Mountainview International Church

Contrary to its fame as the “graveyard of missions,” I hold out much hope for Europe. Despite what many say, there are actually many exciting things happening. The problem is that they often do not have the appearance of traditional evangelical practices and are, therefore, easily dismissed. In fact, much of what I believe God is doing is so contrary to traditional evangelical practices, that it seems actually to anger some of our sisters and brothers. But, whether it makes us angry or not, God is at work in Europe. So, what is He doing and how can we participate?

We Need to Be Invited to the Party

Evangelism is a supernatural process. In reality, it is God who brings people to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. It has never been our cleverness, our techniques, our booklets, or our persuasiveness. Had we the “eyes” to see, we could more clearly understand that, in the spiritual realm, our most effective evangelistic opportunities, regardless of method, are simply obedient responses to the Father’s invitation to enter into a ministry which He had already begun. In fact, we see in the Word that even Jesus waited for the Father to invite him into ministry.

In John 4, Jesus strikes up an interesting conversation with a Samaritan woman. What begins as a simple conversation about a drink of water ends up as a town revival meeting. Let’s look again at this most familiar encounter.

Jesus opens his conversation with the woman by making a most uncommon request: “Give me a drink.” Recognizing the unusual circumstances, she immediately brings their religious differences into the picture: “You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” Since she wants to talk and has brought up the subject, Jesus throws out a big hook to see if she will bite: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” This spiritual conversation continues even though she has a tendency to go down rabbit trails, while Jesus skillfully keeps pointing her back to himself and to his offer of eternal life. To demonstrate his credibility, Jesus then ends the conversation by making some amazing prophetic statements which cause the woman to return and invite the men of the town to what becomes a revival meeting. Salvation comes to a Samaritan village.

Where was the invitation from God? It came in several parts. First, Jesus “tested the waters” by asking provocative questions to determine whether or not God was at work. Had the woman merely refused or grunted: “Here!” Jesus would likely have taken a drink, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, said thanks, and waited for the disciples to return. However, God had something else in mind. The woman brought up spiritual issues, indicating to a discerning Jesus that, indeed, God was up to something and inviting Jesus to participate with Him. Jesus waited until he saw that the Father was at work and then joined him in that work.

Then, the Father’s invitation, implicit in the woman’s reaction, became explicit in the request and response of the townspeople in John 4:40, 41.

So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking [inviting] him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of His word.

In John 5, we see the same principle demonstrated. Jesus is in Jerusalem where he notices a man who has been crippled for many years. Discussing with the man his condition, Jesus then asks if he would like to be healed. When the man responds positively, he is healed. Note the progression:
 Jesus strikes up a conversation.
 The other person responds to the conversation in an affirmative manner.
 Jesus offers to demonstrate spiritual power.
 Again, the person responds positively.
 Jesus then acts, joining with the Father, and God’s work gets done.

This is a similar pattern to Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well. But, in this second incident, the local “spirituality police” decide that Jesus isn’t working according to their ideas of spiritual correctness. After a thorough investigation, they complain about his apparent infraction, to which Jesus responds:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel. (John 5: 19-20)

There was something in these interactions that Jesus saw as the Father at work. What was the Father doing? What did Jesus notice? Where was the invitation? [1] There certainly wasn’t an audible voice from the sky, at least not in this instance. Jesus did, however, seem to be highly sensitive to God coloring normal, every day situations with the supernatural. When he recognized signs of God’s presence, he assumed that the Father was inviting him to move forward. Thus, one principle is simply this: When people respond positively to conversation about the supernatural or spirituality or, in fact, bring up the subject themselves, we need to move forward confidently yet sensitively, trying to discern whether or not God is inviting us to participate with what he is already doing.

