break through the
barriers of moods and feelings before we enter the realm of Spirit-inspired
praise. When praise is the authentic expression of love and obedience, there
is nothing which so glorifies Jesus Christ, and thus nothing which will be so
opposed by the devil. To begin with, it is seldom easy. The Bible
significantly talks about a ‘sacrifice of praise’. But Dr Leon Morris has
rightly commented that ‘worship that costs us nothing is worth precisely
what it costs’.
In his most helpful book, Praise a Way of Life, Paul Hinnebusch gives
some vivid illustrations of the power of praise. A Christian businessman
describes his time in Saudi Arabia whilst on business: ‘I felt very depressed
by the difficulty of our negotiations there, the silence of the hotel I was
staying at, and the oppressiveness of the city I was in, where every man’s
mind and heart seemed totally opposed to Jesus Christ and to those who
profess him as Lord. I got on my knees and began praying quietly to the
Lord in “private prayer”, but was soon led to pray in tongues, in the Spirit.
Soon I raised my arms and started singing in tongues and then switched to
singing some of our prayer meeting songs. I stood up and praised the Lord
in a loud voice, rejoicing in the name of “Jesus” uttered aloud in that place.
Praise and worship of the Lord and the joy of his Holy Spirit filled my heart
and being, and within the space of a few minutes my depression was
replaced by that exultant joy. This joy increased to higher and higher levels
for about an hour and a half. Praise God! I have never been so upborne.’62
Similar experiences of the intense reality and glory of God have
frequently been experienced by Christians as they have praised their
Creator and Redeemer. When Richard Wurmbrand was in communist
prisons for fourteen years, three of them in solitary confinement thirty feet
below ground level, he learnt to praise God as an act of sheer obedience. As
he continued to do so, he discovered a beauty in Christ he had never known
before. He also experienced visions of heaven, and those visions helped to
sustain his life in the most extreme circumstances.
Today there is a good and growing concern for the spiritual renewal of
the church. Ever since the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, God has
responded when prayer has been the priority in the hearts of God’s people.
Charles Finney was right when he said that ‘every minister ought to know
that if the prayer meetings are neglected, all his labours are in vain.’
Prayer and praise are the greatest spiritual weapons God has given us in
our constant battle against the powers of darkness. Nothing – absolutely
nothing – can be a substitute for that. ‘The Kingdom of God does not
consist in talk but in power’63 – and that power is released only through
prayer.

Notes

1. Ephesians 1:14; Philippians 1:4; Colossians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:2

2. Hebrews 4:15
3. Luke 22:40
4. Romans 3:11
5. Romans 8:26
6. 1 Corinthians 14:14
7. Ephesians 6:12, 18
8. 1 John 5:14f
9. Romans 8:15–17
10. Psalm 103:1
11. Psalm 149:2f; 47:1, 6; 63:4; 1 Cor. 14:15
12. Praise, a Way of Life, by Paul Hinnebusch, Word of Life, pp. 2–3
13. Luke 10:21, Good News Bible
14. Ephesians 2:18
15. Matt. 25:14–30
16. Luke 18:15–17
17. Prayers of Life by Michael Quoist, Gill, 1963, p. 102
18. Psalm 73
19. Psalm 13:1f
20. Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster, Hodder & Stoughton, p.
35.
21. Hebrews 13:3
22. Prayer Without Pretending, Scripture Union, 1973, p. 93f
23. 2 Cor. 10:5
24. Psalm 42:5
25. Ephesians 3:20
26. Mark 11:24
27. Luke 1:30–49
28. John 11:41
29. Romans 4:20f
30. 1 John 5:14
31. Psalm 103:1
32. Psalm 42:4
33. Psalm 9:1
34. Mark 7:6
35. Luke 18:1
36. Acts 1:14
37. Acts 6:4
38. Ephesians 6:18
39. Matthew 18:20
40. Revelation 12:10
41. Mark 11:25
42. Psalm 66:18
43. Ephesians 4:26f
44. Matthew 18:19
45. Luke 6:12f
46. James 1:5f
47. Luke 5:15f
48. Luke 8:46
49. Jeremiah 2:13
50. Luke 22:31f
51. Luke 22:40
52. 2 Chronicles 5:13f
53. Ephesians 5:20
54. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
55. Luke 24:53
56. Acts 2:11, 46f
57. Acts 4:24–31
58. Ephesians 5:18f
59. Quoted by Cardinal Suenens in A New Pentecost?, Darton, Longman &
Todd, 1975, p. 89
60. Colossians 3:12–17
61. Revelation 5:13
62. Op. cit., p. 222f
63. 1 Corinthians 4:20
 CHAPTER SEVEN

The Word of God

The wilderness by the Dead Sea in Palestine is as desolate and hostile as

anywhere I know on the face of this earth: craggy, arid and dusty, an
abrasive and aggressive challenge to anyone at any time. Put a man there,
on his own, without food for six long weeks whilst wrestling with the most
profound questions affecting the entire history of mankind, and you will
make him vulnerable to any temptation. Add to that the fact that this man is
the Son of God with power to turn even stones into bread, and we begin to
see the force of this totally reasonable suggestion from the devil: ‘If you are
God’s Son, order these stones to turn into bread.’ Why not? It would have
satisfied an obvious personal need. In view of his physical weakness and
hunger, Jesus’ reply to this is startling: ‘The scripture says: “Man cannot
live on bread alone, but needs every word that God speaks.”’1 More
important than all our other needs and wants, more important than even
physical life itself, is God’s word to man. Exactly what this word is, how it
comes to us, how we understand it and respond to it, are questions that we
shall try to examine in this chapter. In brief, however, the ‘word of God’
refers to God’s total revelation of himself, God speaking to man in words or
ways that make sense.
The church today, at least in many parts of the West, is in a serious
spiritual decline, fighting for survival. One reason for this has been a
serious neglect of God’s word, a loss of nerve in the Christian gospel, and a
failure to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ with authority. In the
imagery of Amos there is a famine, not of bread, but of hearing the words
of the Lord.2 God, however, seems to be creating within our society again a
genuine spiritual hunger. ‘Human hearts are crying, as never before, “Is
there any word from the Lord?” … They don’t want our views, opinions,
advice or arguments. Is there any word from the Lord? Tell us,” they
demand.’3 In the chaotic uncertainty of modern life, if there is a God who
ultimately rules in this world and reigns in our lives, what is he saying to
us?
Since this question is of supreme importance, we should be alert to every
hindrance which makes it harder for us to hear or receive God’s word.

Hindrances to God’s Word

1. Materialism. Jesus specifically warned us about ‘the cares of this world,
and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things’ that would so
easily choke God’s word in our lives. On all sides today we are being
bombarded by the false seduction of material things. These steal our hearts
from Jesus, close our ears to his voice, and turn our feet from his path.
Much of the Christian religion in the affluent West is disturbingly worldly
beneath a thin veneer of pious language. Why do we not listen to the radical
teaching of Jesus? Why do we not present a genuinely alternative lifestyle,
God’s new society on earth? Why have we lost our prophetic voice? Why
have we little relevance to the poor and the oppressed? Why does the
institutional church make it hard for people to believe in Jesus? We have
embraced much of the covetous spirit of this age, and ignored the truth that
we cannot serve God and mammon.
The subtle pressures of the world are so massive that we can resist them
only if we are continuously being renewed in our minds through the
scriptures. We need every word that God speaks. The devil once showed
Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and he said, ‘All
these I will give to you, if you will fall down and worship me.’4 It was only
through the scriptures that Jesus was able to resist him. How much more do
we need to ‘hide God’s word in our hearts’.
2. Activism. In his excellent book Celebration of Discipline, Richard J.
Foster comments: ‘In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three
things: noise, hurry and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in “muchness”
and “manyness”, he will rest satisfied. Psychiatrist C. G. Jung once
remarked, “Hurry is not of the devil; it is the devil.”’5 Perhaps our lack of
hope about tomorrow has made us frantic about today. We have become
obsessive with time, having lost sight of eternity. Sometimes, too, we try to
shield ourselves from personal pain, frustration or insecurity by frenetic
busy-ness. Jesus once had gently to rebuke Martha for ‘fretting and fussing
about so many things’, and encouraged her to be like Mary who was
listening to him, absorbing every word that he was speaking.
In our constant rush we think that we have no time for God, forgetting
that God himself is the giver of all our time. It is a sad rebuke to the
spiritual drynes of activist Christians that increasing numbers of their
contemporaries are turning instead to yoga and transcendental meditation.
They claim that ‘the study and practice of yoga purifies the body, improves
the health, and strengthens the mind; above all, it intensifies spiritual
growth.’ Such practices, however, seek to unite the individual with the
impersonal and universal consciousness, which is very different from the
true and living God as revealed to us by Jesus Christ. Even if TM and yoga
may be psychologically helpful, they are spiritually misleading. The
Christian disciple should instead be challenged to take seriously the many
instructions in the scriptures to be still before God and to meditate upon his
word.
3. Humanism. Jesus once rebuked Simon Peter by saying, ‘Get behind
me, Satan! You think as men think, not as God thinks.’6 This is the classic
description of humanism: with ideas starting from man, not from God,
everything is seen from man’s point of view, not from God’s. Man’s
thoughts about God are made more important than God’s thoughts about
man. It is all part of the independent spirit of this secular age, which resists
external authority. It is the spirit of anarchy or lawlessness. I do what I
want, not what God or anyone else wants. I accept what is meaningful to
me, and reject the rest.
The doctrinal and moral implications of secular humanism are both
obvious and devastating, and the considerable confusion in today’s church
is a direct consequence of this. Many do not listen to God, and reject the
authority of scripture; instead they shape their beliefs and behaviour by
human reasons or by social trends. They reduce their concept of God to
what is fashionably acceptable. If, however, they start from man, they are
left with man. The God they want is not worth believing in. Paul rightly
commented about those who suppressed the truth of God that could be
known: ‘They became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds
were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.’ As a result, ‘God
gave them up’ to the way of life they had chosen for themselves, with all
the destructive alienation of that choice.7
4. Textualism. A. W. Tozer described textualism as ‘orthodoxy without
the Holy Ghost’. Speaking of some fundamental churches that are textually
sound but spiritually hard and dry, Tozer went on to say: ‘Everywhere
among conservatives we find persons who are Bible-taught but not Spirit-
taught … Truth that is not experienced is no better than error, and may be
fully as dangerous. The scribes who sat in Moses’ seat were not the victims
of error; they were the victims of their failure to experience the truth they
taught.’8 Until the Holy Spirit illumines our dull minds and warms our cold
hearts, we do not receive God’s revealed truth, no matter how accurately we
know the right words and teach them to others. Many of the divisions
within the church are caused by heated debates about the letter of the law,
without understanding the Spirit behind it.
‘Man needs every word that God speaks.’ The word ‘speaks’
(ekporeuomen) means ‘is continually coming out of’ the mouth of God.
Since God is the living God, he is constantly trying to speak to us, and we
in turn need to listen to him. He speaks, of course, in a wide variety of
ways, and we shall look briefly at some of these later in the chapter. The
vital response on our part is to train ourselves to ask the question, ‘What is
God saying to me through this passage, this person, or this event in my
life?’ It is not enough to know the text. What is God specifically saying to
me – perhaps through the text – at this particular moment? If we are to keep
spiritually alive and alert, we need every word that God is continually
speaking.
Richard Wurmbrand once pointed out that in communist prisons he found
Christians who knew Bible verses such as ‘My grace is sufficient for you’,
but they found little comfort in these verses alone. It is God’s grace that is
sufficient for us, not the verse about it. ‘You could have beautiful love-
letters from a girl and pictures, and still not have the girl. The question here
is having God himself.’
 5. Literalism. This is an extension of textualism, and an inevitable
reaction to the secular humanism of today. In our zeal to avoid the sceptical
cutting away of all that is distinctively Christian, we may fall into the
simplistic trap of blind belief: ‘It must be true because the Bible says so.’
To some this will seem to be obscurantist dogmatism; reasoned debate
becomes impossible. It leads easily to a legalistic Christianity, which denies
the glorious liberty that should be our inheritance in Christ.9 At worst, it
degenerates into a spirit of bigotry, which is totally convinced of the
rightness of its own position, and will not consider the possibility of being
mistaken. It also refuses to listen to what other people are saying, and
worse, to what God himself may be saying through those people.
This is the attitude particularly of most of the cults, but also of those
sections of the true Christian church that could become a cult. A cult is ‘a
devotion to a particular person or thing as paid by a body of professed
adherents.’ A cult nearly always follows a particular person and a rigid set
of rules and teachings. It is a closed system, in that it does not allow any
deviation, any alternative interpretation of a given text. The science of
interpretation, hermeneutics, is an exacting science. We need always to ask
ourselves, what was the historical, cultural, linguistic and religious context
of this particular verse in scripture? What was the original intention of this
passage? What was it really saying; and, in the light of this, what was it not
saying? We shall consider one or two examples later, but we must be wary
of those who hold rigorously to some of the words of scripture, but have not
become truly biblical in their thinking. It is dangerously true that you can
prove almost anything from the Bible if you ignore the precise principles of
biblical exegesis. The literalist narrows his mind and life to the unthinking
‘letter of the law’, instead of enjoying the liberating effect of the spirit of it.
‘The written code kills, but the Spirit gives life.’10
6. Intellectualism. Jesus came essentially to bring us life. We need every
word that God speaks in order that we might live. We may have to think and
argue about the word of God, but if we stop there, we miss the whole point
of it. ‘You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have
eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to
me that you may have life.’11 An intellectual grasp of the Bible does not in
itself bring spiritual life. ‘Understanding is a creative act, even a creative
art, which involves the whole personality of the reader. If he is not open to
the subject matter, indeed if he is not open to God, a knowledge of certain
rules is no substitute.’12
In the West we have often embraced the Greek concepts of truth and
knowledge to the exclusion of the Hebrew concepts. The Greeks saw truth
in terms of propositions, statements and words; whereas in Hebrew thought,
truth was seen in terms of deep personal relationships. When Jesus talked
about eternal life as ‘knowing God’, the word translated as knowing
(ginóskein) is sometimes used for a husband knowing his wife, an intimate
personal relationship. Thus if we claim to ‘know the truth’, when such
knowledge causes our attitude towards others to be critical and unloving, it
may be open to question how far we know the One who is the Truth, Jesus
Christ. Sound doctrine enables us to know the God of love and life.
A purely intellectual knowledge of the scriptures may feed the mind; but
if it aggravates a divisive, contentious and quarrelsome spirit, it can hardly
be called ‘sound’ – a word which means healthy or life-giving. Aggressive
Protestantism, for example, may teach all the right Bible words, but once
again, it is only the Spirit who gives life. The Christian preacher is called,
not primarily to impart theological information, but to preach God’s word,
and that word is ‘living and active’.13 It is always powerful, a dynamic
expression of the life and power of the living God. Repeatedly in Genesis 1
we find the refrain, ‘God said … And it was so.’ In Revelation also we find
various references to ‘the sword of his mouth’, referring to the powerful
thrust of God’s word. That is what it should be like. For the disciple of
Jesus, the study of the Bible should never be just an academic exercise. ‘To
say that the Bible is our authority means both that we let our theological
thinking be tested by it and that we let our lives be moulded by it. It shapes
our thoughts, emotions, attitudes, desires and wills.’14 All prayerful study of
the scriptures should become literally a life-transforming experience.
7. Anti-intellectualism. This is more often the spirit of this age, rather
than a surfeit of intellectualism. It is one reason for the popularity of eastern
mysticism today, where there can be a dangerous stress of experience and a
rejection of mind. ‘Guru Maharaj Ji (The Divine Light) comes down and he
pours down that Grace and Knowledge with it. That Grace is satsang. Then
when that satsang hits the mind machine, the very first thing it does is
disconnect it … What we have to fight today is mind.’
 Some of the more extreme expressions of the charismatic movement
have fallen into this danger. The endless repetition of simple choruses can
become little more than a mantra or incantation; we need to beware of an
unhealthy interest in the spectacular, the sensational and the demonic; and
must be cautious about too much dependence on prophecies and visions in
matters of guidance, rather than understanding biblical principles and
prayerfully applying them to the matter in question. John Stott, in his
helpful booklet Your Mind Matters,15 warns us about the ‘misery and
menace of mindless Christianity’, and positively pleads for ‘a warm
devotion set on fire by truth’.
No one can read the New Testament without seeing that those first
Christians had a rich experience of God – sometimes profoundly mystical.
The apostle Paul, however, was extremely diffident about such experiences,
and urged his readers to ‘set their minds on the things of the Spirit’, ‘to live
by the Spirit … (and) walk by the Spirit’.16 This has nothing to do with
expecting one mystical experience after another; rather it has everything to
do with living out each day a Christ-like life which demonstrates the fruit of
the Spirit.

Hearing the Word of God

If every word that God speaks is vital for us, how does God speak to us
today? How can we both hear and understand his word rightly?
Christianity is essentially a revealed religion. It is not man searching in
the dark for God. It is God revealing himself to man in a way so personal
that it demands a response. ‘In many and various ways God spoke of old to
our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a
Son …’17 Jesus is God’s supreme revelation of himself to man, and is
something that every man of every age and culture can understand.
It is important to distinguish three main forms of the word of God.
1. The personal Word. The Word of God became a human being and
dwelt amongst us. Above all, God is personal. If we have seen Jesus, we
have seen the Father.18 If we want to come to God, we must come to the
Son. To know God is to know the Son. ‘He reflects the glory of God and
bears the very stamp of his nature.’19 He is the image of the invisible God,
and in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell.20
 2. The written Word, as given to us in the scriptures. Although God is by
definition our ultimate authority, the Bible is our final court of appeal for
what God has said. Here is the God-given objective test for our belief and
behaviour.
Not all theologians would agree with this. Although every true theist
would accept the supreme authority of God’s word, there have been three
main views concerning our understanding of God’s word.
First, there is God’s word as interpreted by tradition: what the church
says, God says. The difficulties, however, become obvious when the
question is asked, But what does the church say? While many traditions are
good and stabilising, traditionalism can be devastating. Jesus clearly
corrected the religious traditionalists of his day when he said to the
Pharisees: ‘You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in
order to keep your tradition … (You make) void the word of God through
your tradition …’21 Time and again Jesus brought back his religious
opponents to the authority of the scripture.
Second, there is God’s word as interpreted by reason: what reason can
accept, God says. That is why many professing Christians reject the virgin
birth of Christ, his miracles, his bodily resurrection and his personal return.
When the rationalists of Jesus’ day, the Sadducee party, found that they
could not rationally accept the idea of resurrection, Jesus brought them
swiftly back to the truth of the scripture. He reminded them that God had
revealed himself in the scriptures as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob. But, he said, God is the God of the living, not of the
dead; and it follows from this that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still living
even though physically dead. ‘You know neither the scriptures nor the
power of God.’22 Their rationalism had become an arrogant stumbling-
block to a knowledge of God.
Third, there is God’s word as interpreted by the scriptures: what scripture
says, God says. Jesus certainly endorsed scripture as the word of God: he
knew it, taught it, lived by it, fulfilled it. There is no doubt as to his own
understanding of the scriptures as the inspired word of God; and since this
was ‘Christ’s textbook’, as Dr J. I. Packer has put it, ‘Loyalty to Christ, our
risen Saviour and enthroned Lord, calls for total submission to Scripture,
and anyone, or any church, declining to believe and do what is written
there, or failing in practice to be faithful to it, is to that extent a rebel
against Christ.’23 Strong words, but accepting Christ as Lord includes
accepting his teaching, in every part, as having divine authority in our lives.
The various New Testament writers also claimed that what they were
writing had been given to them by God. ‘If anyone does not recognise this,
he is not recognised (i.e. by God).’24 The argument is sometimes raised that
since the scriptures were written by sinful men, they must be fallible. This
does not follow. If the scriptures are God-breathed (theopneustos, 2
Timothy 3:16) as was Paul’s claim, God is well able to speak by his Spirit
through sinful men, accurately and infallibly, just as the Holy Spirit through
Mary gave birth to God’s perfect Son. God will not use those sinful men as
dictating machines for his word; rather, by the breath of his Spirit, he
breathes through their backgrounds, personalities, experiences and
understandings which have been shaped by the culture of their day. It is still
God’s inspired word brought to us through human beings.
Moreover, the biblical claim for its own authority is not invalidated by
being a ‘circular agreement’, as some have maintained. If such a claim had
first to be authenticated by some external authority, that authority would
then have to be superior. ‘To prove an “ultimate” authority by appealing to a
higher authority would be a contradiction in terms.’25 The Bible’s own
claim for divine authority can be tested only by its own consistency,
reliability, and by the personal experience of all those who seek to live by it.
Therefore, from the self-authenticating testimony of Jesus and the apostles,
we must accept the scriptures as the inspired word of God, as originally
given. Certainly we are not to despise good biblical scholarship as we try to
determine both the original text and the cultural and historical context of
that text. But having questioned the text, we must then allow the text to
question us. Our conscience must become captive to the word of God.
3. The spoken word, as given through preaching, teaching, witnessing or
prophesying. Although God often speaks to us through the silent eloquence
of creation, through pricks of conscience or peace of mind, through the
daily and varied events in our lives, we shall also hear God’s word when the
scriptures are expounded, when a prophetic word is given (in whatever
form), or when a brother or sister is talking with us. God did not finish
speaking to us when the scriptures were completed. Although we are not to
expect any further revelation of doctrine the spoken word, to be authentic,
must be in accordance with the written word, and glorify the personal Word.
God is the living God, the God of today; and every day he wants us to enjoy
a living relationship with him, involving a two-way conversation.

The prophetic word

Since the apostle Paul exhorts us ‘earnestly to desire the spiritual gifts,
especially that you may prophesy’, and since there has been an upsurge of
prophetic gifts and ministries in many parts of the church, together with
numerous spurious gifts which have given rise to the cults and sects that
proliferate today, some teaching about prophecy is necessary.
Although the foundational gift of prophecy was given once-for-all
through the apostles for the completion of the New Testament canon, even
in the early church different levels of prophecy were clearly experienced.
Paul envisaged this gift as a natural and healthy expression of the local
church ‘when you come together’ (see 1 Corinthians 14). The vast majority
of prophetic utterances, even in New Testament times, were not of the
‘foundational’ variety, but a normal part of the upbuilding of the body of
Christ in any place; this gift was clearly distinguished from that of teaching
or preaching. Whilst the written word is God’s truth for all people at all
times, the prophetic word is a particular word, inspired by God, given to a
particular person or group of persons, at a particular moment for a particular
purpose. We should not be surprised if the prophetic utterance is in the
speaker’s own words and thought-forms, reflecting his or her own burdens,
since God uses us as human beings, with all our human outlooks and
experiences, to convey his word. Nor should we be suspicious if the
prophecy is steeped in scriptural phrases, since more than half of the
Revelation of St John the Divine comes to us in that way. Nor should we
dismiss prophecy if the word is simple – maybe even ‘trivial’ in the eyes of
some. In the Old Testament we read this: ‘Then Haggai, the messenger of
the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, says
the Lord,”’26 That was all! Not another word came to God’s people for a
whole month. It was not the most profound or weighty word they had ever
heard, but it was the word of the Lord.
God may give prophetic gifts for many purposes. It could be guidance
concerning future needs, as when Agabus ‘foretold by the Spirit that there
would be a great famine over all the world’.27 It could be directions for the
church’s ministry, as when the Spirit told the leaders at Antioch to set aside
Barnabas and Saul for the first great missionary exploit of the church.28 But
mostly, it is for ‘upbuilding and encouragement and consolation’.29
Since prophecy is God speaking through a member of the body of Christ,
it must be carefully weighed and tested before it is received as the word of
God. Speaking of the Montanists in the second century, Michael Green
stresses dangers both of abuse and of the over-reaction to abuse: ‘When
they claimed that they personally embodied the Holy Spirit; when they
wrote off other Christians as carnal and proclaimed themselves alone as
“Spirit-filled”; when they refused to have their teaching tested by the
scriptures but regarded it as every bit as authoritative as the New Testament
records, then the church had to take action. That action was to reject the
Montanists emphatically, and at the same time, to quench the prophetic
spirit in the church. How much better it would have been for the church at
large if the Montanists had determined to submit to the authority of
scripture, and to resist the temptation to be exclusive and write off other
Christians. How much better if the Catholics had stressed tests for the
genuineness of prophecy rather than writing off the whole movement, good
and bad together.’30 That is a lesson highly relevant for the church of today.
What are the tests for prophecy, or for any other spiritual gift, especially
that which purports to bring the word of God? These should be some of the
questions to ask:
(a) Does it glorify Christ? The prophecy might not mention Christ by name,
but is the whole message honouring and glorifying to him? This is always
the Spirit’s primary work. (John 16:14; 1 Corinthians 12:1–4)
(b) Does it edify the body of Christ? No less than seven times in 1
Corinthians 14 Paul emphasises this point when discussing spiritual gifts,
especially tongues and prophecy.
(c) Is it in accordance with the written word of God in the scriptures? If we
twist the scriptures, we do so to our own destruction. (2 Peter 3:16)
(d) Is the word given in the spirit of love? This is the hallmark of the
Spirit’s presence, even when the word is correcting or rebuking.
(e) Is Jesus Lord of the speaker’s life? The false prophet will be known by
the fruits of his or her life, said Jesus. (Matthew 7:15–20)
(f) Does the speaker submit to the leaders of the church? Strong
personalities with independent spirits caused splits and divisions in the New
Testament church, and do so today. Paul warned the Ephesian elders about
those ‘from among your own selves’ who would draw away disciples after
them, and so cause divisions within the church of God. (Acts 20:19–31)
(g) Does the speaker allow others to judge or weigh what he has said? This
must always happen, and troubles arise when such weighing is rejected. (1
Corinthians 14:29)
(h) Is the speaker in control of himself when speaking? It is the mark of an
evil spirit’s presence that the speaker is ‘taken over’ by that spirit. But that
is never the mark of the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 12:2f, contrast
‘moved’ and ‘speaking’; also 14:32)
(i) Is the prophecy fulfilled, if it speaks about some future event? Most
prophecy is forth-telling, not foretelling. A Christian prophesying will
normally ‘tell forth’, or speak out, God’s word as a means of
encouragement or exhortation for the whole congregation, only on much
more rare occasions will prophecy predict some future event. When it does,
the biblical test is in the fulfilment, or otherwise, of that prophecy.
(Deuteronomy 18:22)

