The Method of the Gospel

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically from the audio and may contain small errors.

Marshall McLuhan. Marshall McLuhan was a communication theorist in the 1960s. He coined a phrase that is still with us today that many, many different kinds of disciplines in academia they know, is that the medium is the message. The medium is the message. And what he was talking about, what McLuhan was talking about was the effect of mainstream media upon people. What effect did this have? So his theory states essentially that all communication has a message or a content to it, right? It has the thing that the information that it's made up of. But all communication also has a method of delivery, right? A medium or an avenue through which it is expressed. So the medium is the message. What that means is that the message that you use to communicate a message is just as much a part of that message as the content. So the method you use and the content that is in the message, that they are both part and

parcel with that message. Let me just give you an illustration. If you wanted to communicate something very personal. Let's say you're ending a long-term relationship or you're applying for a job. Both of those things are extremely personal things. Now if your method to communicate is a text, if you send a text to end a long-term relationship or if you send a text to apply for a job, we would all agree that that is very different than having an in-person conversation. In fact, you could, over text message and in the conversation, you could communicate the exact same message, the same content. However, one method, the text message, is going to seem detached and impersonal. Flip it. But the other method, the in-person conversation method, is going to show that you care, that you're giving attention, that this is significant to you.

So the medium is the message, or the method is the message. We have explored this idea a little bit already in our series, The Gospel, where we looked at the person of the gospel, how God delivered the gospel in person, in other words, that Jesus himself is the gospel, his words, his actions demonstrate the content of the gospel. We also talked about the last two weeks, we've been talking about the message of the gospel, how it is that the content of the gospel is good news. It is both a gospel for us message in that it addresses our personal situation, it addresses our sin on a personal level, but it is also a kingdom gospel message. In other words, that the gospel is part of the news is that God's kingdom is dawning, is breaking into our world. And it has been for millennia, that it is a historic worldwide movement called the church whereby God's kingdom is presenting

itself as reality in our world. And so the gospel message is both of those things. We of those things. We don't have to pick, it's both. Today, we're going to move past the message of the gospel and we're going to talk about the method of the gospel. In other words, how does the gospel go out? How does the kingdom advance? Why does it matter? And so, if the method makes the message, then what is Jesus's method? How Jesus makes the gospel go out, it says something about the gospel itself. And we're going to look at this a little bit more in depth today. And before I go on, I want to say on this subject, I'm heavily indebted to many different authors, specifically the work of Robert Coleman in a book that he wrote called The Master Plan of Evangelism. He wrote that book in 1963, and it is still to this day exceedingly relevant. When you read the the book, obviously, Robert Coleman is a man of his time. He's talking about things that

are relevant in 1963, but much of what he says in that book is very relevant today. And we're going to be talking about that a little bit. Coleman seeks to answer the question, how did the gospel go out? And although I will cite him, our focus today is going to be on how Scripture bears this out. In other words, we're going to look at how Jesus got the gospel out by looking at the Bible. So we're going to start there in Mark 1. We're going to be in Mark 1, chapter 1, verses 16 through 20.

And just to set the stage, this is just after he's baptized. This is just after he goes into the wilderness and he's back from the wilderness. What does he do first? Verse 16, passing alongside the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them and they left their father's Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him." Now, it is a curious and a significant thing that the very first thing that Jesus does upon inaugurating his ministry, remember, he was just baptized. John the Baptist has

been baptizing a ton of different people. So there's already throngs of people that are on pins and needles that are waiting for whatever Jesus is going to do next. God in heaven has verbally announced that this guy is his son with whom he is well pleased. He has just gone into the wilderness and come back. He is ready. He has begun preaching the gospel, right, Mark 1:15. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand, repent, and believe the gospel. Jesus is beginning to preach this. So what does he do next? Does he get a radio program? Is he right in the sky? What's he do next? He calls disciples. He calls men. Calling disciples is the very first thing that Jesus does. And this prompt that I'm going to cite Dr. Coleman here extensively, but just the last part is going to be up there. But I really want you to listen to how Dr. Coleman thinks about this.

