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Introduction:
Since the beginning of the year, we have examined the Jerusalem
church, an example of success in every respect. The greatest
demonstration of their success was not size, but continued growth
no matter the circumstances. That is the kind of church we need
and want to be. We have examined their success and noticed several
keys we must emulate. They were devoted to
worship, were united,
dealt with problems aggressively, did not lose people in the
crowd, did not rely on any one person to do everything and were
bold in the face of rejection. Further, the Jerusalem church did
not rely on free agents. If we will have success, we must not rely
on free agents. Discussion: I.
The
modern free agent pattern vs. the Jerusalem church. A.
I have become a part of a system that I do not necessarily
like. I am not sure the easiest way to change the system. In our
modern day, evangelism has largely become a professional activity.
There is a class of preachers traded back and forth among
congregations. Preachers have become like free agent pitchers or
quarterbacks, trying to find a team. Because of this, preachers
are rarely a real part of the congregation. In many churches, they
come in for a few years and if things get rough, they leave (or
are fired) and look for another team. In these cases, neither the
congregation nor the preacher ever feels a real sense of
partnership. B.
There is authority for someone to be an evangelist and to
move frequently. There is authority for an evangelist to want to
work with a particular congregation (Romans
1:13). Additionally, there is authority for a church to
bring an evangelist from somewhere else (Acts
11:25-26). These actions were scriptural, but not
normative. Instead of depending on a class of free agent preachers
from which they may pick and choose, the Jerusalem church worked
on developing their “farm team.” That is, they worked on
developing the people within the congregation. C.
This is not just about preaching, this is about every
aspect of the church’s work. The Jerusalem church developed the
members from within to accomplish the work of the church. Their
main practice was not hiring workers from other congregations to
get their work done. Where did the seven men of good reputation,
full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom in Acts
6 come? From within the congregation. Stephen was trained
to teach in Acts
6:8ff, he did so. Philip was trained to preach and was
therefore ready to do so when the Christians were scattered from
Jerusalem (Acts
8:5ff). Because of their consistent development of
Christians and workers, when Philip converted people in Samaria,
the church in Jerusalem was able to send two of her original
workers and most prominent leaders in the congregation to Samaria
(Acts
8:14). Considering this example, we must ask what it takes
to have this kind of success in developing people within the
congregation to work, to preach and to teach. II.
We must get past the “one evangelist” mindset. A.
From the beginning, Jerusalem had 12 evangelists (Acts
2:14). Then we know specifically of Stephen and Philip
that did work as evangelists, that makes 14. No doubt there were
others also, as demonstrated by Acts
11:20. We look at Antioch in Acts
13:1 and learn they had five evangelists. Paul he often
carried a company of people with him (Acts
20:13). He would pick up some to take with him in various
locations (Acts
16:3) and some he would leave in areas to continue the
work he had started (Titus
1:5). B.
How did these churches do it? How did they justify it? Did
they have 5 to 15 worship services a week to make sure each
preacher would preach at least once a week? No, they recognized
that the main bulk of an evangelist’s work was not done in the
public assembly. In Acts
2:46-47 we can surmise that since the people were praising
God daily from house to house that the evangelists’ work was
done from house to house. When we examine Paul, we know definitely
that was the case. In Acts
20:20, Paul describes his work as an evangelist. He not
only worked publicly, but also from house to house. Each of us as
members must view our homes as venues for evangelism and
edification. Consider Lydia’s example, who, immediately after
her baptism, opened her home to the apostles and the brethren (Acts
16:15, 40). C.
Additionally, the fact that Jerusalem, Antioch and others
had multiple teachers did not necessarily mean each evangelist
received a full salary. No doubt some, even Paul at times, though
having the right to be fully supported (I
Corinthians 9:14-15), supplemented income by working
secularly (II
Thessalonians 3:7-9). But whether or not they were
supported by a congregation, these were men who did not view their
roles as evangelists as voluntary. That is, they were obligated to
do the work, not just try to squeeze it into a busy schedule of
secular work and if they couldn’t, then no big deal. They were
devoted and obligated to God and to His congregation to work as
evangelists and the congregation viewed them as evangelists. III.
We must get past the “preacher does the evangelizing”
mindset. A.
