The problem of independence

As we celebrate Independence Day today, I’m reminded of some brilliant words from William Cavanaugh and St. Augustine on freedom and independence. These come from Cavanaugh’s small book that you must read, Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire.

The alcoholic with plenty of money and access to an open liquor store may, in a purely negative sense, be free from anything interfering with getting what he wants; but in reality he is profoundly unfree and cannot free himself.

In order for him to regain freedom of choice, he cannot be left alone. He can only be free by being liberated from his false desires and being moved to desire rightly.

This is the sense in which Augustine says “freedom of choice is not made void but established by grace, since grace heals the will whereby righteousness may freely be loved.”

Freedom is something received, not merely exercised.

Therefore, in order to determine whether a person is acting freely, we need to know much more than whether or not that person is acting on his or her desires without the interference of others.

In Augustine’s view, others are in fact crucial to one’s freedom. A slave or an addict, by definition, cannot free himself or herself. Others from outside the self — the ultimate Other being God — are necessary to break through the bonds that enclose the self in itself.

Humans need a community of virtue in which to learn to desire rightly.

From Cavanaugh’s Being Consumed, pp. 8-9, emphasis and paragraph breaks mine.

Are you being liberated from your false desires?

Is there space in your life for others, and especially for God, to help you recognize and break through any bondage?

Are you part of a community of virtue that is helping you learn to desire rightly?

Some other posts on holiness
Relevance and Holiness
Crying out to save ourselves

John Wesley never heard of a traveling pastor

This post may only interest my Methodist friends. Indulge me. I’ll get back to broader themes soon.

If you’re a Methodist, you may be surprised to see how clearly John Wesley distinguished between the itinerant ministry and pastoral ministry. He insisted that he wasn’t appointing pastors, but preachers. Look at what he says in his sermon “The Ministerial Office”:

So, the great High-Priest of our profession sent apostles and evangelists to proclaim glad tidings to all the world; and then Pastors, Preachers, and Teachers, to build up in the faith the congregations that should be found. But I do not find that ever the office of an Evangelist was the same with that of a Pastor, frequently called a Bishop. He presided over the flock, and administered the sacraments: The former assisted him, and preached the Word, either in one or more congregations. I cannot prove from any part of the New Testament, or from any author of the three first centuries, that the office of an evangelist gave any man a right to act as a Pastor or Bishop. I believe these offices were considered as quite distinct from each other till the time of Constantine.

Let’s highlight two of those points. According to Wesley:

1 – Pastor, Bishop… same thing. Wesley wouldn’t concede any differentiated role between pastors and bishops. It’s hard to make a strong argument for the distinction in the NT either. In other places, Wesley makes his feelings about bishops loud and clear — the people called Methodists should “put a full end to this!” Let the Presbyterians have their bishops, but let the Methodists know their calling better.

2 – Pastor, Evangelist… big difference. He said he could not prove from any part of the NT, or any time until Constantine, that the offices of evangelist and pastor were one in the same.

You should go read that whole sermon if you’re interested in these things. You’ll see a full, deeply theological explanation of ministry orders according to Wesley.

Wesley associated the pastors of the New Testament with priests in the Old Testament. He described them as the “ordinary, established, institutional ministers of the church.”

Meanwhile, he associated Methodist preachers with the prophets of the Old Testament. They were extraordinarily called to the work of itinerant evangelism: “It is true extraordinary prophets were frequently raised up, who had not been educated in the ‘schools of the prophets,’ neither had the outward ordinary call. But we read of no extraordinary priests” (see this in “Ought We to Separate from the Church of England?”).

Wesley did not believe he was appointing institutional ministers of the church for the ordinary work of the church. Wesley was raising up extraordinary leaders as traveling evangelists and apostles “to proclaim glad tidings to all the world.”

John Wesley never heard of a traveling pastor. Pastors were the local ministers, building up congregations in their faith. Wesley was calling traveling preachers to proclaim glad tidings to all the world.

The question for Methodists today: what is the point of our traveling ministers? Are they sent “to proclaim glad tidings to all the world”? If so, we should take a closer look at what they’re actually doing, because it looks more like that ordinary pastoral ministry. Whatever the case, it seems that we have blurred two roles that Wesley was at pains to keep distinct.

You may ask what we do with Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury, and the American ministry that followed. If you want to talk about that, we can use the comments section for it. In short, I think much of what Wesley had taught and fought for elsewhere got undermined when he ordained these two.

Yet we still see in the early American ministry that the traveling preachers were not pastors. You should go to this brilliant article by Don Haynes to see more. He shows that circuit riders weren’t pastors and also argues that “local elders were the pillars and backbone of local churches.”