And this is, again, in 1963, but it's extremely relevant. Dr. Coleman asks, upon observing that Jesus calls disciples first, He asked why. Why did Jesus deliberately concentrate his life upon, comparatively, so few people? Had he not come to save the world with the glowing announcement of John the Baptist ringing in the ears of the multitudes, the master easily could have had an immediate following of thousands if he wanted them. Why did he not then capitalize upon his opportunities to enlist a mighty army of believers to take the world by storm. Surely, the Son of God could have adopted a more enticing program of mass recruitment." And then here's the quote I want you to see, and it's a continuation of what I was just reading. Is it not rather disappointing, he says with irony, that one with all the powers of the universe at his command would live and die to save the world yet

in the end have only a few ragged disciples to show for his labor. Is it not rather disappointing that one with all the powers of the universe in his command would only invest in a few? Why would he not take a mass media approach? Why does Jesus in particular want to make disciples and let that be the vehicle through which the gospel goes out? Why? It demands our attention. It is more than just curious or a fun theological discussion. It doesn't make sense. Not if we're thinking about it one way, because Jesus has all the power in the universe, but the medium, the method he chooses, is these 12 ragged disciples and a couple of other followers. It's staggering. There's another author named Ralph Winter, and he wrote a very influential work called perspectives on the world Christian movement. And he says, it all started by Jesus calling a few men to follow him.

His concern, that's what I want you to see up here, his concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow. Jesus started to gather these men before he ever organized an evangelistic campaign, or even preached a sermon in public. Consistently, throughout Jesus' ministry, this is his method. Yes, he heals and he comforts. Yes, he preaches and he confronts. Yes, he spends time feeding the multitudes. But where does he begin? the disciples. Who was with him, feeding and healing and preaching? Who was with him the whole time? The disciples. Who is Jesus making sure, understands everything that's going on around him? Is it the crowds? No, it's the disciples. By far, Jesus spends the most time with his disciples. It's not even close.

Anything else, Pharisees, crowds, anybody else is an also-ran. The disciples were his primary time, his primary group that he's spent with. Now, Jesus does not ignore the need around him, obviously, but his focus on the disciples is singular and it is pronounced. Jesus' method is disciples, but the first thing he does is he calls these disciples. Now, he doesn't just call them. What does he do with them? What is the next step? How does Jesus then turn these men that he's calling into disciples? Well, he doesn't stop with calling them. He continues on in preparing them. Turn with me to Mark 3, verses 13 through 15, or you can just read it on the screen. Mark 3, 13 through 15, Jesus went up on the mountain and called to those whom he desired, called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed 12, whom he also named apostles, so that they might be with him

and that he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. Jesus doesn't just call these men to follow him, he also begins to prepare them for ministry. He gives them authority, but it's not even just giving them authority. Jesus also puts things in their laps, things for them to deal with. He puts the ball in their court, so to speak, just before feeding the 5,000 in Mark 6, just before. So you have probably 10,000 plus people in a field that are listening to him teach. And then the disciples are starting to look around and going, hey, It's almost dinner time, and we're really far away from any source of food. What do we do? What's going to happen? They're telling Jesus, and what does Jesus say back to them?

Hey, why don't you feed them? Why don't you give them something to eat? What's Jesus doing? Is he toying with them? Is he playing guess what's behind my back? Right? Is Jesus messing with them? What is he doing? He's preparing them. He's helping them understand, I won't always be here. You're going to be in these situations. You're going to have to figure this out. You're going to have to know kind of what to do next, how this happens. He's putting the ball in their court because he's preparing them. He's giving them authority. He's calling them yes. But he's also helping them understand, like he's saying, he preaches a parable all through Mark chapter four. He preaches in parables. And then he steps aside and says, do you understand what I just said to all these people? Do you understand? Let me sit down and explain it to you. And he explains it long form. In Mark chapter 4, you have the parable of the sower.