Logos and rhēma

In recent years, some popular but questionable teaching has arisen which
attempts to draw a distinction between logos and rhēma. Different teachers
may express it in different ways. In general terms, logos is taken to refer to
the whole teaching of the objective word of God in the scriptures that is
always true, whereas rhēma is much more the particular word that God is
now speaking, whether to an individual, to a local fellowship, or to a church
as a whole. The distinction that some make between these two words has
subtle but far-reaching ramifications.
First, although the logos of God is eternally true and important, the claim
is that it is the rhēma of God that we need especially to hear and obey. The
rhēma of God is said to be God’s word to us for this particular moment in
time; it is the sword of the Spirit,31 the word that acts. It is not mere
information, but a dynamic event. It is the word that changes people’s lives,
gives the church its sense of direction, and wins the spiritual battle. What
we need, so the argument goes, is not so much the general exposition of the
scriptures as the prophetic word of the Lord for today. In so far as we are
obedient to the rhēma of God, we shall see him powerfully at work in our
midst.
Second, although there may be areas of agreement about the logos of
God, Christian unity depends in practice, it is claimed, on our response to
the rhēma of God. If the Lord speaks his rhēma to us (perhaps through
prophetic utterance), the only thing that matters is that we should obey it,
even if it means withdrawing from other Christians in the process. This is
how one leader wrote to me: ‘Unity is not built on a relationship to my
brother, but on a response to the word of God. Thus you may have as much
unity as you have agreement on the rhēma of Jesus Christ.’ If there is not
this agreement ‘in terms of the rhēma of the Spirit’, it is virtually
impossible, in practice, maintaining any working fellowship. Thus on these
grounds, separation from other Christians is necessary.
From biblical, theological and philological perspectives, however, the
distinction is impossible to maintain. According to Kittel’s Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament, there seems to be no basic difference in
usage between logos and rhēma. Since logos occurs 331 times in the New
Testament (in all the writings except Philemon and Jude), and rhēma occurs
67 times (32 by Luke and 12 by John), large areas of overlap are inevitable.
The New International Dictionary of the New Testament32 accepts that
‘Whereas logos can often designate the Christian proclamation as a whole
in the NT, rhēma usually relates to individual words and utterance’, but it
then immediately illustrates these individual utterances (rhēma) like this:
‘Man has to render account for every unjust word (Matthew 12:36); Jesus
answered Pilate without a single word (Matthew 27:14); the heavenly ones
speak unutterable words (2 Corinthians 12:4).’ In no New Testament
dictionary or Greek lexicon of any substance can the claimed distinction be
found.
William Barclay, in his study on logos and referring to Jesus as the logos
of God, wrote: ‘By calling Jesus the logos, John said two things about
Jesus. (a) Jesus is the creating power of God come to me. He does not only
speak the word of knowledge; he is the word of power. He did not come so
much to say things to us, as to do things for us. (b) Jesus is the incarnate
mind of God. We might well translate John’s words, “The mind of God
became a man.” A word is always “the expression of a thought” and Jesus
is the perfect expression of God’s thought for men.’33
 In J. J. von Allmen’s Vocabulary of the Bible, the article on ‘Word’,
referring specifically to logos, makes the same point: ‘The Word does not
point to a reality of which it is only the intellectual expression. It is that
reality itself. It is an event. It is not rationality, but a deed … The preaching
of the Word is not confined to utterance, however appropriate it may be for
the faithful transmission of biblical “thought”. Revelation is above all a
deed, and it is this deed as a whole which is the Word. The Word of God is
more than an utterance of God. It is an act of God. For God acts by his
Word and he speaks by his action.’34
The massive weight of evidence shows that there is no clear distinction to
be made between logos and rhēma in the scriptures, and therefore the two
far-reaching inferences mentioned above are based on a false premise. First,
God has already given us his written word in the scriptures; and as we read
it, preach it or hear it, it may at any time be the power of the Spirit become
God’s living word for us today – a word that works powerfully in our lives.
Although prophecy is one of the gifts of the Spirit, it is wrong to exalt the
prophetic word above the written word. Since logos and rhēma are virtually
synonymous, what is required is not a false distinction between the two
Greek words, but plain obedience to God’s word.
Second, Christian unity is always based upon our relationship with
Christ. Although our response to God’s word is always important, it does
not determine the boundaries of our unity. A true Christian is a man or a
woman ‘in Christ’: if you and I are in Christ, you are my brother and sister,
and I am your brother, no matter what response there may be to a certain
logos or rhēma of God. If we separate from one another, we sin against
Christ and against his body, since we are all one in him. The only
theological grounds on which the Bible permits us to divide concern the
divinity of Christ, his death for our sins and his resurrection from the dead.
If a person denies any or all of these principal doctrines, a break in
fellowship is not only possible, it is inevitable, for our unity is entirely in
Christ. If, however, we separate on the grounds of differing responses to
some other rhēma of God, this has no biblical justification whatsoever.
Indeed, the confused teaching by some about logos and rhēma is a reminder
that a little ‘knowledge’ can often be a dangerous thing.
Understanding God’s word
Once we see the different forms of God’s word, the authority of the written
word and the tests for the spoken word, the questions of interpretation are
of the utmost importance. Jesus constantly rebuked his religious hearers for
their wrong interpretation of the scriptures. In the Sermon on the Mount he
said repeatedly, ‘You have heard that it was said … But I say to you …’ In
all the examples, Jesus never once changed the word of God as given in the
scriptures; he simply corrected the false interpretation of that word, and
brought it back to its original meaning and purpose. As disciples of Jesus
we must learn rightly to handle the word of truth.35
Clearly much depends on the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit. It was by his
operation that the personal word, Jesus, was conceived in his mother’s
womb. It was by his inspiration that the written word in the scriptures came
into being, and that any true prophetic word will be spoken today. Thus the
Spirit who inspired the word must also be the Spirit who interprets the
word. ‘No prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by
the Holy Spirit spoke from God.’36 We need the illumination of the Spirit
before we can ever discern God’s truth. ‘No one comprehends the thoughts
of God except the Spirit of God,’ and he is given to us ‘that we might
understand the gifts bestowed on us by God’.37 Constantly Paul prayed for
the Christian churches that God would ‘give you the Spirit, who will make
you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him. I ask that your
minds may be opened to see his light …’38 Or again, writing to the church
at Colosse, Paul said, ‘We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his
will, with all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. Then you
will be able to live as the Lord wants …’39 Without the Spirit’s direct help,
we should all be spiritually blind.
Together with the understanding given by the Spirit, however, our minds
need to follow some basic principles of interpretation. Two questions need
to be asked. Firstly, what did the text mean to the original hearer? We need
to ‘distance’ ourselves from the text, so that we do not bring to it our own
preconceived ideas, or read into it our own pet doctrines, or draw out from
it what is meaningful to us in our situation now, before we understand what
it meant to the original hearers in their situation, which was possibly vastly
different. Only then can we ask the second question: What does the text
mean for us today? And we must learn correctly to apply for ourselves the
true meaning of God’s word discovered in answer to the first question.
In particular, we need to examine carefully the words, the context, the
literary form and the cultural setting of the text.
(a) The words. A good translation is not a transliteration, and therefore
some interpretation or paraphrase of the original is always likely in any
version used for study. The New English Bible, for example, translates 1
Corinthians 14:13 as ‘… the man who falls into ecstatic utterance …’,
whereas the strict translation from the Greek is ‘the one who speaks in a
tongue’. To describe speaking in tongues as falling into ecstatic utterance is
both a wild and somewhat alarming guess as to the precise nature of the
experience. It would certainly confirm some people’s worst fears about
‘tongues’; but it is inaccurate as a translation and misleading as a
paraphrase. The many millions of Christians who speak in tongues as a
normal part of the daily devotional life certainly do not fall into ecstatic
utterance, except possibly on the most rare occasions. Wherever possible
we need to get back to the original text, and inquire carefully as to what the
word meant to those first hearers.
Beware, too, of assuming that the same word means the same thing in
different places. For example, Paul says that a man is not justified by works,
while James says that he is! A contradiction? Not at all. Paul is talking
about the means of justification, which is certainly not good works; James
is talking about the fruit of justification, which certainly is good works, for
‘faith apart from works is dead’.40
Extreme care must also be taken when it comes to an allegorical
interpretation of any passage. I have heard many intriguing theories about
the ‘gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw’ in 1 Corinthians 3, but I
am often more impressed by the ingenuity of the speaker than by the
accuracy of the exposition! Another preacher, giving a series of Bible
studies on the relationships between Saul, David and Jonathan, made the
point that Saul was ‘head and shoulders’ above every other man. So far so
good. But when he went on to say that ‘head’ referred to human wisdom
and ‘shoulders’ to human strength, I began to be suspicious. And when he
later identified Saul as representing the established church, and David as the
anointed church, making the point that Jonathan died because he stayed
with Saul instead of going with David, I felt that a course in hermaneutics
might be helpful for that preacher!
(b) The context. This must be looked at carefully in two ways. First, any
verse or passage must be understood in the light of the whole section of
scripture surrounding it. Verses used to support a favourite doctrine, idea or
line of action are often verses lifted right out of their contexts, and a fuller
examination of the whole section may reveal that the verse is saying
something very different from what is claimed. For example, the ten or
more verses either side of Paul’s reference to ‘gold, silver, precious stones,
etc’ are all about the tragedy of divisions in a local church and the
importance of unity. In that context, the materials that will stand the test of
fire almost certainly refer to the work of those who strengthen the temple of
the Spirit by maintaining the unity of God’s people.
Second, we must try to grasp the historical context of any passage. That
is particularly striking when it comes to the Letters to the Seven Churches
in Revelation 2 and 3. Some knowledge of the history, geography and
commerce of each city is virtually essential before the imagery can be
understood. The historical setting of each of the epistles is also of
considerable importance if wrong conclusions are not to be drawn.
(c) Literary form. The Bible is a library of books: 66 of them, drawn
from numerous sources, written by at least 40 different writers over a period
of at least 1,600 years. Not all the books, nor passages in each book, are of
the same category. The vital issue is to determine what each passage is
claiming and saying. ‘So history must be treated as history, poetry as poetry,
hyperbole and metaphor as hyperbole and metaphor, generalisation and
approximation as what they are, and so forth. Differences between literary
conventions in Bible times and in ours must also be observed: since, for
instance, non-chronological narrative and imprecise citation were
conventional and acceptable and violated no expectations in those days, we
must not regard these things as faults when we find them in Bible writers …
Scripture is inerrant, not in the sense of being absolutely precise by modern
standards, but in the sense of making good its claims and achieving that
measure of focused truth at which its authors aimed.’41
(d) Culture. This is the most complex consideration of all. We are not to
be conformed to this world, and in the right sense the gospel stands in
judgement on the culture of every generation. Far too often has the church
accepted the existing culture without discernment, and there has failed in its
prophetic role to the world. At the same time, the application of its gospel
must vary with every cultural setting, or else we shall fail to communicate
the timeless truths of the eternal God to the rapidly changing society in
which we live. What are the truly biblical constants, and what are the
practical variables of those God-given constants? What are the divine
imperatives that should be applied to every culture, and what are the New
Testament examples of the first-century cultural application of those
imperatives, which may be quite different in other cultural settings? These
are the crucial questions behind such issues as divorce, homosexuality,
apartheid, the ordination of women, the use of creative arts in worship and
evangelism, methods of communication, contraception, capital punishment,
pacificism, lifestyle, and a host of other major issues.
To illustrate the complexity of all this, Eugene Nida gives a priceless
example of cultural variations. He records an argument between western
missionaries and African church leaders as to whether Christian women
should go naked to the waist as did their non-Christian contemporaries. The
missionaries stressed the biblical requirements for modesty in dress; but the
African elders replied that they were not having their Christian women
looking like prostitutes, who were the only ones in that culture who could
afford the colourful extra clothing!42 What is modesty in one culture may
be entirely different in another.
A similar issue, but one nearer to our western culture, is Paul’s teaching
in 1 Corinthians 11 that a woman should have her head covered when
praying in public. Some would argue that, if the Bible says so, women must
wear hats in church, whatever the cultural norm might be. The first question
to ask, however, is this: why was Paul stressing the need for women to be so
covered, writing as he was to the Corinthian church in that first century?
Without going into a detailed exposition of that passage, every respectable
woman in those days had her head, and probably her whole body, veiled –
as many eastern women do today. It was, and is, a sign of being under the
headship of either her father or her husband. Any woman in Corinth who
was not so veiled was literally a ‘loose woman’, a prostitute. Some of the
Christian women, however, were so rejoicing in their new-found liberty in
Christ that they were discarding their veils, thus causing unnecessary
offence for the gospel of Christ. The hostile, pagan world was only too
ready to find fault in order to oppose the Christian faith; and therefore, in
that setting, unveiled Christian women would be a scandal. Is that true in
most western countries today? If not, we miss the biblical point if we
require our women to wear hats in church when the majority of their
respectable contemporaries outside the church do not.
Questions about sexuality and morality are often of a different nature. We
are still in the body; and we cannot say that the New Testament strictures
against fornication, adultery and homosexuality were reflections of the
strict moral principles of those days. Far from it! They went right against
the climate of the times, into which the young church was born. Of the first
fifteen Roman Emperors, for example, fourteen were practising
homosexuals. Divorce, too, was all the rage. In that first century we read of
one woman marrying her twenty-third husband, she being his twenty-first
wife! Christian standards were no more easy to keep than they are now,
especially when, in the Gentile churches, most of the converts came from
precisely this background. So Paul writes to the Corinthians: ‘Do not be
deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexual
perverts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But
you were washed you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.’43 It was instead the mark of
the false prophet to relax those moral standards and to teach the ‘liberated’
promiscuity of the time.
Basic Christian doctrines, too, have nothing to do with what is culturally
acceptable. In New Testament days, the Sadducees strenuously denied the
resurrection; the Jews were offended by the preaching of the cross. The
church, however, did not cease to proclaim Christ crucified and risen again,
‘a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles’.44 It was also God’s
message and power for salvation.
Asking careful questions about the cultural setting of New Testament
teaching is not, therefore, a slippery slope down which any or every
Christian truth might disappear. Most of the issues about doctrine and
practice apply to every age and to every culture. But some were clearly
specific issues for certain places at that moment in history. I suspect that the
apostles would be horrified if they knew that their detailed instructions for
Christians in their own world would impose rules and regulations upon all
Christians for all time. When the result robs us of some of the glorious
liberty of God’s children, impoverishes the life of the body of Christ, and
hinders the communication of the gospel in relevant terms for today, basic
questions about interpretation need to be pressed.
Let me summarise. Throughout any study of the scriptures we must
remain in total dependence on the Holy Spirit of God. He who inspired the
writers of the original text must also illuminate our minds before we can
receive the word of God. God, however, has also given us minds, and he
wants us to use them to ask two basic questions: What did the text mean to
the original hearers, bearing in mind the written words, their context, the
literary form of the passage and the cultural setting? And then, what does
the text mean for us today, probably in a very different setting? It is at this
point that we must bow to the word of God, let him speak to us, and allow
our hearts to be examined and shaped by that word. ‘You do not interpret
the text, it interprets you.’ Our difficulty in hearing God today is that most
of us hear only what we expect to hear. We come with our pre-conceived
ideas and it is with these same ideas that we go away. Many of us need that
divine rebuke which came to Simon Peter when he was prattling away on
the Mount of Transfiguration: ‘And a voice came out of the cloud, saying,
“This is my Son, my chosen; listen to him!”’45

Lessons for spiritual life

Following on from what we have seen, let me mention three primary
lessons.
1. Listen to God’s word. God’s people in Bible times expected to hear
God’s voice. ‘I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.’46
‘Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears.’47 In the New Testament, we see God
speaking to Philip, Saul, Ananias, Peter, Cornelius, the teachers and
prophets at Antioch, indeed to anyone within the Christian community. Paul
implied that any member of a local church might receive a revelation from
God.48 Today, the majority of Christians find it extremely hard – almost
impossibly so – to hear the voice of God. The problem is that we have
forgotten how to be still before him, and we give little time (if any) for
Christian meditation.49
 We need to use God’s word to bring us consciously into God’s presence.
Let God’s word speak to us, drawing us to the Father and glorifying the
Son. By letting our whole mind and being dwell on one of the names of
God or on one aspect of his character, the Spirit will help us to ‘see God’.
Words, phrases or even whole passages of scripture are invaluable for this
fresh encounter with God. For some, praying or praising in tongues may
also be extremely refreshing. The purpose is not to empty the mind of
everything, but to detach the mind from worldly cares in order to attach
them to Jesus and his word. ‘This aspect is often neglected because in many
circles it is assumed that the most important thing about the Bible is its
“teaching”. However, much of its poetry, its psalms, its parables, its humour
and irony, is lost when it is reduced conceptually to “teaching”. It confronts
us not just with information, but with verdicts. In one direction the
evangelical approach may be criticised for being too cerebral. The question:
“What can I learn from all this?” is not always the right one to ask. Some
parts of Scripture serve not to speak about joy, but to give joy; some serve
not to instruct us about reconciliation but to reconcile us. The Bible not
only tells us about Christ, but also brings Christ to us.’50 To begin with,
start with five or ten minutes in silent meditation. As you continue, you will
be able slowly to increase the length of time, and, more important, you will
begin to hear God speak to you through his written word or by his Spirit in
your heart. Soon you will be able to enjoy an increasing sense of the
presence of the living God, and better able to hear him as he speaks to you
each day.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes: ‘Silence is the simple stillness of the
individual under the Word of God … But everybody knows that this is
something that needs to be practised and learned, in these days when
talkativeness prevails. Real silence, real stillness, really holding one’s
tongue comes only as the sober consequence of spiritual stillness … The
silence of the Christian is listening silence, humble stillness … Silence
before the Word leads to right hearing and thus also to right speaking of the
Word of God at the right time …’51
2. Study God’s word. ‘Do your best to present yourself to God as one
approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the
word of truth.’52 From the very beginning of Christian discipleship there is
a need to study carefully the written word of God, and to let the word of
Christ dwell in us richly.53 When those at Beroea heard the gospel, ‘they
received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see
if these things were so.’54 Today a growing number of Christians are
spiritually alive and enthusiastic but alarmingly ignorant of scriptural truth
beyond the purely superficial. How then can we study the word of God to
its best advantage?
(a) Equipment. In the West we have almost an embarrassment of riches,
so the culpability of ignorance is even greater. Nevertheless, biblical
scholarship is one of the gifts of the Spirit for the benefit of the whole body
of Christ, and is not to be neglected nor despised. It is helpful to have more
than one translation, if possible, perhaps one that is known for its accuracy
of translation and another that is more of a stimulating paraphrase. Also use
a good concordance, in order to follow through a word in different parts of
scripture. Several valuable handbooks and dictionaries are available today,
too, and a Bible atlas can provide useful background information.
Commentaries, too, can be immensely helpful as we try to grapple with
the meaning of the original text. These commentaries vary so much in style,
scholarship and content, that it would be impossible to say more than ‘get
good advice’ before you buy. However, use all this equipment to
supplement your own study of the Bible and to check your understanding of
certain words and phrases. If I rely too heavily on commentaries, for
example, I may be fascinated by the thoughts of another writer, but I may
not hear what the Lord is saying to me. In other words, first do your own
study, with prayer and dependence on the Spirit of truth; and only then draw
from the other resources at hand.
(b) Methods. Variety is the key-word. Any one method can be a useful
servant, but none should become master. To begin with, use a systematic
form of Bible reading aid – the Scripture Union, for example, has excellent
material for almost all ages and educational backgrounds: notes, cassettes,
soundstrips, booklets. Other Bible societies also produce valuable help, so
look for yourself and choose one that is best for you.
I have also found the following methods stimulating: Rapid reading:
Often I read four or more chapters a day, following either one of the
Anglican Lectionaries, or an old system by Robert Murray McCheyne. This
helps to give a broad sweep of the scriptures, without being trapped by
favourite passages.
Verse by verse: This is particularly valuable as a method for studying one of
the epistles or a chapter in one of the Gospels. Try to read the whole epistle
several times through first, in order to get the main thrust of the writer’s
approach; and only then begin a much more detailed study. It is here, of
course, that commentaries, lexicons and concordances become especially
handy. If preachers learnt how to ‘unfold’ a passage, so that congregations
could be allowed to see the great riches God has for us in his word, the
standard of preaching would improve immeasurably, and so probably would
the spiritual health of our churches.
Book: Read through the book, if possible several times and with different
translations. Then jot down on paper the main themes in the book. Next,
take one theme at a time and see how the writer develops this. Use
commentaries for passages that need further clarification, and look out for
key words that are worth special study on their own. Try to spend time
discovering the background to any book, otherwise you will miss the
significance of much of its contents.
Topical: This may be either a word-study (looking up the verses on
‘forgiveness’, for example); or thematic (following through the references,
say, to the healing ministry of Jesus, where no one word will be sufficient to
grasp the breadth of the theme). The danger of concordance work must be
noted, however. The same Greek word in the New Testament may have
several different English translations; and the same English word may cover
several different Greek words. Also, there is no guarantee that the same
word or phrase (in both Greek and English) will always mean exactly the
same thing; when it comes in different passages it may well have quite
different purposes.
Character: The Bible is refreshingly honest about all the characters. All the
men and women in the scriptures are seen as they really were, warts and all.
David was a man after God’s own heart: yes, but also a murderer and
adulterer. Simon Peter was the rock-like leader of the early church: yes, but
impetuous, self-confident and weak. To begin with, study carefully one of
the minor characters (‘minor’ because of the little detail known), such as
Epaphroditus, Ananias or Philip. Such studies will nearly always be
immensely fruitful.
Bible study is valuable both privately and corporately. Read Psalm 119:
see the personal benefit drawn from much private meditation on the word of
God. Then look at the way Jesus taught his disciples together, a practice
they continued in the early church.55 Both approaches are important,
although in certain situations the stress may have to be on one rather than
the other. Coming straight from Cambridge University to work in a
dockyard parish, I naively told some of the members of our youth
fellowship to read their Bible in their bedroom quietly on their own. Some
roared with laughter. One lad was one of 13 children living in a small
council house. The idea of having a ‘quiet time’ for Bible reading and
prayer was out of the question from the beginning. Added to that, some
could hardly read at all, and a Bible of some 1,300 pages was a hopeless
proposition. Fortunately there are now cassettes available, as well as other
imaginative Bible material, so that the problem is lessened. Nevertheless I
soon saw that corporate study was the only realistic way of trying to read
the Bible there at all: and even then some skill was needed to make a group
work well.
3. Obey God’s word. God speaks to us, not primarily to impart
information, but to guide our feet, to re-direct our lives, to change us
continually into the likeness of Christ. ‘Do not deceive yourselves by just
listening to his word; instead, put it into practice.’56 As J. Aitken Taylor has
expressed it well: ‘One does not pray, “God, help me resolve the seeming
contradictions I have found in the Bible.” One rather prays, “God, help me
to receive thy word wholly, unquestioningly, obediently. Let me make it
indeed and altogether the lamp unto my feet and the light unto my
pathway.”’57 We must let God’s word address us, challenge us, transform
us.
Use it to shape your life. If the world is not to squeeze us into its own
mould, we must let God re-mould our minds from within.58 God’s values
are totally different from the world’s. If we are to stand against the steady
pressure of the world through advertising and events of every day, we need
to saturate our minds and hearts in the word of God.
Use it to overcome temptation. Learn the lesson from Jesus, who
overcame all the attacks of Satan in the wilderness by driving him away
with ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God’. The three recorded
scripture verses that Jesus used in that temptation all come from
Deuteronomy 6 and 8. It may have been that Jesus was meditating on those
passages at that time, so that those relevant verses came quickly to him
when facing temptation.59
Use it for guidance – not as a ‘promise box’, picking out texts at random;
but aim to know this book so well that increasingly you have ‘the mind of
Christ’, and are able to apply the God-given timeless principles to particular
questions.
Use it to help others. I once talked with a lawyer for about two hours
about the Christian faith, in general terms. It was mostly my word against
his – a stimulating conversation, but little more. Then I opened my Bible,
and showed him six or seven verses. Within twenty minutes the Spirit of
God had spoken powerfully to him and cut right through his intellectual
defences. I was a very young Christian at the time, but I never forgot the
lesson this taught me. The Bible, when handled rightly and in a spirit of
prayer, has the power to change lives.
Use it also when bringing encouragement, comfort, rebuke, instruction or
hope. God’s word feeds our faith and renews us in God’s love. Quoting
texts by themselves may be useless. But when a person is able to
understand the truth and implications of God’s word, it wields authority and
power that our own human arguments will never have. ‘You have the words
of eternal life,’ said Peter to Jesus. And he was right.

Notes

1. Matthew 4:3f, GNB

2. Amos 8:11
3. James S. Stewart, Preaching, The Teach Yourself Series, Hodder &
Stoughton, 1955, p. 20
4. Matthew 4:8f
5. Op. cit., Hodder & Stoughton, 1980, p. 13
6. Mark 8:33, NEB
7. Romans 1:21–32
8. Source unknown
9. Romans 8:15–21
10. 2 Corinthians 3:6
11. John 5:39f
12. Tony Thistleton, essay in Obeying Christ is a Changing World, Collins,
1977, p. 99
13. Hebrews 4:12
14. Tony Thistleton, op. cit., p. 116
15. IVP, 1972.
16. Romans 8:5; Galatians 5:25
17. Hebrews 1:1f
18. John 14:9
19. Hebrews 1:3
20. Colossians 1:15, 19
21. Mark 7:8–13
22. Matthew 22:29–32
23. Under God’s Word, Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1980, p. 41
24. 1 Corinthians 14:38; cf. Galatians 1:11f; 2 Peter 3:15f; Revelation 1:1f;
et al.
25. Tony Thistleton, op. cit., p. 114
26. Haggai 1:13
27. Acts 11:28
28. Acts 13:2–4
29. 1 Corinthians 14:3
30. I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Hodder & Stoughton, 1975, p. 173
31. Ephesians 6:17
32. Edited by Colin Brown, Paternoster, 1976
33. More New Testament Words, SCM, 1948, p. 116f
34. Op. cit., p. 460
35. 2 Timothy 2:15
36. 2 Peter 1:20f
37. 1 Corinthians 2:11f
38. Ephesians 1:17f, GNB
39. Colossians 1:9f, GNB
40. James 2:2b
41. From the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, 1978, quoted by J. I.
Packer, op. cit., p. 58
42. Customs, Culture and Christianity, Tyndale, 1963
43. 1 Corinthians 1:9–11
44. 1 Corinthians 1:22–24
45. Luke 9:35
46. Psalm 130:5
47. 1 Samuel 3:9
48. 1 Corinthians 14:26–31
49. See Celebration of Discipline, by Richard J. Foster, Hodder &
Stoughton, 1980, for a helpful chapter on ‘The Discipline of Meditation’.
50. Tony Thistleton, op. cit., p. 105f
51. Life Together, SCM, 1954, pp. 59f
52. 2 Timothy 2:15
53. Colossians 3:16
54. Acts 17:11
55. Acts 2:42
56. James 1:22, GNB
57. From an article in the Presbyterian Journal for 12 April 1978, and
quoted by J. I. Packer, op. cit., p. 60f
58. Romans 12:1f, J. B. Phillips
59. Matthew 4:1–11
 CHAPTER EIGHT

Spiritual Warfare

Every Christian knows that discipleship is a struggle. On a personal level,

why are we so often reluctant to pray? Why do we find it so hard to love
and forgive? Why do we often shrink from keeping our hearts wide open to
God and to other Christians? Why do we not more readily speak to others
about Christ? Why do we continue to be proud, selfish, angry, jealous,
covetous? Why are we so easily defeated? Why are relationships falling
apart at every level? Why is there such oppression, injustice and
frustration? On an international level, why is there so much hatred, violence
and war? Why is it easier to fly to the moon than to find peace in Northern
Ireland? Why are we destroying ourselves on this earth? The questions are
endless.
Two main answers are given in the Bible. First, in our rebellion against
God, we have become captive to sin: ‘I do not understand my own actions,’
wrote Paul. ‘For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.’1
Second, we are involved in a spiritual battle, in which Satan seeks
constantly to frustrate God’s will for our lives.
Today many people find it hard to believe in a personal devil, whilst a
few see satanic forces in every direction. C. S. Lewis has warned us of this
double danger: ‘There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race
can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is
to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They
themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a
magician with the same delight.’2 Even amongst Christians who do believe
in the devil’s existence, there is often a marked blindness about the reality
of spiritual warfare and the nature of the enemy’s tactics. ‘Much of the
church’s warfare today is fought by blindfolded soldiers who cannot see the
forces ranged against them, who are buffeted by invisible opponents and
respond by striking one another.’3 That is doubtless the reason for much of
the bitterness, misunderstanding and hostility within the Christian church:
we are under spiritual attack, we fail to see the nature of it, so in our
frustration we hit out at more visible targets.

The biblical witness

Those who find the whole concept of Satan’s activity difficult to take
seriously, tending to dismiss it as fanciful or medieval, should note carefully
the volume of biblical teaching on this subject. Leaving on one side the
numerous passages in the Old Testament, it is significant that as soon as
Jesus began his public ministry he ‘was led up by the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted by the devil.’4 Later, when Jesus began to
concentrate on his coming sufferings and death, the supreme purpose of his
earthly ministry, the battle against Satan is again explicitly mentioned.
When Simon Peter resisted the teaching of Jesus that he ‘must suffer many
things … and be killed’, at once Jesus rebuked him: ‘Away with you, Satan;
you are a stumbling-block to me. You think as men think, not as God
thinks.’5 Satan constantly tries to blind our minds to the purpose of God,
and tempts us to see man as the centre and standard of reference. Then
again, when Jesus was facing the ordeal of the cross, he had another
tremendous spiritual battle in the garden of Gethsemane – a battle won by
prayer and obedience to his Father’s will.
Jesus also talked about ‘the evil one’ snatching away the seed of God’s
word;6 he warned that the enemy who sowed weeds in the field was the
devil;7 he told the Jewish leaders that ‘you are of your father the devil’;8
and he prayed that his disciples should be kept from the evil one.9 Much of
his healing ministry involved the casting out of evil spirits and demons.
There was no doubt about the power and personality of the devil in the life,
teaching and ministry of Jesus.
 The apostles, too, gave careful instruction about this spiritual battle. Paul
warned his readers that ‘even Satan disguises himself as an angel of
light.’10 He stressed that he had forgiven those who had wronged him ‘to
keep Satan from gaining the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of
his designs.’11 Elsewhere he urged the Christians to put their relationships
right ‘and (to) give no opportunity to the devil.’12 He wrote about ‘the snare
of the devil’13 and ‘the doctrines of demons’.14 He exhorted the Ephesian
church to ‘put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and
blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world
rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in
the heavenly places.’15 He encouraged the Colossians by saying that,
through the cross of Christ, God had ‘disarmed the principalities and
powers … triumphing over them in him.’16 Peter warned, ‘Be sober, be
watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.’17 Many more
references like these will be found in the New Testament.

The historical evidence

Throughout the history of the church, Christian leaders have frequently
taken the spiritual conflict seriously and taught others how to experience the
victory of Christ. Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556) wrote a great manual on
spiritual warfare and conquest (a book still used widely in Jesuit retreats),
and in this he included the ‘Rules for the Discernment of Spirits’. He shows
the contrast, for example, between conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit and
the satanic counterfeit of condemnation leading to despair; also the contrast
between the illumination of the Spirit and the false ‘enlightenment’ of the
devil which leads only to further sin and spiritual darkness.
The Reformers largely accepted Loyola’s directions as biblical; and
although they rejected much of the medieval superstition that had erupted,
they took seriously the spiritual conflict. Martin Luther (1483–1546) knew
long and painful attacks by the evil one, especially in the realm of
depression. Later, prolific works on spiritual warfare were written,
including Christian Armour by William Gurnall (1616–1679). The priceless
full title of this book is this: ‘The Christian in Complete Armour, or, A
Treatise on The Saints War with the Devil: wherein a Discovery is made of
the Policy, Power, Wickedness, and Stratagems made use of by that Enemy
of God and His People. A Magazine Opened, from whence the Christian is
furnished with Spiritual Arms for the Battle, assisted in buckling on his
Armour, and taught the use of his Weapons; together The Happy Issue of
the Whole War.’ My copy of 1837 has 818 concentrated pages of detailed
exposition from Ephesians 6:10–20.
John Bunyan (1628–1688), well known for Pilgrim’s Progress, The Holy
War and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, illustrates the powers of
darkness as lions chained on a short tether on either side of the road to the
Celestial City. These lions can maul travellers who wander from the middle
of the path, but cannot touch those who keep themselves in the centre of
God’s will. With vivid imagery and biblical accuracy he shows that the
forces of evil are held in check by the victory of Christ, and they can do
nothing which ultimately destroys God’s kingdom and glory.
John Wesley (1703–1791) and George Whitefield (1714–1770) too were
under no doubts about the reality of this spiritual struggle, as their writings
and sermons indicate. Whitefield’s Journals refer frequently to this battle in
the heavenly places: ‘Satan endeavoured to interrupt us … Satan is
disturbed … By and by, I expect Satan and his emissaries will rage horribly.
I endeavoured to forewarn my hearers of it. Lord, prepare us against a day
of spiritual battle!’
Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) was especially alert to the counter-
attacks of Satan during times of spiritual revival. He saw that Satan’s main
strategies were those of persecution, accusation, and infiltration. He noticed
the attacks on the leaders and subjects of revival along the lines of despair,
discouragement and mutual suspicion. If possible, Satan sets Christian
against Christian, leader against leader, that he may divide and conquer.
Edwards also observed how the devil, if unable to prevent a revival, sought
to push those involved to unhealthy extremes: ‘If we look back into the
history of the church of God in past ages, we may observe that it has been a
common device of the Devil to overset a revival of religion, when he finds
he can keep men quiet and secure no longer, then to drive them to excesses
and extravagances. He holds them back as long as he can, but when he can
do it no longer, then he’ll push ’em on, run ’em upon their heads.’18
 In this century, with the confusing counterfeit work of Satan during the
great 1904–5 revival, Evan Roberts and Jessie Penn-Lewis wrote War on
the Saints. And in more recent years, with all the fresh interest in the occult,
many serious Christian books have been written with a clear biblical and
pastoral perspective.19 Through the perplexities surrounding this subject,
and through the cheap sensationalism of the ‘lunatic fringe’, some church
leaders today are sceptical about any satanic conflict with God. It has little
fashionable respectability; but serious teaching about this warfare can be
traced throughout the centuries since the days of the early church.