Jesus moved into these situations in natural ways watching for a response. He didn’t force his way with a one-size-fits-all gospel presentation. He certainly didn’t preach to people when they didn’t want to listen [2]. But he did preach. He was not passive and, as a result, found himself in all sorts of conversations about spiritual things. He was on the lookout for opportunities opened up by the Father; opportunities in which the Father was already at work. He did what the Father was doing “in like manner.” And, according to John, Jesus knew that being invited into ministry was an expression of the Father’s love for Him. To participate in the Father’s work was marvelous.

To be effective in evangelism, we need to be invited to the party by the Father. We should not initiate ministry unless we discern that God has opened the door for us, that He has invited us to do ministry. If God is not at work, why would we want to do it in the first place?

We Need to Discern the Father’s Invitations

What does an invitation from the Father look like? To be sure, there is no formula, but, like Jesus, we can look for signs of God’s presence. Sometimes, we may be well into the process before we realize, “Wow, God is at work here.” Friends of mine, Bill and Jane, experienced this in a clear way.

It began with a simple request from their daughter that they host a foreign exchange student in their home. The first student they hosted, a young man from the Basque country of Spain, came to Christ and started to grow. Concerned that their son was being brainwashed by a religious cult, his parents made a transatlantic visit to this American family. Their apprehension, however, soon turned to a sense of wonder. They were fascinated by the change in their son and by the love that he was shown in Bill and Jane’s home as well as in their church. These loving parents not only gave their blessing to what was happening, but soon Bill and Jane were getting requests from this young man’s extended family to host their children as well. From the small step of taking in an exchange student, a ministry in which a number of young people have come to Christ has come into being. Still, Bill and Jane were well into the process before they saw what the Father was inviting them to do.

Sometimes the Father invites us to the party through prayer. A few years ago, I had a strong conviction to pray about entering into a specific ministry. At first I was uncertain. Was I hearing from God or from my own flesh? Did I want to do this because I wanted to be important and significant, or was God really speaking to me? In the absence of clear confirmation, I simply prayed. Soon, God began to confirm this through other people. Though I had not told anyone about my prayer burden, people began to call me to talk about this particular type of ministry. They asked if they could be involved with me though I had said nothing about it to them or to anyone else.

My prayer then became: “God, bring five couples to be involved in this with us.” Although the first couple had contacted me within a month, I still felt it could take years to find the remaining four couples. However, within a ten-day period, four additional couples had contacted me, two of which I hade never even met. In ten days God had accomplished what I thought might take years. Before long, there were ten couples involved, each of which initiated the contact. From that beginning, an ongoing church planting ministry has evolved. God confirmed, through answers to prayer, that the burden I felt was, indeed, an invitation to go through a door that he had opened. He continues to bless this ministry to this day.

What might have happened had I simply plowed ahead on my own to initiate this ministry? What if I had gotten on the phone and called everyone I knew, twisting people’s arms to join me? Would the same supernatural confirmation and subsequent blessing have occurred? I don’t think so. God blesses what he is doing, not what we want him (or others) to do.

Sometimes the Father invites us to the party though prophecy. Though my own spiritual formation took place in a context where this type of event is not accepted, I have personally seen it happen. While at a conference in October, 2002, a colleague with a prophetic ministry gave a prophecy to a man named Ignacio, one which had a few key elements:
 Ignacio’s name was ‘General’ which meant he was a strategist.
 He was to help strategically lead a house church movement just getting started in Spain.
 He was to join with certain people (specifically named) already involved with this movement and develop a father/son relationship with them.
 He was to go through a brief, very difficult period in the near future, but he wasn’t to despair because this period would end.

The man who gave the prophecy did not know Ignacio. Actually, very few people at the conference knew him. Until this point in the conference, Ignacio had not said a word and had been rather reserved. He certainly wasn’t standing out as the “big leader” type.