It's an extensive parable. And then after that, a lot of people are shaking their heads, scratching their heads, not shaking their heads. Scratching their heads because they don't understand what's going on. And then Jesus, he doesn't explain the parable to the whole crowd. He explains the parable to his disciples alone. Why? Because he's preparing them. He's not just calling them, he's preparing them. And he's not just preparing them. He's giving them authority, he's preparing them so that he might send them out. So Jesus doesn't just call, Jesus doesn't just prepare, Jesus actually sends them out. And you see this in Mark chapter 6, before the feeding of the 5,000. In Mark 6, verse 7, it says, verse 7 and then verse 30. So it kind of gives you the before and after. It says, and he called the 12 and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

So then they go out and they preach in villages and they have authority over unclean spirits and they deliver people and they preach the gospel and they stay in people's homes. Verse 30, the apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And that's not just in Mark, it's also in Matthew, chapter 10. It's also in Luke chapter 10 that Jesus sends out people and they come back. So you see a pattern emerging here that Jesus is calling. Jesus is not just calling, he's preparing, he's not just preparing, he's also sending. And he's not just sending to go away. When they come back, he processes with them. Jesus calls, prepares, sends and processes them, processes with them, excuse me. He's doing with them what he did. He's helping them do exactly what he's doing with them. The same way that Jesus is sending out the apostles, Jesus himself is sent to us.

In fact, Jesus kind of hits it on the nose then in Matthew 28, Chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, Jesus tells his disciples to do the exact same thing that he did. It says, and Jesus came to them, the disciples, and said, all authority on earth, excuse me, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptized in them in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. This was his method.

Jesus' method for getting the gospel out was not riding it in the sky. It wasn't recruiting an army that was freshly assembled by John the Baptist Ministry. No, he doesn't do any of that. He puts all his authority, everything, into 12 guys, and one of them doesn't even make it. 11 guys. 11. Matthew 28, 18 through 20, it helps us understand that this is at the end. This is like when Jesus is ascending, right? And he's invested in these 12 guys, now 11. And he's saying, look, the same thing I did, just like I called you, just like I prepared you, just like I gave you authority, just like I sent you out, just like I processed with you. You do the same thing. You make disciples just like I did. This was Jesus' method. And all of Jesus' disciples, except for Judas, do this.

So don't be like Judas. They all do this. All disciples of Jesus do this. All Jesus' disciples make disciples. But how, how is a really important question for us to answer in our day and age? Because what will happen, what will happen is we will read this and we will say, okay, let's make disciples. And then we will go out and not worry about the method. We will go out and not understand that the method by which we make disciples matters as much as the content of our message, if not more. If I, for example, would trick people into becoming disciples, well, then they will learn something about the gospel, and that it is that you need to be tricked to believe it. You can't pull bait and switch on people, and then expect them to really understand what the gospel is. The gospel is not bait and switch. The gospel is a free gift of salvation.

It is not something that you are surprised with. It is something that God in heaven offers. But how do we do this? How do we do this? Because we have Jesus's example, but Jesus isn't physically here. We can't do what the disciples did because they were actually following the physical person, Jesus. So what do we do? Well, the first thing we need to understand that Jesus is still calling. He's still preparing today. He's still sending. He's still processing with people. Jesus is doing all of these things. I don't need to go out and do Jesus's job. I need to go out and cooperate with Jesus as he is doing all that he is doing Right now as we sit in a pew listening to a sermon as I stand preaching one right now Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit is speaking to people is calling them to himself Right now you and I aren't doing a darn thing but the Holy Spirit is at work in people that you're praying for and

Some people that you should be praying for Jesus Christ is at work actively now. And he's not just calling. He's also preparing. He's preparing you and I to make disciples. He is sending, he's prompting us to go to begin to pray for the neighbor, to begin to pray for the brothers, to begin to pray for the parent, the child, to pray for the person, the friend, the coworker that is in our lives, and prompting us to go to them and love them sacrificially. The Holy Spirit is doing that right now. And whenever we fall on our face or whenever we experience a victory, the Holy Spirit is right there processing that with us. How did that go? What was that like? The Holy Spirit is actively doing all these things. And so how then do we as a church cooperate with the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit is at work and all these people and all around us, if the Holy Spirit is at work, then