Next: a proposal for better ministry today.

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How to become an evangelist

A guest post from Aaron Mansfield, one of the best evangelists I know. When I began writing about evangelism, I told you that I’m not very good at it (though I’m working on it). Aaron is. Much better for you to get wisdom from him than from me. This is great, practical encouragement. Enjoy!

Teddy asked me to write a few words on how a person can become an evangelist–not in a caricatured sense, but in the real sense of someone who shares the Good News that Jesus died for our sins.

I’ll start by saying I do not have the spiritual gift of evangelism. The gift of evangelism is not necessary to do the work of evangelism. There is no excuse for a believer who does not share his or her faith.

There are some immediate hindrances to evangelism that seem almost insurmountable. You have to get over them. You have to come to the point where you accept that the gift of salvation that you have is simply more important than your fears or worries.

“I think it is intrusive to tell someone about my faith.” What if any of the Apostles thought that? “I know He said to go into all the world, but we can’t really interrupt people’s privacy to tell them about the Kingdom–” if Christians thought this way, you would not be a Christian. No one would have told you.
“People will think I am weird.” That’s the least of your worries. They already do think you’re weird. You believe a man’s tragic death 2000 years ago has something to do with you and the fabric of the universe. You believe He was resurrected from the dead and He sent a spirit to guide us since then. You are already weird. Weirder than you know.
Fear of rejection. It will happen. A lot. But Jesus was honest about this: “narrow is the way that leads to eternal life and few find it.”
“You can’t just do evangelism. You have to make disciples.” (As if evangelism can exist without discipleship, but that’s another issue…) This is the worst excuse there is because it sounds holy. My experience is that people who say this are not making disciples, either. If they’re doing it without “evangelism” then someone else did the work of winning them to faith. Do both.
“We should build relationships first.” This, too, sounds holy, but it’s a complicated excuse to allow us to call “hanging out” evangelism. After a few months of playing golf or whatever, you’re going to tell them about Christ? You’re already worried people think you’re weird… And… is it biblical? In the New Testament, no one waits to tell the Good News. It’s too important to wait.
“I don’t know what to say.” We can fix that, and now.

To engage in effective evangelism, you have to have your heart broken for people who do not know Christ. They go to Hell without Him. They have no benefit of His peace, joy, and righteousness. I fear that this, finally, is the stumbling block: We do not really believe that Jesus is as important as He is. Ask God to break your heart. It is a terrible process, but a joyous result.

And then what? The story is so simple, so plain. We want to dress it up, complicate it. Don’t. Here it is:

1. God loves you. And He has a plan for your life (John 3:16-17, John 10:10)

2. Your sin has broken the relationship with Him. (Romans 3:23)

3. Because He loves you, He sent Jesus to die for your sins, to be the bridge back across the broken relationship. Jesus is the only way back to God. (John 14:6)

4. Trust Jesus, that He will do for you what He says. Repent of your sin and have faith that He has died for your sins and was resurrected to life, and you, too, will be resurrected to new life. (Mark 1:15, Romans 10:9, John 5:24)

It’s just that simple. [You will also have to get over whatever it is in you that thinks this is cheesy. I had to get over the resentment of “this isn’t cool.” You have to get over it not being very sophisticated.]

There is a bit more. You have to practice these “steps.” Repeat them to a friend or family member until you know them well enough to repeat on demand.

Then, tell the Good News! Perhaps there is a friend or coworker who needs Jesus. Or just a stranger you meet and start chatting with. My favorite “pick up line” (ha ha) is “Do you know what it means that God loves you?”

Can I embarrass you even further? While we’re being weird here, you need some tracts. I suggest two: biblica.com has my favorite, “The Bridge.” I have used it successfully to lead to faith adults, youth, and even a guy who didn’t speak English.

The other one is Billy Graham’s “Steps to Peace With God.” Get it from BillyGraham.org He starts in that most Methodist place: the love of God!

You can use either tract with your basic explanation of the Good News, but I suggest using both.

Pro-Tip: put a sticker on the back of the tract with your contact info and your church’s worship time. You can leave them laying around, for someone to read later: you don’t have to talk to everyone. If you do get a chance to personally witness to someone, get their contact info and follow up with an invite to church, an offer to go get them–at least meet them outside the door.

Please email me (pastor.aaronmansfield@gmail.com) with any questions you have, and also let me know how it works out–the good and the bad! If you’re going to do evangelism, you have to know going in that it is hard and often disappointing. An evangelist needs a lot of encouragement–and I would love to encourage you in that work!

Start telling the Good News and don’t stop once you’ve started!

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