At that point, I approached Ignacio, whom I had only spoken to once by phone. Asking him how he was doing, it was clear he was quite emotional because many of the prophecy’s specific points had deep and significant meaning for him. I asked him if he would like to go outside and pray together. As we prayed and talked, I became very impressed with Ignacio’s clear giftedness in ministry strategy and vision. Though he was relatively young, I was surprised by his breadth of experience. Ignacio had come to the conference because he was convinced that there was something missing strategically in the way church was currently being done in Spain. He had been planting churches, based on various models; he had learned much, but, as a Spaniard, he knew there was something missing. He came to the October conference hoping to find that missing strategic element. He felt that being at the conference was a divine appointment because he was finding what he was looking for.

As we spoke, I became convinced that this young man was divinely-appointed to lead a Spanish “house church” movement. I told him that I felt that he needed to get in contact with the leaders of the house church movement in Switzerland and Germany, people who could help him in his God-given task. I named some specific leaders by name who, in fact, were present in the Spanish conference.

“Oh, I’m moving to Switzerland next week”, he told me.

“Where in Switzerland?”

“Schaffhausen; my wife is from there and, since she is pregnant, we decided to move up there so she could be with her family. I have just finished my responsibilities in the planting of a church in Extremadura. I have come to this conference and it is the last thing we need to do before we move.”

“Ignacio,” I said, “Schaffhausen is just across the border from where that house church leader lives in Germany. There are house churches in Schaffhausen.” You need to talk to these people right away and set this up.

So I took him inside and personally introduced him to the people I had specifically named. They struck up a friendship and promised to meet in Switzerland or Germany.

The next time I saw Ignacio, after the October conference, was in Prague, Czech Republic in November, 2002. After he had moved to Switzerland, I had invited him to participate in a leadership conference for those involved in the European House Church movement. Ignacio had driven to the conference with one of the men I had introduced him to in Spain. I asked him if they got together often.

“Sure,” he said, “We live less than ten kilometers from each other. I see him often and since then he has taken me to Holland to see how to train house church planters.”

Since then, I have seen Ignacio one more time, face-to-face, during one of his visits to Spain. Over dinner, he outlined how he had spent the last few months and explained how much he was learning. He and his wife had planted a house church in Switzerland. He told me of the various merits of different training models he had experienced first hand. We discussed how one-on-one discipleship and quality Bible study could be accomplished in a Spanish house church context. I was amazed at how much he had learned, stunned by his insights, thrilled by his critical and insightful analysis of what house churches should look like in the Spanish context.

“Ignacio, how has life been for you personally?”

“It has been really difficult, one of the most difficult times of my life.”

“Why?” I was thinking to myself that this would have been one of the most fulfilling experiences of his life, considering how much he had learned and the extent of his ministerial development.

“Did you know that in Switzerland they have police that come into your house to check how many radios you have, to make sure you are paying your radio tax? Did you know that if you happen to throw your garbage away in the wrong place they have garbage police who will go through the garbage to look for clues so they can hunt you down and fine you? Did you know that you can’t use a mobile phone on a bus? It is against the law because it might bother someone. I had an old lady yell at me the other day for talking on the bus. I don’t think Switzerland is a good place for a Spaniard; you don’t have any personal freedoms.”

“Do you think these hardships have anything to do with your prophecy about the brief difficulties you were about to experience?”

“Oh sure, this was the fulfilling of prophecy. But I am going to be back in Spain in June.”

I have certainly not exhausted the ways that God invites us to the party, nor could I. I’m not sure I know all the ways that he invites us into ministry. He is sovereign and knows how to communicate with us. There is, however, another invitation that is vital if we are to be effective in evangelism in the postmodern world. This is the invitation from the person with whom we desire to share Christ.

Getting a Party Invitation from our Postmodern Friends

In 1 Peter 3: 13-15, we find an insight in how to witness in a seemingly hostile, postmodern environment.

And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.

When are we to share our faith, especially in a hostile environment? Peter says, “When someone asks us to give an account for the hope that is in you….” Hold on!
 You mean that, in most cases, they should ask first?
 You mean they should have a reason to ask?
 You mean there has to be something in my life, something that they see first before I share my faith?

