Talk about it, TALK!

[Resource Manager]

 

Talk about it, TALK!

 

So far as the preaching of the gospel goes, we are back in the days of Noah, this for sure. Even if, in the past fifteen years or so, we have not gone flat-out in gospel proclamation, it is true that from time to time some stalwart efforts have been made. Yet, as the end of the century comes nearer, bigger and nobler endeav­ours seem only to produce small results and keen dis­couragement.

 

Without doubt, so we assure each other, it is because these are just like the days of Noah that so many of our well-intentional efforts flounder. And thus we comfort ourselves over the meagre success that follows. Thus, alas, we perhaps excuse ourselves from further effort. Lord, we tried, you know we tried. But we might as well give up. These are the days of Noah. Please send the Deluge, quick.

 

However, until that Deluge comes we have no war­rant to give up. Until the Lord himself shuts the door, we must hold it wide open, and shout to everyone: “Come in, there’s little time left”

 

Earnest Endeavour

 

In some ways this has been attempted. In Britain alone, twenty campaigns a year, a national effort in October, an impressive Bible Exhibition, shows at Shows, and scores of those traditional series of special lectures. The money spent on carefully framed and terribly expensive advertisements in the newspapers and the glossies would install a large neon sign outside every ecclesial hall.

 

But, oddly enough, the one method of gospel pro­clamation which outdoes all others in efficiency, and which costs exactly nothing, suffers serious neglect. Personal witness for the Faith, which built up the struggling Christadelphian body at a remarkable rate in the last quarter of the last century, is now more honoured in the breach than the observance.

[Resource Manager]

What the Bible itself says

 

Yet this is how the gospel was first proclaimed: “One of the two which ... followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah”. (John 1:39-41).

 

A few verses further on: “Philip findeth Nathaniel, and saith unto him, We have found ...” (1:45). He hadn’t really. Jesus had found him. The two processes are not to be separated. But the disciple’s job is to go personally and ‘find’ his fellow.

 

Paul, the master preacher, had more of the modern devices of publicity that we lean on so heavily. His familiar simple recipe was “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). To be sure, we say, a man cannot receive the gospel without a Bible. Right enough! But that is not what Paul is saying there. His phrase means: “Hearing comes by the spoken word about God” as the next verse fairly plainly confirms.

 

In the same context there is his inescapable apos­trophe: “How shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14). They can hear without an advertisement or other clever modern eye-catcher. But not without a preacher. Sooner or later, somebody has to do the talking, and the sooner the better.

 

Thou knowest not

 

Nor is there to be any picking and choosing as to who shall hear our good news. Who are we to discriminate and decide beforehand for the Almighty who is and who is not fit for His blessing? “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good” (Ecclesiastes 11:6). The possibility, let it be observed, that both shall be alike bad doesn’t even merit consideration.

 

“Give a portion to seven, and also to eight (Noah and his little handful!); for thou knowest not what evil shall be on the earth” or when (Ecclesiastes 11:2).

 

“Thou knowest not” is the blunt reminder given four times over in this eloquent prophecy and exhortation concerning the preaching of the gospel. It is because “thou knowest not” that there must be no letting up.

 

And because “thou knowest not;” thou shalt not make contemptuous pre-judgement of this mode of preaching or that. Agreed, some methods are relatively less efficient than others, to the extent of being more wasteful of time or energy or resources. But none is to be decried as mere gimmickry, for at one time or another the grace of God has used them all.

 

Our Lord harnessed one of his parables to the teach­ing of the same basic truth: “so is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how” (Mark 4:26,27).

 

So also Paul, who makes his point with a delightful switch of Greek tenses: “I planted, Apollos watered: but God kept on giving the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Even Paul and Apollos “knew not how”.

 

And today the Lord’s witnesses, ignored or rebuffed by the futile faith in science of their self-seeking con­temporaries (and maybe not a little discouraged there­by), need to have faith that God knows what He is doing: “My word ... that goeth forth of my mouth (thy mouth!) ... shall not return unto me void, it shall accomplish that which I please, it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

 

The fact has to be faced that in these days almost any attempt at personal witness for Truth becomes an out­standing act of faith, for banging your head against a brick wall can only be done in faith that those bricks are not as hard as they seem.

[Resource Manager]

No more preaching?

 

There are those who have been known to declare that these are the Last Days in which (they say) we have no mandate to preach the gospel, but only to “strengthen the things that remain!’