what do we do? We operate with the how we do that in South Berles and we do that through life groups. We do that through life groups. We have life groups the way we say it. We have life groups to show people the way of Jesus. We have life groups to show people the way of Jesus. So that means that as we see Jesus praying in Scripture, then we encourage each other to pray the same way. As Jesus loves, so we love. John 13, 34, 35. As Jesus makes disciples, so we make disciples. Life groups are a way for us to be encouraged to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit is calling, preparing, sending, and processing. The Holy Spirit's doing all that and wants us to cooperate with Him. Sometimes people want to tap out. People want to tap out because it's difficult. It takes time. We have life groups. Life groups last for five months, and then they take a month

off, and then they go for five more months, and you can re-opt in, opt out of time. But the idea for a life group is that learning the way of Jesus isn't like a weekend retreat. It takes time, conversation, intentionality, failure, success, failure, failure, success. So, I want a couple more failures in there. It takes time. We cannot simply tell people to go out and make disciples. Just go out and do your best. Just go figure it out. Just go witness to your waiter. Here's a little card. Just give it to them and then just wave by. No, because that lacks preparation. It lacks seasoning. Jesus spent three years with the disciple and he was God incarnate. You think you're going to get that done in three weeks? Think again. It takes time. It takes time. You can't be faster than Jesus. I mean, unless Jesus wants you to, and then go ahead. We need to be with people the same way

that Jesus was with people. We need to prepare people. We need to help them understand what Jesus has taught them to do. We need to understand the authority that Jesus has given them. We need to send people out the same way Jesus was sent to us, the same way Jesus sends us out. We need to help send other people out. We need to help people understand that there's a mission filled around them, that the American dream of just working really hard retiring and just, you know, kicking back and only worrying about yourself and this really small circle, that's not the way of Jesus. Sorry, it's not. I'll never apologize for that. The American dream is a nightmare. Don't swallow that hook, line, and sinker. When you get to heaven, God will not be impressed with your retirement account. Or what a great-grandparent you were. It just won't. It just won't. It's not why he sent his son.

It's not why he sends us, and it's not what he asks us to do to send other people. And then we process it with them again. This is time. And at this point, many people want it, they want to tap out. Like I was saying, Jesus though, he leaves no room for this. Jesus called disciples to make disciples. If you hear anything today, I want you to understand that whenever you are looking at making disciples and you begin to say, okay, Jesus, how do you want me to do that? Jesus then lovingly and warmly and sternly stares us in the face and says, my method is you. My method is you. Disciple making disciples. Disciples who make disciples, that's plan A and there is no plan B. It's just not. Our church, one of the major functions of our church is to help people make disciples. If you have a church that is not making disciples, it's like a, I don't know, like a movie theater not showing a movie, okay?

We are lost on purpose there. We don't have our goal, we don't have the right goal in mind. Yes, the Lord wants us to be a family, but it is a family-on mission. It is both a family that works together and a movement of disciple making disciples. And for so long, we have tried to make disciples a different way. And I really wanna take time to deconstruct some of this. Billy Graham. Now, let me just say on the outset, I love Billy Graham. I went to a couple of Billy Graham crusades personally. I served in one, helping people who all came forward. Billy Graham filled arenas, tens of thousands of people every single time, filled arenas and preached the gospel to people for nearly six decades. The man seemingly, single-handedly evangelized America and then the world. It is estimated that he reached audiences totaling 2.2 billion. What a B. He had one broadcast, one television broadcast, just one that was broadcast

worldwide in several different languages that was estimated to... And it was in the 90s, I don't remember what year. It was estimated to have reached 2.6 billion as a max. It could have reached that many people. It was at least a billion people that one televised thing. So Billy Graham, Billy Graham did a lot and he preached the gospel to so many people, and I love him for it, and we are in his heritage. Amen. Thank you, Lord, for Billy Graham. Yet, yet, over that same stretch of time, we have seen Christianity decline. The numbers are in, the facts are there. We have seen Christianity water down to a voting block. When you talk about disciple making disciples within a church, 90% of the time, you're gonna get a look like you have foreheads. It's quizzical, it's strange. And look, before we start throwing out the blame, let me just say whose fault it's not.