Having said all the above about the full-time evangelists,
we must recognize that Jerusalem had success because people who
were not “full-time” evangelists evangelized. That is, though
their role within the congregation was not “evangelist” they
still proclaimed the good news. In Acts
8:1, “those who were scattered” does not speak of
evangelists but of Christians in general. They were developed to
teach even though they did not fill the role of “evangelist”
within the church. B.
Our modern system of “free agent evangelism” has subtly
led Christians to think evangelism is a professional activity.
There are men who are trained to evangelize either by colleges or
training programs or other preachers. They will get trained and we
will hire them to do evangelism for us. It must not be this way.
We must all be able to defend the hope that is in us (I
Peter 3:15). C.
I know we recognize evangelism is to be done by all and we
all plan to do it. That is why we have had two Bible classes in as
many years entitled “What Do I Say When?” about answering
tough questions that come up in evangelistic situations. That is
why the fourth class we ask all new Christians to go through is
“God’s Mission For Me,” all about aspects of personal
evangelism. But we must make sure good intentions and Bible
classes do not become substitutes for personal evangelism. I have
been in numerous churches where training classes are run and
sermons are preached, but in the end that is all that happens. We
must convert our plans into actions. Everyone must evangelize. IV.
We must get past the “church has to train me” mindset. A.
Should the church as a collective train and develop its
members to do the work? Of course. In fact, according to Ephesians
4:11-12, God established offices within the church for the
express purpose of equipping the saints to work. Do not
misunderstand this point as saying we should not have training
classes or programs. We should, we have and we will. B.
However, far too many people abdicate responsibility by
pointing fingers at the church and saying it has not done enough
to train them. Whether or not the church is doing its work to
develop us, we have the responsibility to grow on our own (II
Peter 1:5-8). C.
In I
Timothy 4:7, Paul commanded Timothy to exercise himself to
godliness. He was not to rely on some church program. He was to
discipline and exercise himself to godliness. Hebrews
5:11-6:2 says we must grow to become teachers from our own
motivation and discipline. D.
When each of us takes seriously our responsibility to grow
and not rely on others to grow us, then, as a congregation, we
will have so many developed teachers that if the full-time
evangelist was gone, we will have many men who can step up to the
plate and the work will continue without a hitch. V.
We must get past the “our preachers are supposed to stay
here” mindset. A.
One cannot help but see that Jerusalem worked hard to
develop teachers not only to strengthen the base, but also to send
people out. They did not just think about their own congregation.
They thought about God’s kingdom as a whole. B.
Our modern system has set up standards for men that have
devoted themselves to preach the gospel that were foreign to
scripture. We have people with all kinds of personal opinions
about how often a preacher should be away from home. “We’re
supporting him, he shouldn’t be away from this congregation more
than four weeks out of a year, if that much.” But when the
gospel came to Samaria, Jerusalem sent Peter and James (Acts
8:14). They were gone from home long enough to preach the
gospel in many villages in Samaria (Acts
8:25). Additionally, Peter traveled through the country in
Acts
9:32. He was in Lydda, Sharon and Joppa. Developing their
own members allowed the Jerusalem church to send their strongest
teachers out to convert the lost even beyond their own community.
That is often unheard of today. C.
Consider the Antioch church. They had five teachers. Which
two did they send out for extended periods of time? Paul and
Barnabas (Acts
13:1-3). If we had Paul and Barnabas here, would we let
them be gone for months at a time to preach elsewhere? Or would we
say, “We hired them to preach here, they ought to stay here.”
No doubt we will have some Simeons, Luciuses and Manaens who do
not go out. We must think not only about the work here, but also
what developing people here can mean elsewhere. D.
Finally, keep in mind that some of the effectiveness in
Jerusalem came not because they trained people and sent them out,
but because they developed people, and when they were forced to
“move” they were developed to work (Acts
8:1, 4). We will have effect in places that we never dream
of simply because we take the time to develop people here who, for
one reason or another, end up in other places. But we lose that
opportunity if we simply rely on free agents and do not work to
develop the farm team. Conclusion: Look around you at the farm team. Together, we are the workers through whom God will produce the victory. Let us not be caught up in the rat race of relying on whichever free agent preacher comes on the team. Instead, let’s build up the team so we may be victorious because of the work we do through the grace of God.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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