Discerning the spirits

‘The ability to distinguish between the spirits’ is one of the spiritual gifts
given to us by God for the benefit of the whole body of Christ, and
undoubtedly this played a considerable part in the ministry of Jesus and the
apostles. Jesus knew instantly what he was dealing with, when confronted
by those who were tormented or possessed by evil spirits: ‘You deaf and
dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him
again.’20 The effect was immediate; and the boy, whose affliction had
defied the attempted ministry of the disciples, was made whole. Jesus never
treated ordinary physical diseases in this way, but he knew at once when
faced with his enemy. Peter, too, was able to unmask Simon Magnus who
had joined himself with the baptised believers who were converted through
Philip’s ministry; and Paul set free the girl with the spirit of divination. In
each case they had to discern accurately the nature of the conflict. A
biblical understanding of spiritual warfare gives insight into the bewildering
confusion in the church down the centuries.
‘A good deal of the church’s history becomes somewhat more intelligible
if biblical principles for the discernment of principles are employed. They
must be applied with exquisite caution (italics mine). But some rather
tumultuous periods of renewal, counter-infiltration and counter-attack can
only be sensibly interpreted with their use. Otherwise the scene is as
confusing as a football game in which half the players are invisible.’21 John
tells us in his First Letter that we are to ‘test the spirits to see whether they
are of God’,22 and this is particularly important in an age when the cults and
sects are proliferating; but this should be done with ‘exquisite caution’, lest
a genuine work of God is written off as spurious, heretical or even demonic.
Some have done just that with the whole of the charismatic movement,
good and bad together; but they would have been wiser to have exercised
the caution of Gamaliel, for ‘if it is of God … you might even be found
opposing God!’23
Satan is described as the ‘god of this world’ who seeks to blind people’s
minds to the truth of Jesus Christ.24 He is ‘the deceiver of the whole
world’25 who uses a host of evil spirits to persuade men to believe lies
about God, to disbelieve God’s word, and to indulge in the works of the
flesh which bring even greater spiritual darkness and misery. The New
Testament mentions the existence of the spirits of error, lust and fear;
unclean spirits, seducing spirits, deaf spirits, dumb spirits, lying spirits
which deceive men by false guidance and false prophecy; familiar spirits
working through occult practices; and a host of others as well. These
demonic agents cause a strong aversion to biblical truth, a blindness to its
meaning and a rejection of what is understood. They work equally within
the institutions of the church and certain academic theological studies. The
denial by some church leaders and scholars concerning the deity of Christ,
his resurrection from the dead and his glorious return, are examples of the
blinding influence of the god of this world.
He is also called ‘the prince of the power of the air’, who opposes in
every way the rule of Christ, and who holds evil structures and unjust
political systems in his grasp. His powerful work seems to lie behind the
massive and illicit use of drugs, the pornographic industry, the bondage to
materalism which so often destroys human dignity, and the senseless
obscene violence which increasingly dominates our world. Paul warned
Timothy that ‘in these last days there will come times of stress. For men
will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient
to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers,
profligates, fierce haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with
conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of
religion but denying the power of it.’26 Although the root of all this is to be
found in the sinful heart of fallen man, the extent of corruption and evil is
sometimes so great that only the adjectives ‘satanic’ or ‘devilish’ can
describe their insidious influence.
Direct attack
There are a number of well-tried tactics of the evil one that we need to
understand. First, Satan seeks to destroy God’s work by the direct attack of
persecution, or by various assaults on the bodies, minds and spirits of God’s
people, especially those fully involved in Christian work. When Peter told
his readers to watch out for the devil as a ‘roaring lion’, he went on to say,
‘Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of
suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world.’ He had
previously been talking about the ‘fiery ordeal’ which would come upon
them, telling them to ‘rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings.’27
Every active work of God has been contested in this way, from the
vicious persecutions against the early church under the Roman Emperors to
the tortures and imprisonments of Christians during this century, especially
in communist and Islamic countries. It is estimated that there were more
martyrdoms for Christ during the twentieth century than during the rest of
the history of the church put together. These attacks have usually been
accompanied by false accusations based on gross misunderstandings of
Christian faith and work. Rightwing dictatorships, and totalitarian
governments of every political wing, have accused Christians of subversive
influence, of revolutionary intrigue and of law-breaking activities.
Trumped-up charges followed by the mockery of justice have led to untold
suffering. The wanton aggression against Christians, whose lives are
marked by godly love and radiant faith, is often diabolical in its intensity.
It is notoriously difficult discerning the root causes of physical or mental
afflictions, but the timing, significance and ferocity of some indicate the
work of the ‘roaring lion’. Many Christian workers, for example, have
battled over the years with depression. Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist
preacher, knew ‘by most painful experience what deep depression of spirit
means’, especially on Monday mornings after an exhausting time of
preaching the day before. Writing of Luther’s similar conflicts, Spurgeon
said, ‘his great spirit was often in the seventh heaven of exultation, and as
frequently on the borders of despair … He sobbed himself into his last sleep
like a great wearied child.’28Luther himself, however, could be quite
practical about this. His attitude to depression was this: ‘Don’t argue with
the devil. Better to banish the whole subject … Seek company or discuss
some irrelevant matter, e.g. what is happening in Venice … Dine, dance,
joke and sing … Shun solitude … Manual labour is a relief; harness the
horses and spread manure on the fields.’ An attitude like this can be a
healthy response to satanic attacks of dampening depression. We shall often
have to discern the interplay of four different sources of affliction: physical
factors (sickness, fatigue, malnutrition, hormonal or chemical imbalance);
psychological factors (natural dispositions); fallen nature; and demonic
attack. The devil may of course take advantage of any area of weakness, but
where there is some disorder, various forms of treatment may be
appropriate concurrently.

Accusation
Second, Satan aims to disrupt God’s work by the indirect attack of
accusation. He is the ‘accuser of the brethren’, who seeks to overwhelm the
church with a flood of lies.29 Opposition to the work of God’s Spirit may
come from within the church as well as from without. Within the church,
there may be a quiet opposition to spiritual renewal when it is politely
ignored altogether, especially by the leaders of the church. Or else the
whole renewal may be caricatured in exaggerated proportions, reinforced
by the aberrations and excesses that inevitably exist, and then vigorously
opposed. Devastating criticisms by one group of Christians towards another
often reveal extraordinary misunderstandings of the truth of the situation. I
have heard good and honest Christian leaders accuse one another of error or
misconduct in a way that has left me almost speechless, except for the fact
that I have no doubt made similar accusations unwittingly myself. There
has been such an extraordinary twisting of the truth that it could only be the
‘accuser of the brethren’ hard at work.
Inevitably Satan capitalises on the genuine faults and failings of
Christians, both to divide the church and to cause the name of God to be
‘blasphemed among the Gentiles’.30 Paul was often concerned that
Christians should watch carefully their behaviour, in order that the name
and the word of God might not be discredited.31 The popular image of the
church in secular western society is that of a pathetic and useless relic of
some bygone days. True, there may be some elements of the church’s
existence that could lead to such an image – it is not wholly false. But it is
such a distortion of the real picture that it is effectively a gross lie, sadly a
lie that is believed by the majority of the population. Such is the devil’s
skill. He is the ‘slanderer’ as well as the ‘accuser’.
The work of the accuser also causes great distress in the minds of
countless Christians. With frightening accuracy and frequency we are
reminded of our sins and weaknesses, and quickly fall into condemnation
and despair. Blasphemous or evil thoughts may assail the mind, especially
during times of worship or prayer, and many believers consequently feel
appalled by their sinful disposition which enables such thoughts to arise.
We need to understand clearly that these are no more than the ‘flaming darts
of the evil one’.32 However, unless we learn how to lift up the shield of
faith by claiming Christ’s victory both for ourselves and for one another, we
may in time become bound by obsessive guilt and continuing depression.

Exploitation
Third, Satan is out to damage God’s work by exploiting the carnality of
Christians to pollute the Spirit’s activity. God is a God of truth; but Satan
can use powerful personalities in the church to turn the truth of God’s word
into narrow, hard-line bigotry. A Christian becomes so sure that he is right
and that others are wrong, that with his tongue or pen he lashes out with
biting criticisms at other brothers in Christ.
God is a God of love; but Satan can use the frailty of human flesh to turn
a genuine experience of God’s love into emotional entanglements, or even
into adulterous or homosexual acts. There are immense pressures on
Christian marriages today; some of this pressure is natural in the context of
the general breakdown of family life in society, but some of it seems
devilish in its destruction of outstanding Christian workers and leaders.
God is a God of peace; but Satan can play on our weaknesses so that we
become peace-lovers rather than peace-makers. We avoid conflict; we fail
to resolve tensions in relationships; we allow sin to continue within the
fellowship without being challenged; we agree with all points of view in a
muddy ecumenism instead of clear unity in Christ. Christ the Bridegroom
looks for moral and doctrinal purity in his bride, the church. In his word he
tells us to ‘speak the truth in love’ so that we can grow up in every way into
him. He knows that we are not perfect: we will all make mistakes, and we
do not yet see things clearly. But as we sort out our relationships with
honesty, love and forgiveness, so the God of true peace will be with us.

Counterfeits
Fourth, Satan seeks to confuse God’s work with counterfeit movements,
which not only deceive many, but discredit genuine movements of the Spirit
of God. As the ‘angel of light’ he seduces deeply religious people with
‘deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons’,33 bringing them into the
bondage or either legalism or licence. He deludes weak Christians by those
who are disguised as ‘servants of righteousness’34 and by counterfeit
miracles, ‘pretended signs and wonders’.35 He may draw them into a false
religion which has all the outward form, but none of the life and power of
the Spirit of God.36 In the experiential mood of today, alongside genuine
charismatic experiences have mushroomed a host of occult practices and
eastern mysticism. Sects that promise spiritual fulfilment and reality have
grown like a wasting disease, encouraged by the spiritual barrenness of
much of the orthodox church.
This has been the pattern of church history from the New Testament
times onwards. The apostles and church fathers saw gnostic heresies and
mystery religions as expressions of deceiving spirits. They were alert to the
‘spirit of antichrist’ and the ‘spirit of error’. They warned other Christians
about false prophets ‘secretly bringing in destructive heresies’;37 they
mentioned by name those who opposed the truth, ‘men of corrupt mind and
counterfeit faith’.38 When we see the same confusing influences in both
church and society today, it would be foolish to dismiss these apostolic
warnings as first-century superstition. More humbly we ought to
acknowledge our own limited vision of the spiritual realm, accept the
teachings of scripture as God’s word, and give due warning about the
dangers of counterfeits for our churches today.

Temptation
Fifth, Satan tries continually to defeat God’s people with temptation. He is
called ‘the tempter’. Generally his actions encourage inconsistencies in
Christian witness. We are tempted, therefore, to lose our temper, to be slack
about our work, to covet what is not ours, to feed our pride and to nurse our
hurts. Such temptations are aimed at specific weaknesses in our Christian
lives.
What may be harder to detect, but in the long run much more powerful
and effective, is the temptation to a lifestyle that is subchristian: worldly
materialism, social distinctions, middle-class morality, western affluence –
all these covered with a thin veneer of spirituality. The unbeliever, however,
sees through this disguise. There is no genuine alternative lifestyle which
gives credibility to Christian witness. There is nothing substantial to
distinguish the believer from the unbeliever. Why should he be encouraged
to join this ‘religious club’? It has little to say about real life; only a few
religious activities. The temptation to avoid the challenge of true
discipleship is both subtle and considerable. It is devastatingly effective,
and it keeps the Christian powerless as an ambassador for Christ.
As Christians we are clearly called to live in the world and yet not be
conformed to the values of the world. Some understanding of the nature of
the world is therefore important. Some Christians think at once of drink,
drugs, sex or gambling. All of these can be poor and unhealthy substitutes
for the place of Christ in our hearts. But John tells us that ‘the whole world
is in the power of the evil one.’39 This would include the world of
education, politics, philosophy, economics, industry, entertainment,
television, radio, press. It is not that these things are necessarily wrong in
themselves; but naturally they belong to the world that is controlled by
Satan. Everything that is not directly under the Lordship of Christ belongs
to the kingdom of this world and is in opposition to the kingdom of God.
Jesus once said, ‘As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days
of the Son of man. They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in
marriage …’40 Notice carefully those words. Jesus did not say that they
lusted, they fornicated, they gambled, they murdered. No! These evils
might well have been true, but Jesus refers only to the ordinary, natural
things in life which they went on doing ‘until the day when Noah entered
the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all’. Why did God’s
judgement fall? It was because this was their whole world, their entire life.
They were preoccupied with everything but God. God was not at the centre
of their lives as he always ought to be.
The problem for a Christian, therefore, is not how to avoid eating,
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Of course not! The question is
how to avoid the power behind these things, since the whole world is in the
power of the evil one. Even the ordinary, harmless, everyday things belong
to the world which is in the control of Satan. How, then, can we be free
from the strong pull of the world? How can we overcome the desires,
ambitions and attractions which can so easily draw us away from the love
of God? The answer is that in Christ and through his cross we have already
been crucified to the world, and the world has been crucified to us.41 As
with sin, we no longer belong to that old realm. We have been transferred
into the realm where Jesus reigns.
In practice the reality of this truth will be seen only as we keep our hearts
open to the love of God, and trust his Spirit within us to control our lives
and to change us continuously into the likeness of Jesus. ‘Because he
cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him …’42 We cannot love God and love
the world at the same time. It is, therefore, only as the love of God is poured
into our hearts each day by the Holy Spirit that we are able to experience
freedom from the pull of the world. It would be foolish to suppose that this
is a once-for-all spiritual battle. Certainly we now belong, for all time, to
that realm of grace where Jesus reigns. But each day we need to submit
every part of our lives to his sovereign rule, and also to be renewed in his
love and filled with his Holy Spirit. Only in this way shall we increasingly
enter into the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God’.43

Possession
Sixth, Satan may mock God’s work by taking possession of something that
was created by God for his glory, usually a human being. Satan, as the
‘murderer’ and ‘destroyer’44 desires to destroy God’s work, and the
destruction of the human personality by the indwelling of evil spirits is a
frightening reality. We see it often in the Gospels. The man with the unclean
demon was thrown down by it before it came out of him at the command of
Jesus.45 The demons in ‘Legion’ caused him to break the chains and fetters
with which he had been bound, and drove him into the desert; when finally
cast out of the man by Jesus, they destroyed a whole herd of swine.46 The
boy with the unclean spirit was tormented and convulsed by the spirit, it
‘tore’ at him and ‘shattered’ him; it would ‘hardly leave him’, until rebuked
by Jesus.47 Indeed Jesus warned that if an unclean spirit went out of a man,
he would be ‘seeking rest’; if later he found a man’s life swept but empty,
he would bring seven other spirits more evil than himself to dwell there,
‘and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first’.48
I have personally witnessed the destructive power of demonic forces in
the lives of several individuals. I have seen mocking, lying and tormenting,
spirits take hold of the personality of human beings created in God’s image,
causing them to say and do evil and violent things outside of their control. I
have heard demonic voices speak through people. I have witnessed the
wretched existence of those who have become manipulated by the powers
of darkness – usually through personal involvement in occult practices,
although there are other causes, too. I have prayed through hours of terrible
conflict when those who are possessed by Satanic forces begin to turn to
Jesus for deliverance. I have been frightened by the reality of such evil, and
yet experienced the greater power of Jesus Christ. From what I have
personally known over the last ten to fifteen years, I could not possibly
doubt the existence of the devil, even if I had intellectual difficulties with
some of the concepts involved.
Normally, however, the destructive character of Satan is expressed in
much less bizarre forms, though still dangerous and real. Satan works
through human institutions that humiliate the individual, through social and
political systems that oppress the poor and weak, through human avarice
that exploits the defenceless for ‘filthy lucre’, and through sinful lust that
indulges every passion of the flesh, and abuses young people as expendable
objects of sex. ‘The involvement of the forces of darkness in stirring up and
shaping these works of destruction against God’s creation does not
eliminate human responsibility and guilt. It simply explains the fearfully
logical strategy often apparent in evil and the blindness and virulent energy
present in human beings involved in such genocidal actions as the murder
of six million Jews under Hitler.’49
If we fail to see the spiritual conflict, we shall be tempted to respond in
bitterness and hatred towards people. However, the perpetrators of the evil
in this world are not our enemies, nor are we to regard them as such. That is
why Jesus told us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecuted
us. All men, good or evil, are loved by God, and are to be loved by
Christians as well. God loves the sinner, even though he hates the sin. We
are to see clearly that we are not contending against flesh and blood. Our
real warfare is against the spiritual principalities and powers that rule over
the lives of men and over the structure in which we live. In view of the
scale, subtlety and intensity of the spiritual conflict, there is great need for
God’s gift of spiritual discernment. It is as we pray for this specifically that
God will increasingly give it to us. Paul prayed that the Colossians would
be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, and ‘with all the wisdom and
understanding that his Spirit gives’.50

God’s freedom fighters

In the New Testament epistles, it is assumed that most readers will be
familiar with the spiritual battle, and therefore only occasional explicit
exhortations are given to encourage the churches in it. Today we can make
no such assumption. Thus a brief summary of some of the main principles
of victory and freedom may be helpful.
1. Know your enemy. Speaking of Satan, Paul said, ‘We are not ignorant
of his designs.’51 We should be well acquainted with the character and
strategy of the evil one, without dwelling on this too much. Never forget,
however, his active and destructive work: ‘Watch and pray that you may not
enter into temptation,’ said Jesus to his sleepy disciples;52 and in the family
prayer we say, ‘Deliver us from evil’ or from the evil one.
2. Keep yourself in the love of God. Jude, writing about those in the last
days who would scoff, who would set up divisions, worldly people, devoid
of the Spirit, went on to assure his readers that God ‘is able to keep you
from falling’; but on their part they were to build themselves up on their
most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, and keep themselves in the love of
God.53 It is sometimes said that the Christian who sins is a fool; because, if
we abide in Christ, there is no need to. In the same way, although we must
know about Satan’s power, we are not to be frightened of it. If we walk in
the light with Christ, there is nothing to fear from the powers of darkness.
Paul knew that ‘neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor powers …’ absolutely nothing could
separate a Christian from the love of God in Jesus Christ. If therefore we
keep ourselves in that love, we are perfectly and eternally safe. The evil one
will not touch us.54
 3. Be strong in Christ. This was Paul’s instruction to the Ephesian
church: ‘Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.’55 Christ is
‘far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every
name that is named …; all things (are) under his feet.’56 We cannot trust
him too much in this struggle, for ‘he who is in you is greater than he who
is in the world.’57 In particular, our victory over Satan is to be seen in the
cross of Christ, for it was there that God ‘disarmed the principalities and
powers’,58 and it is ‘by the blood of the Lamb’ that we are able to conquer
the accuser of the brethren.59
The power of the cross can be quite dramatic in releasing people from
satanic bondage. On many occasions I have seen that reading verses and
passages about the cross have been powerful in spiritual warfare, especially
in the most severe expressions of it. Generally speaking, a prayerful and
confident trust in God’s power over Satan through the cross of Christ is all
that is required. We should therefore resist frequent ‘deliverance ministries’
and indiscriminate exorcisms. Every malaise cannot be ascribed to satanic
oppression or possession and to do so yields untold distress and may create
serious disorder. To use the much less sensational principles described in
this section will be effective in the vast majority of cases. Christ has won
the victory for us. We are to stand firm in it, proclaim it and rejoice in it.
That is the way to resist Satan. We must beware of instant formulae for
deliverance. We are to crucify the flesh and walk in the Spirit; and we can,
in nearly every case, do so together in the power of Christ.
4. Be filled with the Spirit. Paul, having warned the Ephesians about the
‘unfruitful works of darkness’ and the days ‘that are evil’, urged them to go
on and on being filled with the Spirit.60 They would need all the gifts of the
Spirit to equip them for effective warfare. He told Timothy to be inspired by
the ‘prophetic utterances which pointed to you’, so that ‘by them you may
wage the good warfare’.61 Repeatedly, and perhaps painfully, God will have
to remind us of our own utter weakness without him. Pride, seen by self-
confidence and self-reliance, so easily dominates our thinking. Like Simon
Peter, we think we can do it ourselves: others may fail, but we shall stand
firm. If ever we are shocked by the sin of another Christian, we are blind to
our own weakness. We need to come to that point, in every area of our
lives, where we have to depend on the Holy Spirit. Unless we are daily
cleansed from our sin by the blood of Jesus, and daily filled with the Spirit,
we shall never overcome the evil one.
5. Be active in Christian witness and service. In the same context of
being filled with the Spirit, Paul urged his readers to ‘make the most of the
time’ and to wake out of sleep. Jude, too, exhorts the Christians to convince
those who doubt and to snatch others out of the fire. In other words, in view
of the cosmic struggle in which we are engaged, there is not a moment to
lose. Every day we need to know what the will of the Lord is, and do it.
Isaac Watts was right when he said that ‘Satan finds some mischief still for
idle hands to do.’ There is of course a balance and previously we noted Carl
Jung’s comment that ‘Hurry … is the Devil’. In the Gospels we see Jesus
maintaining this balance working to the point of exhaustion, yet calm and at
peace in his spirit, busy but not rushed, alert but not tense. He perfectly
accomplished the work that God had given him to do, and Satan had no
foothold in his life.
6. Be quick to put right your wrong relationships. Every church is a
fellowship of sinners. Inevitably we shall hurt others and get hurt ourselves.
Jesus knew the need for persistent teaching on the necessity for forgiveness,
seventy times seven, if need be. Paul knew that we would at times be angry,
justly or unjustly. Unless, however, we deal with our anger, and with the
problem that prompted it, immediately – before the sun goes down – we
would give ‘opportunity to the devil’.62 If we go to bed angry, we may not
easily sleep; and in the morning we may well find ourselves both depressed
and irritable. If there is any break in fellowship between two Christians, the
devil will be quick to exploit it.
We also need to keep our lives constantly open to one another in love. In
this way we can help each other in the spiritual battle. But if I don’t know
what is happening in your life, and you don’t know what is happening in
my life, we shall be of little use when either is in trouble. If, however, we
are genuinely sharing our lives together, when you are down I may be able
to lift you up, and when I am down you may do the same for me. ‘Two are
better than one … For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him
who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up … And though
a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. A
threefold cord is not easily broken.’63 Paul’s instructions about the battle
were written to a church, not just to individual Christians. They were to
stand together, pray together, lift up one another – and they could do this
only as they were genuinely united in love.
7. Put on the whole armour of God.64 God gives us all the protection that
we need. We must see that there is a ‘ring of truth’ about our walk with the
Lord, that our lives are right (‘righteous’) with God and with one another,
that we seek to make peace wherever we go, that we lift up that shield of
faith together to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one, that we protect
our mind from fears and anxieties that easily assail, and that we use God’s
word to good effect in the power of the Spirit. Remember it was by the
repeated sword thrusts of God’s word that Jesus overcame his adversary in
the wilderness.
8. Be constant in prayer. ‘Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer
and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making
supplication for all the saints.’65 If, through prayerlesness, we lose our close
contact with God, we shall never stand firm in the battle. We need daily his
‘marching orders’. We must come to him, wait upon him, renew our
strength in him, listen to him, trust in him, and then go out into the world to
face the enemy. If Jesus knew the constant need of this for his own ministry,
how much more should we acknowledge our weakness by humble,
persistent prayer.
9. Use the festal shout. ‘Blessed are the people who know the festal
shout’, sang the psalmist.66 Throughout the centuries, God’s people were
often encouraged to shout praises to God, particularly in the context of
battle. Joshua told the people to ‘Shout; for the Lord has given you the city
… So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the
people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people raised a great shout, and
the wall fell down flat … , and they took the city.’67 When Jehoshaphat was
faced with a powerful enemy, he called God’s people to prayer and fasting.
The Lord spoke to them through prophecy, encouraging them that he would
give them victory in the battle. They fell down to worship, and the singers
stood up to praise the Lord ‘in a very loud voice’. As they went into battle,
the singers went ahead of the soldiers, singing praises to God. And the Lord
gave the victory.68 ‘Shout to God with loud songs of joy!’ says the psalmist.
‘God has gone up with a shout.’69 Further in Acts 4 when they were faced
with a powerful conflict against the rulers who murdered their Master they
lifted or raised their voices together to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord …’
and they praised him with a loud voice that he was in control of everything,
asking merely for boldness to speak his word. No wonder they were filled
afresh with the Holy Spirit; and no wonder the powers of darkness were
driven back.
In Festivals of Praise around the world, I have encouraged many
thousands of Christians to give the Festal shout, ‘The Lord reigns!’ As large
congregations have joined together in ‘loud shouts of joy’, many have told
me afterwards what an encouragement this simple act has been. We need to
strengthen one another’s hand in the Lord. When people all over the world
are stirring up each other with shouts of hatred, shouts of violence, shouts
supporting this political candidate or that football team, surely we ought to
follow this biblical principle and shout praise to God. It can help to lift us
up above the mountains of difficulty, and strengthen our faith in the living
God. After all, ‘if God is for us, who is against us?’70 We need to encourage
one another in the midst of dangerous and bewildering days, and proclaim
together that Jesus Christ is the Lord who reigns.

Notes

1. Romans 7:15
2. Screwtape Letters, Bles, 1942, p. 9
3. Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life, Paternoster Press, 1979, p.
18
4. Matthew 4:1
5. Matthew 16:23, NEB
6. Matthew 13:19
7. Matthew 13:39
8. John 8:44
9. John 17:15
10. 2 Corinthians 11:14
11. 2 Corinthians 2:11
12. Ephesians 4:27
13. 1 Timothy 3:7; 2 Timothy 2:26
14. 1 Timothy 4:1
15. Ephesians 6:11f
16. Colossians 2:15
17. 1 Peter 5:8f
18. Edwards, Thoughts on the Revival, p. 410
19. Michael Harper, Spiritual Warfare, Hodder & Stoughton, 1970. Kurt E.
Koch, Christian Counselling and Occultism, Occult Bondage and
Deliverance. John Nevius, Demon Possession. John Richards, But
Deliver us from Evil. J. Stafford Wright, Christianity and the Occult.
Michael Green, I Believe in Satan’s Downfall, Hodder & Stoughton, 1981
20. Mark 9:25
21. Richard F. Lovelace, op. cit., p. 256
22. 1 John 4:1
23. Acts 5:39
24. 2 Corinthians 4:4
25. Revelation 12:9
26. 2 Timothy 3:1–5
27. 1 Peter 5:8f; 4:12f
28. Lectures, vol. 1, p. 167
29. Revelation 12:1–17
30. Romans 2:24
31. 1 Timothy 6:1; Titus 2:5
32. Ephesians 6:16
33. 1 Timothy 4:1
34. 2 Corinthians 11:15
35. 2 Thessalonians 2:9
36. 2 Timothy 3:5; Revelation 13:13f
37. 2 Peter 2:1
38. 2 Timothy 3:8
39. 1 John 5:19
40. Luke 17:26f
41. Galatians 6:15
42. Psalm 91:14
43. Romans 8:21
44. John 8:44; Revelation 9:11
45. Luke 4:33–36
46. Luke 8:26–33
47. Luke 9:37–43
48. Luke 11:24–26
49. Richard F. Lovelace, op. cit., p. 140
50. Colossians 1:9, GNB
51. 2 Corinthians 2:11.
52. Matthew 26:41
53. Jude 17–25
54. 1 John 5:13
55. Ephesians 6:10
56. Ephesians 1:21f
57. 1 John 4:4
58. Colossians 1:20
59. Revelation 12:10f
60. Ephesians 5:1–18
61. 1 Timothy 1:18
62. Ephesians 4:26f
63. Ecclesiastes 4:9–12
64. Ephesians 6:10–20. I have written more fully about this in Hidden
Warfare, Send the Light Trust, 1980, chapter 4
65. Ephesians 6:18
66. Psalm 89:15
67. Joshua 6:16, 20
68. 2 Chronicles 20
69. Psalm 47
70. Romans 8:31
 CHAPTER NINE

Evangelism

Christ’s call to discipleship is not primarily for the benefit of the disciple.
His own apostles were slow to realise this, always wondering what they
were going to get out of it, and who would be the greatest amongst them.
Jesus rebuked them. ‘Even the Son of man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’1 And Jesus laid down his life
for one reason: because he had compassion on people in need. ‘When he
saw the crowds he had compassion for them, because they were harassed
and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.’2
What then was his plan of action? He called to him twelve potential
leaders, gave them instructions, and sent them out to preach and heal,
saying ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’3 A little later seventy others
were sent out for much the same purpose, ‘to go into every town and place
where he himself was about to come’.4 It would not be easy: some would
reject them, others persecute them. They would be involved in a great
spiritual battle. In fact, the seventy came back bubbling over with joy; and
undoubtedly this mission had been for them a wonderful learning and
stimulating experience. As disciples, they were called and sent out; and in
going out they grew in their discipleship. Later still, Jesus made it clear that
every disciple is called both to be a witness to Jesus and to be committed to
the task of evangelism. ‘As the Father has sent me, even so I send you …
You shall be my witnesses … to the end of the earth.’5 If Christ’s first call
to us is ‘Come’, his second is ‘Go’ – ‘Go your way … Go and preach the
gospel … Go and make disciples …’6
Naturally they were not launched into powerful and effective evangelism
overnight. Gently Jesus had to help them to lose their fears, to overcome
their inertia, to see the urgency of the harvest, and to watch and pray. He
had to teach them constantly about the kingdom of God. He had to strip
them of pride and self-confidence, and to show them, sometimes in
humbling and painful ways, that they could do nothing on their own; only
by prayer and fasting could they expect to see the power of God at work. At
times he had to test the reality of their love, challenge their commitment,
and prepare them for spiritual battle. Often he warned them of hard times
ahead, but promised them also the power of his Holy Spirit, by whose
inward help they would be able to do the works that he had done, and even
greater ones.
When we look at the early church, frail with its human fears and failings
but alive in the Spirit, we see everyone gossiping about the gospel. Who
first carried the good news of Christ to the great Gentile city of Antioch,
and up and down the Phoenician seaboard? It was not the professionals. It
was the ‘little people’, the nameless laity – the idiotēs, as they were later
called – who went everywhere preaching Christ. No opposition could stop
them. It was the whole church, active in witness and bold in evangelism,
that dramatically changed the world of their day.
In the church today we need to think carefully how we can encourage the
same spirit of evangelism that made such an impact on the first few
centuries of the church’s history, and is so effective today in south-west
Asia, much of Africa and Latin America. How can we overcome the natural
reticence, partly cultural, that makes most western Christians like the great
Canadian rivers in winter, frozen at the mouth? How can we release our
congregations from the natural fear of men and resistance to change? How
can evangelism spontaneously flow from our church services and
fellowships out into the streets, homes and places of work – where people
are?

