1 First Corinthians 9:19-23 The Gospel in the World LC1111

May 22, 2011 pm The Lausanne Covenant “EVANGELISM AND CULTURE”

INTRODUCTION: What is the goal of the Gospel? 1. Asked another way: What does God want to accomplish via the Gospel when all is said and done? 2. Of course, the answer is “salvation” a. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16) b. But then the question becomes: “Salvation from what?” c. There appears to be, historically, two answers to this question. d. Socio-Political: The “social Gospel”, the creation of a better society; Utopia (Liberal or the Progressivist view) e. Personal-Pietistic: The “evangelical Gospel”; salvation of the individual from hell; personal redemption (Conservative or the Orthodox view) 3. These two answers reflect two worldviews; two approaches to culture; two ways people see Christ and Christianity interacting with Culture. 4. Their competing views have led to the 20th century phenomenon James Davidson Hunter calls “Culture Wars,” a book by that name written in 1991. a. He wrote about “The New Lines of Conflict: Competing Moral Visions.” (pp. 108-116). b. In particular ,“Competing Philosophies of Public Life” c. The general public philosophies that have evolved on either side of the cultural divide have been presented many times in recent years and therefore require neither an exhaustive review nor a detailed analysis. But a brief overview of the opposing ideals of national identity and purpose will offer a beginning point for considering the underlying cultural differences that split these new coalitions of conviction. d. Hunter then describes the Orthodox Vision for America: The most effusive interpreters of the mythic origins of the republic on the side of cultural conservatism are the Evangelical Christians. Theirs, of course, is not the only version. Orthodox Catholics and Jews tell the story from a different angle, one that tends to emphasize the generally religious rather than the specifically Christian nature of the story. Intellectually oriented neo-conservatives stress the generally moral rather than religious nature of the story. Yet all of these versions would have at least a distant resonance with the Evangelical account, particularly in how each of these would understand the republic’s founding ideals. To them, America is, in a word, the embodiment of providential wisdom. Evangelical journalist Rus Walton put it very simply when he wrote that “the American system is the political expression of Christian ideas.” The genius of the “American experiment,” from this perspective, was the creation of institutions that would guarantee both freedom and justice.

2 Freedom and justice, however, are cast in a particular way within this mythic tradition. The meaning of freedom, as it is emphasized within the various orthodox communities, is the freedom enjoyed by a society when it does not live under despotism; the freedom of a society to govern itself. This definition of freedom also naturally highlights the importance of economic self-determination, as in “free” enterprise. Underlying the reverential endorsement of capitalism among these Evangelicals is the conviction that economic and spiritual freedoms go hand in hand, that one is impossible without the other. Justice is generally defined in terms of the Judeo-Christian standards of moral righteousness. A just society, therefore, is a morally conscientious and lawful society. When its people abide by these standards it is also an ordered society. This vision of America’s past contains an implicit vision of America’s destiny. In language reminiscent of nineteenth-century exceptionalism, a pamphlet published by Students for America announces that “America has a unique mission to extend the boundaries of liberty and righteousness.” But from the conservative Evangelical perspective, the only hope for achieving this end is for the United States to stay the course. If change is necessary, it should only be undertaken to more perfectly fulfill the ideals established at the nation’s founding. e. Offset against this Evangelical Vision is what we like to call the “Liberal Agenda,” but what liberals prefer to call “The Progressivist Vision.” Those on the progressive side of the cultural divide rarely, if ever, attribute America’s origins to the actions of a Supreme Being. The National Education Association, for example, insists that “when the Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution with its Bill of Rights, they explicitly designed it to guarantee a secular, humanistic state.” America and every nation on earth is called by God to seek justice and serve the common good of humanity, not as special privilege, however, but as special responsibility. Accordingly, the founding documents of the republic take on a different understanding from that maintained by cultural conservatives. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights, for example, are not seen as the reflecting absolutes either given by God or rooted in nature; instead the founders gave us a “living Constitution” one that cannot be straight jacketed, forever attached to the culture of an agrarian, preindustrialized society, but one that grows and changes with a changing society. Law in a democratic society is one of the highest expressions of human rationality and must evolve as society evolves and matures. The ideals that it serves are also the ideals of freedom and justice. In this Progressivist Vision, freedom and justice are understood in fundamentally different ways than they are on the orthodox side of the cultural divide. Here freedom is defined largely in terms of the social and political rights of individuals. It is not surprising that the founding myths advanced in progressivist circles tend to focus on the struggle of the founders to establish and preserve “pluralism and diversity.” Justice, on the other hand, tends to be understood by progressivists in terms of equality and the end of oppression in the social world. “Social justice,” they maintain, “may no longer be a fashionable concept. But, justice and empathy are not fads. They are a matter of faith. And, a matter of action.” The calling, then, becomes clear: as stated in a National Impact pamphlet, the goal is “to move our government toward compassionate and sensible public policies.” Such sensibilities are shared among virtually all activists on this side of the cultural divide.