Let me make a couple of statements about what Peter is not saying. He is not saying we need to bone up on apologetics so we can prove we are right through a recitation of Bible facts. He is not saying that we should fight about every controversial public issue that seems to pop up in the newspaper. He is not saying that having convincing scientific facts will sway our audience. Peter is talking about quality of life, about the powerful testimony of a life where Christ is clearly in charge. Facts are not bad or wrong. In fact, they can be good. However, they are not nearly as convincing as a Spirit-filled character.

Postmodern people do not appreciate someone sharing their point of view about controversial issues, without that “someone” first being invited to do so. This is particularly true of religious convictions. In fact, most postmoderns wouldn’t be so kind as to use such a gentle word as “share.” They would say something like: “Who asked you to jam your religion down my throat?” Postmoderns have been accused of having no moral absolutes. This is not true. They just have different moral absolutes, one of which is that you don’t try to convert someone without an invitation. How offended are you when someone violates your moral absolutes? Aren’t you even more offended when you are somehow involved in the process against your will? Now perhaps you can understand why postmoderns get so emotional when we witness to them without an invitation.

To make it worse, the more we insist on witnessing, the more powerful their negative reaction. Let me try to illustrate this with the concept of a semi-permeable membrane in a cell. In biology, a semi-permeable membrane is one that allows certain substances to pass through while blocking others. Once a substance is permitted through the membrane, it can do what it was designed to do within the cell. Substances which are not permitted to pass through the membrane never affect the inner workings of the cell.

Social contexts function in a similar manner. Someone who is on the outside of the “social membrane” of postmoderns should recognize the existence of a relational “semi-permeable membrane.” If this principle is violated, and if someone speaks about spiritual things without some type of invitation, implicit or explicit, they will be rejected and may lose whatever potential for relationship existed to that point. However, those who have passed through the membrane may quite possibly be welcomed to talk about spiritual things.

The analogy of the semi-permeable membrane has many implications and applications. First, think of the membrane as a tautly stretched piece of latex rubber, like that used to make surgical gloves. Now, imagine trying to push a marble through the latex. It will not pass through, and the harder you push, the stronger the resistance. Eventually, the resistance will cause that marble to be flung away, similar to shooting it out of a slingshot. The harder the push, the farther the marble will sail away. In the same manner, the harder we press in with preaching the gospel to postmoderns who have not invited us into the conversation, the stronger will be their rejection. I personally believe we do more damage to the cause of Christ than good to the cause of Christ by this type of evangelism, no matter how noble our intentions.

How does one share the gospel with a postmodern if they are so resistant to spiritual things? Actually, they aren’t resistant to spiritual things; they are resistant to pushiness and the violation of their moral absolutes. In fact, postmoderns are often very open to conversations about spirituality and are often quite open to a relationship with Christ. But, they are only open to spiritual conversations with people who have been allowed to pass through their “membrane.” Penetration comes by invitation and invitation by special relationship. To witness to a postmodern from whom you have no relationally-based invitation is an exercise in futility. They decide when, how and with whom they will invite someone “through their membrane.” To force this process is to invite a forceful rejection.

Ministry in the life of the postmodern comes on the basis of the quality of our relationships and the quality of our living. All of life should be viewed through this lens. In every relationship we possess an opportunity to minister the life of Jesus to others, both to Christians and to non-Christians. At the beginning of this article, the question was asked: How does one do evangelism in the postmodern world? The answer: we don’t “do” evangelism, we don’t “do” ministry. We live the supernatural life of Jesus. All of life is ministry. We can not and should not dichotomize our lives into ministry and non-ministry. Thus the onus (and privilege) is on us, as believers, to be the fragrance of Christ (2 Cor. 2: 15, 16)italicized text in the power of the Spirit, at all times and in all situations. This means that all of life is permeated with the supernatural. This means we are dependent on God to produce his fruit in and though us. We can not rely on our own efforts and the acts of our will to accomplish Kingdom work. That is just religious activity. Authentic fruit is that which Christ develops in our lives, and we don’t get to determine what that will look like. Jesus simply promised that if we abide in him, we will bear much fruit.