Breaking the ghetto mentality

Following a mission to Oxford University in which he shared with Cardinal
Suenens, Bishop Stephen Neill wrote, ‘We are still faced with the problem
of the real outsider. In this mission, as in so many others, most of those
attending were good Christians, or part-Christians, or “spoiled-Christians”.
Where do we make contact with the real outsider, and to what kind of
message is it likely that he will give an ear? No one seems to know the
answer to these questions. The greater part of our so-called evangelism
takes place within or on the fringes of the church; we do not seem yet to
have found the way to break out of the Christian ghetto into the world.’7
There is a valid place for Christian missions and festivals, when Christians
unite together for evangelism or joyful celebration. Fringe Christians need
to become clearly committed to Christ; others need constant
encouragement. Spiritual renewal always precedes effective evangelism.
For the last few years I have been involved in numerous festivals in
different parts of the world, when the gospel is proclaimed in the context of
music and praise, dance, drama, colour and joy. Such events have a triple
aim: evangelism, renewal and reconciliation between Christians – three
inseparable strands of Christian mission.8 Nevertheless we must be honest
and admit that only a few real outsiders find Christ in this way. This is
where we see the vital necessity of personal witness leading to effective
discipleship. There are other ways of reaching the outsider, but nothing will
be a substitute for this personal approach.
In view of this, the church needs to give much more training and support
to Christians where they are at home and at work. It is the daily,
unspectacular witness of Christians who are alive in Christ, that will most
likely break into areas that the church is not otherwise touching at all. ‘Men
of business, trade, industry come and worship with us, and we tell them to
be good husbands and appoint them our treasurers. We do almost nothing to
equip them for their daily work, which is where God’s kingdom has to
come effectively today … We need to develop among all God’s people, not
merely the professionals, the sense of vocation as to where we live and
work. What seems to be lacking in a divine strategy now is a mobile task
force at God’s disposal.’9
In many western countries – those in Europe, for example – the church is
in a missionary situation. The vast majority of people know little or nothing
about the Christian faith, and regard the church as irrelevant. The church
needs small groups of deeply committed Christians to move into those areas
as Christian trade unionists, teachers, politicians, social workers – every
area of life – so that the church can be what Christ has called it to be, the
salt of the earth and the light of the world. The Christian dramatist, Murray
Watts, has put it forcefully like this: ‘We look at the TV today and say,
“How terrible! The violence, the immorality, the pornography – the meat
has gone bad!” Of course, it’s gone bad, because the salt never got there in
the first place.’ But others have got there. Various secular, revolutionary and
religious groups have infiltrated strategic sections of society with a
philosophy that cannot begin to match the gospel of Christ. They have done
so successfully for one reason only: they mobilise trained and dedicated
disciples who are willing to sacrifice everything to achieve their goal. If we
Christians pray that God’s kingdom may come, we must be willing to be the
answer to our own prayers, with all the imaginative boldness of those first
disciples.

Witness and evangelist

It is important to stress that not every Christian is called to be an evangelist.
All are witnesses to Christ, all must be committed to the church’s task of
evangelism; but only some are evangelists.10 It is Peter Wagner’s belief that
only about ten per cent of those in any church have this particular gift.11
This means that whilst those ten per cent should be trained and encouraged
in this gift, the other ninety per cent must resist a nagging sense of guilt that
they are not evangelising in the way that some others are. Every gift is
necessary to strengthen the body of Christ for the total work of God’s
mission here on earth.
First then, what are the marks of a witness?
(a) A witness must have a first-hand experience of Christ. Hearsay is not
acceptable in a court of law, nor in the court of this world’s opinion. People
will listen only to what we have personally seen and heard.
(b) A witness must be able to express it in words. Although we may witness
through our lives, our work, our relationships, our attitudes, our suffering
and even our death, we must still ‘be ready at all times to answer anyone
who asks you to explain the hope you have in you.’12 We must do so ‘with
gentleness and respect’, and with the integrity of our lives demonstrating
the truth of what we say.
(c) A witness will have confidence in the power of God: the power of the
gospel, the power of the message of Christ and him crucified, and the power
of the Holy Spirit. He knows that God can break through any defences, and
change any heart. This confidence will not be brash, but humble and
sensitive, marked by much prayer. He knows that without God he can do
nothing, but that with God all things are possible.
(d) A witness will have compassion for those who are spiritually lost. He
will care for them as individuals who matter deeply to God: made in his
image, redeemed by his Son, and to be indwelt by his Spirit.
Second, what are the marks of an evangelist? He will of course have, at
least potentially, the qualities required for effective Christian witness; and
some of these may be more fully developed in his life than in the life of
someone who is a witness but not an evangelist. As well as these, he or she
should have the potential for three other abilities.
(e) An evangelist will have a certain clarity with which he explains the
gospel to others. He must be sure about his message, and able to
communicate it with simplicity and relevance.
(f) An evangelist will be able to pass from an appeal to the mind to an
appeal to the will. After some instruction about the facts of the gospel, he is
aiming to call people to lay down their arms of rebellion, to turn to Christ in
repentance and faith, and to accept him as Lord and Saviour.
(g) An evangelist will have a God-given faith that, if the Holy Spirit is truly
at work in this situation, there can be a definite response to Christ here and
now.
Repeatedly we have stressed the need to spot the ‘potential’ in people. It
is only as we encourage one another to pray and work for this potential that
it will be developed in our lives. Also, others may discern God’s gifts to us
more easily than we can ourselves; this may protect us from selfish
ambition which could spoil those gifts. Every gift is to be used for the glory
of God and for the benefit of his people.

Motivation
‘To revolutionise the world,’ said Dom Helder Camara, ‘the only thing
needed is for us to live and to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ with real
conviction.’ True. But in many churches today the primary issue is that of
motivation. There are more training courses in evangelism than ever before;
but even with all the knowledge of what to say and how to say it, the
question still faces us, ‘How are Christians motivated to do it?’
It is worth taking a look at one of the New Testament disciples, Philip the
evangelist. We know little of the background of this man. He is first
mentioned in Acts 6 when he and six others were appointed to a practical
administrative task in the church. His subsequent impact as an evangelist,
however, was considerable. What caused Philip and many others like him in
the early church to preach Christ so readily?
1. He was full of the Spirit. This is the one outstanding fact we know
about the seven, including Philip, who were appointed in Acts 6 to help in
the pastoral care of the church at Jerusalem: they were full of faith, wisdom
and the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit who filled them is the Spirit who comes
to bear witness to Christ. ‘The urge to witness is inborn in the church, it is
given with her nature, with her very being. She cannot not witness. She has
this being because of the Spirit who indwells her. Pentecost made the
church a witnessing church, because at Pentecost the witnessing Spirit
identified himself with the church and made the Great Commission the law
of her life … So spontaneous was the response of the church to the Spirit-
effected law, that the need of consciously obeying the command of Christ
was not felt … It formed no part of her motivation.’13 As the love of Christ
was continuously poured by the Spirit into the hearts of those first disciples,
it naturally overflowed out to others.
Paul once wrote that ‘our gospel came to you not only in word, but also
in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.’14 The Greek word
for ‘full conviction’, plerephoria, suggests a cup so full to the brim that it
overflows. When people bump into us, the Spirit filling our hearts ‘to the
brim’ will spontaneously touch their lives with the presence of Christ. If our
hearts are not full of the Spirit, we may be reluctant to bear witness, since
we have no witness to bear; and if, from a sense of duty, we do speak about
Christ, our words may be empty words – they will not convey the reality of
Jesus.
 A professor of philosophy at Princeton University became a true
Christian, having been an agnostic, when he studied very carefully the lives
of some of the great saints of God down the centuries. The inescapable fact
that really gripped him was the spiritual radiance of their lives. Often they
suffered intensely – many of them far more than most other human beings,
yet through all their pain their spirits shone with a glorious lustre that defied
extinction. This philosopher became convinced that some supernatural
Being was the source of their extraordinary joy; and this truth brought him
to Christ.
A friend of mine once said that the most important thing about us is not
what we say, not what we do; it is ‘our unconscious influence –
impregnated with the fragrance of Jesus’. Jesus wants us to be his
witnesses; he wants us to be with him, to spend time with him, to be in
constant communion with him. It is who we are and what we are that
counts. Being is more important in Christian witness than saying or doing.
St Ignatius of Antioch once said, ‘It is better to keep silence and to be, than
to talk and not to be.’
The following may not be great poetry, but it states a great truth:

Not merely in the words you say

Not only in your deeds confessed,
But in the most unconscious way
Is Christ expressed.
Is it a calm and peaceful smile?
A holy light upon your brow?
Oh no! I felt his presence while
You laughed just now.
For me ’twas not the truth you taught,
To you so clear, to me so dim,
But when you came to me you brought
A sense of him.
And from your eyes he beckons me,
And from your heart his love is shed,
Till I lose sight of you, and see
The Christ instead.15
 2. He had seen God at work. We cannot say precisely what Philip had
seen, but since he was well known in the rapidly growing church in
Jerusalem, he might easily have been present when the pentecostal Spirit
was poured out on those first disciples. Perhaps he was overwhelmed with
the love of God and with the presence of the risen Christ. Perhaps he
worshipped God in a language given by the Holy Spirit, ‘lost in wonder,
love and praise’. He might have seen the ‘many wonders and signs’ done
through the apostles, rejoiced when the healed cripple came into the temple
‘walking and leaping and praising God’. Maybe he joined in prayer to the
Sovereign Lord as they prayed for boldness to speak God’s word in the face
of mounting opposition. Maybe he was there when the room shook with the
power of God as all those present were filled with the Spirit. Undoubtedly
he experienced the loving care and incredible generosity of that new-born
church, resulting in the powerful and effective preaching of Jesus Christ. He
would surely have known of God’s dramatic judgement falling on Ananias
and Sapphira when, in a critical time of the church’s life, they both lied to
the Holy Spirit. Certainly he witnessed the astonishing growth of the
church, from the 120 on the Day of Pentecost to many thousands – all in a
few weeks. They had ‘filled Jerusalem’ with their teaching; and even after
the apostles had been warned and beaten, ‘every day in the temple and at
home they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ’.16
There is nothing so inspiring as seeing God at work. When men and
women are won for Christ, when lives are changed (sometimes dramatically
so), when Christians give generously and spontaneously to God’s work,
when some are healed of sickness and others delivered from demonic
powers, when there is a glorious sense of God’s presence in the praise of his
people, when there is an almost tangible experience of the love of God
within the body of Christ – then you can believe or do almost anything! ‘We
cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.’17 That is why spiritual
renewal is so vital to evangelism. If the life of a church is at a low level, it
is a battle to believe and harder to witness with any ring of truth. But when
there is a demonstration of the love and power of God in the lives of his
people, it is natural to explain spontaneously what it is all about.
3. He was spurred on by suffering. Shortly after Philip’s appointment in
the church, Stephen, one of the seven, was arrested and brought to trial. The
power of God had been so strikingly present with him that the rulers had to
take action. Courageously Stephen drew the lesson from the history of
God’s people that whenever God did something new amongst them, his
work was opposed and rejected. ‘You stiff-necked people,’ concluded
Stephen, ‘uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy
Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.’ It was true, and it needed to be said.
Stephen was martyred for his boldness, but his suffering gave courage to
the church. From the resulting wave of persecution that arose against the
church, they were all scattered throughout Judea and Samaria; and ‘those
who were scattered went about preaching the word’.18 No doubt Philip and
the others thought deeply about the content of Stephen’s speech. Perhaps
the truth of what he said and the radiance with which he said it spurred
Philip to go to the ‘untouchables’ in Samaria.
Paul later wrote that it was through his own suffering and imprisonment
that ‘most of the brethren have been made confident in the Lord … and are
much more bold to speak the word of God without fear’.19 ‘The blood of
martyrs is the seed of the church’, and in every age the persecution of
Christians has nearly always led to the spread of the gospel. Bonhoeffer
used to say that ‘the church is a community of those who are persecuted and
martyred for the gospel’s sake’, and he too was one of the countless
millions who have laid down their lives for the sake of Christ.
In his excellent book, Evangelism – now and then, Michael Green writes
of three Ugandans, accused of political crimes against General Amin, who
were converted in prison. ‘They grew in the power and love of the Holy
Spirit. Then they were led out to die by public executioner. They urged
Bishop Festo Kivengere, who was allowed there to encourage them, to go
and tell the gospel to the executioners, while they bore witness joyfully to
Christ before the crowd, and continued praising the God who had forgiven
and would soon be receiving them right up till the moment when the shots
rang out from the amazed firing squad. That story went round the country
like wildfire.’20
The trouble with much of the church in the West is that it is too
comfortable. In most places it costs little to be a Christian. The image of the
church is too flabby to warrant persecution. It is not worth opposing its
movement since it is on the retreat anyway. But when the church begins to
be God’s new society, an effective counter-culture challenging the covetous
spirit of the age, growing in influence, it will certainly be persecuted. When
the selfish ambitions of sinful men are threatened by the light and love of
Jesus Christ seen in the church, they will strike back. If the church is
willing to be renewed by the Holy Spirit, and should persecution result from
this, Christians will either have the courage to witness boldly for Christ, or
they will drop out altogether. It will be a time of purification for the church.
It will be a time of powerful evangelism.
In a telling parable, the Church of England’s report on evangelism said
this: ‘When Jesus said to his disciples “I will make you fishers of men” the
picture that he and they had in mind was that they would “launch out into
the deep” of the particularly treacherous lake of Galilee dragging or casting
a net over the side of the boat and then trying to bring the net ashore. It was
a dangerous occupation in a dangerous milieu, but their livelihood
depended on it. It was their full-time occupation. The commonest modern
image of a fisherman in England (with apologies to deep-sea trawlermen) is
of a man safely sitting alone under an umbrella on a river bank with a baited
rod and line occasionally landing a small fish out of the river and into his
bucket. He runs no risk and catches very little worth catching. His is a
weekend pastime not a daily occupation. His living does not depend on
it.’21 As long we ‘play’ at evangelism, with no risk to ourselves and no
price to pay, we shall make little or no impact on our society. When we see
evangelism, not as a gentle Sunday sport, but the serious, costly business of
everyday life – the livelihood of the church – we may have to ride out many
storms but there will be a fishing harvest for God’s glory. In some parts of
the world Christians are being urged by church leaders not to evangelise
because, it is said, the religious and political situation is too sensitive. How
would Stephen or Philip have reacted to that?

Message
There was nothing vague, defensive or apologetic about the message of
Philip. ‘Philip went down to a city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the
Christ’ (8:5); ‘he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the
name of Jesus Christ’ (8:12); he told him the good news of Jesus’ (8:35).
God’s message entrusted to us is Jesus Christ. It centres, not on a
proposition or on a philosophy, but firmly on the person of Christ.
 ‘Evangelism is the presentation of the claims of Christ in the power of
the Spirit to a world in need by a church in love.’22 The ‘claims’ of Christ
are on the basis of the uniqueness of his person, his death for our sins, his
resurrection from the dead, and his coming again to judge the living and the
dead. The letter to the Hebrews was written to those who were wavering in
their faith because of the struggles of discipleship; and the whole message
of the letter is simply this: There is no one like Jesus! He is described as
God’s last word, the Creator of the world, reflecting the glory of God and
bearing the very stamp of his nature; he upholds the universe by the word of
his power. He has once for all offered himself as a single sacrifice for sins,
so that we now have confidence to come into God’s presence by the blood
of Jesus. There is no one like him.23
Without Jesus, therefore, we have nothing of ultimate importance; we
have missed the main purpose of our existence. Peter said boldly, facing the
Jewish leaders who had recently secured the death of Jesus, ‘There is
salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved.’24 Paul wrote that one day we
must all come to terms with him: ‘We must all appear before the judgement
seat of Christ.’25 Christ himself taught clearly and repeatedly about the
judgement to come, because in his great love for us he had not only told us
about our greatest need, he also died to bear our sins and so meet that need.
It is now urgent that we turn from our sins, trust him as Lord and Saviour,
and receive his Spirit into our hearts. How shall we escape God’s righteous
judgement if we neglect such a great salvation?26
How, too, shall we help others to escape if we are diffident about this
gospel, ashamed of it, apologetic about it? How shall we convey the truth
and urgency of it all if we re-write the gospel in sophisticated philosophical
terms, or so dilute its content that it is not worth the response of any
person’s life? How shall we help others to believe in Jesus if he is not
central in our message and the consuming passion of our lives? How will
people believe that ‘there is no one like Jesus’ if they see his followers
quarrelling with one another, unwilling to work together, often pre-occupied
with things that are trivial in comparison with Christ? How will men and
women be convinced of their need of God if we are not burdened for those
who are lost, if we are apathetic about evangelism, and if we are not willing
to pay the price of reaching people for Christ? These are questions that
many outsiders take seriously, and the church should do so as well.
God has entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation. We are to call
people to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, ‘God making his
appeal through us’.27 But we need to remember that Christ himself
proclaimed the kingdom of God. It is God’s declared purpose in Christ to
‘unite all things in him’,28 and God intends that the whole world should be
reconciled through Christ. Thus evangelism which is solely concerned with
personal salvation is not New Testament evangelism. The preaching of
Christ affects every area of life – personal, social, political, educational,
everything. I talked about this with Dr William Glasser at Fuller
Theological Seminary, and he asked me a rhetorical question, ‘What is the
gospel for South Africa? That Christ died for your sins?’ When I led some
evangelistic missions in South African universities I could not expect a
hearing unless I spoke, in part, about some of the burning issues facing
those students. What does God say about apartheid? What does it mean for
a Christian to ‘be subject to the governing authorities’ (Romans 13)?
Certainly I preached about God’s answer to man’s sin through the death and
resurrection of God’s Son. But the evangelist must listen to, and take
seriously, the questions people are asking; only then will he be relevant.
Professor David J. Bosch from South Africa has put it in this way: ‘If we
communicate only that part of the gospel which corresponds to people’s
“felt needs” and “personal problems” (“Are you lonely? Do you feel that
you have failed? Do you need a friend? Then come to Jesus!”) while
remaining silent on their relationship to their fellow men, on racism,
exploitation and blatant injustice, we do not proclaim the gospel. This is the
quintessence of what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace”.’29 Many today have
rejected what they have heard as the Christian gospel and embraced instead,
for example, the Marxist philosophy, partly because they do not see as
realistic the evangelistic message so often heard: if you change the
individual you will change the world. David Bosch has put it neatly like
this: ‘Christianity which does not begin with the individual, does not begin;
but Christianity which ends with the individual, ends.’ Certainly God is
infinitely concerned with the salvation of the individual; but his purpose is
for the healing of creation. Everything is to come under his sovereign rule
or kingdom.
 Philip’s preaching of the kingdom of God was therefore accompanied by
many signs of the kingdom: ‘And the multitudes with one accord gave heed
to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which
he did. For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying
with a loud voice; and many who were paralysed or lame were healed. So
there was much joy in that city.’30 Much of our society today is marked by
depression, frustration and despair. More than ever we need to proclaim and
demonstrate the good news of the kingdom of God. God rules over sin, evil
and death. When people see his power to change people’s hearts, to restore
broken relationships, to break oppression, to enforce justice, to heal
emotional hurts and physical diseases, then ‘with one accord’ they will
begin to take notice.
At the very least we need to communicate with joyful enthusiasm the
most glorious good news in the world. That is why drama and mime, music
and dance, have a real part in the telling of this news to a world that is
increasingly word-resistant. ‘Today we need overdrawn images, parables,
stories, fantasies if you like. Secular Western man is too sad, too dull,
suffering from personality malnutrition. It is time to stand up and tell our
story with enthusiasm.’31 With a team gifted in music, dance and drama I
have witnessed the joyful surprise of many ‘real outsiders’ at the vitality
and relevance of the gospel of Christ. In prisons, on the streets, in schools
and universities, I have seen the freshness in this form of communication
cutting through the apathy and antagonism of many towards the church.
One leading terrorist wrote to me from a prison in Northern Ireland after
a service in that prison: ‘I had been considering for some time becoming a
Christian, but after seeing your team I no longer had any doubts, and have
now been saved by the blood of Christ.’ His letter revealed two interesting
facts. First, in spite of a life sold out to violence he was spiritually hungry.
Second, it was the communication of the whole team, not my words, that
really got through to him. Why should the devil have all the best forms of
communication?
It is worth noting that Philip’s evangelistic ministry was not perfect. He
lacked spiritual discernment in the case of Simon, the occult magician:
‘After being baptised (presumably by Philip) Simon continued with Philip.’
It required the apostle Peter to unmask this counterfeit conversion: ‘Your
heart is not right with God. Repent therefore … For I see that you are in the
gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.’ We all need one another’s
gifts within the body of Christ. Philip also required the ministry of Peter
and John before the believers in Samaria received the Holy Spirit. It has
often been argued that before the Samaritans, whose religion had been a
corruption of Judaism, could be fully received into the body of Christ there
was need of apostolic witness and confirmation. That may be true. It is also
possible that Philip’s evangelistic message had neglected any direct
reference to the Holy Spirit, as was the case with Apollos in Acts 18. When
today there is no reference to the person and work of the Holy Spirit at the
point of conversion, confusion may later arise. Probably much of the
charismatic debate has occurred for this very reason. Peter’s instructions on
the Day of Pentecost were clear: ‘Repent, and be baptised every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’32 The statement called Gospel and
Spirit, resulting from the charismatic–evangelical dialogue in England,
commented: ‘We are agreed on the need … to present the full range of
Christ’s salvation and gift for us in all our evangelism and teaching – i.e. to
preach a complete, rather than a truncated, gospel.’33

Method
The most striking feature of Philip’s evangelistic work was this: he was
obedient to the Spirit of God. Obediently he crossed the Jewish–Samaritan
divide, and the Spirit was manifestly with him. Obediently he left that
fruitful ministry and travelled many miles to the desert road between
Jerusalem and Gaza, not knowing why he was going there. Obediently he
went up to one particular traveller, because the Spirit told him to do so.
Later he obediently left that man and ‘preached the gospel to all the towns
till he came to Caesarea’. As we focus attention on Philip’s personal
evangelism with the Ethiopian eunuch, we see that in his obedience Philip
went to the right man at the right time with the right words and the right
ministry.
1. The right man. The ‘Chancellor of the Exchequer’ from Ethiopia was
evidently a man in whom the Spirit of God had been working, long before
Philip came on to the scene. He had been to Jerusalem to worship and was
clearly in search of God. Perhaps the Jewish settlements in Upper Egypt
had aroused his curiosity. Frequently I pray this prayer of Bishop Taylor
Smith: ‘Lord give me eyes to see, and grace to seize, every opportunity for
Thee.’ Believing that God’s Spirit is at work throughout the world, we need
to see what the Spirit is doing in people’s lives, and then have the sensitivity
and boldness to take the opportunities as they come. Ethiopian tradition
claims that this statesman became not only the country’s first convert, but
also their first evangelist. He was certainly the right man.
2. The right time. When Philip ran to the Ethiopian’s chariot at the
Spirit’s instruction, he heard the man reading aloud from the scriptures; and
not just anywhere in the scriptures, but from Isaiah 53! What perfect
timing! There is a time to speak, and a time to keep silence. In my
evangelistic experience, there are certain moments in a person’s life when
God seems especially near and easily found. We are to ‘seek the Lord while
he may be found, (and) call upon him while he is near.’34 Although there is
urgency with the gospel, and Paul exhorted Timothy to proclaim the gospel
‘whether the time is right or not’,35 we should expect God to guide us to
people at those times when his Spirit is drawing them to himself, whether
they themselves realise this or not. The moment when Jesus met the
Samaritan woman at the well is another obvious example of this.
3. The right words. He asked a question which immediately related to
what the man was doing; ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ It
drew a positive response, and an invitation to Philip to join him in the
chariot to talk further. Several interesting points follow from this.
(a) We need to use words that are relevant to the person concerned. In this
case Philip’s opening words were not only relevant, they were courteous
and led easily to further conversation. A great friend of mine, who is an
Anglican clergyman, won his dustman for Christ a little time ago. He said
to this man, ‘Bill, I want to introduce you to the greatest dustman in the
world. He will empty your rubbish at any time of any day or any night!’
Bill was fascinated by this, and it was immediately relevant. He soon
understood that Jesus had come to take the rubbish out of his heart, and to
clean up his life altogether. In principle that is exactly how Jesus
approached the woman at the well. She had come to draw water, so he
spoke to her of living water which would quench her every thirst.
(b) Although it is helpful to have a simple framework by which we can lead
a person to Christ, pray also for what could be called ‘prophetic witness’. A
woman longed to speak to her neighbour about Christ, but she was no
evangelist and seemed to find no opportunity. So she prayed one morning,
‘Lord, what can I say to my neighbour that will show her that you love
her?’ This Christian woman was not used to hearing direct answers to
prayer like that, so she was startled when she had a strong impression,
almost as though the Lord had spoken to her aloud, that she was to go to her
neighbour and tell her not to be afraid. Obediently she went. She knocked
on the door and asked if she might come in. Nervously she started, ‘I think
God is wanting to say something to you this morning. I think he is saying to
you, “Don’t be afraid.”’ Her neighbour at once burst into tears. She had
heard only that morning that her daughter needed an operation, and this
poor mother was full of fear. The thought that God could care about her so
much that he sent a message to her personally, broke through all her
defences. She was now longing to know the God who loved her that much.
(c) In evangelism, we must know our Bibles. Philip could at once pick up
the passage that the Ethiopian was reading, and from that passage he shared
with him the good news of Jesus. In particular, we need to know from the
scriptures both the way by which anyone can find God, and also brief
answers to the most common questions – questions that are asked over and
over again. In my book Is Anyone There?36 I have glanced at some of the
questions or comments that I hear repeatedly:

What about the suffering in the world?

The church is so dead and irrelevant.
What about other religions?
There are too many things I don’t understand.
I’ve tried before, but it didn’t work.
I am afraid of getting involved.
How does God guide me?
I could never keep it up.
Can’t I keep it to myself?

Other common remarks are:

I don’t feel any need of God.

Isn’t trying hard or going to church good enough?
 I can’t accept the Bible.

We are not expected to have a complete answer to these questions: with

many of them, such as suffering, that would be impossible. Anyway, if we
could know all about God and his ways of working, God would be no
bigger than our tiny finite minds and not worth believing in. But it is helpful
to have some thoughtful and biblical comments about these questions so as
to prevent them, if possible, from becoming excuses or barriers to belief.
In many cases, those who don’t believe don’t want to believe. Often it is
a matter of the will:

Convince a man against his will,

He’s of the same opinion still.

Also, if a person’s faith rests in a clever argument, he will always be at the

mercy of what may seem to him to be a cleverer argument. Paul was
concerned so to preach ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’ in the power of the
Spirit that the faith of those who responded ‘might not rest in the wisdom of
men but in the power of God’.37 When the Samaritan woman raised a
theological question as to where God should be worshipped, in Jerusalem or
in Samaria (a question significantly raised when Jesus was touching very
personal areas in her life which called for repentance), Jesus did not fully
answer her but brought her back to the spiritual issues: ‘God is Spirit, and
only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is.’38 It
is good, then, to be acquainted with the common problems that are raised,
have some positive remarks to say about each one, but also seek to turn the
problem round in a more personal and helpful direction.

Leading a person to Christ

If I am lost in some town and I ask someone the way, I want them to say to
me, ‘Turn left, turn right, turn left, turn right – and there you are!’ No doubt
they could describe it in much more complicated and accurate terms, but
those simple directions are all I need to hear at that moment. If someone is
lost spiritually and he asks us the way, he too wants simple directions.
Perhaps we could describe it in much more complicated and theological
terms, but something clear and simple is all that he needs to hear at that
moment. What simple directions are there to Christ? I have used many ways
of describing it over the years, but this is one of my favourites, perhaps
because it was through these directions that I found Christ personally at the
age of 21:
Think of it as four steps, A B C D. Each of these four steps I state,
explain, illustrate and apply. This is how I might put it to someone.
A. Something to admit. You must first admit your need of God, especially
that you have sinned and therefore need his forgiveness. Sin means going
your way, not God’s; doing what you want, not what God wants. In the
Bible Paul says, ‘There is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God (Romans 3:22–23). As far as a good life is concerned,
you could be on the top of Mount Everest; and in comparison with you, I
could be at the bottom of the valley. The point is, there is really ‘no
distinction’ since neither of us can touch the stars. We both come miles
short of God’s perfect standards shown to us in the Bible, and supremely in
the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Our sins have separated us from God,
and we need his forgiveness.
B. Something to believe. Believe that Christ died for you. Suppose that this
hand (holding up my left hand) represents yourself, and this object (putting
a book on my hand) represents your sin – coming as a ‘cloud barrier’
between you and God. That is why God seems unreal and distant. Suppose
that this other hand (holding up my right hand) represents Jesus – he had no
other sin on him at all. Isaiah 53:6, speaking of the coming sufferings of
Jesus on the cross, says this, ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him (illustrated
by transferring the book from my left hand to my right) the iniquity (or
guilt) of us all.’ Now, where is your sin? It was taken by Jesus when he died
on the cross. Simon Peter, who at one time could not understand why Jesus
had to die, put it later like this: ‘Christ died for our sins once for all. He the
just suffered for the unjust, to bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3:18). When Jesus
died for you, he made it possible for you to know the love of God for ever.
C. Something to consider. Jesus must come first in your life. Jesus once
said, ‘If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me’ (Mark 8:34). We must say No to sin, being willing to
turn away from all that we know is wrong in our life – with God’s help. We
must say No to self, being willing for Jesus to be Lord over every part of
our life: home, work, time, money, ambitions, relationships, everything. We
must say No to secrecy, being willing to be known as a Christian, even if
some may mock and oppose us. But don’t be afraid of opening your life to
the one person who loves you and cares about you more than anyone else in
the world, and who wants only the best for your life. (I sometimes refer to
Mark 8: 35–38 to help a person think through the ‘profit-and-loss account’.)
D. Something to do. Give your life to Jesus, and, as you do that, he will give
his life to you by his Spirit coming to live within you. Think of the marriage
analogy. When I was married some years ago, the clergyman who married
us said,
‘David, will you have this woman?’ ‘I will.’
‘Anne, will you have this man?’ ‘I will.’ At that moment a new
relationship was established. In the same sort of way:
‘Saviour, will you have this sinner?’ Always he says, ‘I will’.
‘Sinner, will you have this Saviour?’ The moment you say ‘I will’, and
really mean it, a new relationship will be established. Other points follow
from this analogy.
(a) When I said ‘I will’ at my wedding, I had to promise to ‘forsake all
others’, or put Anne first. When I said ‘I will’ to Jesus, I had to be willing
to put Jesus first.
(b) When I said ‘I will’ at my wedding, I had no feelings at all; it was just
an act of will. So it was with Jesus. Relationships do not depend on
feelings, but on commitment and trust.
(c) When I said ‘I will’ at my wedding, it was only the beginning of a new
relationship. We had to work hard at it, and it hasn’t always been easy.
When I said ‘I will’ to Jesus, it was only the beginning of a new
relationship, and it hasn’t been plain sailing ever since. There have been
moments of doubt, disobedience, rebellion, and so on. But when you work
through the difficulties in any relationship, so it matures and develops.
Putting the directions like this on paper may seem stiff and stereotyped.
Every person is different, and every conversation will flow differently. We
must make sure that each step is understood before proceeding to the next,
and this may involve asking a few questions and adding more explanations
and illustrations. The key to it all is prayer, sensitivity to the Spirit and
genuine love for the individual concerned. J. I. Packer once expressed our
dependence on the Spirit of God in evangelism in this way: ‘However clear
and cogent we may be in presenting the gospel, we have no hope of
convincing or converting anyone. Can you or I by our earnest talking break
the power of Satan over a man’s life? No. Can you or I give life to the
spiritually dead? No. Can we hope to convince sinners of the truth of the
gospel by patient explanation? No. Can we hope to move men to obey the
gospel by any words of entreaty that we may utter? No. Our approach to
evangelism is not realistic till we have faced this shattering fact, and let it
make its proper impact on us.’39 It is only through much prayer, humbly
acknowledging our complete helplessness and seeking for the guidance and
illumination of the Spirit, that the scales may fall from a person’s eyes to
enable him to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.40
Once a person appears to understand the steps to Christ, it is good to
offer some practical action. ‘If you like,’ I often suggest, ‘I will lead you in
a simple personal prayer, which you could echo phrase by phrase in your
own heart, either silently or aloud as you prefer; or I can give you some
literature to help you understand more fully the step you are taking.’ Gently
I may encourage a prayer of commitment to Christ there and then as often I
have seen the parable of the sower enacted, in that after the seed has been
sown the devil is quick to snatch it away before it has time to take root in
the soil of a person’s heart. If he is willing to pray, I sometimes go quickly
through the prayer I intend to pray, to see if he is happy to echo it for
himself. Then I pray slowly, a few words at a time – something like this:

Lord Jesus Christ,

I know that I am a sinner,
and I need your forgiveness.
Thank you for dying on the cross for me,
to take away my sin.
I am willing to turn from all that is wrong in my life.
I am willing for you to be first in my life.
And now I come to you;
I say ‘I will’.
I give my life to you, my Lord and my Saviour.
Please give your life to me by your Spirit,
and come to live with me for ever.
Thank you, Lord Jesus.
 Amen.