3 f. Two groups looking at the same culture and defining “freedom and justice” differently …Culture Wars! Clearly, then, within each of these opposing public philosophies, the words “freedom and justice” carry enormous symbolic weight. Both sides explicitly link these words and their broader vision of the public order to either scriptural referents or other universal ethical standards. But the meanings of the terms on either side of the divide are almost precisely inverted. Where cultural conservatives tend to define freedom economically (as individual economic initiative) and justice socially (as righteous living), progressives tend to define freedom socially (as individual rights) and justice economically (as equity). These differences naturally account for the different meanings each side imputes to the founders and their struggle to build a republic. 5. What is going on here is the struggle to define the relationship between God/Christ/Gospel and Culture. a. A struggle seen in the Old Testament: Judaism vs the Nations and culture around them. b. Seen in Acts: Christianity of Jewish origins with a mission to the Greco-Roman world (culture) c. An issue written about back in 1951 by H. Richard Neibuhr: Christ and Culture d. Lesslie Newbigin: English Missionary to India, wrote much about “Gospel and Culture” e. Tim Keller and C.S. Lewis spent most of their careers writing about Christ and Culture. 6. And this is a subject we cannot ignore as we retreat into our privatized, suburban, evangelical and conservative worlds. (Evangelical Ghettos) 7. Why? Because Jesus will not allow us to do so: a. As soon as His Gospel goes out into the world, it demands transformation. b. His church is His redeemed society which serves as a counter-culture of salt and light. c. Each person saved by the Spirit is transformed into a new creature. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) d. Christ's goal is clear: He is making all things new. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5) 8. So…back to my original question: “What is the goal of the Gospel?”

4 a. Answer: To make all things new in Christ b. Both the Conservative values and the Progressive vision merged together in Christ c. And reshaped by the Gospel (Word) 9. Let me bring this down from the macro to the micro: from books and concepts to people with whom you live… a. The morning I wrote this sermon, I drove past Christ Our Shepherd daycare. b. A woman in her 40’s, in a van, pulled out in front of me so that I could see her 4 bumper stickers. i. Global warming is a hoax! ii. Choose life…your mother did! iii. Support Our Troops…Be an American Patriot! iv. If you believe Al Gore, should you really be driving your car? c. Would you like to guess which worldview this Soccer Mom holds? Conservative or Progressive? 10. As I followed her down John Street, I prayed: “Oh, Lord God, please…please do not let her turn onto Covenant Lane, drop off the other kids at CDS or show up at a woman’s Bible study at Christ Covenant!” (God was gracious and answered my prayers. She drove past our street) 11. Some of you will be offended at my prayer. You are the ones who crave simple answers to complex problems. 12. Here is why I prayed as I did: This woman has no idea how to reach her fallen culture for Christ, nor apparently does she care to do so. She has her values 100% figured out, from science, to politics, to war, to ethics. And if she offends the other side – the non-conservative or non-Christian-who cares! This woman has no heart for reaching the lost or transforming culture. And her “Gospel message” on the back hatch of her van told me so. 13. Understanding, interacting with, and seeking to transform the culture with the Gospel is a major task of World Evangelization, the Great Commission, and the Gospel in the world. 14. So, in 1974, John R. W. Stott and others framed a statement about Christ and Culture in the Lausanne Covenant: a. Article #10, “Evangelism and Culture” The development of strategies for world evangelization calls for imaginative pioneering methods. Under God, the result will be the rise of churches deeply rooted in Christ and closely related to their culture. Culture must always be tested and judged by Scripture. Because man is God's creature, some of his culture is rich in beauty and goodness. Because he is fallen, all of it is tainted with sin and some of it is demonic. The Gospel does not presuppose the superiority of any culture to another, but evaluates all cultures according to its own criteria of truth and righteousness, and insists on moral absolutes in every culture. Missions have all too frequently exported with the Gospel an alien culture and churches have sometimes been in bondage to culture rather than to Scripture. Christ's evangelists must

