Thursday I preached the Gospel at a funeral. I preach the Gospel at every funeral. But it was an explicit Gospel message on that day. With a standing room only crowd at the church, God put it on my heart to make sure every person left knowing the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Every person left knowing they must make an individual decision regarding where they stand with Jesus.
At the dinner afterward, someone told me they had heard a lot of Methodists preach and they had never heard an evangelistic message like that. That person told me flat out that it was his understanding that Methodists cared more about helping people than seeing people come to Christ. Now the Methodists who focus on helping people would say they are evangelizing with their works. They would quote St. Francis of Assisi who supposedly said, “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary use words.” Except that it appears that he never said that. You can read about that here from The Gospel Coalition.
In defense of the United Methodist Church, they added line to their membership vows a few years ago. It used to be that you agreed to support the church with your prayers, presence, gifts, and service. In the last 10-15 years they have added “witness” to that list. Yet, I agree that there are a whole bunch churches, United Methodist and others, who do not evangelize. Perhaps even the majority of churches.
I love to help people. But what good is it to meet their needs in this 80 years on earth if they will spend the rest of eternity separated from God? The church is not the Lion’s Club, Jaycees, or the AARP. They all do good things. But their job is not to glorify Jesus Christ and see people turn to Him. That is the job of the church. I love what Keeth Willingham said of Samaritan’s Purse:
“We are not a humanitarian organization. We are an evangelical organization that reaches people for Jesus Christ through humanitarian efforts.” ~ Keeth Willingham
That should be the church’s mantra. It is mine. Nobody minds when you help people. But all of hell objects when you proclaim the Name of Jesus.
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Scott Knowlton's Blog 