Being the Fragrance of Jesus

This does not mean we have to be secretive about Jesus, who is the focal point of our very existence. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is our life, the captivator of our every thought. He is the supernatural presence that fills our souls with his love, peace and joy. We are in love with him, and he with us. If this is how we live, it will be evident. Then, the subject of Jesus will come up at the right time. It will be natural and winsome rather than artificial and forced.

We can take heart; relational membranes are semi-permeable. One can get through and, when one does, sharing our faith becomes a joy both to the one who hears and to the one who proclaims the power of Jesus. As stated above, penetration comes through invitation, and invitation comes through special relationships of which there are only two: family relationships and deep friendships. In terms of family relationships, one is born into or marries into the family; the only remaining avenue is adoption. And, in terms of deep friendships, no amount of insisting will create them. They only grow over time and through free, mutual assent based on trust. But there are a number of ways one can be invited through the membrane.

My friends Bill and Jane found a membrane-penetrating principal when God initiated their ministry to Basque exchange students. They recognized it when they went to Spain to visit the families of the students who had stayed in their home. They soon learned that they were welcomed into these homes as family members. They also discovered that the parents were well aware of the spiritual discussions with their sons and daughters. Not only did they not prohibit such conversations, they welcomed this type of input in their children’s lives. The Basque people are an ethnic group historically and notoriously suspicious of outsiders. Yet, Bill and Jane had passed through the membrane. With this penetration came the invitation and opportunity to speak freely about spiritual things.

How did the penetration occur? They were informally “adopted” by these families. Why? Bill believes he and Jane were adopted because they had, first of all, adopted those students into their own home and family. Because they had loved those students, they were loved and invited into their families. Bill and Jane are still very careful with the freedom they now have. They are aware of how precious it is. But, at the same time, I have been with them as they boldly shared their faith. Had I, as an outsider, tried to say the exact same things, the conversation would have ended rather abruptly or created relationally-devastating tensions.

It is not merely the quality of the conversational content that is important to the postmodern hearer. Rather, it is the quality of the relationship in which the conversation takes place that gives or denies the right to speak. This is one significant difference between evangelism from the old “modern” viewpoint and that which occurs in the newer, postmodern world. In the rational, modern worldview, one could often prove through rational argument the validity of one’s position; even to someone he or she did not know. The idea was to make the gospel simple, clear, and convincing. In point of fact, we sometimes confused evangelism with a type of indoctrination in which we made sure someone understood and agreed with the right “doctrines.” Evangelism, on the other hand, is actually helping someone encounter the supernatural life and salvation of Jesus. Postmoderns may agree that your views are rationally right and still deny you the access necessary to change their heart. What postmoderns really want is to see that they are loved in a way that is natural, appropriate for the situation, and unforced.

Many years ago, I had a summer job on a wheat ranch in Eastern Oregon, living in a bunkhouse with another college student. With great interest I had been reading Josh McDowell’s book Evidence That Demands a Verdict. One evening, while washing up after a long day of work, we got into a spiritual conversation. Boy, did I think I was ready! I blew him out of the water with facts, figures, and statistics. He was impressed with what I was saying but not convinced. He asked to read the book, which he did over the following week. He read every word. At the end he came to me and said, “I’ve read your book. I can’t argue with the facts. But I don’t believe.” I was witnessing to a postmodern; I just didn’t know it. It wasn’t the quality of the argument that denied access to his soul. Rather, it was the absence of a quality relationship with him, one in which I could have shown with my own life that Jesus was worth having. Access denied.