5 humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to become the servants of others, and churches must seek to transform and enrich culture, all for the glory of God. b. Reflecting the same approach as the apostle Paul in all his missionary journeys c. His approach to Culture and Christ For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23) d. Four principles…four statements…

I. CHURCHES CANNOT ESCAPE CULTURE

(1 Corinthians 9:19)

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. (1 Corinthians 9:19) 1. What Paul means by the statement that “I have made myself the servant of all” is that he had accommodated himself to the culture of whatever people he was trying to reach in order to tell them the Gospel story in their own setting, language and worldview. 2. Paul realized that churches cannot escape the reality of culture. Each church is born into a culture by people who have that culture as the essential part of their spiritual DNA. 3. Sandy Willson: “Christ and Culture in Light of the Gospel” (thegospelcoalition.org/blogs) a. Defines culture in this working definition A social environment in which we define the meaning of life (including the meaning of truth, goodness and beauty), through the means of worship, beliefs, values, traditions, language, social and political organization, art, technology, and social customs. Culture is the corporate expression, in some ways, of what a human being is. b. The worldview of the corporate society is that society’s culture. 4. Paul’s Gospel was rooted in the Hebrew Culture of the Old Testament, Rabbinical Judaism, Christ and His 12 Jewish Apostles, plus Paul – “a super-Jew.” …circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I

6 may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— (Phil. 3:5-9) 5. Herein lies the challenge: When Paul went to the Greek World, he did not speak the Gospel into a spiritual vacuum. These Greeks and Romans were very “religious,” and they had Gentile words and concepts for “God” or “sin” or “righteousness” and even “salvation.” Paul’s Gospel needed to be set in the context of this Greco-Roman world without accommodating the Gospel story so much that its message changed. This was not, and today is not, an easy thing to do. 6. Lesslie Newbigin explains for us what must happen for the evangelization of other cultures to take place: a. “Gospel and Culture”: Address given at the Danish Missions Council and Danish Churches Ecumenical Council. (Denmark, Nov. 3, 1995); pp. 2, 3. b. The events which constitute the substance of the Gospel took place within a particular culture. All events in history are specific to a particular time, place and culture. Only that which is non-historical is supra cultural. The Gospel, as news about things which have been done, requires that – whatever our native culture – we pay attention to writings originally composed in Hebrew and Greek in that particular part of the world which centres on the Mediterranean Sea. The communication of the Gospel involved the crossing of cultural frontiers. But the Greek words which the evangelists had to use were already weighted with meanings formed within a totally different world-view. I cannot preach the Gospel without using the word ‘God’. The world will evoke in their kinds a picture quite different from the image in my own mind of the one whom Jesus knew as ‘Father.’ There is no way of evading this problem. It is only, and slowly, resolved when the hearers have heard over and over again both the stories which the Bible tells about God’s doings and sayings, and when they have glimpsed the shape of the total story which the Bible as a whole tells. They come to see that ‘God’ is different from the image of God with which they had been familiar. In my own experience I have found that this new understanding is really established when they come to the point where, as a community in one village, they stand together and say of God that, for us and our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, dead and buried, descended into hell, rose again and ascended into heaven. Now ‘God’ has a new meaning. The Gospel transforms culture by transforming it from within. In a real sense the miracle of incarnation is re-enacted. The seed of the Word has to fall into the ground of another culture and die in order that a new reality, a renewed culture, may come to life. The missionary may, and often will, lament that his words are completely misunderstood. But as the story is told and re-told, as it is (even falteringly) re-enacted in the life of the believing community old concepts are re-shaped, old images fade. A story begins to shape the mind of a community into a new way of understanding who we are, whence we came, where we go, and what are the choices available. 7. And so, the Lausanne Covenant candidly and realistically acknowledges this fact:

7 a. The development of strategies for world evangelization calls for imaginative pioneering methods. Under God, the result will be the rise of churches deeply rooted in Christ and closely related to their culture. b. Rooted in Christ: The Gospel & Biblical narrative c. Closely related to their culture: indigenous churches d. e.g., the American Church with the Gospel message and the Chinese Church with the Gospel message 8. Two myths we must forsake… a. Myth #1: There can be a pure church faithful to the Gospel without the taint of culture. b. Myth #2: The European/American missionaries should have brought a Gospel free of all vestiges of Christendom and Modernity. c. Both are impossible: Gospel and culture are always intermingled.

II. CHURCHES MUST CRITIQUE ALL CULTURES

(1 Corinthians 9:20-21)

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. (1 Corinthians 9:20-21) 1. Paul says this: When I was among Jews who were under the Law of Moses, I acted like an Orthodox Jew. This helped me connect the Gospel to Jews. But when I was among Gentiles, who did not know the Old Testament, I related to them in a Greek manner. This helped me connect the Gospel to the Gentiles. 2. Key point: Paul affirmed the best of both Jewish culture and Greco-Roman culture in order to evangelize both groups of people. a. He preached the Gospel as culture free and yet culture affirming as possible. b. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16) c. Jewish culture: Paul related to the Old Testament (good) but renounced legalism and prejudice (bad) For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. (Acts 20:16) d. Greco-Roman culture: Paul quoted Greek poets and writers (good) but rejected polytheism and immorality (bad) So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your

8 worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ (Acts 17:22-28) 3. Every culture (including American culture) has good and bad in it: a. The good because Americans and others are made in God’s image and, therefore, have great capacity for good. b. The bad because Americans and others are fallen creatures prone to great depravity and decadence. c. “The World” is the Bible’s way of speaking about those evil aspects of culture that organize society against God, His will and His Word. d. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17) Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:24-32) 4. The Lausanne Covenant openly acknowledges this tension of good and evil within culture: Culture must always be tested and judged by Scripture. Because men and women are God’s creatures, some of their culture is rich in beauty and goodness. Because they are fallen, all of it is tainted with sin and some of it is demonic.

9 5. Sandy Willson reminds us that this Gospel critique of culture sets before us 5 principles of Christ and Culture: a. First: The Gospel enables us to affirm those aspects of every culture that are positive. (common grace) b. Second: The Gospel enables us to adapt to the neutral things of our culture. We adapt to culture, but the Gospel does not adapt to culture. c. Third: The Gospel enables us to denounce all the evil aspects of our culture. (prophetic spirit) He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8) d. Fourth: The Gospel enables us to build a model society. (Acts 2:42-47) e. Fifth: The Gospel enables us to bring a blessing to every culture. (salt and light) 6. These five principles of Gospel penetration of our culture(s) warn us against one of two extremes of compromise: a. Assimilation: The Gospel, Christianity, and the Church become subjected to and interpreted by the fallen culture: i. For Liberals, the political correctness of the left ii. For Conservatives, the cultural platform of republicans b. Withdrawal: The cloistering of ourselves within our own communities of comfort: i. The Left: University and Media (Gospel not welcomed…Christians stay out!) ii. The Right: Fundamentalism and closed church circles (Pagans not welcomed…unbelievers stay away!) c. Example: Irrelevance of the Secular University – the academy will not interact with religion although this is the chief thing on most 21st century people’s minds; and the Evangelical Christians have fled the University for their own colleges. 7. The early church did all this well, and as a result they took the Old Roman Empire for Christ by the year 350 AD! 8. But…to do so we must be aware of our own biases…