 

It would be interesting, truly, to know where Holy Scripture teaches such a strange and comforting doc­trine. If only it were true! What a comfortable life we could settle down to, in a cosy club for those without a conscience!

 

But our Lord’s commission is very explicit: “There is nothing hid (i.e.: by God, hitherto) which shall not (now) be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret (until now), but in order that it should come abroad ... Take heed what ye hear; with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you; and unto you that hear shall more be given” (Mark 4:22,24).

 

Nor can we blithely shrug off this responsibility on to the shoulders of the Lord’s first century preachers: “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:23).

 

Of course, there is a special duty also to “strengthen the things that remain,” but practical experience has shown over and over again that nothing does this so well as being involved communally and individually in gospel proclamation.

 

Discouragement

 

Well, then, why don’t we bring our personal witness for the Faith into daily life more than we do? An earlier generation of Christadelphians was much better at this than we are today. But, without any question, they had much more encouragement to do so than we can hope for in these sterile days. Then, nine people out of every ten had some sort of religion, and were sufficiently interested in it to be ready to talk about it. Today, educated and uneducated have nearly all written off religious faith as dope for the asses. They are mostly as well acquainted with the Bible as they are with the Koran. Jesus is put on the same level as Buddha —they know just about as much about either.

 

Then out of sheer pity for the benighted and the ignorant, ought we not to make some effort to shed a ray of light?

[Resource Manager]

“I can’t”

 

Why don’t we?

 

Reason number one is: “Behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child” (Jeremiah 1:6). There is a paralysing feeling of incompetence. “I am not quick-witted enough to cope with the arguments people may fire at me, not suffic­iently well-acquainted with the text of Scripture to be able to go as by instinct to the very passage that is needed, not sufficiently well schooled in ‘the difficult passages’ to talk convincingly about them”.

 

It is high time that attitude be set right once and for all. With the more conscientious, it springs out of a pathetic line of reasoning of this kind: “The Truth must not be let down. I am so incompetent that if I start talking on this subject, it will be. Therefore I’d better not say anything!”

 

With not a few others this way of thinking is quite probably an excuse, and not a reason.

 

There is a very simple way of coping with one’s in­adequacy in discussion, and that is to admit it! “I can’t answer your argument right off the cuff, but I’m sure it can be answered. Next time I see you, you shall have it!’ Or: “Off hand I don’t know enough about that Bible passage to be sure about it. But give me your address, and I’ll mail you an explanation when I’ve had another look at it”

 

None except Christadelphians think it shameful not to be able to come up with a full explanation or a devastat­ing argument without stopping to think. Others are highly unlikely to think the worse of us for admitting ignorance on this point or that.

 

Besides, that “next time I see you” leaves the door wide open, or at least ajar, for a point-blank return to the topic some time later! Isn’t that a positive gain? The oftener it can happen, the better.

 

Lack of courage

 

Some who read these words hardly ever talk about the Truth because they don’t want to be known as Christadelphians.

 

This is both cowardice and foolishness. It means that you are willing to sing with gusto: “Fight the good fight,” when you are surrounded by fellow-soldiers and there is no fight going on at the moment, but you are not willing to wear the King’s uniform.

 

General Booth knew a thing or two when he laid down that his Salvation Army should wear a uniform, week days as well as Sundays. What a pity Robert Roberts didn’t bid every member of those early zealous ecclesias always carry a Bible, always. What a differ­ence that would have made to Christadelphian life and witness over the years! What a reputation it would have established! Instead, how often people say: “You’re a Christadelphian? Never heard of them! Who are they?” Well, at least, there’s such a thing as a ‘Bible in hand’ badge!

[Resource Manager]

An Insurance

 

These brethren especially whose weekly routine takes them, willy nilly, into the company of worldly folk owe it to themselves, as well as to the Lord, to fly the flag of Truth and Faith. For is it not a fact that until and unless these worldlings are provided with a fairly plain and clear reason for thinking otherwise, they will assume that you are one of their like, sharing their irreligious enthusiasm for many an interest trivial or illicit to the child of God? Talk about the Faith that is in you, and do this at the earliest possible opportunity, and what a lot of embarrassment may be avoided.

 

But this will only be true for you if your Dedication matches your Witness.

 

“Do you ever meet Mr X when you call on Y, Z and Co? He belongs to my church,” said one of our brethren as he chatted to a rep.

 

“What! Is that man a Christadelphian?” came the rejoinder, “I would never have suspected it!”