It's not the internet's fault. It's not TV's fault. It's not mainstream media's fault. It's not that kids are more rebellious these days. It's not that people have lost their decency. Sin has always been rampant. Morality has always been fleeting. The divorce rate might be up right now, but I tell you spousal hatred, that's steady. Teenage pregnancy might be up. Sexual sin, steady. Since the beginning of time, we're not living in worse times than we were 15 years ago. Sin is still here. People are still suffering from it. Marriages are still being broken up. People are still, people are still dying in their sin and going to hell. It's still happening. Sin has always been around. Hearts have always been sinful. Maybe just now we're less private about it. Maybe. But please, let's not get on a kick to how great things were in the 1950s. They weren't. And I'm not saying that from experience.

I've read history. I understand sometimes there's this bias of thinking X number of years ago was so much greater and right now it's just really terrible. People have been writing for hundreds of years about how terrible the new generation of people are. They have. Why aren't we making disciples then? If it's not the internet's fault, if it's not the mainstream media's fault, it's not the people lost their decency. Why? Why? Let me just say, this is my best stab at it. Somewhere along the way, we equated making disciples with imparting knowledge. Somewhere along the way, we got our wires crossed. I'm not trying to blame anybody. Somewhere along the way, we said, if we can just give people Christian information, that's the same as as making disciples. As long as they know all the books of the Bible and can recite them, then they should be able to flee from temptation. Those aren't the same thing.

That skill set doesn't match that behavior. You can quote Bible verses to me and live a duplicitous life. It's possible. I've met them. I've been them. It's possible. Knowing gospel information does not change your behavior. And I want to say this very clearly. We do not make disciples in a classroom. We don't make disciples in stadiums. We don't even make disciples in church services. Now, I believe church services are a great thing to do. Obviously, I'm not preaching a sermon at a church service because I think they're a bad idea. However, I understand, and I really want you to also, that if this is our primary way that we're making disciples right here, we're losing the battle before we even start. Disciples are not made in the classroom or in the stadium or even in church services, where are disciples made? In the living room. Disciples are made in the workplace,

they're made in the coffee shop. Disciples are made while you are serving other people. Disciples are made whenever life overlaps with life and people begin to see. And to prove it, I just want you to think back. I just want you to think, how did you grow as a Christian? Was it because you amassed information or was it because you saw somebody in your life that you could emulate, that you could say, okay, they're following Jesus. I can behave like them. I can ask them questions. They can help me understand how to follow Jesus. I would bet dollars to donuts. Every single person who claims Christ, Every single person had someone in their life who was discipling them. Disciplesing them well, discipling them poorly, doesn't matter. They were disciples. You were disciples. I was disciples. Making disciples is not just about knowledge. Making disciples happens in personal relationships.

And this doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what culture you're in. It doesn't matter who has the power. It doesn't matter if your economy is capitalistic or socialistic or or communistic, it doesn't matter, discipleship, making disciples happens in personal relationships. And so if Jesus is the one that is calling and preparing and sending and processing, then let's do it with him in personal relationships. Let's get on the train with Jesus as he through the Holy Spirit is calling people, It's preparing people. It's sending people. It's processing that with people.

You don't have to wait until you're in a life group to start doing that. You can begin to pray now for people that you know that are around you to come to know the Lord. And not just generally, I mean naming people. I mean asking the Holy Spirit to say, who, who Lord Jesus do you want me to intercede for? Who, who can I lay my life down for? Who can I love sacrificially so that they might know you? So that they might worship you with a conscience that has been cleaned by the Holy Spirit. Who, Lord Jesus, who? Many of us are not praying that prayer. But when it comes to getting the gospel out, Jesus doesn't offer us other solutions. He looks at a square in the face and says, my method is you. It's you. Jesus wants us to invest in a few people just like He did. Just like He did. And if you don't have 12, it's OK. Jesus was God incarnate and bad at 11 for 12. You're not going to bat that well, OK?