III. CHURCHES MUST RENOUNCE ALL CULTURAL SUPERIORITY (1 Corinthians 9:22) To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. (1 Corinthians 9:22)

10 1. Paul says, “To those who were less than prepared to live by the Gospel culture, I became patient and respectful until they were ready for the challenge of Christian living.” 2. This is not a proud statement, but a humble and honest assessment that some cultures (people) are spiritually stronger than others. Some are better than others. A fact! 3. What I am saying is Politically Incorrect in mission circles. We are supposed to believe that all cultures are of equal value, worth and dignity. But this is not so. a. Some cultures have been under the sway of the Gospel longer than others. b. Example: European/American culture compared to tribal African culture or Indian Brazilian Rainforest cultures. c. This is not a statement of cultural superiority, but it is a statement of spiritual fact. 4. A fact the Lausanne Covenant openly acknowledges: The Gospel does not presuppose the superiority of any culture to another, but evaluates all cultures according to its own criteria of truth and righteousness, and insists on moral absolutes in every culture. Missions have all too frequently exported with the Gospel an alien culture and churches have sometimes been in bondage to culture rather than to Scripture. 5. This month’s issue of Christianity Today (May 2011) is filled with illustrations of fallen cultures tainting the Gospel message and mission: a. Brazil: Caroline Celico (beautiful female pastor) and her soccer-star husband icon, Kaka, were convicted of smuggling, tax evasion and money laundering. They now live in Spain. b. Germany: A couple and two other fathers were given 6-week jail sentences for refusing to send their children to sex-education classes that fostered sinful behavior. c. Malaysia: 35,000 Bibles shipped to Christians in Kuala Lumpur were confiscated by the Muslim government. d. Ethiopia: 69 churches were burned and 10,000 Christians were displaced by Muslims. e. Ghana: The government is cracking down and jailing “fake pastors” who masquerade as clergymen for financial and sexual favors in their churches. f. USA: The Oregon House of Representatives removed legal protection from homicide charges for parents who choose faith-healing rather than medical treatment for their children. g. USA: Illinois is investigating religious foster care agencies that will not approve gay couples as foster parents (Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Evangelical). 6. All cultures are corrupt, but some are so steeped in spiritism, polygamy, tribal violence, incest, corruption and graft, worship of idols, genocide, child abuse, oppression, injustice, persecution, poverty and base ignorance, that the Gospel must overcome major spiritual obstacles, over great lengths of time, to establish strong churches. 7. Note: “bondage to culture” is not just a problem for missionaries. The people to whom these missionaries go are steeped in Christless cultures.

11 8. They are “the weak” of whom Paul speaks. And there is no such thing as a pure, pristine or undefiled native culture.

9. Lesslie Newbigin: “Gospel and Culture” (p. 2) a. Human culture is unmasked as enmity against God, but God gives a time and a space in which human culture can be renewed by the Gospel. The message, with its centre in cross and resurrection, is one of judgment and hope in continuous tension. All human culture is under God’s judgment. The cross is, as Jesus says, the judgment of this world. The resurrection is the manifestation of the fact that the last enemy is conquered; that God’s reign is the reality with which we have finally to do, and that God’s grace is available for the renewal of all human culture. b. Judgment = The cross and cultural sin c. Hope = The resurrection and cultural renewal 10. The missionary (witness) must be as “culture free” as possible in order to lead men to Christ – though this cultural freedom will never be perfect.