Another way to penetrate the membrane is to become accepted as a close friend. How do such friendships happen? They happen like they have always happened, through time together and mutual interest. Tim, a friend of mine in Portugal, joined a group of motorcycle enthusiasts. He wasn’t shy about admitting he was a Christian, but he also wasn’t invading people’s space. Over time, as the relationships developed, spiritual conversations started taking place. Recently, several couples in the group have asked him if he could do a “Protestant Mass” for them. Notice ––they asked him. He didn’t come up with the idea nor did he suggest it to them. He probably never would have thought of this particular ministry model. But, they had come to the point that they wanted to initiate a spiritual element into their relationship. Tim had somehow passed through the membrane, at least for some of the members of the motorcycle club. If Tim is obnoxious with his new found freedom, he could lose it. But I have every confidence that God will give him wisdom and more opportunities.

A few years ago my wife, Margi, started to attend a local Tai Chi class to exercise and to make contacts in our Spanish community. Before she did this, we had long discussions about potential dangers from spiritual roots of Tai Chi. She attended the first few weeks with trepidation, hoping that the class was not actually a front for New Age spirituality. What she found was that this particular Tai Chi school mainly emphasized the physical benefits, rather than presenting it as a spiritual exercise. Through prayer, we decided that she should continue in class and that our daughters could join. This class became a source of many friendships for Margi and the girls. Margi started praying for her friends as she exercised. She also found herself playing the role of the “bridge person” for the newcomers in the class whom the old timers tended to shun.

Two years later, her Tai Chi instructor asked her for a private meeting. In that meeting, he told her that he noticed something special in her character. He didn’t know quite what it was, but he did notice that people were attracted to her. This was particularly interesting since she and the girls were the only non-Spaniards in the class. The Tai Chi instructor asked her if she would be willing to become an instructor herself. Again, after much prayer, we felt that God was opening doors and that we should proceed.

Even though her school emphasized the physical benefits of Tai Chi, Margi found that many people came looking for something spiritual. Margi has not publicly emphasized her Christian faith, nor had she denied it. What she has found is that many of her friends now openly talk to her about spiritual things. They initiate these discussions; when they do, Margi talks about Jesus and her relationship with him.

Recently, Mari Carmen and Marisol went out to coffee with Margi after class. Mari Carmen wanted to talk about chakras, a Hindu concept. Marisol told Margi that she believed in auras and entered into a long description of the meaning of the different colors of auras. She then admitted that, even though she has been studying auras for several years, she had never really seen one. That is, until she watched Margi do Tai Chi. She said, “Margi, I can actually see your aura. It is bright white.” Margi asked what that color meant. “White is the color of purity.” From this Margi got an opportunity to explain that what she was probably seeing was the presence of Jesus. Margi talked of who Jesus was and why he was important in her life. Had Margi felt duty bound to discredit Mari Carmen’s and Marisol’s false beliefs concerning Eastern mysticism, she would have never had a chance to talk about Jesus. In fact, the relationship probably would have ended at that point. Instead, she took every opportunity to build the friendship until she was invited through the membrane. Now, she has even more opportunity to talk about Jesus.

Cleaning up false beliefs should come after conversion, when the Holy Spirit is present in someone’s life and can lead them into all the truth. Sometimes, however, we get this process backwards. We feel we have to help people clean up their lives so they are, somehow, acceptable to Jesus. This, of course, is nonsense. Were we actually to think about it, we would realize this is not biblical nor how Jesus himself acted. He entered freely into the lives of sinners and, in turn, was very welcome among sinners. The only people offended by him were the religious types, because he didn’t try to fit into the norms of their religious sub-culture.

Another story from the Gospels that most Christians are familiar with is that of Zaccheus, the tax collector, and his interaction with Jesus. We are usually most familiar with how Zaccheus, who was short in stature, climbed a tree to be able to see the Lord. Yet, Jesus called him by name to come out of the tree; then invited himself to dinner at Zaccheus’ house. I’ll pick up the story there.
“And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:8-10)

How different the story would have been if Jesus had said. “Zaccheus, charging more taxes than the Roman government requires is fraud. You, a descendent of Abraham, are harming his other children. I know what a dishonest scoundrel you are. When you show me that you are willing to shape up and act right we will have ourselves a little talk. I do want to commend you for your willingness to seek me, demonstrated by climbing the tree. Now, just keep up the good work and go that extra mile and some day salvation can be yours.”