The person may follow me in prayer, aloud or silently, and then I will pray
another short prayer of encouragement, thanking Jesus for hearing our
prayer, and asking that this person might be filled with the Spirit, discover
God’s purpose for his life, grow in his relationship with Jesus (with the help
of other Christians), and share the love and truth of Jesus in this needy
world.
After that I may point out one more promise of Jesus to help him stand
firm against any doubts which may later come to him; and then fix up
another time in a day or two when we can talk further together. Nearly
always I give some suitable literature before we part, so that he has
something to read that will help him to grasp the basic steps that he has
taken.41 The young Christian will then need careful follow-up, either
through personal sessions with him or through a ‘beginners’ group’, when
subjects such as these need to be looked at over the course of several
weeks: assurance, growth, prayer, the Bible, foundational truths of the faith
(God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the cross and resurrection, the church,
spiritual gifts, etc.); also we need to look at witness, guidance, giving, and a
lot of other issues as they arise.42
Remember that winning the person for Christ is only the beginning. With
the love of God and the sensitivity of his Spirit, we are to serve that person
until he or she becomes a true disciple of Christ. When we see that person
winning someone else for Christ, or at least taking a full part in the body of
Christ, we can rejoice that in the Lord our labour is not in vain. As we have
seen from the rest of this book, the task of discipling one another never
finishes. It demands everything we have, but offers immense rewards.
William Barclay once said, ‘There is no joy in all the world like the joy of
bringing one soul to Christ.’ That is the privilege and responsibility of every
disciple.

Notes

1. Matthew 20:28
2. Matthew 9:35f
3. See Matthew 10
4. Luke 10:1–20
5. John 20:21; Acts 1:8
6. Luke 10:3; Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19
7. Quoted by Bishop John Taylor in The Winchester Churchman, July 1979
8. I have written more extensively about this in I Believe in Evangelism,
Hodder & Stoughton, 1976
9. John Poulton, The Monthly Letter for May/June 1979 of the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
10. Ephesians 4:11
11. C. Peter Wagner, Your Church Can Grow, Glendale, California, USA,
Regal, 1976, p. 72–76
12. 1 Peter 3:15, GNB
13. H. Boer, Pentecost and Missions, Lutterworth, pp. 122, 128
14. 1 Thess. 1:5
15. Source unknown
16. Acts 5:28, 42
17. Acts 4:20
18. Acts 7:8:1–5
19. Philippians 1:14
20. Op. cit., IVP, 1979, p. 26
21. Evangelism in England Today, a Report by the Church of England’s
Board for Mission and Unity, Church House Bookshop, Great Smith
Street, London SW1P 3BN
22. A New Canterbury Tale, published by Grove Books, Bramcote, Notts,
England
23. Hebrews 1:1–3; 10:10–20; et al.
24. Acts 4:12
25. 2 Corinthians 5:10
26. Hebrews 2:3
27. 2 Corinthians 5:20
28. Ephesians 1:9f
29. Witness to the World, Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1980, p. 206
30. Acts 8:6f
31. John Poulton, op. cit.
32. Acts 2:38
33. Available from The Evangelical Alliance, 19 Draycott Place, London
SW3 2SJ
34. Isaiah 55:6
35. 2 Timothy 4:2, GNB
36. Hodder & Stoughton, 1979, chapter 6
37. 1 Corinthians 2:1–5
38. John 4:1–26
39. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, IVP, 1961, p. 108
40. 2 Corinthians 4:3f
41. I normally use my booklet A New Start in Life, Kingsway, or my book
Live a New Life, IVP, 1975. Other suitable material is also available
42. I have written more fully about follow-up in I Believe in Evangelism,
Hodder & Stoughton, 1976, chapter 7. See also Appendix B (pp. 269f)
for further suggestions of a basic teaching course
 CHAPTER TEN

Discipleship and Simple Lifestyle

Two sharply contrasting illustrations will indicate the present-day scandal

of economic inequality within the world-wide family of God.
In Time Magazine1 there was a fascinating article about American
evangelists who run weekly television shows. Searching questions could be
asked of some of them concerning the content of their gospel and the style
of their presentation. For all my personal misgivings, I hope I have the
generous spirit of the apostle Paul who wrote that if ‘Christ is proclaimed
… in that I rejoice’.2 I am sure that some, at least, will experience God’s
love, peace and healing through these programmes. What disturbs me much
more is the lifestyle of these and other preachers. One evangelist, according
to the article, received gifts from listeners amounting to $51 million each
year, a fiftieth of which he keeps for his own personal income. He already
owns a luxurious house, a fleet of cars and numerous other material
advantages. The journalist from Time was understandably critical.
One month after reading that article I was present at the International
Consultation on Simple Lifestyle, held in England under the joint
chairmanship of Ronald Sider and John Stott. On the opening evening an
evangelist from Columbia spoke through an interpreter. He told us of an
utterly exhausting day’s preaching in one village, and feeling tired and very
hungry returned to the pastor’s house where he was staying. The pastor, his
wife and five children were there, but the table was set with only one plate
on it – clearly for the visiting evangelist. He sat down, and on the plate the
pastor’s wife put one egg and one small potato. ‘Is that all?’ he thought to
himself. ‘But I am so hungry!’ Nevertheless he bowed his head to give
thanks to God for the food before him. As he was about to start, he asked if
the rest of them had already eaten. Hastily the pastor’s wife replied that she
would fix them up with something later. Since it was already 10.30 in the
evening, the evangelist made further enquiries. He discovered that they had
no money and no food in the house apart from this one egg and one small
potato. He asked the wife to put seven other plates on the table. He divided
his already tiny meal into eight minuscule portions, invited them all to sit
with him at the table, bowed his head again, and gave thanks.
Such examples could be multiplied many times over, indicating the
staggering difference in lifestyle between members of the same family of
God. Is this what God intends for his children on this earth? How far does
the lifestyle of the western church, in particular, help or hinder the task of
mission and evangelism in the world? For many of us, on both personal and
corporate levels, there is an urgent need for a new image altogether, a
radical discipleship modelled on the simplicity of Jesus, if we are to
demonstrate with credibility the values of the kingdom of God and thus
speak with authority about the God who so loved the world that he gave the
inexpressible gift of his own Son.
The Christian dramatist, Murray Watts, once told me this true story. A
man born deaf, and raised in a good middle-class Christian home, was
brought to a living faith in Christ through an incident on a train in India. He
found himself in the same carriage as a beggar who was praising God with
his whole heart. This beggar was materially destitute, but overflowing with
thanksgiving and praise. It was the amazing sight of this that broke through
to the deaf man and allowed the love of God, which had always surrounded
him, to flow into his heart.
This true incident is by way of a parable. The world is increasingly deaf
to a church that has sold out to materialism. It is only when the world is
confronted with a church that is wholly dependent on God, perhaps because
it has voluntarily or involuntarily accepted material poverty for the sake of
the countless poor that God is trying to reach, that any impact will be made.
Affluence and spiritual complacency often go together, just as material
bankruptcy can often accompany spiritual wealth. It is when others see that
we have ‘nothing but God’ – and therefore have everything to praise and
thank him for – that the reality of his living presence amongst us will be
seen by those who doubt his existence.
Today there is no shortage of pious words, affirmations of faith,
discussions about hunger, or expressions of spirituality. But the world is still
waiting for the demonstration, in hard, costly and practical terms, of what
we proclaim with our lips. ‘I was hungry, and you formed a committee to
investigate my hunger … I was homeless, and you filed a report on my
plight … I was sick, and you held a seminar on the situation of the
underprivileged … You have investigated all aspects of my plight. And yet I
am still hungry, homeless and sick.’
‘The life of Jesus and his disciples’, writes John Taylor, ‘was not only
eucharistic but also defiant. He knew it was not enough to say these things;
the world is waiting for concrete examples and realisations. So in our day it
is not enough to point out the contrast between our idolatry of growth and
the Bible’s theology of enough; we have to opt out of the drift and help one
another to live in cheerful protest against it …’3
It was surely for this reason that Jesus not only taught and challenged his
disciples on the whole issue of money and possessions but shared his whole
life with them. Unless their obedience was demonstrably true, he knew that
he would be building a castle in the air instead of his church on the rock,
against which neither the gates of hell nor any other gates could prevail.
How then can the vital ingredients of effective discipleship be proved and
developed?

Obedience
From the very beginning Jesus sought to teach his followers the absolute
necessity of total obedience to him as Lord of their lives. He had come to
usher in the kingdom of God, which involved his reign or rule over every
area of their lives, whether they understood or not – whether they agreed or
not. In Luke 5, when Jesus, the carpenter’s son from Nazareth, told Simon,
the experienced Galilean fisherman, to throw his nets into the sea in broad
daylight, we can understand the professional protest: ‘Master, we toiled all
night and took nothing!’ Yet such was the commanding presence of Jesus in
his boat that Simon went on, ‘But at your word I will let down the nets.’
The catch was staggering. Here was the first and foremost lesson for Simon
to learn if he was later to be ‘catching men’: one minute’s obedience to
Christ is worth infinitely more than striving, even to the point of
exhaustion, in the wisdom and energy of the flesh.
Throughout the short period of discipleship this lesson had to be taught
again and again, but we can see in the astonishing growth of the early
church how effective it became. An efficient army will always be marked
by instant obedience to the word of command. Both conventional armies,
specialist units and terrorist organisations know the absolute importance of
this. Without unquestioning obedience, the effectiveness of any group will
be seriously diminished. To obtain this quality of response, numerous hours
of training on seemingly minor matters are essential.
Especially we need to learn obedience when it comes to material
possessions. Juan Carlos Ortiz has often remarked about the way we tend to
select those Bible verses which are comforting but ignore those that we find
disturbing. We happily respond to the reassuring words of Jesus: ‘Fear not,
little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom’;
but we may easily ignore the very next verse, ‘Sell your possessions and
give alms.’4 Yet this sacrificial act of obedience may well be a vital part of
the way in which God will give us the kingdom. When we fail to take the
challenge of Jesus seriously, we may wonder why the kingdom of God is
not coming in the power that Jesus apparently promised. It is because we
have embraced the independent spirit of the world which says ‘Yes, but …’
and however hard we try to rationalise it, saying ‘Yes, but’ to Jesus is none
other than disobedience. That is why there is not a greater demonstration of
the power of the Spirit: God’s Spirit is given only to those who obey him.5
In Matthew 6:19–24 Jesus puts the issue in a series of sharp contrasts. We
must make our choice between two treasures (earthly or heavenly), two
conditions (light or darkness), and two Masters (God or Mammon). In other
words, we have to face up to the searching question, Who or what comes
first in our life? And nowhere is this question more clearly answered than in
our whole attitude to possessions.
It is important to stress that Jesus is not forbidding the ownership of
private property. Even when the sharing amongst Christians was at its best
and most generous, Peter said to Ananias about the sale of his land, ‘While
it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it
not at your disposal?’6 Several of the disciples had possessions of their
own, as is implied by the statement that they went on continuously (Greek
imperfect tense) selling what they had to provide for those that had not.7
Further, Jesus is not against some wise provision for the future. As Paul
later wrote: ‘If any one does not provide for his relatives, and especially for
his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever’
(1 Timothy 5:8). Nor certainly is Jesus encouraging us to ignore or despise
the numerous good gifts of God’s creation. Matter is not intrinsically evil,
as the gnostics wrongly taught. ‘Everything created by God is good, and
nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving’ (1 Timothy 4:1–
5). Paul knew ‘how to be abased, and how to abound’, and he found the
Lord’s peace in facing either plenty or hunger, either abundance or want
(Philippians 4:12).
What Jesus spoke strongly against was hoarding up treasures ‘for
yourselves’. This is not only foolish, for all these earthly treasures will
sooner or later decay or disappear; it is selfish in the light of the vast needs
of men, women and children throughout the world – a straight denial of the
love of God; and, worst of all, it is idolatrous, ‘for where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also.’
‘Worldly possessions tend to turn the hearts of the disciples away from
Jesus. What are we really devoted to? That is the question. Are our hearts
set on earthly goods? Do we try to combine devotion to them with loyalty
to Christ? Or are we devoted exclusively to him? … Where our treasure is,
there is our trust, our security, our consolation and our God. Hoarding is
idolatry … Everything which hinders us from loving God above all things
… is our treasure, and the place where our heart is … If our hearts are
entirely given to God, it is clear that we cannot serve two masters; it is
simply impossible … Our hearts have room only for one all-embracing
devotion, and we can only cleave to one Lord …’8
‘The eye is the lamp of the body,’ said Jesus. In other words, without the
clear vision of the eye my whole body has to walk and move in darkness. It
cannot see what it is doing or where it is going. It is only as our ‘eye’ (a
biblical synonym for ‘heart’) is set wholly on the light of Christ that my
whole life can have clear direction. But if my eye or heart serves another
master – for it cannot serve two – then my whole life is left in deep
darkness. ‘The love of money is the root of all evils’; every day reveals the
inescapable and ugly truth of that statement.
In calling or selecting his disciples, Jesus allowed therefore no
compromise at all. Even with the lovable, talented, promising, seeking, rich
young ruler, Jesus still told him, ‘Sell all that you have and distribute to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.’ The man went away sad. But
Jesus could strike no bargain, for no man can serve two masters.
However, in this well-known incident there are various details that are
instructive. First, as Ron Sider comments, ‘When Jesus asked the rich
young man to sell his goods and give to the poor, he did not say, “Become
destitute and friendless”. Rather he said, “Come follow me”. In other
words, he invited him to join a community of sharing and love, where his
security would not be based on individual property holdings, but on
openness to the Spirit and on the loving care of new-found brothers and
sisters.’9 Second, what Jesus looks for first and foremost is not poverty but
obedience. Obedience could lead to poverty, if that is what Jesus requires of
us; but choosing poverty in itself could be choosing my own way of life, or
some religious ideal, which is not at the command of Jesus. Third, having
made that point, and being aware of the dangers of legalism over this matter
of lifestyle, many of us are so skilled at spotting the loopholes and saying
‘Yes, but …’ that Ron Sider is quite right when he states that ‘what 99 per
cent of all western Christians need to hear 99 per cent of the time is “Give
to everyone who begs from you”, and “sell your possessions”.’ Fourth, we
must never minimise the seductive danger of riches (1 Timothy 6:9–10;
James 4:1–2; etc.). Covetousness is perhaps the most serious sin in the West
(or North) today, and no covetous person will inherit the kingdom of God.
The strictures against all forms of covetousness in the scriptures are
powerful. Always we come back to this basic issue: Who or what comes
first in our life? Only when the Lordship of Christ is clearly recognised –
and our attitude to possessions will test this as nothing else can – can we
truly be his disciples. While we must equally be wary of such attitudes as
Pharisaism or legalism, on this matter of lifestyle, God still requires of us a
true biblical radicalism which refuses to be conformed to this world.

Faith
This too is crucial if we are to see the power of God at work. It is ‘he who
believes in me’ who ‘will also do the works that I do’, as Jesus promised his
disciples during his last discourse with them (John 14:12). ‘Whatever you
ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.’
When Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:25–34 ‘do not be anxious’, he is asking
us another crucial and penetrating question: Whom or what do you really
trust? What is the clear object of your faith? Again the logic is compelling,
for we have to face up to this alternative: either we are trusting our
heavenly Father – for everything; or we are ultimately trusting in some
form of worldly securities. Material possessions often create anxiety. We
worry about having enough money to buy what we want; then, when we get
it, we worry about keeping it safe or in good condition. We worry about
whether we have sufficient to give us security for the future. We worry
about changing values of both currency and possessions, about economic
instability, inflation, slumps and recessions. Jesus warned us about the
spiritual damage that comes from such anxiety: the seed of God’s word can
easily become ‘choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life’.10 If we
have faith in the faithfulness of our heavenly Father, we shall live a day at a
time: ‘Don’t worry at all then about tomorrow. Tomorrow can take care of
itself! One day’s trouble is enough for one day.’11
All this could sound a little naive and irresponsible, until we realise that
Jesus is calling us out of the kingdom of this world into the kingdom of God
– a kingdom demonstrated by the loving care and generous sharing of the
people of God. It is, in fact, especially in this quality of our shared life
together that we experience the reality of God’s love, and this in turn casts
out our fear and enables us to develop true faith in him.
Certainly this was the lifestyle that Jesus adopted for himself, and
instructed his disciples to do the same. Indeed, it could almost be said that
the power and effectiveness of their ministry depended on their willingness
to trust God for everything. Remember his commission to the twelve:
‘Preach as you go, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the
sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without
paying, give without pay. Take no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts,
no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff …’
(Matthew 10:7–10). Most of us will readily understand that their faith was
at times unable to rise to such levels. How could the 5,000 be fed? What
about the time when they were hungry themselves? Jesus simply and gently
rebuked them, ‘O men of little faith!’12 However much we might
sympathise with them, it was their little faith over these material matters
that meant little faith in spiritual ministry. When the disciples a little later
asked why they could not cast out a demon from a boy, Jesus replied,
‘Because of your little faith.’13 That is why he constantly tested and
stretched their faith over the ordinary, everyday matters of lifestyle; only as
their faith developed there would they be able to believe for the much more
vital work of the kingdom of God.
Exactly the same testing was given when the seventy were sent out:
‘Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals … Wherever you enter a town and they
receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick in it and say to them,
“The Kingdom of God has come near to you” …’ Off they went,
inexperienced, untaught, but with simple faith; and ‘they returned with joy,
saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”’ And Jesus
too rejoiced, ‘I thank thee, Father … that thou hast hidden these things from
the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes’ – that is to those
who exercised an unwavering faith in the reality and faithfulness of their
heavenly Father (Luke 10:1–21).
Most of us would like to arrive at a happy compromise. Of course we
want to seek first the kingdom of God; but earthly treasures continue to
attract, tug away at the heart, cause anxiety, and lessen our faith. We may
not want to be extravagantly wealthy providing we have clear financial
security. However, in wanting the best of both worlds we lose the
transforming power of the kingdom of God. Again we must stress that Jesus
is not forbidding personal property; but when we in any way start ‘craving’
for these things we may well wander away from the faith and pierce our
hears with many pangs (1 Timothy 6:10).
‘It is want of faith that makes us opt for earthly rather than heavenly
treasure. If we really believed in celestial treasures, who among us would
be so stupid as to buy gold? We just do not believe. Heaven is a dream, a
religious fantasy which we affirm because we are orthodox. If people
believed in heaven, they would spend their time preparing for permanent
residence there. But nobody does. We just like the assurance that something
nice awaits us when the real life is over.’14
 This is important. We may glory in the fact that a man is justified by
faith. But how real is that faith before we can know that we are justified?
John White puts it in this way: ‘We must be suspicious of any faith about
personal justification that is not substantiated by faith in God’s power over
material things in our everyday life. Faith about pie in the sky when I die
cannot be demonstrated. Faith that God can supply my need today can be
demonstrated.’15
That is precisely the challenge to the rich young ruler. Having told him to
sell what he had and to give to the poor, Jesus promised him that he would
have ‘treasure in heaven’. ‘Come,’ said Jesus, ‘follow me.’ But at that
critical point, the young man, with all his good living and religious
enthusiasm, did not have true faith in Jesus. He did not believe him; or, if he
did, he would not obey him. Jesus admitted to his startled disciples that it is
not easy for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. But, he promised
those who felt that they had now left everything for his sake, ‘every one
who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or
lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal
life.’16 In some measure the disciples experienced immediately the greater
riches that God has in store for us when we put our whole life into his
hands. They discovered a depth of relationships in their apostolic band that
they had never known before. They shared a common life. They lived
together, worked together, prayed together, learnt together. They had given
up everything, and, as a result, had gained so much more.
So the question is, when it comes to the financial crunch, who or what do
we really believe? Do we have faith – true faith – in Jesus? It is by faith that
we are justified, and it is by faith that we shall see the power of God in our
ministry. It is God’s rebuke to us affluent Christians, as we hedge ourselves
around with earthly treasures and securities, that God’s power is today
much more obviously demonstrated amongst those who have little or
nothing of this world’s goods. But they are rich in faith.

Integrity
Because of the constant danger of false prophets, whose work was (and is
today) marked by deceit and corruption, Paul and the other leaders in the
early church repeatedly stressed their own complete integrity in all their
evangelistic, teaching and pastoral work: ‘We are not, like so many,
peddlers of God’s word; but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God,
in the sight of God we speak in Christ … We have renounced disgraceful,
underhanded ways; we refuse to practise cunning or to tamper with God’s
word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves
to every man’s conscience in the sight of God … We put no obstacle in any
one’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants
of God we commend ourselves in every way … Open your hearts to us: we
have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage
of no one …’17 Without any hint of hypocrisy or pride, Paul could say, in
his open, disarming fashion, ‘You yourselves know how I lived among you
all the time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with
all humility … You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for
your sake … You remember our labour and toil, brethren.’18 So we could
multiply examples.
The integrity of the messenger is vital for the authority and converting
power of the message. Jesus could throw out the challenge to his critics,
‘Which of you convicts me of sin?’ (John 8:46). Although Jesus came from
a reasonably secure family business, his family was far from wealthy, and
he himself willingly became poor for us that we through his poverty might
become truly rich. Possibly because of the deceitfulness of riches, Jesus saw
that a marked simplicity of lifestyle was a vital part of the credibility of his
whole ministry. That is why he insisted that his disciples should live the
same way. They shared a common purse; they gave regularly to the poor (as
is suggested by John 13:29, et al.). They denied themselves some of the
material possessions and comforts that most of them had been used to. And
later they taught others to live in the same way: ‘If we have food and
clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall
into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that
plunge men into ruin and destruction …’ (1 Timothy 6:8–9); ‘Keep your
life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have’
(Hebrews 13:5).
It was one of the marks of the false prophet that his heart was ‘trained in
greed’ (2 Peter 2:14); he would flatter people ‘to gain advantage’ (Jude 16).
It was for this reason that any prospective leader in the church must be ‘no
lover of money’ (1 Timothy 3:3) and ‘not greedy for gain’ (1 Timothy 3:8;
Titus 1:7).
‘The poverty of Christ’s messengers is the proof of their freedom … As
they go forth to be the plenipotentiaries of his word, Jesus enjoins strict
poverty upon them … They are not to go about like beggars and call
attention to themselves, nor are they to burden other people like parasites.
They are to go forth in the battle-dress of poverty, taking as little with them
as a traveller who knows he will get board and lodging with friends at the
end of the day. This shall be an expression of their faith, not in men, but in
their heavenly father who sent them and will care for them. It is this that
will make their gospel credible’19 (italics mine).
In the commercial and advertising world of today many people are
understandably suspicious of anything that may appear to be sales talk or a
promotion act. How genuine is it? What is the catch? Is it all that it seems to
be? If in any way the ‘salesman’ is personally benefitting, financially or
materially, from what he is trying to ‘sell’, we are doubly cautious. It is
therefore imperative that, as Christ’s messengers speaking of the free gift of
God, we do not make a personal and financial profit from the work God has
called us to do. Unless we renounce worldly values, and adopt a much
simpler lifestyle, our ministry will lack credibility in the eyes of an
unbelieving and cynical world.
Today, some literature from quite a well-known evangelist came in my
mail. After an impassioned statement about the needs of ‘this hour’, there
was a strong appeal to me to ‘yield yourself to the Holy Spirit and ask for
His guidance in your special thanksgiving gift – for his goodness to you!’
And, in case I had missed the point, there was a postage-paid envelope for
my ‘reply’, together with a slip for me to complete, entitled ‘MY GIFT TO
REVERSE THE TREND!’ I was encouraged to sign this slip, which says,
‘Dear Brother (name of evangelist), I am thankful to God for His goodness,
His love in choosing me, in challenging me to rise up and become one of
His Partners in prophecy for the Healing of the Nations … I have felt led of
the Holy Spirit to send £— as my November gift to overtake the Heathen
…’ At the end of the form I was reminded that ‘this is God’s Hour!’ No
doubt many vulnerable Christians will respond financially to the challenge.
Several widows in my own church have responded generously to similar
pressures. No doubt this evangelist will continue to enjoy ‘success’. Since
he seems to preach Christ, it may be that God will bless his efforts in one
way or another. But the whole approach tragically lacks the credibility of
the Master.
When I am interviewed by secular journalists or broadcasters concerning
my work as an evangelist, one inevitable question is, ‘What do you get out
of it?’ They are asking not about job-satisfaction, but about financial
reward. To be able to speak truthfully in answer to this question is a vital
part of my integrity when it comes to anything else I may want to say.
When covetousness is one of the most common and gross sins, it is more
important than ever that the church should guard itself against the strong
and subtle pressures of this temptation.
These snares are possibly greater for those with an independent ministry
that is not firmly rooted in the discipline of a local church. Certainly within
a local congregation, explicit biblical teaching must be given regularly
about the Christian responsibility to give generously to the Lord and to his
work. However, the main aim of this teaching is both that God may be
glorified through the joyful offering of our possessions, and that Christians
may be blessed through such giving. With fund-raising techniques, on the
other hand, the main aim is obviously the raising of funds. Thus instead of
being primarily concerned with the worship of God and the freedom of
God’s people, the focus shifts on to the economic prosperity of some
religious project. It is at this point that the integrity of those involved must
come under question.

Identification
Just as the ingredients of obedience, faith and integrity were, of course,
perfectly exemplified in the life and ministry of Jesus, so the model of
identification is found in its most sublime form in his incarnation. Here the
word of God became a human being and dwelt amongst us. In Martin
Luther’s simple words about Jesus: ‘He ate, drank, slept, waked; was weary,
sorrowful, rejoicing; he wept and he laughed; he knew hunger and thirst and
sweat; he talked, he toiled, he prayed … so there was no difference between
him and other men, save only this that he was God and had no sin.’
Although the primary theological debate today rages over the divinity of
Jesus, many less academic and orthodox Christians have more difficulty
coming to terms with the genuine humanity of Jesus. It is possibly because
we tend to think of him as being intrinsically different and separate from
ordinary men that the church, as a whole, has often retreated to its own
religious ghetto, and thus failed to be God’s agent in the healing of the
whole of God’s creation. We have wrongly divided the sacred and the
secular. In trying to keep ourselves ‘unstained from the world’, we have
sometimes kept ourselves from the world altogether. How then can we
begin to carry out our God-given ministry of reconciliation? Paul rejected
such religious detachment. ‘I have made myself a slave to all, that I might
win the more … I have become all things to all men, that I might by all
means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in
its blessings.’20 Here is this vital incarnational principle applied in the realm
of effective evangelism and compassionate service.
Throughout the scriptures God is clearly seen to be on the side of the
poor. Although he is no respecter of persons, and is rich to all who call upon
him, he is a God of justice. Therefore, since by greed or neglect, the rich
oppress the poor and inevitably add to their weight of suffering, God must
be on the side of the poor. Moreover, he identifies with the poor. When we
are kind to the poor, we lend to the Lord (Proverbs 19:17). When we offer
practical help to those who are hungry, thirsty, lonely, naked, sick or in
prison, we are doing it as to Jesus (Matthew 25:34–40). The reason why
Jesus was loved and welcomed by ordinary and often poor people was
partly because he consciously identified himself with them. He had come
‘to preach good news to the poor’, and he could do so because he had
‘nowhere to lay his head’. On the cross he was literally stripped of
everything. No one could be more destitute than a naked man fastened to a
cross. Yet the apostle Paul repeatedly refers to ‘the power of the cross’ –
materially nothing, spiritually everything.
The early church continued the same pattern. Peter and John had neither
silver nor gold to offer to the crippled beggar at the Gate Beautiful, but they
did have the power of the Spirit of Christ: ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, walk.’ When we see in this young church the extraordinary
quality of their sharing and the generosity of their giving, it is not surprising
that God was able to work through them with ‘many wonders and signs’. It
was because God found them faithful in handling the lesser material riches,
that he was able to trust them with his much greater spiritual riches. Their
willingness to live by the principle of ‘enough’, so that any abundance
might be given to every good work, was plain proof of the grace of God
amongst them; and that grace clearly manifested itself in many different
ways. It is small wonder that the word of God increased so rapidly, not least
amongst the poor and needy of that day.
The church of the West today, however, appeals largely to the affluent
middle class. Is this because we have frequently erected cultural barriers
which make it very difficult for many to hear ‘good news to the poor’? Our
church buildings, our vicarages or manses, our styles of dress, language and
music – all these can become highly selective factors, determining which
sections of the community we are likely to reach for Jesus Christ. It is not
that we should aim for damp and draughty buildings instead (some of us
have these anyway!); but as soon as we become materially ambitious for
our buildings we stand in great danger of shutting the door of the gospel on
those who need the Saviour so much. It is sobering to remember that the
fastest period of growth in the entire history of the church was almost
certainly during the first three centuries when there were no church
buildings or material assets at all.
On a recent visit to the United States of America, I went to several
churches of different traditions that were all, in their way, immensely
impressive. I was immediately struck by the numerous facilities of their
buildings, the efficiency of their organisations, the quality of their printed
service sheets for every Sunday, the colourful information and welcome
cards in every seat, the precise timing of each service, the musical quality of
organist and choir, together with the bright colours of their robes, and, not
least, the size of the congregations. My general impression was that of
quality performance backed up with obvious business efficiency. Those
churches made our little efforts in England look shabby and amateurish in
comparison, and I felt that we had much to learn. After all, administration is
one of the gifts of the Spirit. At the same time, I had to struggle to sense
God’s presence and to hear his voice. There was little freedom in worship,
and I wondered how many genuine conversions took place amongst those
right outside the social and cultural ethos of those churches. I feared that the
genuinely ‘un-churched’ members of society would have felt uncomfortable
and conspicuous in the distinctive middle-class conformity of those
congregations.
 In contrast I went to another church21 which had no building of its own,
but used a huge school gymnasium for its Sunday services. Every week an
enthusiastic team of men rolled out the carpets, set up 2,000 chairs, erected
a stage, and organised some effective PA equipment. The contrast between
the more conventional churches and this one was staggering. With an
almost total absence of structure and organisation, the services were
relaxed, the worship sensitive and intimate, and within the gentle control of
the main pastor there were opportunities for many to bring spiritual gifts to
edify the whole body of Christ. The congregation had grown from nothing
to 2,000 in four years, and the vast majority of these were genuine
conversions, many amongst those who had become disillusioned by the
conventional formality of the more established churches. There was no
mistaking the manifest presence of the living God in that gymnasium. His
love, joy, life and generosity tangibly expressed amongst that fellowship
were overwhelming. Conversions, healings, deliverance and blessings of
many kinds happened every week. Anyone searching for spiritual reality
would have found the whole activity utterly meaningful. In terms of
material facilities they had very little; in terms of spiritual power, surely
God was in that place. Here was the incarnate body of Christ. In that
setting, it was the ordinary sinners who heard the gospel gladly.