Neither will I. But if we can invest in a few people who are gonna be disciples who make disciples, that is how the world will change. That is how God's kingdom will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is how the method of the, in fact, that's the only way the method of the gospel has gone out. Like I said, God bless Billy Graham. God bless him. And there were many people that heard the gospel at a Billy Graham crusade, and then were plugged into a church, and then were discipled, and that's great. That's really good. So again, not throwing rocks. However, if all we see is the stadium and think that that's the only thing that works, we are lost. We are geese in a snowstorm if we think that that is what is going to make disciples. What is going to make disciples is personal sacrifice on your part.

Not professional Christians, not just missionaries and pastors. is you, followers of Jesus, each one of us, even me. I hope that you understand this, and I know I'm belaboring the point, but I really wanna push it home. I do not, in my weekly, like when I'm praying, when I'm considering who's around me, when I'm doing those things, I am praying for people to come to know the Lord that are friends of mine that are not involved in the church. In other words, I don't view the way I serve the church on a Sunday morning by preaching, right? This is a main way that I serve on Sunday morning, just like some of you were doing preschool, some good student ministry. We all started that up today. That's great. I preach, Dan and Sadie, they're leading worship. That's great. Okay. We got people that set up, people that take out the trash. That's great. That is my work, right?

That is different than making disciples. Me preaching a sermon over here, and then me making disciples. If I begin to try to combine those two things, I'm lost on that. I'm not getting that. That's not a clear message. That's not what Scripture shows. What I have to understand is the way I serve the church is by preaching. What God calls me to do is what he calls everybody to do, and that is pray for people to come and know the Lord and intercede for them and sacrificially love them and open my life to them. That is what it's going to take to make disciples. that is like we talked about last week, that's going to end racism. That's going to end poverty. That's going to cure the world because Jesus is the cure. We can make laws, we can reform things, we can fund programs and defund others. We can do all that. That's just a band-aid on a severed arm. What does Jesus call us to do, to make disciples?

His kingdom advancing is the only hope we have. I realize for some of you, I say all that and you feel really behind the curve. And that's okay. All I would say is just be honest with the Lord. You don't need to apologize to me, right? This is what the Lord, look, I'm not perfect at it either, right? I mean, I've gone through seasons of my life where I just, I quit praying for people who didn't know the Lord. That's sin though. I don't get to rest in the laurels at the fact that I preached a sermon on Sunday morning. I personally also need to make disciples, and I'm doing that in community with help. I'm in a life group, by the way. I'm in a life group with Hollis and with Tim Perkins, who's not here this morning. But I'm in a life group with those two guys. And when it comes time to us for praying for people, they don't just pass me over. They're like, oh, you preached a sermon on Sunday, you're fine. No.

They're asking me about it, right? Like, that's the plan that I'm living on mission to today, during our time of invitation, I want you to just begin thinking about what the Lord's calling you to do. And as Dan and Sadie come on up and we're just gonna be singing a little bit, just turn your eyes upon Jesus. As we sing that, as kind of Dan sings that over us, I wanna ask that you begin to pray about what your next step is. My encouragement is not to try to have this grand presentation for the Lord, but just to be honest with him and just say, I don't know what to do next. What's my next step? As a church, we're built to help you take that next step. Okay? You're not ready for that? You're not ready for that? You just want to pray? Pray. If you want some help, if you want a way to take that next step, or even if you just want someone to pray with, I will be up here as we sing. Let me pray for us, and then we're going to stand.

Jesus, we ask that you would help us. We ask that you would listen to us as we confess to you, that you would speak healing into our hearts, that you would help us to get more of a making disciples wherever we are. It's your name that we pray, amen. It's all saved. Oh so are you weary in trouble. Your light in the darkness you see There's light for a look at the Savior Your light pour abundantly Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look for His wonderful face And the things of the world will be strange Even in the light of His glory and grace Through death and through life everlasting Fast and we follow in the air Over us in the North Omega O'er then conquer's we are Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look, oh, in his wonderful face And the feelings of love will grow sweet and sweet, and the light of his glory will rise