Evidently, the crowd was waiting for a nice little religious speech like that. Jesus didn’t give it, and they began to doubt his credentials. Jesus didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the grumblers. He was too busy listening to Zaccheus spill his heart on the way to his house. The striking thing for me in this passage is Jesus’ statement: “Today salvation has come to this house.” How did Jesus know that? There had been no gospel presentation. There had been no decision, no apologetics, no convincing of any kind. There was just Zaccheus, wearing his heart on his sleeve, expressing his desire to make things right. For Jesus, that was enough. There was already evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in the tax collector’s life. Apparently, for Jesus, life controlled by the Holy Spirit is salvation.

One day I went into a bar in Spain for a cup of coffee with a very “religious” Christian. Seeing a man playing the slot machine in the back of the bar, my religious friend felt duty-bound to “tease” the man about his gambling. Unfortunately, the gambler didn’t see the humor. I’m also certain he didn’t see my religious friend as a spiritual guide who could lead him to the truth. He probably just thought, as I did, that my friend was offensive. Even now as I write, I realize I feel the need to justify my presence in a bar for certain Christians, particularly in the United States, who would find a Christian’s presence in a bar offensive. Jesus went to where the sinners were. They liked that about him. He also walked in holiness. If you believe that holiness can be sullied by entering a bar or by taking a Tai Chi class, perhaps you need to study again the meaning of holiness.

We do not need to help people become more holy. The Holy Spirit is the only One capable of that. When he does it, it is a wonderful, powerful, and supernatural process. When we try to do it, it is obnoxious. Many of us long for the days when average Europeans and North Americans were good church-goers and when the morals of society were better. I don’t long for those days. Although I am sorry for the people who are wounded by sin, the fact remains that light shines brightest in the darkness. I do not long for the days when it was difficult to tell the sheep from the goats. Marisol knew there was something very sheep-like about Margi. No one needed to tell here. She could see the light shining in the darkness. She just thought it was an aura.

I also have no interest in changing people’s drinking habits or bringing about some other kind of moral change. My interest is in introducing people to Jesus. He will help those who have a drinking problem. I know because he helped me in a supernaturally-powerful way. It was not a matter of having a newer and better set of Christian morals. Jesus helped me with my drinking problem before I knew that North American Christians didn’t approve of strong drink. I was a 15 year-old at the time. I didn’t know any other Christians. It wasn’t until two years later that I started to attend a Bible believing church. All I knew was that, as a new Christian, I no longer wanted or needed to get drunk. I just wanted to please Jesus.

There is one final way through the semi-permeable membrane that I would like to discuss. This is the concept of the “man or woman of peace.” In Luke 10, Jesus is giving ministry instructions to seventy people. Among other things, Jesus told them:

And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. And stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. (Luke 10: 5-7)

Many around the world are seeing strategic significance in the concept of the “man of peace” (v.6). For many, the man of peace is the strategic door-opener, the person who opens the way for the gospel to enter a group or segment of society. The man of peace is often found through prayer or prophecy and not necessarily through strategic insight or ministry technique. Three biblical examples of this come to mind: Cornelius the Roman centurion in Acts 10, the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, and Lydia, the Philippian seller of purple, in Acts 16. God supernaturally arranged for believers, who were infected with the gospel, to meet others who were ready to experience it; one through an angel (the Ethiopian eunuch) another through a prophetic dream (Cornelius) and the third by divine encounter down by the riverside (Lydia).

Does this happen today? Is that really an application of what Jesus was teaching in Luke chapter 10? To the first question the answer is clearly “Yes,” This is happening today. Should we wait for God supernaturally to put us in contact with a strategic door opener? To answer this, let me simply state that, when people ask God to put them in contact with a man or woman of peace, it is not uncommon for God to answer, often in unusual and powerful ways.