Love
This is the supreme quality of all, without which all our eloquent preaching
would be as a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. It was, above all, the love
of Christ that controlled and compelled that persecuted early church. ‘So
being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not
only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become
very dear to us.’ It was their infectious love that drew people to them, and
to the Lord, like a magnet; the poor and the outcast, the sick and the lame,
Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, even a few who were rich
and influential – they all came, apart from those whose hearts were
inflamed with jealousy or hardened towards God. In so far as those
Christians loved one another, others could see both that they were
manifestly the disciples of Jesus and that God was evidently abiding in their
midst. Love is always the greatest thing in the world, and it never fails to be
the most powerful evidence of the God of love.
Christian love; however, is always marked by sacrificial giving: ‘God so
loved the world that he gave his only Son.’ There was nothing sentimental
about this greatest expression of love of all time. In the same way the
evidence and demonstration of love must be much more than the eloquent
words of an evangelist. No one can read the first few chapters of Acts
without noticing that the amazing sharing of their lives and possessions so
demonstrated the love of God amongst them that others were drawn to
Jesus Christ almost irresistibly.
‘All who believed were together, and had all things in common; and they
sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had
need … And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were
being saved’ (Acts 2:44–45, 47).
‘Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and
no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they
had everything in common. And with great power the apostles gave their
testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon
them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were
possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of what
was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet; and distribution was made to each
as any had need’ (Acts 4:32–35). Note that the remark about powerful
evangelism is sandwiched between the comments about their shared life. In
other words, it was precisely in the context of this loving, sacrificial care of
one another that the good news of Jesus Christ made such an impact.
In Acts 6 we see the same pattern repeated again. The needs of some
Greek widows were not being met. When, however, the apostles took active
steps to attend to their material needs by setting aside seven men ‘full of
faith and of the Holy Spirit’, we read that ‘the word of God increased; and
the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem …’
There was no compulsion to sell property or to give money. Nor was
there any pressure brought to give up the right of private ownership. It is
clear that many Christians kept at least some of their possessions and lands,
even though a number of them went on selling what they had as the needs
continued. But such was the love of God amongst this new community in
Christ that they longed to express this love towards their brothers and
sisters according to the obvious needs that arose. ‘If any one has the world’s
goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how
does God’s love abide in him?’ (1 John 3:17). Even when there was a
prophecy of a famine, the newly formed Gentile church at Antioch
responded at once in love towards their Jewish brethren in Judea by sending
such money as they could ‘every one according to his ability’ (Acts 11:27–
30).
When attempting to teach the biblical values about lifestyle in western
churches, I have usually encountered strong and determined opposition,
except perhaps from students. Most Christians will readily agree with
teaching about faith, love, hope, service, mission. But touch the area of
money, possessions and a simple lifestyle, and you will touch a very
sensitive spot indeed. I have often wondered why this is. The reason is, I
think, partly that our security is often ultimately in these things, however
much we may consciously deny this; partly because the god of mammon
exercises a much more powerful influence in our lives than many of us
realise; and partly because most of us instinctively know that we cannot
withstand the pressures of the world and live by biblical standards on our
own. The trouble is that very few western churches know anything of the
degree of the sharing of lives and possessions that was certainly the norm in
New Testament times, and is best exemplified today in churches in the
Third World or where there is active persecution. For countless Christians
in the West ‘discipleship’ means little more than going to church regularly,
giving a proportion of one’s income – usually at best one-tenth, and often
far below that figure – and getting involved in a limited number of church
activities.
Consequently, the lifestyle of most western Christians and churches has
no prophetic challenge at all to the affluent society all around. In fact it is
scarcely distinguishable from it. We have, quite unconsciously, adopted the
values and standards of the world; and as the standard of living has risen
considerably over the last thirty years, so we Christians, along with our
neighbours, spend that much more on our cars and carpets, TV sets and
washing-machines, furniture and hi-fi equipment, until we regard most of
these things as necessities for ‘modern life’. Where is there any serious
attempt to live on ‘enough’, to be ‘content with food and clothing’, and to
give the rest away for every good work? Where is there that commitment to
one another in love, so that we really share our possessions, reduce our
standard of living – despite inflation – and express the love of Christ in
costly, tangible, sacrificial terms?
Ron Sider has expressed it like this: ‘In the New Testament we see Jesus
calling together a new community of people who began to live a whole new
life-style. The early church was a new society. It was one new body where
all relationships were being transformed … If anything is clear in the New
Testament it is that they were sharing financially in a massive way …
Extremes of wealth and poverty are simply not what God wills among his
people … Now, if the one world-wide body of believers today would dare
to implement that vision so that something like economic equality existed
within the universal body of Christ … it would probably be the single most
powerful evangelistic step we could take. When the church in Jerusalem
shared dramatically they found the work of God increased. The evangelistic
impact of the first Christians’ financial sharing was just astounding.
Unfortunately, the radical character of New Testament koinonia is largely
missing from the contemporary western church.’22
I make no greater claims than having just begun to learn the first lesson
in all this. I am being challenged all the time, and expect to be much more
so in the coming years. But I do know that some steps towards a simpler
lifestyle have been encouraged partly through living in an extended
household for eight years, where together we seriously committed ourselves
to this end, and so were free ‘to stir up one another to love and good
works’. All I can say is that, although our progress has been shamefully
slow and small, we have begun to discover the riches of Christ and the
depths of Christian fellowship as never before; and, together with these, we
have found at least a degree of liberation from some of the snares of this
world. We are far from being able to say, with Paul, ‘as poor, yet making
many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything’;23 but I think
we know a little bit more of what the apostle meant. In this way we were
also able to release both money and manpower for the kingdom of God.

Money talks
I was recently asked by a leading Anglican bishop if I thought it right to try
to reproduce a New Testament church in this highly complex, technological
twentieth century. My reply was that I believed the New Testament
principles to be timeless, but that the outworkings of them must always be
contemporary to be relevant to this particular generation. We are not to
follow the exact pattern of the early church slavishly. At the same time,
when the evangelistic impact of the western churches is mostly very weak,
when the needs of this present day are increasing all the time, and when the
crisis of the church today is primarily in its lack of spiritual power and life
and love, it is imperative that we examine closely those basic principles that
both made the church so effective 2,000 years ago and that make the church
so effective in some areas today, especially in the Third World.
Undoubtedly one great area concerns the Person and work of the Holy
Spirit. We desperately need individual Christians and churches continuously
filled with the Spirit. Nothing can be a substitute for that. But if the life and
love of Jesus are to be clearly manifest – and without this all our gospel
words will be empty words – the church must learn again what it means to
be the body of Christ on earth. It needs to demonstrate God’s new society,
marked by love and seen in the costly, practical sharing of lives and
possessions together. Money talks – not least in this covetous generation.
When others see that our faith really means something, in practical and
material ways, then the good news of Jesus Christ will be very much more
than religious words.
James K. Baxter once wrote: ‘The first Christians did not start to share
their goods in a free and full manner till after the bomb of the Spirit
exploded in their souls at Pentecost. Before then, they would be morally
incapable of this free and joyful sharing. The acquisitive habit is one of the
deepest rooted habits of the human race. To say, “this is yours, not mine”
and to carry the words into effect, is as much a miracle of God as raising of
the dead.’24 It is by such miracles of God’s grace that others may catch a
glimpse of the realities that we proclaim so loudly with our lips. But
without such tangible evidence of the love of God amongst us, we shall
have to accept E. M. Forster’s rebuke when he referred to ‘poor, talkative,
little Christianity’.
‘Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in
truth.’25
(The substance of this chapter was given as a keynote address at the
International Consultation on Simple Lifestyle, held in England, March
1980.)

Notes

1. 4 February 1980.
2. Philippians 1:18
3. Enough is Enough, SCM, p. 62, 1975
4. Luke 12:32f
5. Acts 5:32
6. Acts 5:4
7. Acts 4:34
8. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, SCM, 1959, pp. 154–157
9. Quoted in Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Hodder & Stoughton,
1977, p. 87
10. Luke 8:14
11. Matthew 6:34, J. B. Phillips
12. Matthew 16:7f
13. Matthew 17:14–21
14. John White, The Golden Cow, Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1979, p. 39
15. Op. cit., p. 41–42
16. Matthew 19:29
17. 2 Corinthians 2:17; 4:2; 6:3; 7:2
18. Acts 20:18; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2:9
19. Bonhoeffer, op. cit., pp. 186f
20. 1 Corinthians 9:19–23
21. Calvary Chapel, Yorba Linda, Placentia, California
22. From an interview in Third Way, 13 January 1977
23. 2 Cor. 6:10
24. Thoughts about the Holy Spirit, p. 11
25. 1 John 3:18. For a sensitive and balanced statement on this whole
subject see An Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyle, Appendix A
(pp.261ff)
 CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Cost of Discipleship

Jesus never promised an easy life to those who followed him. It is true he
came to meet the deepest needs of every one of us. Only in him can we find
forgiveness for the past, a new life for the present, and a glorious hope for
the future.
At the same time Jesus came to build his church. Far from being a
comfortable club existing entirely for the benefits of its members, the
church is to be God’s agent for the healing of the whole of creation, existing
mainly for the benefits of its non-members. Church-membership therefore
necessarily involves discipleship, and that means accepting the full
demands that Jesus clearly made. Jesus was, in fact, so honest about the
cost of discipleship that many of the enthusiastic crowds who flocked after
him turned back and no longer went with him. There were only 120 of them
waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit in that upper room; and, although
more than 500 saw the risen Christ, those 120 presumably represented most
of those who were willing to accept his call. In sheer numbers his three
years of ministry had not been exceptionally fruitful. And it is not hard to
see the reason why. Although he healed the sick and relieved the oppressed
without any conditions attached at all, to those whom he called and to those
who wanted to join his number, he spelt out the cost of discipleship in clear
and forthright terms.
 When one man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go’, Jesus
replied, ‘Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son
of man has nowhere to lay his head.’1 Here Jesus was warning this would-
be disciple where the obedience of faith would lead. In worldly terms it
means a life of constant uncertainty and insecurity; but in spiritual terms it
means a life of continuous certainty in things not seen,2 and of total security
in the love of God. Jesus calls people to put their whole trust in God, and
not in the uncertain riches of this world. Faith is the essence of all true
discipleship, for without faith it is impossible to please God. In order to test
the reality of faith the disciple must therefore expect to find himself
frequently in situations where he has to trust in God. Like their Master,
those first disciples often did not know where their next meal was coming
from, or where they would sleep for the night. In following the call of Jesus,
they had left their homes and their jobs, their money and their possessions,
and were trusting wholly in him. Although he never failed them and
promised them that their Father in heaven would meet every need they had,
their faith often faltered when it came to the test. ‘O you of little faith! Why
did you doubt? Have you no faith?’ were his humbling rebukes. Constantly
he sought to encourage his disciples, to teach them, guide and strengthen
them; but until they learnt, sometimes the hard way, to trust him and obey
him. Jesus knew that all his training would be in vain.

The path of obedience

From the earliest days of Christ’s ministry people were repeatedly
astonished at the authority of his person. ‘The people were astounded at his
teaching; unlike their own teachers he taught with a note of authority.’3
Sometimes they asked in amazement amongst themselves, ‘Who then is
this, that even wind and sea obey him?’4 But what many did not appreciate
was that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to him.5 Jesus was
not just a wonder-worker with unusual authority; he was the Lord of glory
with all authority. At the name of Jesus every knee must bow and every
tongue confess that he is Lord. There can be no half measures with Christ.
If we want to be his disciples, we must take his supreme authority as Lord
over every part of our life, without any exception. If we are not willing for
him to be Lord, he cannot be our Saviour. With Jesus it is all, or nothing. To
be in the kingdom of God is to accept Jesus as King; and if Jesus is King,
his word has authority and must be obeyed.
The first disciples understood this clearly. In Acts 4, when Peter and John
were ‘charged not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus’, they
replied, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to
God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and
heard. Later, they prayed again for boldness to speak the word of God.
Again in Acts 5, after further serious threats, Peter and the apostles
answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers
raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree …’ It is no wonder
that their opponents ‘were enraged and wanted to kill them’; and it is no
wonder that the word of God spread like wildfire through that ancient
world. Those first Christians learnt obedience, whatever the cost in terms of
personal sacrifice. For many, it meant literally laying down their lives for
the gospel of Christ. That is why God was so powerfully working through
him. He gives his Spirit to those who obey him.6
In the words of J. B. Phillips: ‘Perhaps because of their very simplicity,
perhaps because of the readiness to believe, to obey, to give, to suffer, and if
need be to die, the Spirit of God found what he must always be seeking – a
fellowship of men and women so united in faith and love that he can work
in them and through them with the minimum of hindrance.’7
This call of Jesus to his disciples was also, however, a call of love. Their
obedience to his word meant trusting in his love. It is because Jesus loves us
and has laid down his life for us that he looks for a total response of love on
our part, a love that is seen for its reality in obeying his commandments. Do
we really want to be his disciples? Do we genuinely want God’s best and
perfect will for our lives? Are we honestly willing to trust ourselves to a
God who demands all, but who loves us more than anyone could ever love
us and who longs only for our highest good?
The test must be unquestioning obedience to his word. If we reject his
word, we question his wisdom and doubt his love, and so cannot be his
disciples.
That is the important truth behind some of the words of Jesus that may
seem to us, as they seemed to the crowds in his day, such ‘a hard saying’.
‘If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and
wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he
cannot be my disciple.’8 This was an idiomatic way of saying that our love
for Jesus must be so unhesitatingly first that our love for those who are
nearest and dearest to us is as hatred in comparison. The Lordship of Jesus
means that no one can have equal claims with him to our loyalty and
allegiance. There can be no compromise. There is no conditional surrender.
‘Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my
disciple … Whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my
disciple.’9
With such a call to a life of total and uncompromising obedience, we
should not be surprised if we are strongly tempted to qualify Christ’s call, to
modify its stringent demands by taking a more ‘reasonable’ line in the light
of modern culture, which, we tell ourselves, is ‘so different from that of the
first century’. With our intellectual and theological approach we may try to
hold a ‘more balanced’ view which softens the zeal of those New Testament
enthusiasts, or so interpret the teaching of Jesus that we skilfully avoid its
direct and disturbing challenge. It is important, we say, not to take things
too literally. We must not become legalistic. We must not ignore the vital
principles of hermeneutics. Jesus may have said, ‘Love your enemies’; but
what he meant was, ‘Do not take active revenge against someone who has
wronged you.’ If Jesus said, ‘I am the way … no one comes to the Father,
but by me’, what he clearly meant was, ‘I am one way by which you may
come to God, but of course there are many others.’ When Jesus said, ‘Seek
first the kingdom of God,’ what he really meant was, ‘Although there will
be many other things you must seek first in order to exist and have a normal
life, make sure that you do not leave God’s kingdom out of your life
altogether.’ In these ways we can try to evade the clear call of Jesus to
absolute obedience. The tragedy is that, if we do this, our whole attitude to
him is wrong. We do not believe that he loves us and longs only for what is
best for us. And in our unbelief and disobedience we cannot truly be his
disciples.

The necessity of faith

We have already seen that the aim of Jesus in testing our obedience is to
bring us to the point of genuine faith in him. Everything ultimately depends
on God’s grace – his undeserved love as he takes the initiative in reaching
out to us when we are lost and helpless. But although all God’s gifts to us
are given ‘by grace’, they are received through faith. Faith is indispensable.
Faith is the open hand by which we take what God is offering us in his
grace. We are therefore justified by faith. We have access into God’s
presence by faith. We receive the Spirit by faith. Christ dwells in our hearts
by faith. Those upon whom the Spirit fell at Pentecost and on other
occasions were sometimes described as ‘full of faith and of the Holy Spirit’;
and it was ‘by faith in his name’ that God was able to work with unusual
power amongst them. We see Philip, later termed the evangelist, acting by
faith in the unusual promptings of the Spirit of God in Acts 8, which
brought new life to the Samaritans and then to the Ethiopian eunuch. See
the faith of Ananias as he went nervously to the feared Saul of Tarsus, arch-
enemy of the Christian church; note the faith of Simon Peter (even if a
reluctant faith) as he crossed the great divide into the house of Cornelius,
the Gentile. The whole story of the early church is one continuous
demonstration of active faith in the risen Christ. Their evangelistic
enterprise makes a magnificent ‘volume 2’ to the epic stories of the great
heroes of faith recorded in Hebrews chapter 11.
In all these examples, however, we see that the faith which is able to
receive God’s grace will be proved by obedience to God’s word. Without
obedience, there is no faith. ‘By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called
to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went
out …’10 To quote Bonhoeffer: ‘Only he who believes is obedient, and only
he who is obedient believes … When people complain that they find it hard
to believe, it is a sign of deliberate or unconscious disobedience … Only the
devil has an answer for our moral difficulties, and he says, “Keep on posing
problems (of faith) and you will escape the necessity of obedience.”’11
It is significant that John suggests in his Gospel that the opposite to
believing in Jesus is disobeying him: ‘He who believes in the Son has
eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abides on him.’12 Paul also makes it clear that, whilst we are saved
through believing in Jesus, God’s righteous judgement will one day come
‘upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the
gospel of our Lord Jesus.’13 Just as faith and obedience go hand in hand, so
unbelief and disobedience are two sides of the same coin. It is no good
calling Jesus ‘Lord’ unless we do what he says.
 Calvin once said, ‘While it is faith alone that justifies, the faith that
justifies is never alone.’ Always it is accompanied by good works, since
faith without works is dead. And the basis of the good works that James is
talking about in his epistle is obedience to the word of God: ‘Be doers of
the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.’14
‘The issue at point is crucial – the one that matters most. We do need
more “decisions” in evangelism, more effective church management and
organisation, more money to run churches, and sometimes we may even
need better buildings and facilities. But woe be to us as Christians if we do
not see that the greatest need of the hour is to help Christians clearly
understand and obey the teachings of Christ … Praying a prayer to invite
Christ into one’s heart, having an emotional experience, testifying for
Christ, sharing the “plan of salvation”, entering into the fulness of the Holy
Spirit, teaching the Bible, and many other Christian acts are valid and good.
But they mean nothing, absolutely nothing … if Jesus is not obeyed in our
private lives.’15
The disciple of Jesus is the follower of Jesus. He has committed himself
to go the way that Jesus goes. He has pledged himself to a life of absolute
obedience. When he fails to obey he must repent and ask for Christ’s
forgiveness at once, for sin breaks the discipleship and spoils the
relationship. Without obedience there is no faith; and without faith there is
no discipleship.

The way of the cross

Jesus repeatedly taught his disciples that there was only one way that he
could go: ‘the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the
elders …’16 It is important to notice the clear distinction between suffering
and rejection. If Jesus had only suffered he might have drawn immense
sympathy from all his Jewish contemporaries. His passion would have been
marked with great dignity and honour. But it was not to be like that. The
agony and irony of it all was that, although he loved and welcomed all men,
he himself was ‘despised and rejected by men’. Humanly speaking his
passion was totally without honour: ‘as one from whom men hide their
faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.’17 He bore the
excruciating pain and shame of the cross. He was mocked by the soldiers,
tortured by the scourging, thorns and nails, jeered at by the crowd, sworn at
by one of the thieves, forsaken by almost all his friends. There was no
dignity about the cross. Klausner, the Jewish historian, wrote that
‘crucifixion is the most terrible and cruel death which man has ever devised
for taking vengeance on his fellow men.’ Cicero called it ‘the most cruel
and the most horrible torture’.
Yet this was the way that Jesus had to go; and he saw any attempt to
dissuade him from it as the work of the devil, even if the suggestion came
from one of his closest disciples. Christ could never have been Christ
without the cross. That was the crucial lesson that Peter had to learn
immediately after his great confession. It was upon this rock that Christ was
going to build his church. But the church could never have been the church
without the cross. The cross has always been offensive to man. Even
religious man finds it a ‘stumbling-block’, partly because it cuts all human
pride from under his feet, and partly because it is a constant reminder that if
we are to follow Jesus it must be for us the way of the cross. ‘A servant is
not greater than his master. If they persecuted him they will persecute
you.’18 The disciples soon experienced the truth of this. ‘All who desire to
live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,’ wrote Paul.19 A disciple
is a disciple only if he shares Christ’s life, and this includes sharing his
pain, his suffering, his rejection and his crucifixion. ‘Do you not know that
all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his
death? … We have been united with him in a death like his … We know
that our old self was crucified with him … We have died with Christ … I
have been crucified with Christ … Those who belong to Christ have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires …’20
What does the way of the cross mean for us today when the majority of
Christians will probably not be faced with crucifixion or any other form of
martyrdom? A young man once asked an older Christian, ‘What does it
mean to be crucified with Christ?’ The older man thought for a moment,
and then replied: ‘To be crucified with Christ means three things. First, the
man who is crucified is facing only one direction; he is not looking back.
Second, the man who is crucified has said goodbye to the world; he is not
going back. Third, the man who is crucified has no further plans of his own.
He is totally in God’s hands. Whatever the situation, he says, “Yes, Lord!”’
That is a fair description of what it means to go the way of the cross. What,
then, has to die – or, as the New Testament more frequently expresses it,
what has already died – when we become true disciples of Jesus Christ?
First, our old self has died. This is the great truth that Paul expounds in
Romans 6. In the first three chapters of Romans, Paul declares the universal
fact of sin: all alike have sinned and are under the judgement of God. At the
end of that section Paul asks, how can God both be just and the justifier of
the sinner at one and the same time? How can a sinner be forgiven and
accepted by a holy God? There is only one answer: it is by God’s grace,
received through faith – faith in Christ and in his death on the cross. In
Romans 4 Paul goes on to expand on the nature of true faith, the faith that
saves. Then in chapter 5 he draws the parallel and contrast between Adam
and Christ. We might illustrate it in this way.

Since we are all ‘in Adam’, by virtue of Adam’s disobedience we are all
naturally in the kingdom of Satan where sin reigns. However, once we
become ‘in Christ’, by virtue of Christ’s obedience unto death we enter the
kingdom of God where grace reigns. We have now passed from death into
life. We no longer belong to that old life; we are now dead to it. By
accepting the cross of Christ as the only means by which we can come from
the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God, we fully identify ourselves
with the crucified one, which means that we have died with him. And in so
far as we have died with him, we have also died to the old world of self and
sin. This should no longer have any part in us. ‘You must consider
yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.’21
Emil Brunner once put it powerfully in these words: ‘In the cross of
Christ God says to man, “That is where you ought to be. Jesus my Son
hangs there in your stead. His tragedy is the tragedy of your life. You are
the rebel who should be hanged on the gallows. But lo, I suffer instead of
you and because of you, because I love you in spite of what you are. My
love for you is so great that I meet you there, there on the cross. I cannot
meet you anywhere else. You must meet me there by identifying yourself
with the one on the cross. It is by this identification that I, God, can meet
you in him, saying to you as I say to him, My beloved son.”’22
Such identification, however, whilst bringing with us the unbelievable
privilege ‘that we should be called children of God’, also guarantees our
suffering for Christ’s sake. Some imagine that, since Jesus has died for us
once for all to bear away all our sin, we shall not be called to a life of
suffering today. Certainly we shall never suffer to atone for our sins, since
Jesus finished that work of atonement for all time on the cross. ‘There is no
longer any offering for sin.’23 But the cross, far from being an escape from
sufferings, is the promise of sufferings for all those who are Christ’s
disciples. Paul once said, ‘Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and
in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of
his body, that is, the church.’24 In no way was there anything lacking in
Christ’s death when it came to taking away the sin of the world. But the
way of Christ is the way of the cross, and still today he suffers in his body,
the church.
Although in Christ we are now in the kingdom of God where grace reigns
– and in that sense we are freed from the authority of sin and Satan over our
lives – the spiritual battle is very strong and powerful until that day comes
when Christ will put all his enemies under his feet. We are free in Christ,
yes; but we are free to fight. The writer to the Hebrews exhorted his readers
not to give up this constant battle against the forces of evil: ‘Consider him
who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may
not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not
yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.’25 The Christian is
certainly in the realm of grace, and has died once for all to the realm of sin.
Paul therefore repeatedly exhorted his readers, ‘Become what you are!’
That is the force of Paul’s argument in Romans 6 and elsewhere in his
letters. He expounds what Christians are in Christ, and then urges them to
lead a life that is worthy of their calling. We must become what we are. The
old self has died to sin through the cross of Christ. We must live in the light
of our new life in Christ, refusing to allow that old realm of sin to have any
dominion over us. In one sense, the Christian who sins is a fool! Of course
we all do sin, either ‘through ignorance, through weakness or through our
own deliberate fault’. We still listen to the voice of the Tempter. We are still
attracted to the deceptive pleasures of this world. Yet at the same time we
are foolish when we sin, since the moment we do so we spoil our
relationship with Christ (and almost certainly with others too), we lose
peace of mind, we fall back into bondage, we become ineffective and
unfruitful in the service of Christ, and we forfeit the joy of our salvation.
God, in his infinite patience and mercy, longs to restore us, and will do so
as soon as we truly repent. But we often have to learn the hard way that
God’s word is right; his instructions are good. We are free to ignore them if
we want to, but we are not free to ignore the consequences.
To maintain our freedom and fruitfulness in Christ will neither be quick
nor easy. That is why we need the mind of Christ, who humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.26 We should note
carefully the example of Christ’s sufferings, and follow in his steps.27 We
should not be surprised at the ‘fiery ordeal … but rejoice in so far as you
share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his
glory is revealed.’28
At the heart of any self-denial or self-emptying is not a determination
somehow to do away with our old self-life, since all that has already been
crucified with Christ. It is rather a determination to do the will of God and
to stand fast in the freedom that Christ has already given us through his own
sufferings. We may lose that freedom by falling into either of two opposite
errors, legalism or licence; but there is no need to.29 We can win and come
through the struggle; but it will be a struggle, and there is no way in which
the disciple of Jesus can avoid suffering, in one form or another.
Second, the pull of the world must die. This is why Jesus insisted that the
rich young ruler must give up all his selfish ambitions, sell all his worldly
possessions, give to the poor; and then he could come to follow Jesus.
Unless there is this death to the world, with all its values and standards, we
remain in bondage to it and cannot be Christ’s disciples. ‘Do not love the
world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the
Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the
lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the
world.’30 We need to let go all worldly attachments, which so subtly and
powerfully draw our hearts away from Christ. Jesus wants us not to be ‘out
of the world’, but to be kept from the evil one, as we move into the world to
redeem it for him. We are free to do this only if we are free from the world’s
pull on our own life.
In every way God calls us to make a complete break from our former
relationship with the world. In Christ we become a new person all together
– ‘the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new.’31 In
this new realm, our relationship with everyone and everything must
therefore be ‘in Christ’ if it is to be good and right in the sight of God. In
the first century, the gnostics (who have their successors today under
different names) taught a false doctrine concerning the duality of spirit and
matter. They taught that God is interested only in the development of our
spirits, and therefore we could either indulge in the desires of our flesh or
seek to deny them altogether. The gnostics thus became known either for
their gross permissiveness, especially in terms of sexual morality, or else for
their extreme asceticism, ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.’ Paul
rightly commented about this: ‘These have indeed an appearance of wisdom
in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body,
but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh.’32
Elsewhere he called all this the ‘doctrines of demons’, and wrote positively
that ‘everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is
received with thanksgiving.’33 In other words, there are many things in this
world that are basically good, since they were created by God. But we live
in a fallen world, which has come under the control of the evil one.
Therefore we can enjoy the good things God has given us in his world only
when they are redeemed by Christ and brought under his Lordship. As soon
as this happens, they become ‘in Christ’ and can then be received and
enjoyed with thanksgiving.
The classic example of this is in the life of Abraham. God called him to
leave his country and his father’s house, and to go to some unknown
destination. He did not know where he was going, but he did know with
whom he was going. Later he was challenged to offer up his only son, the
son of God’s promise, as a sacrifice to God. Because he was willing to let
go his most precious possession, confident that God was able even to raise
the dead, he was able to enter into God’s promised blessings by faith.
Concerning the remarkable incident with Isaac, Bonhoeffer made this
comment: ‘Abraham comes down from the mountain with Isaac just as he
went up, but the whole situation has changed.’ In New Testament terms,
Abraham had brought his precious relationship with Isaac under the
Lordship of Christ. It was now ‘in Christ’. ‘Christ had stepped between
father and son. Abraham had left all and followed Christ, and as he follows
him he is allowed to go back and live in the world as he had done before.
Outwardly the picture is unchanged, but the old is passed away, and behold
all things are new. Everything has had to pass through Christ.’34 It is only
when every part of our life has been through the same basic process that it
can be redeemed for Christ, and received with thanksgiving to God.
Learning to be in the world but not of the world will often cause us a
measure of suffering. ‘Obedience to the gospel in a world where Satan is
still active means living with tension. This is part of the meaning of the
Incarnation. The Incarnation makes sense only through faith in God. If it is
faithful, the church’s career will largely parallel that of Jesus Christ. We, as
Christians … are constantly forced back to total dependence on the
incarnate Christ. We should be alarmed when we are at home in the world
or have total “peace of mind”. Christian life in a non-Christian world is
tension, stress and at times even agony. A whole system of social
techniques aim to adjust the individual to the world and eliminate tensions.
But being a Jesus-follower means accepting the scandal of Jesus’
statements that he came not to bring harmony but discord; not peace but a
sword. (Matthew 10:34–36) For only thus may true peace finally come.’35
There is no escape from this suffering for the Christian. When the whole of
creation is groaning, waiting to be set free from its bondage to decay, we
ourselves as Christians must ‘groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as
sons, the redemption of our bodies’. But at this moment in time, we must
wait in patience.36