IV. CHURCHES MUST SEEK TO TRANSFORM EVERY CULTURE (1 Corinthians 9:23) I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:23) 1. Paul declares the bottom line in his missionary methods: “I do all this for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.” (v. 23) 2. In other words: “I get my Jewish culture out of the way so that it does not taint the Gospel, cause unbelievers to reject the Gospel when really what they did not like was my Judaism, and that they, in their culture, could share in the Gospel’s transforming blessings, along with the rest of the worldwide church.” 3. We, too, must acknowledge this ourselves – both as missionaries to Kenya or China, or witnesses in Charlotte or on North Carolina campuses. a. The Lausanne Covenant takes note of this b. Christ's evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to become the servants of others, and churches must seek to transform and enrich culture, all for the glory of God. 4. This is an impossible standard: “Christ's evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to become the servants of others…” 5.

We cannot purge ourselves completely from our American DNA, but we can be authentic. How? a. Allow me to set before you seven ways we can attempt this… b. First: We can serve people rather than try to “win” them to our way of thinking:

12 i. No triumphalism ii. Goal #4: Serve the World We will engage members in the advance of the Kingdom of God, both near and far, by sharing the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit with lost persons and by reflecting the beauty and holiness of Christ to lost cultures. iii. Servant church in a secular society iv. Love them, mercy ministry, hospitality, etc. c. Second: We must enter into sincere dialogue with those in our culture/mission field. i. This involves listening to their hearts and not prejudging their souls. ii. Patiently and compassionately dealing with the issues with which they struggle. (empathy) iii. Humbly remembering that we too were once where they are – without Christ in the world. …remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:12-13) d. Third: We must preach to the broader culture, as if the unconverted were with us… i. …so that they will join us ii. Tim Keller: “Preach to the empty pew…” iii. Sandy Willson: “Christ and Culture” When you start appealing to the arguments of the broader culture around, you, you start appealing to your church members, too (who are influenced by the broader culture). You’re engaging their culture and issues they are wrestling with, though they might never mention it in Sunday School. iv. Key: Not always what the “right wing” wants to hear, but it is Gospel sensitivity. e. Fourth: We need to serve the culture in partnerships with other (non-Christian) entities. i. Working side by side ii. Observing, listening, befriending and interpreting the lost mindset iii. Service leads to the privilege of speaking iv. Breaking down false images of the unkind, narrow-minded, censorious evangelicals. f. Fifth: We must welcome into our church life every unbeliever who would like to attend our events. i. Worship, communities, small groups, covenant groups, youth activities, 1822 college ministry, SOAR, Seek the City, etc…

13 ii. Everything except one privilege for church membership: The Lord’s Supper. g. Sixth: Leave your personal preferences at the door: politics, music styles, family rules, personal needs, etc. We want them to know Christ, not our personal fetishes. h. Seventh: We cannot engage culture without The Cross – death to self that Christ may be glorified i. Sandy Willson – his final comment You cannot engage Christ and culture without a cross: the cross of Christ, and the cross of the Christian. The reason we don’t engage the culture is because we are where Peter was before the resurrection: without a cross. When culture is engaged Christianly, by men and women bearing the cross, God is praised. ii. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32) iii. And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone 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, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. (Mark 8:34-35)

CONCLUSION: I want to close by telling you a sad but true story, so you and I can learn from it… 1. The story of a couple who left the church because the wife did not like the way I preached… 2. Quote: “Each sermon I want some applications for my marriage and my family, especially my kids.” a. Sent all their 4 kids to private schools and to a Fundamentalistic Christian College b. Deeply invested in Republican Party politics c. Three of the four kids are into Republican politics, laws, “moral majority” stuff. d. Family was never evangelistic. Didn’t care about Christ Covenant’s outreach. 3. I can’t do this. And I won’t do this: Root the Gospel message in conservative politics and preach only to please helicopter moms and their pampered children. I must preach the Word of God to saints and the unsaved alike. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5) 4. Note that: “…do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

14 5. Would you give me your blessing to “preach to the empty pew”? Will you invite your lost friends to hear me? To our church’s community life? Would you covenant with me tonight, to become authentic servants to our culture?