 

Brother X would surely have been himself a better man if he had been known to his business associates for what he was.

 

Opportunism

 

On the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, Philip did not wait for his new acquaintance to ask him: “Do you happen to know what Isaiah 53 is all about?” For here was a man reading a Bible; therefore without delay: “Can you make sense of what you are reading?”

 

A fairly obvious example, that! But the fact is not to be gainsaid that every day scores of opportunities to speak the right word at the right time are let slip, mostly through sheer lack of alertness to use a heaven-sent opening.

 

“Be instant, in season, out of season,” exhorts Paul. That means: Be ready, on the alert, even in the most unpropitious of circumstances, for you never know!

 

That little captive maid, combing Lady Naaman’s hair, is an example and a reproach to us all.

 

It is the clouds that are full of rain that, sooner or later, somewhere or other, empty themselves upon the earth (Ecclesiastes 11:3). A man with the intention to use life’s opportunities, will use them.

 

On the other hand, if you are going to hold back for an ideally suitable opportunity, it will never come. “He that observeth the clouds shall not reap” (Ecclesiastes 11:4). The only way to make a success of an early morning swim or a cold bath is to go right in without pausing to ask:

 

“Shall I?”

 

The opportunities are there for the using, if only there is a will to turn every conversation, every circumstance, to good account.

 

In this year of disgrace for the world, and in the next, which will be more disgraceful, lots of decent be­wildered people will be heard to say: “What’s the world coming to? What next? Questions like that are almost a blank cheque.

 

Every bereavement amongst friends or relations opens a door, if only ever so slightly, for Truth to creep in. But such psychological moments need to be handled with kid gloves.

 

“Life’s just not worth living,” wailed an office secretary at a time of bitter disappointment and frust­ration. “I’ll tell you what makes life worth living,” said a Christadelphian who happened to be calling just then.

 

And today that secretary is not only a cheerful beacon of faith but also a zealous mission worker.

[Resource Manager]

Have a look at these typical everyday conversations and see how easily you could turn them into an opportunity of talking:

 

(One)

 

Friend: My dear, please tell me your birthday. I’m interested.

 

You: Whatever for? Do you want to throw a party for me?

 

Friend: Well, of course, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? But really I asked because your personality is a simply perfect illustration of what to expect from one born under Aries. Do tell me. I’m right, aren’t I? You were born in early March?

 

You: No, 10th November. Sorry to disappoint you. And yet I’m not sorry, for, quite honestly, I’m convinced that your astrology is a lot of nonsense.

 

Friend: How can you say that? So much of it is dead right.

 

You: Sorry, I’m not convinced. Anyway, you can’t possibly believe all that guff and believe the Bible as well, and that’s what I put my faith in The stars control nothing. God controls them and the events of our lives too.

[Resource Manager]

(Two)

 

Friend: They are really having fun and games in North­ern Ireland, aren’t they? What’s the answer to that wretched problem. Is there one, do you think?

 

You: Not by the British Government. That’s for sure. They’d have had the answer long since, if there were one. Where are your sympathies in that sordid squabble?

 

Friend: Well, with neither side really. You can’t feel a lot of sympathy for people who go in for shoot­ing and bombing of that sort, can you?

 

You: It’s only one small part in a pattern—violence everywhere. Hi-jackings, gang-fights on the football terraces, bank robberies, muggings in quiet streets, Bloody revolution somewhere or other once a month. If only people read the Bible, they’d see it all in perspective.

 

Friend: What’s the Bible got to do with all this? It’s just a social phase we’re passing through.

 

You: Well, Jesus said there’d come a time when it would be “like the days of Noah” —and, according to Genesis, in the days, of Noah “the earth was filled with violence.”

[Resource Manager]

(Three)

 

You: You chaps organizing your usual ‘draw’ for the Derby winner?

 

Friend: That’s right. It’s the day after tomorrow. We’ve got to have our annual bit of excitement, you know!

 

You: Well, how come you don’t ask me to join in? Everybody seems to get a chance except me. What have, I done?

 

Friend: Oh, come off it, Charlie. You know you’re not interested. And there’s Jim yonder—he’s another holy roller. We leave you two alone. Might just as well try to sell you the Derby winner as sell you one of these tickets.

 

You: Yes, quite right and I’ll tell you why. It’s one of the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not covet ...”

 

Friend: Oh come on. You buy a ticket for 10p and get a £10 prize, if you’re lucky. Call that coveting?