The pain of relationships

No man is an island. Our lives are woven together, so that who we are and
what we do always influences other people. The New Testament, therefore,
knows nothing of the solitary Christian. Christ calls us into fellowship both
with him and with all others who have become his disciples. Although he
wants us to keep our God-given individuality, for God loves variety, he
insists that we lose our independence, since this is the root of all sin. We are
to submit to the authority of Christ, and we are to submit to one another out
of reverence for Christ. It is only in this way, as members of the body of
Christ ‘joined and knit together’, that the life of Christ can be manifest on
this earth today. It is only when we are deeply united with one another in
love that the world will begin to believe and know the truth about Jesus
Christ. But it is precisely at this point that problems arise.
The German philosopher Schopenhauer once said that people are like a
pack of porcupines on a freezing winter night. The sub-zero temperature
forces them together for warmth. But as soon as they come close together,
they jab and hurt one another. So they separate, only to attempt, repeatedly,
to huddle together again. Our natural but sinful independence is largely a
defence against close and painful relationships.
Many churches know little of the depth of Christian fellowship which the
New Testament presents as normative. Many congregations consist largely
of isolated and independent individuals who may select a small circle of
like-minded friends with whom they share, if at all. But that is totally
foreign to the biblical picture of fellowship. We are called, as disciples of
Christ to share our lives together, and, if need be, our possessions together.
We are to open our hearts to one another, take off our masks, become real
and honest. And when fellowships of Christians try seriously to do this in
the power of the Holy Spirit, they will soon discover two things. First, they
will find deep and loving relationships as brothers and sisters in Christ, and
this can prove enormously enriching and fulfilling. But second, they will
also find pain, since we are still angular and sinful persons who, huddling
together for warmth, hurt and jab one another. The temptation then will be
to separate, to pull back to a safe and less painful distance, to erect little
barriers, and to protect ourselves from those vulnerable deep relationships
where we are likely to get hurt again and again. In so doing, we shall
destroy, or at least greatly weaken, the love and unity that Christ
commanded, prayed for, died for, and sent his Spirit to accomplish. In
seeking to evade this particular cost of discipleship, we have denied our
Master and grieved his Spirit. Had Jesus pulled back from his own disciples
when they hurt him, the Christian church would never have been born.
 Although Jesus became our sin-bearer in that unique sense of taking upon
himself the sin and guilt of us all, he calls those of us who profess to follow
him to be burden-bearers: ‘Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law
of Christ.’37 In the context this means bearing not only the anxieties of one
another, but also the sins. In the previous verse Paul writes: ‘Brethren, if a
man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him
in a spirit of gentleness … Bear one another’s burdens …’ And the only
way that I can do this is by forgiving the sin that he has committed, which
may be a grievous sin against me. In this way I release my brother from the
burden of his sin and guilt, and at the same time release myself from the
prison of my own unforgiveness. The essence of forgiveness is release.
When Jesus said, ‘Forgive, and you shall be forgiven’, it could equally be
translated, ‘Release, and you shall be released.’ To forgive someone who
has hurt me, I shall need the grace and mercy of God which I find only at
the cross of Christ. Forgiveness is never easy. It cost Jesus his life; and it
may mean for me the crucifixion of pride, bitterness, resentment, or
revenge. I may have numerous reasons for justifying my position of not
forgiving. Some of those reasons may logically be right and humanly
understandable. But God commands me to repent. There is nothing that so
grieves his Spirit as lack of forgiveness. It destroys the health of his body. It
hinders his work. The root of bitterness causes trouble, and by it many may
become defiled. Reasons and excuses mean nothing at the foot of the cross.
It is at the cross, when I begin to see how much God has forgiven me in
Christ, that I am compelled by his love to forgive my brother, even if he has
sinned against me seventy times seven. I may not have the grace to do it.
But if I have the willingness, as a disciple of Christ, then God’s grace will
always be sufficient for me, not least in this vital area of forgiveness.
It is impossible to overstress the importance of all this. In the first letter
of John, the apostle begins with the enormous excitement of having actually
heard and seen and touched ‘the word of life’. In Jesus ‘the life was made
manifest, and we saw it.’ Peter too, in his second letter, was thrilled that ‘we
were eye-witnesses of his majesty.’ But how can the life of Jesus be made
manifest today? How can God’s glory be seen when Jesus is no longer
walking on this earth as he was two thousand years ago? The New
Testament answer is quite clear. God’s glory is to be seen today in the
church.38 ‘No one has ever seen God,’ writes John; ‘if we love one another,
God abides in us …’39
We may sometimes think of the cost of discipleship in terms of giving up
all our sin. Certainly it will include that; but it will also include much more.
Jesus had no sin, but he gave up his rights, and made himself weak and
vulnerable towards others. It cost him his life, but in this way he brought
life to others. If we, too, are to be obedient to God, remaining in unbroken
fellowship with him and also with one another, we must lay aside not only
our sin, but also our rights, making ourselves vulnerable and weak towards
others. We may get hurt in the process. But this is the way in which the life
of Jesus will be manifest and God’s glory seen in the church.
Phil Bradshaw has expressed it in this way: ‘Christ had no defences. In
his life and death he absorbed the sin of the whole world without giving sin
back in return. “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return …” (1
Peter 2:23) If we want to pursue this road (i.e. of maintaining that quality of
fellowship amongst us that Jesus had with his Father) we do not even need
to look to the world in order to know the cost. Our own Christian brother
will heap on us his sin – his anger, judgement, frustration, accusation,
demands, fears. The challenge to us is not to return our own sin … If we
want unity in the biblical sense, scriptural teaching is that it will cost us our
lives in givenness to the Lord and to each other. That kind of fellowship is
produced by gentleness, and the price of gentleness is brokenness of spirit.
What produces brokenness is laying aside our rights … So, unity does cost
a lot. But … the reward is something that has the power to heal and restore
and bring people to the knowledge of the truth. It is something that will
make the corporate life we share amongst ourselves the glory of God on the
earth.’40
Jesus had one supreme concern during his earthly ministry: to glorify his
Father in heaven.41 It was for this reason that he often seemed severe in
making known his terms of discipleship. His plan, both for his church and
for his world, is so great that he cannot afford to have half-hearted disciples.
Christ once said to the lukewarm Laodicean Christians, ‘I will spew you out
of my mouth.’ God’s glory will be seen in those who are prepared to accept
the path of obedience, the way of the cross and the pain of relationships.
That is the life that Jesus lived, setting his face like a flint, doing always
those things that pleased his Father. Only as we follow Jesus this way can
there be salvation for the world.

Notes

1. Luke 9:57
2. Hebrews 11:1
3. Matthew 7:29, NEB
4. Mark 4:41
5. Matthew 28:18
6. Acts 5:32
7. Preface to The Young Church in Action, Bles, 1955, p. vii
8. Luke 14:26
9. Luke 14:27, 33
10. Hebrews 11:8
11. The Cost of Discipleship, SCM, pp. 54, 58, 63
12. John 3:36
13. 2 Thess. 1:8
14. James 1:22
15. Carl Wilson, op. cit., p. 273
16. Mark 8:31
17. Isaiah 53:3
18. John 15:20
19. 2 Timothy 3:12
20. Romans 6:2–8; Galatians 2:20; 5:24
21. Romans 6:11f
22. Source unknown
23. Hebrews 10:18
24. Colossians 1:24
25. Hebrews 12:3f
26. Philippians 2:5ff
27. I Peter 2:21
28. I Peter 4:12f
29. Galatians 5
30. 1 John 2:16f
31. 2 Corinthians 5:17, J. B. Phillips
32. Colossians 2:21–23
33. I Timothy 4:1–5
34. Op. cit., p. 89
35. Howard Snyder, Community of the King, IVP, 1977, pp. 115f
36. Romans 8:21–25
37. Galatians 6:2
38. Ephesians 3:21
39. I John 4:12
40. Towards Renewal, Issue 19, Autumn 1979
41. John 17:4
 CHAPTER TWELVE

Abounding in Hope

F. R. Maltby used to say that Jesus promised his disciples three things: they
would be absurdly happy, completely fearless, and in constant trouble! That
is a fair summary of the New Testament church. In fact, almost everywhere
in the biblical witness of God’s dealings with his people we find this
recurrent paradoxical theme:

Joy and woe are woven fine,

A clothing for the soul divine. (William Blake)

Like contrasting shades of light and darkness flecked together, dancing over
the troubled waters of this earth, we see joy and pain, glory and agony,
rejoicing and weeping, life and death.
We find this vividly expressed in the life of Jesus on this earth. At his
birth, the exultant display of heavenly glory, bursting forth with angelic
praise, was followed shortly after by the appalling massacre of the infants.
At his baptism, the heavens were opened, the Spirit came down and God
himself confirmed that this was his beloved Son; yet immediately after we
see Jesus wrestling with his adversary in the wilderness for six exhausting
weeks. The dazzling glimpse of eternity on the Mount of Transfiguration
led on to casting out evil spirits and then rebuking the disciples for not
being able to do this due to their lack of faith. When the seventy returned
from their mission excited by their experience of God’s power, ‘Jesus was
filled with rapturous joy by the Holy Spirit’;1 yet soon after he was accused
by his critics of being demonically inspired in his ministry. The joyful
enthusiasm of the crowds waving palm branches and shouting ‘Hosanna!’
contrasted sharply with Jesus weeping over Jerusalem for their spiritual
blindness and coming judgement. The exquisite tenderness of the Last
Supper was the prelude to betrayal, arrest, denial and despair: Peter wept
bitterly and Judas hanged himself. Although Jesus healed the sick, raised
the dead and had compassion on all in need, the Jerusalem mob thirsted for
his blood, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Although he saved others, he would
not save himself. Although he promised that he would never forsake those
who trusted in him, in appalling agony on the cross he cried out, ‘My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me?’
The same pattern is also true of the New Testament church. The rushing
mighty wind of the Spirit at Pentecost, leading to thousands of conversions,
dramatic healings and ‘many wonders and signs’, was followed by
imprisonments and beatings, and God’s swift judgement on Ananias and
Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit. The extraordinary multiplication of
the church in Acts 6 preceded the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts 7 and the
wave of persecution against the church in Acts 8. Bishop Cuthbert Bardsley
once said, ‘We hear marvellous stories of what happens when there is an
outpouring of the Holy Spirit – conversions, speaking in tongues, miracles,
large congregations. But it also brings fears, frustration and pain.’2 Joy and
woe were woven fine at Pentecost, and have been ever since when the Spirit
has moved in refreshing and renewing power upon God’s people.
Peter rightly warned the Christian refugees scattered throughout Asia
Minor, ‘Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon
you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you. But
rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice
and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are reproached for the name
of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon
you.’3 Note the sequence of words: beloved, fiery ordeal, rejoice,
sufferings, glory, reproached, blessed. This has always been the pattern of
discipleship.
We see the same juxtaposition of contrasts in many of the Psalms. ‘When
the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then
our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.’
Alongside this bubbling joy, however, is the sigh and cry for further
refreshment: ‘Restore our fortunes, O Lord … May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.’ In the midst of tears there is, however, abounding
hope that he who weeps now ‘shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing
his sheaves with him’.4
Our lives, personally and corporately, are like the seasons of the year. It
cannot always be harvest. ‘All sunshine makes a desert’ is a wise Arabian
proverb. We need the cold, hard winter; we need the rain. Yet through those
bleaker days we also need the hope of spring and summer: ‘If winter comes,
can spring be far behind?’5
In many parts of the church today we have been through a long and
barren winter: with bare branches, fruitless orchards, unyielding soil and
not a hint of harvest. With all the spiritual deadness, however, coupled with
the gathering gloom of today’s hostile world, many people have been
growing in their spiritual hunger. This is precisely the time when we should
expect God to be doing something new in his church. Cardinal Suenens has
expressed it like this: ‘The church has never known a more critical moment
in her history. From a human point of view, there is no help on the horizon.
We do not see from where salvation can come, unless from HIM; there is no
salvation except in his name. At this moment, we see in the sky of the
church manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s action which seem to be like
those known to the early church. It is as though the Acts of the Apostles and
the letters of St Paul were coming to life again, as if God were once more
breaking into our history.’6 God is certainly doing a new thing by his Spirit
in the church. We see the first tender green shoots of springtime pushing
through the hard soil; the dark clouds, blown by the wind, are being broken
up by shafts of sunlight. ‘The Spirit of God can breathe through what is
predicted at a human level, with a sunshine of surprises.’7
Although there is much to encourage us and to stimulate our hope (if we
look in the right directions), before there can be a harvest we must expect
suffering: ‘Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains
alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.’8 In practical terms, it means dying
to our respectability, dying to our rights and privileges, dying to our
prejudices, dying to our ambitions, dying to our comforts, dying to our
independence and self-sufficiency, dying to our self-preservation. Unless
we die to ourselves in these and other ways, there will be no fruit, no
harvest, and no hope for this world.
Often our ideas about spiritual life and power are very different from the
example shown by Jesus. Often we are like those first disciples who showed
a natural but worldly understanding of values in life, and repeatedly Jesus
had to stand those values on their head before the disciples could grasp the
revolutionary concepts of the kingdom of God. For example, Jesus was
perfectly filled with the Spirit from the moment of his conception, and
anointed with the Spirit’s power at his baptism. But what did this mean for
him? Willingly he became as we are, in every way except sin. Often he was
weak and vulnerable; he knew the pain of loneliness and rejection; he
suffered mockery and misunderstanding; he experienced ‘strong cries and
tears’; he learnt obedience through suffering; he was tempted, beaten,
bruised and crucified; he was ‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief’.
When we are filled with the Spirit, however, we sometimes want to become
as God is: full of power, authority and glory, overflowing with spiritual
gifts, reaching down to the weak and lifting them up in our strength. The
apostle Paul chided the Corinthian Christians who thought they had
‘arrived’: ‘Already you are filled! Already you have become rich! … We
are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you
are strong. You are held in honour, but we are in disrepute. To the present
hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless … We
have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all
things.’9 To follow Jesus means to follow his way of suffering and
crucifixion. As the Master was, so shall the disciple be.

Where there’s death, there’s hope

Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us, both in service and in death,
for two main reasons. First, he knew that it was only through the untold
agony of the cross that there could be forgiveness for men, and it was for
this cause that he had come to this world. Second, ‘for the joy that was set
before him (he) endured the cross.’10 He knew that the best was yet to be.
Paul, along with the other disciples, accepted the pain of following Jesus for
the same two reasons. First, although his sufferings could never atone for
sin, he saw that ‘in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s
afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.’11 His sufferings
were necessary for the sake of others, that through his weakness, Christ’s
power might touch and transform many lives. Second, he knew that ‘the
sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that
is to be revealed to us.’12 He was abounding in hope. In contrast, when we
are not willing for the cost of discipleship and for the price of spiritual
renewal, it reveals that we are holding on to our lives, clinging to our
temporal privileges and insecure in the love of God. We are afraid that, if
we let go, God may leave us with nothing but himself! What a terrible
indictment about our faith, hope and love! Pascal once said, ‘It is a happy
time for the church when she is sustained by nothing other than God.’13 We
shall never know the security and reality of the Father’s love until we come
to that point of daring faith when we have to depend on him alone. Psalm
27 vividly illustrated this point.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me, uttering slanders against me, my adversaries
and foes, they shall stumble and fall.
Though a host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold
the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal
me under the cover of his tent, he will set me high upon a rock.14

Jesus today is looking for those who will follow him, whatever the cost
may be. When many thousands of others are willing to give their lives for
their political or religious ideals, Jesus wants his world to be turned upside
down by a revolution of love; but he can work effectively only through
those who have lost their lives to him and who will put his kingdom as their
absolute priority. In this world we have come to a moment of serious
danger. We cannot boast of tomorrow, and we have nothing we can leave
with confidence to our children. This is the time to lose everything for
Christ and to stake our lives on the God of hope.
 What hope has the disciple of Jesus when faced with suffering – suffering
that is not a theoretical possibility, but a horrifying reality in many parts of
the world today, and is likely to increase?

Knowing Christ
The apostle Paul had one supreme ambition, that of knowing Christ more
and more. He knew also that, if such knowledge were to be deep, there must
be suffering. He wrote that he counted everything as ‘refuse … that I may
know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death …’15 He realised that when he and others
‘were so utterly unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself’, it was
‘to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead’; and
once he saw the value and significance of this, he added, ‘he delivered us
from so deadly a peril, and he will deliver us; on him we have set our hope
that he will deliver us again.’16 If we know God only when the sun is
shining, our knowledge will be superficial, but when we trust him in the
storms, the relationship will mature. The most distant object we can see in
the bright light of day is the sun. But in the dark of night we see myriads of
stars which are vastly more distant than the sun. ‘I will give you the
treasures of darkness.’17
Countless men and women down the centuries have experienced the truth
of this. George Matheson, who was stricken with blindness and
disappointed in love, wrote a prayer in which he asked that he might accept
God’s will, ‘not with dumb resignation, but with holy joy; not only with the
absence of murmur, but with a song of praise.’ Richard Wurmbrand, who
spent fourteen years in various communist prisons for his faith in Christ,
was ‘cold, hungry and in rags’. Over the years ‘they broke four vertebrae in
my back, and many other bones, They carved me in a dozen places, They
burned and cut eighteen holes in my body.’ Yet, ‘alone in my cell … I
danced for joy every night … I had discovered a beauty in Christ which I
had not known before.’18 Suffering, although evil, does not always mean
tragedy. It can produce great depth and spirituality. God can use it to
increase our knowledge of him.

Serving others
God is love, and such is the nature of God’s love that he gave his only Son
for the sake of the world. God’s love always gives; it is marked by
sacrificial service. We must open our lives to the love of God, and open our
hearts to one another. Such vulnerability will lead to pain, but also to a
living hope and to the possibility of God’s love reaching those who are
harassed and helpless. Jürgen Moltmann writes: ‘A closed human being no
longer has any hope. Such a person is full of anxiety. A closed society no
longer has any future. It kills the hope for life of those who stand on its
periphery, and then it finally destroys itself. Hope is lived, and it comes
alive, when we go outside of ourselves and, in joy and pain, take part in the
life of others.’19 If Christ lived an open life for others, the body of Christ
must do the same today. Sharing our lives with others is always a risky
business. Sooner or later it will mean death to ourselves, with some of our
old securities blown apart. But out of death comes resurrection: ‘For while
we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the
life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in
us, but life in you.’20 This is both the mystery and the miracle of the gospel.
As we open ourselves to one another we shall know pain, and probably
crucifixion, but in this way the resurrection life of Christ is experienced in
power.
A living hope in God means that we trust God with all that he is doing in
our lives. A chef will beat a steak before he cooks it in order to make it
tender; likewise, because sin creates in us a hardness of heart, God may take
us through many painful experiences in order to make us tenderhearted and
compassionate, like his Son. When our hearts are made tender through
suffering we may find an enriched ministry towards those who suffer. Paul
knew, for example, that his suffering could bring great encouragement to
others: ‘What a wonderful God we have – he is the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts
and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So
that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement,
we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us … In
our trouble God has comforted us – and this, too, to help you: to show you
from our personal experience how God will tenderly comfort you when you
undergo these same sufferings. He will give you the strength to endure.’21
Paul was therefore willing to go through incredible hardships and
sufferings, both that the power of Christ might rest upon him,22 and also
that others might become ‘much more bold to speak the word of God
without fear’.23 When we have personally known the sufficiency of Christ
in various trials we obviously have a right to speak to those who may be
going through similar trials. Those who have suffered greatly, for whatever
reason, and have come through their suffering full of faith and hope, have
far more authority in their testimony to Christ than those who are simply
trusting that God’s word will be true when the trials come.

Do not lose heart

The devil loves to play on the discouragements of Christians. In many
places Christian work today is extraordinarily tough. Christians are not
immune from the depression which increasingly afflicts our society. People
everywhere feel the meaningless muddle of their present existence, and face
a hopeless future since they have no future hope. Our materialistic society is
spiritually bankrupt. Consequently, a mood of resigned apathy and despair
has settled over much of our world, although the affluent minority can
afford temporary escapes into the fantasy of entertainment and travel – two
industries that are flourishing in western society.
Paul, in his day, knew the strong temptations to discouragement. Twice in
2 Corinthians 4 he wrote ‘we do not lose heart’, which indicates that he was
often tempted to do so. He mentioned the depressing spiritual blindness that
kept so many from seeing the ‘light of the gospel of the glory of Christ!’ He
referred also to the physical and mental exhaustion experienced by many
dedicated Christian workers, and talked about being ‘afflicted … perplexed
… persecuted … struck down’. He discerned the immense spiritual battle
that raged in the world, and felt the conflicts at every level. He also gave
two good reasons why he was determined not to lose heart.
First, he was deeply aware that the immense privilege of Christian
ministry had been given to him ‘by the mercy of God’. Not only can we
know God for ourselves, but God has called us to be ambassadors of Christ
and to bring his love and mercy to others. We are entrusted with the word of
God, the only true message in the world that can bring someone forgiveness
for the past, a new life for the present and a glorious hope for the future;
and just as God has scattered the darkness of our hearts with the light of
Jesus Christ, so he can do the same for others. Therefore, wrote Paul, we do
not lose heart; we continue to preach Jesus Christ as Lord, knowing that
God can make anyone into a new creation in Christ.
Second, Paul always had before him a strong hope in the future glory.
‘We do not lose heart,’ he wrote again. ‘Though our outer nature is wasting
away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight
momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond
all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the
things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the
things that are unseen are eternal.’ It was this confidence about the future
that enabled him to endure so much in the present: ‘We are afflicted in
every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always
carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be
manifest in our bodies.’ Paul was willing to go through any trial, knowing
that others would be helped (‘it is all for your sake’) and that the best was
yet to be. It is sobering to reflect every now and then on Paul’s ‘slight
momentary affliction’ by turning to 2 Corinthians 11. There he spoke of
beatings, shipwrecks, constant dangers, toil and hardship, many a sleepless
night, hunger and thirst, cold and exposure – not to mention the pressure of
his daily anxiety for all the churches. Yet he saw all this as nothing
compared with the ‘eternal weight of glory’ that God had prepared for
every true disciple of Christ.
C. S. Lewis once wrote: ‘Hope is one of the theological virtues. This
means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some
modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the
things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave this
present world as it is. If you read history, you will find that the Christians
who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the
next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the
Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English
Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth,
precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since
Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have
become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown
in”: aim at earth and you will get neither.’24 The old preachers often made
the same point: you cannot live well until you can die well. When you are
sure of heaven, you can spend yourself in the service of others here on
earth. ‘For living to me means simply “Christ”, and if I die I should merely
gain more of him.’25 What a glorious hope to have! Rooted and grounded in
the love of God, from which not even death can separate us, we can give
ourselves unreservedly to Christ’s work in God’s world. Moreover, the
Christian hope is not a pious dream. It is based on the solid evidence of
Christ’s own resurrection from the dead, together with specific promises
that he repeatedly gave us.
More than ever today we need to hold fast our future hope. Christ warned
his disciples that before the close of the age there would be much false
teaching that would lead many astray. There would also be wars and
earthquakes, persecution and wickedness. Cataclysmic events and cosmic
signs would likewise precede that day: ‘There will be signs in sun and
moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the
roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with
foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens
will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud
with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place,
look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’26
We cannot say precisely what these words refer to, nor can we be dogmatic
about the interpretation of Peter’s description of the day of the Lord when
‘the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be
dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be
burned up.’27 However, such poetic words are not inconsistent with a
nuclear holocaust, and the possibility of such a horrific form of total human
suicide grows with every year.
When Third World nations have nuclear weapons there is no good reason
why they should not use them. When the poor have been oppressed and
crippled for so long by the greed of affluent countries, it is understandable if
years of frustration are unleashed in nuclear violence. Billy Graham said in
1980 that if God does not judge our western society, he will have to
apologise to Sodom and Gomorrah. This was not a wild statement. The sin
of Sodom was not only sexual perversion – though there is plenty of that in
our western world. God declared through his prophet Ezekiel: ‘Behold, this
was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit
of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were
haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed
them.’28 Do we imagine that we who have acted with similar neglect and
arrogance shall escape the judgement of God? In the past God has often
used the evil of man to accomplish his divine purposes. There is little
reason to be optimistic about the future. From every perspective, in human
terms, it seems extraordinarily bleak.
The call to discipleship, however, is a call to God’s promised glory. In
view of the urgency of the times, we are to live lives that honour Christ, that
heal the wounds within his body, and that hasten the coming of the day of
God. This is not a day in which to play religious games. Time is running out
fast. Christ looks for disciples who are unashamed of him, bold in their
witness, obedient to his word, united in his love and filled with his Spirit.
There is no promise of an easy task. Joy and woe will be woven fine; tears,
pain and sweat intermingled with radiant love and inexpressible joy. Christ
wants disciples who will not only have hope, but give hope. Whatever we
receive we are to give way, that others too may rise up through the darkness
that covers the earth. ‘Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of
the Lord has risen upon you.’29 Christ’s disciples with such a hope can still
change the course of this world. Following St Francis of Assisi, we need to
pray that where there is hatred, we may give love; where there is injury,
pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where
there is sadness, joy; where there is darkness, light. ‘Grant that we may not
seek so much to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to
understand; to be loved, as to love; for in giving we receive, in pardoning,
we are pardoned, and dying we are born to eternal life.’
The disciple of Christ cannot lose: when he gives all, he gains all; when
he loses his life, he finds it. Jim Elliott, who was martyred as a missionary
amongst the Aucas in South America in 1956, summed it up like this: ‘He is
no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.’
The Lord reigns!

Notes

1. Luke 10:21, Weymouth

2. Quoted in the Church of England Newspaper, 13 September 1973
3. 1 Peter 4:12–14
4. Psalm 126
5. P. B. Shelley, Ode to the West Wind
6. A New Pentecost? Darton, Longman & Todd, 1975, p. 90
7. Cardinal Suenens
8. John 12:24
9. 1 Corinthians 4:8–13
10. Hebrews 12:2
11. Colossians 1:24
12. Romans 8:18
13. Quoted by Cardinal Suenens, op. cit., p. xi
14. Psalm 27
15. Philippians 3:10
16. 2 Corinthians 1:10
17. Isaiah 45:3
18. Tortured for Christ, Hodder & Stoughton, 1967, p. 19 and In God’s
Underground, W. H. Allen, 1968, p. 54
19. The Open Church, SCM, 1978, p. 35
20. 2 Cor. 4:11f
21. 2 Corinthians 1:3–7, Living Bible
22. 2 Corinthians 12:9f
23. Philippians 1:14
24. Mere Christianity, Collins, p. 116
25. Philippians 1:21, J. B. Phillips
26. Luke 21:25–28
27. 2 Peter 3:10
28. Ezckiel 16:49f
29. Isaiah 60:1
 APPENDIX A

An Evangelical Commitment to Simple

Lifestyle

For four days we have been together, 85 Christians from 27 countries, to

consider the resolve expressed in the Lausanne Covenant (1974) to
‘develop a simple lifestyle’. We have tried to listen to the voice of God,
through the pages of the Bible, through the cries of the hungry poor, and
through each other. And we believe that God has spoken to us.
We thank God for his great salvation through Jesus Christ, for his
revelation in Scripture which is a light for our path, and for the Holy Spirit’s
power to make us witnesses and servants in the world.
We are disturbed by the injustices of the world, concerned for its victims,
and moved to repentance for our complicity in it. We have also been stirred
to fresh resolves, which we express in this Commitment.

1. Creation
We worship God as the Creator of all things, and we celebrate the goodness
of his creation. In his generosity he has given us everything to enjoy, and
we receive it from his hands with humble thanksgiving. (1 Timothy 4:4, 6,
17) God’s creation is marked by rich abundance and diversity, and he
intends its resources to be husbanded and shared for the benefit of all.
We therefore denounce environmental destruction, wastefulness and
hoarding. We deplore the misery of the poor who suffer as a result of these
evils. We also disagree with the drabness of the ascetic. For all these deny
the Creator’s goodness and reflect the tragedy of the fall. We recognise our
own involvement in them, and we repent.

2. Stewardship
When God made man, male and female, in his own image, he gave them
dominion over the earth. (Genesis 1:26–28) He made them stewards of its
resources, and they became responsible to him as Creator, to the earth
which they were to develop, and to their fellow human beings with whom
they were to share its riches. So fundamental are these truths that authentic
human fulfilment depends on a right relationship to God, neighbour and the
earth with all its resources. People’s humanity is diminished if they have no
just share in those resources.
By unfaithful stewardship, in which we fail to conserve the earth’s finite
resources, to develop them fully, or to distribute them justly, we both
disobey God and alienate people from his purpose for them. We are
determined, therefore, to honour God as the owner of all things, to
remember that we are stewards and not proprietors of any land or property
that we may have, to use them in the service of others, and to seek justice
with the poor who are exploited and powerless to defend themselves.
We look forward to ‘the restoration of all things’ at Christ’s return. (Acts
3:21) At that time our full humanness will be restored; so we must promote
human dignity today.

3. Poverty and Wealth

We affirm that involuntary poverty is an offence against the goodness of
God. It is related in the Bible to powerlessness, for the poor cannot protect
themselves. God’s call to rulers is to use their power to defend the poor, not
to exploit them. The church must stand with God and the poor against
injustice, suffer with them and call on rulers to fulfil their God-appointed
role.
We have struggled to open our minds and hearts to the uncomfortable
words of Jesus about wealth. ‘Beware of covetousness,’ he said, and ‘a
person’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions’. (Luke
12:15) We have listened to his warnings about the danger of riches. For
wealth brings worry, vanity and false security, the oppression of the weak
and indifference to the sufferings of the needy. So it is hard for a rich person
to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23) and the greedy will be
excluded from it. The kingdom is a free gift offered to all, but it is
especially good news for the poor because they benefit most from the
changes it brings.
We believe that Jesus still calls some people (perhaps even us) to follow
him in a lifestyle of total, voluntary poverty. He calls all his followers to an
inner freedom from the seduction of riches (for it is impossible to serve God
and money) and to sacrificial generosity ‘to be rich in good works, to be
generous and ready to share’. (I Timothy 6:18) Indeed, the motivation and
model for Christian generosity is nothing less than the example of Jesus
Christ himself, who, though rich, became poor that through his poverty we
might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9) It was a costly, purposeful self-
sacrifice; we mean to seek his grace to follow him. We resolve to get to
know poor and oppressed people, to learn issues of injustice from them, to
seek to relieve their suffering, and to include them regularly in our prayers.

4. The new community

We rejoice that the church is the new community of the new age, whose
members enjoy a new life and a new lifestyle. The earliest Christian church,
constituted in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, was characterised by a
quality of fellowship unknown before. Those Spirit-filled believers loved
one another to such an extent that they sold and shared their possessions.
Although their selling and giving were voluntary, and some private property
was retained (Acts 5:4), it was made subservient to the needs of the
community, ‘None of them said that anything he had was his own’. (Acts
4:32) That is, they were free from the selfish assertion of proprietary rights.
And as a result of their transformed economic relationships, ‘there was not
a needy person among them’. (Acts 4:34)
This principle of generous and sacrificial sharing, expressed in holding
ourselves and our goods available for people in need, is an indispensable
characteristic of every Spirit-filled church. So those of us who are affluent
in any part of the world, are determined to do more to relieve the needs of
less privileged believers. Otherwise, we shall be like those rich Christians in
Corinth who ate and drank too much while their poor brothers and sisters
were left hungry, and we shall deserve the stinging rebuke Paul gave them
for despising God’s church and desecrating Christ’s body. (1 Corinthians
11:20–24) Instead, we determine to resemble them at a later stage when
Paul urged them out of their abundance to give to the impoverished
Christians of Judaea ‘that there may be equality’. (2 Corinthians 8:10–15) It
was a beautiful demonstration of caring love and of Gentile-Jewish
solidarity in Christ.
In this same spirit, we must seek ways to transact the church’s corporate
business together with the minimum expenditure on travel, food and
accommodation. We call on churches and para-church agencies in their
planning to be acutely aware of the need for integrity in corporate lifestyle
and witness.
Christ calls us to be the world’s salt and light, in order to hinder its social
decay and illumine its darkness. But our light must shine and our salt must
retain its saltness. It is when the new community is most obviously distinct
from the world – in its values, standards and lifestyle – that it presents the
world with a radically attractive alternative and so exercises its greatest
influence for Christ. We commit ourselves to pray and work for the renewal
of our churches.