Phil and Becca were new missionaries in Spain. Like many new missionaries, they were finding it hard to make significant contact with their Spanish neighbors. After hearing of the concept of the “man of peace,” they began to ask God to bring one to them. Soon after they began to pray, they received a phone call from a young man named Frank, someone they had never met. Frank had recently moved to Spain and had gotten my friends’ names from mutual acquaintances in North Carolina. Frank had met a young Spanish woman, Mercedes, in a bar. Mercedes noticed something special in Frank’s life and, to make a long story short, Mercedes became a Christian. At that point, Frank felt that he needed some help. How was he going to disciple Mercedes? Where were there good churches in Madrid? Whom could he call for help? Then he remembered that he had Phil and Becca’s names through contacts. Soon they all got together, and Mercedes became a “person of peace” for the house church that is being planted.

This is a relatively mild “person of peace” story. I know of many others who have been found through prophecy, still others who are being found through prayer and divine appointment. I’m sure “people of peace” are being found through dreams. In fact, I believe a fascinating book could be written just compiling person of peace stories which are happening all over the world. God clearly seems to be at work [3].

Through their existing relationships, “people of peace” transport the gospel through the semi-permeable membrane that stretches between people who have the gospel and people who need the gospel. Some people of peace only bring the gospel through the membrane; others bring their gospel-bearing friends through as well. By this, I mean that we don’t always become friends with all the person of peace’s friends. They may not introduce the gospel-bearer to their friends, just the gospel itself. On other occasions, the person of peace may be the doorway for friendship with a whole new network of people.

The important thing is that Jesus and his gospel gets through to a new network of people; and that the gospel becomes a lovely contagion there. Of course, there are significant, strategic issues involved as the gospel crosses a semi-permeable membrane. How will discipleship be carried out? How will churches be formed? How will leadership be developed? These are important questions, and the same Jesus who introduced us to the person of peace will give us the wisdom and the resources to answer the strategic questions as they come up.

The man of peace, the adoption principal, and significant friendships are all illustrations of God opening the doors of relationship. In all of these instances, the non-Christians also initiated the passage through the semi-permeable membrane. It would be very easy to make this simply a new technique:
 All I have to do is make some friends and do friendship evangelism.
 Maybe we should all just pray to find the man of peace.
 If I would just have exchange students maybe I would get adopted into their family.
 I guess we will all just have to go out and buy a motorcycle like Tim.

That is more like magical thinking than sound ministry practice. It is putting faith in the technique, not in a supernaturally-powerful God. Techniques do not have power, Jesus has power. Jesus needs to lead us into ministry. Jesus needs to open doors. That Jesus wants to do this for us has never been in question. The hard part is praying, listening, waiting and following. For far too long we have been putting too much faith in techniques and methods, and too little in God. We need to watch and pray. We need to wait for God to invite us to the party, and then we need to be patient until God initiates a way through the semi-permeable membranes that separate us from people who need Jesus. We need to stop forcing and start following. Actually I think Solomon says it best.

Trust the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths. (Prov. 3:5-6)

The author would like to express his deep appreciation to Rick Cruse, a faithful editor who carefully checked not only grammar and the flow of thought but also challenged his thinking and made sure his thoughts reflected the teachings of the Word of God.

(The author gives permission to share this document with others free of charge only. It can also only be shared in its current condition and format. Please do not add or subtract from its content.)
For permission to publish this paper on your website please contact the author at rossrohde@oci.org.
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[1] I am using the metaphor of divine invitation. The Apostle Paul, referring to the same type of phenomenon, uses the metaphor of an “open door” for ministry in 1 Cor. 16:9 and 2 Cor. 2:12.

[2] It is not completely accurate to say that Jesus didn’t preach to people when they didn’t want to listen. He tended to save that type of activity for confronting the religious people who should have had eyes to see and ears to hear; see Luke 4:16ff, Luke 11:14ff. However, this paper is about evangelism, not confronting religious hypocrisy.

[3] For a current day man of peace story that happened to Baptist missionaries go here.