 

You: Well, isn’t that the way you make your horse race or your game of cards exciting —by manu­facturing a chance to get something for nothing? No gambling, no fun! Mind you, there are much worse things in everyday life than a trivial flutter on the Derby.

 

Friend: Such as?

 

You: If you ask me, one of the worst is the way in­telligent chaps like you neglect to read the Bible. And that’s what the Bible itself says:

 

“Whoso despiseth the Word shall be destroyed!”

[Resource Manager]

(Four)

 

You: Hello, Mrs A. So nice to see you about again. And this is your new baby. May I look? Oh, isn’t he a darling? Who’s he like? More like George than you, I should judge.

 

Friend: You’re probably right. Most of the family seem to think so.

 

You: And will you call him George then?

 

Friend: We’re wondering about calling him Patrick. You see, he was born on St. Patrick’s Day. We’ll have to settle it soon, because he’s to be baptized a week on Sunday.

 

You: Baptized in church? Is it you or George who wants that?

 

Friend: It’s me, more than George. He wasn’t brought up in a church family, and says that it isn’t necessary.

 

You: Well, if you don’t mind me saying so, I think you are both right and both wrong. Baptism is important. The Bible says so. Jesus himself was baptized, you know.

 

Friend: But in that case, how is it wrong, as you said?

 

You: This way—when your baby is christened in church, that isn’t baptism at all. True baptism is when a believer confesses his faith and goes down into the water, buried in it, and not just sprinkled, as in a church christening, etc. From time to time, even the housewife, shut in to her cooking and cleaning, finds a Morman or a Jehovah’s Witness on her doorstep; and then: “Sorry, not in­terested!” is not the best of reactions.

[Resource Manager]

Once a week

 

Here, then, is a suggestion which should be feasible for at least two-thirds of those who read these words —that you make up your mind to try some act of personal witness once a week. How? Here are a few suggestions:

1. —Talk to a neighbour or a colleague at work.
    
   
2. —Canvass a row of houses.
    
   
3. —Pick up a hitch-hiker, and talk to him/her as you go.
    
   
4. —Take someone to a meeting.
    
   
5. —Lend a book.
    
   
6. —Mail out half a dozen copies of Glad Tidings to people who have not seen it before.
    
   
7. —Write a letter to a newspaper.
   

There are many other possibilities, mostly less rewarding —pushing a hundred leaflets into a hundred letter boxes, or leaving a leaflet or a booklet in half a dozen telephone kiosks or automatic laundries.

 

But, without question, the first suggestion on the list is the best of all. In effectiveness it is beyond compare.

 

A conversation with someone you know and see from time to time can be resumed at some later date. Follow up is easy. In due time an invitation to a meeting or a Bible Reading Group comes naturally enough, and has more prospect of success.

 

The second suggestion is almost universally un­popular (made so by J.W.’s). Even so, it is not to be despised, for this one method has made J.W.’s into the growing body which they are. Yet the teaching they offer has little of the wholesome attractiveness of the true gospel of the kingdom- and is almost devoid of genuine spirituality.

 

Then all the more reason why, in spite of all the pre­judices they have already set up, we should use well this means of person-to-person contact which can be so fruitful.

 

If, in all those places where there is an ecclesia of moderate size, one half of the members could be per­suaded to canvass ten houses per week, the Year of Witness would bring the Truth to every home. Is this crying for the moon?

 

Nor should “Witness Once a Week,” by whatever method, be regarded as a chore. Admittedly, there will be rebuffs and discouragements. But the occasional oil-strike more than makes amends for this. There are few experiences to compare with the exhilaration of a good response to one’s different attempts to serve Christ with a courageous word of witness. It is all the more exhilarating for being unexpected.

 

Jesus sat by the well at Sychar, weary, hungry and thirsty. But when his disciples returned with the food they had bought, they found him alert and vigorous and not interested in food. Whilst they were away he had had a better meal than they could provide.

 

He sent out his disciples in two’s, and they set off, one may be sure, nervous and ill at ease at the unac­customed responsibility he had laid on them. But the men who returned were hardly to be recognised as the same persons. They bubbled over with excitement and pleasure. What was it that had made the difference?

 

 

THE COMMITTEE

DEDICATION 75 - WITNESS 76

 

Christadelphian Auxiliary Lecturing Society

 

http://www.godsaves.co.uk

 

TalkAboutItTALK!.pdf