5. Personal lifestyle
Jesus our Lord summons us to holiness, humility, simplicity and
contentment. He also promises us his rest. We confess, however, that we
have often allowed unholy desires to disturb our inner tranquility. So
without the constant renewal of Christ’s peace in our hearts, our emphasis
on simple living will be one-sided.
Our Christian obedience demands a simple lifestyle, irrespective of the
needs of others. Nevertheless, the facts that 800 million people are destitute
and that about 10,000 die of starvation every day make any other lifestyle
indefensible.
While some of us have been called to live among the poor, and others to
open our homes to the needy, all of us are determined to develop a simpler
lifestyle. We intend to re-examine our income and expenditure, in order to
manage on less and give away more. We lay down no rules or regulations,
for either ourselves or others. Yet we resolve to renounce waste and oppose
extravagance in personal living, clothing and housing, travel and church
buildings. We also accept the distinction between necessities and luxuries,
celebrations and normal routine, and between the service of God and
slavery to fashion. Where to draw the line requires conscientious thought
and decision by us, together with members of our family. Those of us who
belong to the West need the help of our Third World brothers and sisters in
evaluating our standards of spending. Those of us who live in the Third
World acknowledge that we too are exposed to the temptation of
covetousness. So we need each other’s understanding, encouragement and
prayers.

6. International Development
We echo the words of the Lausanne Covenant: ‘We are shocked by the
poverty of millions, and disturbed by the injustices which cause it.’ One
quarter of the world’s population enjoys unparalleled prosperity, while
another quarter endures grinding poverty. This gross disparity is an
intolerable injustice; we refuse to acquiesce in it. The call for a New
International Economic Order expresses the justified frustration of the Third
World.
We have come to understand more clearly the connection between
resources, income and consumption: people often starve because they
cannot afford to buy food, and because they have no access to power. We
therefore applaud the growing emphasis of Christian agencies on
development rather than aid. For the transfer of personnel and appropriate
technology can enable people to make good use of their own resources,
while at the same time respecting their dignity. We resolve to contribute
more generously to human development projects. Where people’s lives are
at stake, there should never be a shortage of funds.
But the action of governments is essential. Those of us who live in the
affluent nations are ashamed that our governments have mostly failed to
meet their targets for official development assistance, to maintain
emergency food stocks or to liberalise their trade policy.
We have come to believe that in many cases multi-national corporations
reduce local initiative in the countries where they work, and tend to oppose
any fundamental change in government. We are convinced that they should
become more subject to controls and more accountable.

7. Justice and Politics

We are also convinced that the present situation of social injustice is so
abhorrent to God that a large measure of change is necessary. We do not
believe in an earthly utopia, but neither are we pessimists. Change can
come, although not through commitment to simple lifestyle or human
development projects alone.
Poverty and excessive wealth, militarism and the arms industry, and the
unjust distribution of capital, land and resources are issues of power and
powerlessness. Without a shift of power through structural change these
problems cannot be solved.
The Christian church, along with the rest of society, is inevitably
involved in politics which is ‘the art of living in community’. Servants of
Christ must express his lordship in their political, social and economic
commitments and their love for their neighbours by taking part in the
political process. How, then, can we contribute to change?
First, we will pray for peace and justice, as God commands. Secondly,
we will seek to educate Christian people in the moral and political issues
involved, and so clarify their vision and raise their expectations. Thirdly, we
will take action. Some Christians are called to special tasks in government,
economics or development. All Christians must participate in the active
struggle to create a just and responsible society. In some situations
obedience to God demands resistance to an unjust established order.
Fourthly, we must be ready to suffer. As followers of Jesus, the Suffering
Servant, we know that service always involves suffering.
While personal commitment to change our lifestyle without political
action to change systems of injustice lacks effectiveness, political action
without personal commitment lacks integrity.

8. Evangelism
We are deeply concerned for the vast millions of unevangelised people in
the world. Nothing that has been said about lifestyle or injustice diminishes
the urgency of developing evangelistic strategies appropriate to different
cultural environments. We must not cease to proclaim Christ as Saviour and
Lord throughout the world. The church is not yet taking seriously its
commission to be witnesses ‘to the ends of the earth’. (Acts 1:8)
So the call to a responsible lifestyle must not be divorced from the call to
responsible witness; the credibility of our message is seriously diminished
whenever we contradict it by our lives. It is impossible with integrity to
proclaim Christ’s salvation if he has evidently not saved us from greed, or
his lordship if we are not good stewards of our possessions, or his love if
we close our hearts against the needy. When Christians care for each other
and for the deprived, Jesus Christ becomes more visibly attractive.
In contrast to this, the affluent lifestyle of some western evangelists when
they visit the Third World is understandably offensive to many.
We believe that simple living by Christians generally would release
considerable resources of finance and personnel for evangelism as well as
development. So by our commitment to a simple lifestyle we recommit
ourselves whole-heartedly to world evangelisation.

9. The Lord’s return

The Old Testament prophets both denounced the idolatries and injustices of
God’s people and warned of his coming judgement. Similar denunciations
and warnings are found in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus is coming
back soon to judge, to save and to reign. His judgement will fall upon the
greedy (who are idolaters) and upon all oppressors. For on that day the
King will sit upon his throne and separate the saved from the lost. Those
who have ministered to him by ministering to one of the least of one of his
needy brothers and sisters will be saved, for the reality of saving faith is
exhibited in serving love. But those who are persistently indifferent to the
plight of the needy, and so to Christ in them, will be irretrievably lost.
(Matthew 25:31–46) All of us need to hear again this solemn warning of
Jesus, and resolve afresh to serve him in the deprived. We therefore call on
our fellow Christians everywhere to do the same.

Our resolve
So then, having been freed by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, in
obedience to his call, in heartfelt compassion for the poor, in concern for
evangelism, development and justice, and in solemn anticipation of the Day
of Judgement, we humbly commit ourselves to develop a just and simple
lifestyle, to support one another in it and to encourage others to join with us
in the commitment.
We know that we shall need time to work-out its implications and that the
task will not be easy. May Almighty God give us grace to be faithful!
Amen.

‘An Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyle’ was written and

endorsed by the International Consultation on Simple Lifestyle, held at
Hoddesdon, England on March 17–21, 1980. The Consultation was
sponsored by the World Evangelical Fellowship Theological Commission’s
Unit on Ethics and Society (Dr Ronald Sider, Chairman) and the Lausanne
Committee on World Evangelisation’s Lausanne Theology and Education
Group (Rev. John Stott, Chairman).

I am grateful to the Administrative Secretary of the Theological

Commission of the World Evangelical Fellowship for permission to use this
statement.
 APPENDIX B

A Further Discipleship Course

(The author wishes to acknowledge that the basic format of this course was
suggested by a study guide in evangelism called In the Spirit of Love by
Bob Roxburgh and George Mallone of Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1975.)

The purpose of this course is to encourage personal study during the week,
followed by group work based on the week’s study. The following is
offered only as a sample; other themes could be similarly developed.

1. The Power of the Holy Spirit

Note: Please go through your Readings and Questions during the week
before the Group Study.

A) Daily Bible readings and study questions

Monday: Acts 1:1–14 – ‘The Promise of the Spirit’
1. Even after 40 days, when Jesus proved his resurrection and spoke of
the kingdom of God, his disciples still had a great need: (see also Luke
24:44–53)
What was it?
What must they do about it?
When would it happen?
Why was it necessary?
 2. In what ways were their ideas about the future wrong? (see 6–8)
What similar mistakes could we fall into today?
3. How did they prepare themselves for the coming of the Spirit?

Tuesday: Acts 2:1–36 – ‘The Coming of the Spirit’

1. How can we be filled with the Spirit today? See Acts 2:38; 5:32; John
7:37–39.
2. How should the filling of the Spirit be worked out in our lives? See
v.4, 11. 17–18, 22ff etc.
3. What is the place of tongues and other spiritual gifts in connexion with
the Spirit’s fulness? (4, 17f)
4. Is the filling (or baptism?) of the Spirit always something after
conversion? How can we help (a) young converts; (b) other Christians
who feel the need of ‘something more’?

Wednesday: Acts 3:1–26 – ‘Witnessing in Jerusalem’

1. Is it ever right to proclaim (or pray for) healing with such confidence,
as Peter showed? (1–10) What part should healing have in the witness
of the church today?
2. No doubt there were other sick people listening to Peter, but what was
the main thrust of his sermon? What can we learn from this?

Thursday: Acts 8:1–25 – ‘Witnessing in Judea and Samaria’

1. What ‘helped’ them to obey Christ’s instructions in Acts 1:8?

What can we learn from this about the Spirit’s prompting?
2. What can we learn from Philip’s ministry? (If time, read also verses
26–40).
3. How do you explain the coming of the Holy Spirit after the conversion
of these Samaritans? (14ff)

Friday: Acts 28:16–31 – ‘Witnessing to the end of the earth’

1. Paul had for years wanted to bring the gospel to Rome. What can we
learn from this about God’s working in our lives in answer to our
prayers?
 2. How did Paul witness to the Jewish leaders about Christ? When might
such boldness seem right?

Saturday and Sunday:

1. Personal
(a) How can we be continuously filled with the Spirit? What are your
main obstacles or hindrances?
(b) What are you doing, or could be doing, at present as a witness for
Christ, in your area, in the city, and in the world?

2. Corporate
(a) What hinders the power of the Spirit in your church?
(b) How should we expect the Spirit’s power to be manifest in and
through the church?

B) Group Study

1. Share briefly some of the answers to your Bible Study Questions.

2. What inadequacies or difficulties do we have when it comes to sharing
our faith with unbelievers? What can we do about this?

e.g. I don’t know the message

I don’t have the confidence that Christianity is always ‘true’
I can’t answer the questions people fire at me
I find it hard to talk to people about my personal faith
I feel guilty when I ‘lay’ things on other people
You lose too many friends when you do this
If just doesn’t seem all that urgent to me
I feel hypocritical talking about new life when I am so messed up myself
I don’t have a chance to relate to any non-Christians
They never ask, so I never tell them
I’m afraid to speak by myself, I need someone else along
It’s so unnatural for me
I’ve never seen it done tastefully, it always seems tactless and offensive
Any others.

C) Optional reading
One in the Spirit by David Watson (H & S)
I Believe in the Holy Spirit by Michael Green (H & S)
D) Verses to learn
John 7:37–39

2. The Body of Christ and the Gifts of the Spirit

Note: Please go through your Readings and Questions during the week
before the Group Study.

A) Daily Bible readings and study questions

Monday: 1 Corinthians 12:1–11 – ‘Varieties of gifts’

1. How can we discern between true and counterfeit spiritual gifts? (1–3)
2. Give a brief ‘definition’ of each of the spiritual gifts mentioned in
vv.4–11. In other words, how would you describe them to someone?
3. Do you think this is a complete list of the gifts of the Spirit? If not,
what others would you include?

Tuesday: 1 Corinthians 12:12–31 – ‘You are the body of Christ’

1. How should we recognise and encourage one another’s gifts? (12–25)

2. Can you explain, in your own words, verse 26?
3. What are the ‘higher gifts’ that we should earnestly desire? (31)

Wednesday: Romans 12 – ‘A living sacrifice’

1. If we are to use God’s gifts to his glory, what must we seek to do? (1–
6)
2. What further gifts does Paul mention in verses 6–8? Can you explain
them simply in your own words?
3. In the practical instructions of verse 9–21, what ones do you
personally find to be most relevant or difficult?

Thursday: Ephesians 4:1–16 – ‘Grow up … into Christ’

1. Why is the ‘unity of the Spirit’ really important? (1–6)

2. What ingredients make for the building up of the body of Christ into
maturity? (7–16)

Friday: 1 Corinthians 3 – ‘Only God gives the growth’

 1. What problems did the Corinthian church face, and what similar
dangers could we face today? (1–9)
2. What sort of test are Christians to experience? What does it mean to
build with ‘gold, silver, precious stones’? (10–23)

Saturday and Sunday:

1. Personal application
(a) What gifts are you using in the fellowship?
(b) What gifts are you praying for? How could you develop them?

2. Corporate application
(a) Think of specific Christians whose gifts have helped you in the
past, and thank God for them.
(b) How is the church developing along the lines of Ephesians 4:7–16?

B) Group Study

1. Share briefly some of your answers to Bible Study Questions.

2. Discuss how gifts can be developed within the fellowship to edify the
body of Christ.

C) Optional reading
(See books for previous study.)

3. The Great Commission

Note: Please go through your Readings and Questions during the week
before the Group Study.

A) Daily Bible readings and study questions

Monday: Matthew 28:1–20 – ‘Go … lo …’

1. What points of evidence do verses 1–15 contribute towards the fact of

the resurrection of Christ? (briefly!)
2. What position does Jesus have in the world and in the church, resulting
from his crucifixion and exaltation? (16–18; see Phil. 2:8–11; Eph.
1:20–23)
3. What does it mean to ‘make disciples’?
 4. ‘Baptising … teaching …’ What should be the place of Word and
Sacrament in ‘making disciples’?

Tuesday: Mark 16:9–20 (Not all manuscripts have this ‘longer ending’ of
Mark, but at least it represents the Church’s tradition, whether part of the
true Word of God, or not.)

1. What further evidence is there here for the resurrection? Why were the
eleven slow to believe?
2. What place should baptism have in ‘preaching the gospel’? See also 1
Corinthians 1:13–17.
3. What significance are these signs for today’s evangelism? (17–20; see
Romans 15:18f)

Wednesday: Luke 24:44–53; 1 Corinthians 15:1–11 – ‘You are witnesses’

1. What is the essence of the gospel that saves? (see both passages)
2. What does it mean to be a witness ‘to Christ’ (Acts 1:8) or a witness
‘of these things’?
3. What is the value of personal testimony? (1 Corinthians 15:6–11)

Thursday: 2 Corinthians 5:10–21 – Motivation

1. List at least 5 motives in evangelism in this passage. See, from these

verses, what you can learn about them. Write down any common
denominator, or any striking factor.

Friday: 1 Corinthians 9:15–27 – ‘By all means save some’

1. What different ways can you (personally) ‘preach the gospel’ today?
Do you have the same urge as Paul expresses it in verses 15–18? If
not, why not?
2. Explain the principles in verses 19–23 in your own terms. How does
this apply in your situation, for example?
3. What should we guard against, and how, from vv.24–27?

Saturday and Sunday:

 1. Personal
If someone you knew had just become a Christian, how would you
follow them up, assuming you were given the responsibility? (Give as
much detail as space and time allows!)
2. Corporate
(a) How effective is your local church in ‘making disciples’?
(b) What more could realistically be done – by whom and how?

B) Group Study

1. Share some of your answers to Bible Study Questions.

2. Discuss some of the problems you have in evangelism. How could
these be overcome?
3. What evangelistic work are you seeking to do outside your church
buildings?

C) Optional reading
I Believe in Evangelism by David Watson (H & S)
The Christian Persuader by Leighton Ford (H & S)

D) Verses to learn
Matthew 28:18–20

4. Sharing Good News

Note: please go through your Readings and Questions during the week
before the Group Study.

A) Daily Bible readings and study questions

Monday: Luke 19:1–10 – Zacchaeus

1. What were the steps by which Jesus brought ‘salvation’ to his house?
2. What is the meaning of repentance; and how far should a person
understand the implications of this before he comes to faith in Christ?

Tuesday: Acts 8:26–40 – Philip the evangelist

1. What lessons can you learn from this passage which indicate that
Philip was such a good evangelist?
 2. ‘He told him the good news of Jesus’. (35) What steps would you use,
with verses, in order to lead a person to Jesus?

Wednesday: John 3:1–21 – Nicodemus

1. How far is it necessary, from the example of Jesus, to answer a

person’s questions before leading him to personal faith in Christ?
2. What can we learn about the sovereignty of the Spirit in evangelism?
Where does human will and responsibility come in?
3. ‘He who does not believe is condemned already.’ (18) Why? And why
do some not believe? (19–21)

Thursday: 1 Corinthians 1:18; 2:5 – ‘We preach Christ crucified’

1. In our message, what is the ‘power of God’? See 1:18, 23f; 2:2, 5.
2. What is meant by preaching ‘Christ crucified’?
3. Why can a sense of weakness, inadequacy and nervousness be an asset
in evangelism?

Friday: Acts 20:17–37 – Evangelism and follow-up

1. Twice Paul said ‘I did not shrink’ (20, 27) – suggesting that sharing
good news is not easy. What did he not shrink from?
2. How should we ‘take heed to ourselves and to all the flock’ (28) – the
flock referring, at least, to anyone for whom God has given us a
special responsibility?
3. What lessons did Paul teach by his life and example?

Saturday and Sunday:

1. Personal application
Using John 4:1–37, check your position as a witness to Christ Tick the
appropriate evaluation:
 Having checked your position, pray that God will strengthen what is
weak in your witness to Christ.

2. Corporate application
(a) In what ways could your church strengthen its evangelism?
(b) In what ways could your church improve its follow-up?
(c) How could Christians in your church be better trained and equipped
for evangelism and follow-up?

B) Group Study

1. Share briefly some of your answers to Bible Study Questions.

2. Discuss some of the opportunities for evangelism you have in your
neighbourhood and/or place of work. What are you doing? What
difficulties do you have? What more could be done?

C) Optional reading
 How to Give Away Your Faith by Paul Little (IVP)

D) Verses to learn
Romans 3:23; 6:23; Isaiah 53:6; Mark 8:34; Revelation 3:20

5. Answering Common Questions

Note: Please go through your questions during the week before the Group
Study. On this occasion you may need a concordance and other aids,
although a few verses are suggested as a start!

A) Daily study questions

What answers (with verses where possible) would you give to the
following?
Monday: ‘I don’t believe in God.’
(See Romans 1:18–23; John 14:8–11; John 1:14–18; 1 John 4:12)
Tuesday: ‘I don’t feel any need of God.’
(See John 3:3–18; Ephesians 2:1–3, 12; Hebrews 9:27)
Wednesday: ‘What about suffering?’
(See Luke 13:1–5; Romans 8:15–25; 2 Corinthians 4:16–18; Psalm 73)
Thursday: ‘What about those who have never heard?’
(See Luke 12:47–48; Romans 1:18–23; 3:19–24; Acts 10:34f; Genesis
18:25)
Friday: ‘What about other religions?’
(See John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5–6; Hebrews 1:1–3)
Saturday: ‘I think I’m good enough as I am!’
(See John 3:3–7; Romans 2:1–3; 3:9–20; Ephesians 2:8–10; Galatians
2:16)
Sunday: Write down any other questions, objections or excuses you have
commonly heard; and give, where possible, some passages in answer to
them.

B) Group study

1. Share briefly some of your answers to the Study Questions.

2. Discuss ways of being equipped with answers – See 1 Peter 2:15.
C) Optional reading
How to Give Away Your Faith by Paul Little (IVP)
Is Anyone There? by David Watson (H & S)

D) Verses to learn
Any of the above!

6. Visiting and Counselling

Note: Please go through your questions the week before the Group Study.

A) Daily Study Questions

Monday: Evangelistic visiting

1. Why is this necessary? Matthew 9:35–10:1; Romans 10:13–15

2. From Luke 10:1–20 what principles can you learn that are relevant for
today and in your context?
3. Some general points:
When to go: Choose a likely convenient time. Avoid clashing with the
most popular TV programmes, e.g.
What to do: Knock (persistently), pray, wait, door opens, smile …!
What to say: Announce immediately who you are (not JW etc.); where
you are from; what you are doing.
Try to get inside the house; develop conversation; don’t be in a hurry;
listen patiently; record information as quickly as possible afterwards
(out of sight!).

Tuesday: Follow-up visiting (e.g. after an evangelistic service etc.)

1. From 1 Thessalonians 2:1–13, what should your attitude and approach

be like – over a period of time?
2. From Acts 20:19–35, what should you aim to teach and watch for –
over a period of time?
3. Some general points:
Visit as soon as possible after the name has been passed to you –
within 24 hours, if possible.
Be friendly, and begin to establish a warm relationship.
Go to someone of the same sex and approximately the same age.
 Be interested in them as a person.
Read a short passage together – e.g. Psalm 103.
Fix up a regular time to meet, but keep the sessions fairly short.
Lend any useful literature.

Wednesday: Sick visiting

1. From James 5:13–16, what can we learn?

2. General points:
Avoid being either hearty or gloomy.
Sit down, but not always on the bed (pressure might be painful).
If a person is deaf, speak up or write what you want to say.
Don’t be hurried, but don’t stay too long.
Don’t make rash promises about coming again and then fail.
Read some suitable verse(s) and then pray (briefly) – sometimes hold a
person’s hand (or lay hands on them) whilst praying.
If a patient is very ill, read a well-known passage, e.g. Psalm 23.
If a patient is unconscious, still read and pray aloud.
Leave suitable literature.

Thursday: Counselling those lacking assurance

1. From 1 John 5:13 we are meant to have assurance. How? See 1:1–3, 7;
2:3, 15, 29; 3:9, 14, 21; 4:13; 5:4, 19.
2. Try to discover why those doubts persist: see Chapter 8 in Live a New
Life by David Watson (H & S).
3. Show the nature of faith from Luke 1:30, 38, 46–49, etc.
Help the person to rest on the promises in God’s word – see Matthew
7:24–27; 2 Peter 1:2–4, 19.
Pray for the person to be filled with the Holy Spirit – see Luke 11:9–
13.

Friday: Counselling those who are depressed or defeated

1. Read Psalms 42–43 and Romans 8:26–39 as useful material.

What can we learn here about God’s answer to our battles?
 2. Be very gentle and understanding. Pray for the gifts of knowledge and
wisdom, so that the real problem may be revealed.
3. In some cases it may be necessary (gently) to give them time openly to
confess (a) every sin, especially sin against others; (b) every way in
which they have been hurt by others. It may be right for them to
confess the sin of self-pity, and to begin to offer God the sacrifice of
praise.

Saturday: Counselling those with wrong relationships

1. From Philippians 2:1–5; 4:1–7; Ephesians 4:25–32 and 2 Corinthians

6:14–7:1 what can we learn in general terms? (Most of Paul’s letters
deal with this vast theme!)

Sunday: Evaluation
(a) Personal: In which areas –
are you weak?
would you appreciate further training?
do you, in any way (however slight) feel called by God to serve?
(b) Corporate: In which areas could your church be strengthened, and
how?

B) Group Study

1. Discuss some of the answers to your questions.

C) Optional reading
Live a New Life by David Watson (H & S)
New Life, New Lifestyle by Michael Green (H & S)

D) Verse to learn
Isaiah 50:4

7. Preparing and Giving Talks

Note: Please work on this during the week before the Group Study.
Introduction: Most people are very nervous at the thought of giving a talk,
however brief! But most people are quite able to do so. However, a good
simple talk does require careful preparation. Mark Twain: ‘It takes me three
weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech!’ Preparing a talk is like
building a house:

A) Select the site

With the ‘ground’ as the Bible, the ‘site’ will be some verse/passage,
etc. 1 Peter 4:11 – Our ideas are unimportant; God’s word is vital.

1. Use common sense.

2. Keep a ‘Jottings Notebook’ (especially if speaking fairly regularly).
3. Know the needs of your hearers, as far as possible.
4. Pray – before any specific preparation begins.

B) Lay the foundations

Study the verse/passage/theme as thoroughly as you can, until you really
know what God is saying in his word. Without this there will be no
conviction about your talk, and it may easily collapse!

C) Study the plan, or work out your message carefully.

Have ONE AIM: It is often useful to write out your aim in one short
sentence, so that the rest of the talk can be referred back to that. Be
ruthless! What is God’s message for this occasion?
N.B. There are usually many different ways of tackling a passage.
N.B. Remember Wesley’s words, ‘I offered them Christ.’

D) Erect the scaffolding

1. A simple plan: State your point (a heading), Explain, Illustrate, Apply.

2. Work out divisions and headings (usually about 2–3 points in a talk).
(a) Use words of verse (b) Ask questions (Who? What? Why? etc.)
(c) ‘Ask alliteration’s artful aid’ – but not too forced!

E) Build the walls

Give some substance to your talk. We are to ‘stimulate’, ‘instruct’, ‘feed’,
‘stir’, etc. Most talks will need some doctrine and teaching. Not just ‘Put
your trust in Jesus’ – say why etc.
For this, study more than one translation
 have a Concordance
use a well-chosen commentary.

F) Don’t forget the windows – Illustrations are invaluable. Make a note of

stories, quotes, topical news, etc. These often allow much light to fall on
a path of solid doctrine.
G) Make it fit for living – This is to be –
not a museum
but a house to live in.
Thus the talk must be relevant; suggest practical action, where possible.

H) Check front and back doors

i.e. Beginning and ending of talks are of special importance. Some useful
opening: A question, startling statement, topical news item, story,
advertisement, puzzle or problem, etc.
Also know when to stop and how to stop!
Final preparation and delivery:
For most people (though not all) the following is probably wise, at least to
start with:

1. Write out the talk in full, and then condense it to shorter notes.
2. Rehearse it – say it aloud (or whisper it!)
3. Be natural in
(a) bearing – smile, stand still, avoid mannerisms
(b) voice – ‘enlarged conversation’
4. Use variety in pace and pitch. Use pauses.
5. At all times PRAY 1 Corinthians 2:1–5

Practical work: Prepare a short talk of not more than five minutes on any
verse/theme from the Bible, and give this at the next Study Group.
 Select Bibliography

Babbage, Stuart B., The Mark of Cain, Paternoster, 1966

Barclay, William, More New Testament Words, SCM, 1948
Baxter, James K., Thoughts about the Holy Spirit, Fortuna Press, 62 Friend
St, Karori, NZ
Beall, James Lea, Your Pastor, Your Shepherd, Logos 1977
Boer, H., Pentecost and Missions, Lutterworth, 1961
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, Life Together, SCM, 1954
— Cost of Discipleship, SCM, 1959
Bosch, David J., Witness to the World, Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1980
Brown, Colin, ed., The International Dictionary of the New Testament,
Paternoster, 1976
Bruce, A. B., Training of the Twelve, Kregel, 1971
Coleman, Robert E., The Master Plan of Evangelism, Revell, 1963
Edwards, Jonathan, Thoughts on the Revival
Foster, Richard J., Celebration of Discipline, Hodder & Stoughton, 1980
Green, Michael, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Hodder & Stoughton, 1975
— Evangelism – now and then, IVP, 1979
— I Believe in Satan’s Downfall, Hodder & Stoughton, 1981
Griffiths, Michael, Give Up Your Small Ambitions, IVP, 1977
Harper, Michael, Spiritual Warfare, Hodder & Stoughton, 1970
— A New Way of Living, Hodder & Stoughton, 1973
— This is the Day, Hodder & Stoughton, 1974
Hartman, D. and Sutherland, D., Guidebook to Discipleship, Harvest
House, Irvine, California, USA, 1976
Henricksen, Walter A., Disciples Are Made, Not Born, Victor Books, 1974
Hinnebusch, Paul, Praise a Way of Life, Word of Life, 1976
Hummel, Charles, Fire in the Fireplace, Mowbray, 1978
Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
Koch, Kurt E., Christian Counselling and Occultism,
— Occult Bondage and Deliverance, Evangelization Publishers, 7501
Berghausen Bd, Western Germany, 1970
Lewis, C. S., Screwtape Letters, Bles, 1942
— Mere Christianity; Collins, 1952
Lovelace, Richard F., Dynamics of Spiritual Life, Paternoster, 1979
Loyola, St Ignatius, Spiritual Exercises, Newman, 1954
Miller, Keith, The Taste of New Wine, Word, 1965
Moltmann, Jürgen, The Open Church, SCM, 1978
Morton, T. Ralph, The Twelve Together, Iona Community, 1956
Muggeridge, Malcolm, Christ and the Media, Hodder & Stoughton, 1977
Nevius, John, Demon Possession
Nida, Eugene, Customs, Culture and Christianity, Tyndale, 1963
Ortiz, Juan Carlos, Disciple, Lakeland, 1971
Packer, J. I., Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, IVP, 1971
— Under God’s Word, Marshall; Morgan and Scott, 1980
Powell, John, Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am? Collins, 1969
Quoist, Michael, Prayers of Life, Gill, 1963
Richards, John, But Deliver Us From Evil, Darton, Longman & Todd, 1974
Richards, Lawrence O., A New Face For The Church, Zondervan, 1970
— A Theology of Christian Education, Zondervan, 1975
Saunders, J. Oswald, Problems of Christian Discipleship, OMF, 1958
Sider, Ronald J., Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Hodder &
Stoughton, 1977
Snyder, Howard A., New Wineskins, Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1977
— The Community of the King, IVP, 1977
Stewart, James S., Heralds of God, Hodder & Stoughton, 1947
Stott, John R. W., Christian Counter-Culture, IVP, 1978
Stott, John R. W. ed., Obeying Christ in a Changing World, Collins, 1977
Suenens, Cardinal, A New Pentecost? Darton, Longman & Todd, 1975
Taylor, John, Enough is Enough, SCM, 1975
Townsend, Anne, Prayer Without Pretending, Scripture Union, 1973
Tozer, A. W., The Divine Conquest, Ravel, 1964
Wagner, C. Peter, Your Church Can Grow, Glendale, C.A., Regal, 1976
Wallis, Jim, Agenda for Biblical People, Harper & Row, 1976
White, John, The Golden Cow, Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1979
— The Cost of Commitment, IVP, 1976
Wilson, Carl, With Christ in the School of Disciple-Building, Zondervan,
1976
Wright, J. Stafford, Christianity and the Occult, Scripture Union, 1977
Wurmbrand, Richard, Tortured for Christ, Hodder & Stoughton, 1967
— In God’s Underground, W. H. Allen, 1968
Yoder, John Howard, Politics of Jesus, Eerdmans, 1976

Magazines
Evangelical Quarterly Mission, Box 794, Wheaton, Illinois, 60187, USA
New Covenant, PO Box 617, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48107, USA
Pastoral Renewal, PO Box 8617, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48107, USA
Third Way, 13a Hellesdon Park Road, Norwich, NR6 5DR