Brothers and Sisters, there is a real problem. Many Christians have lost Jesus to religion. They can't tell the difference. Jesus is not Christianity2! These two need to be separated.
If we start by saying you need to do this and that and the other before you can become a child of God, no one will be interested. If we focus on teaching from the word, God will speak to them. He will change them himself. We want to make sure people understand clearly what the good news is.
When we think about sharing the good news we must begin by knowing it ourselves. Do you know what the good news is? Lots of Christians are afraid to share the gospel because they aren't really sure what it is. What is this gospel that we want to share with people? The gospel is the truth. In John 14:6 we read that Jesus is the truth. He is the life. This truth needs to be shared. But truth, just like words, is something that people cannot see. We have to make it visible. If people can see it, then they can take it in, agree with it and receive it. We have to be clear in our explanation. It is critical to be able to distinguish what the gospel is. We want Jesus, purely Jesus, Jesus alone. Not mixed with religion! That is the essence of the gospel - the truth of Jesus himself. If we don't understand what the really good news is according to Christ we won't be able to share it with others. We'll have nothing to say.
We need to understand this. If people ask us we should be able to answer them. We need to help them distinguish the difference. If they ask, "What are these people (Christians) all about?" The answer is, "Jesus Christ." If Jesus Christ is really the truth then we can share him boldly. In this way other people will also come to recognize the truth. How will they notice it? Power. It's the power of God which they will see. In Romans 1:16,17 we read that the gospel (Jesus Christ) is the power of God. This power can take the ordinary things in our lives and transform them for his purposes.
I knew a missionary who was in Thailand for forty years. He has since gone back to his home in America. He had a real hard time in Thailand because he found so few people interested in doing good. He told me once, "Tongpan, you can't just preach the gospel. It is not enough. Thai people just won't do what is right." He was so afraid of this that he didn't share the gospel but rather focused on obedience, telling people what they should and should not do. And sure enough, people around him didn't drink or smoke. But they were only working off of religious effort.
There was a man by the name of Father Wassana from Nong Han district. While I was sharing Christ with him he asked me, "If I become a believer in Jesus, do I have to tell other people about him?" I told him he didn't have to tell a soul. In fact, I told him, "Don't you dare say a word to anyone. If you do, people will just say you're following the foreigner's religion, Christianity. You don't want them to say that. You just go ahead and believe in Jesus Christ and don't say a word about it to anyone."
After he became a follower he began to read and study the Bible every day behind a closed door. He didn't say anything to anyone. You have to understand that this was a shy person with very little courage. Don't start building barriers by telling the interested that once they believe they must do this, that and the other. If the person is going to do anything later let them receive Jesus Christ first to help them do it.
After Wassana became a Christian I continued to visit him daily. I also continued to remind him at each visit not to say anything to anyone. He promised he wouldn't. Finally after Wassana had been a believer for eight days I came to visit and there were four other new Christians there. "I thought you promised you weren't going to tell anybody!" "I couldn't help it!" he cried, "If I didn't say anything I would die!" He said his heart was going to explode. He had been studying the word about the good news, about salvation, about going to heaven. The more he studied the more he felt the need to share. He finally shared with four of his closest friends who wanted what he had. I told him not to share and he said, "I had to let it out!"
A government official came by and said, "What is going on here?" And this shy man boldly declared, "Jesus Christ!" Previously he wasn't willing to say a word so I forbid him to say anything. Don't build barriers by saying that when you believe in God you have to start doing this, that and the other. A person who doesn't have any growth in the word or understand anything about the Lord can't start to do those things.
If the Lord is in that person's life and they are growing in the word, then Jesus will work through them. What did Jesus say to the man he healed? Don't you go and tell anyone what happened to you. If you were given two letters, one says "Read" and the other says "Do Not Read" which one do you think you will want to open first? The forbidden one! This works with lots of people. It just depends on the kind of person. Just don't build any barriers.
If people say they don't want to follow the Christian religion - tell them they don't have to! Believe in Jesus. If they want to start telling others, then let them. Let it be the power of God that motivates them. The good news is powerful. What do you think will happen? This is the principle that we need to understand and use. Once we understand what the gospel is, the power of God is able to work. If we go out and start announcing the Christian religion, it will be very difficult. It is time to change, time to try a new methodology.
Satan doesn't want us to do this! "Use the old way", he says, "So you don't get anyone it doesn't matter just keep on trying." So we don't change. We don't think we can change. Lots of Christian fall into this. They are incapable of creating a new way or of trying something new. They are traditionalists, they want to keep up the old ways of doing things. They aren't progressive thinkers. Progressive thinkers are those who are willing to change, to try new methods. Allow Jesus to come to people in many different ways.
It is necessary to find those points of contact where we can connect first. It is dangerous to try and connect Jesus with religion. There was a monk who came to visit me at my home. He came to find me because I had visited him in the temple several times. In that area he was known as Monk Miserly because he was extremely tight-fisted. He would not even share the overripe mangoes that fell from the tree in the temple grounds with anyone. But he brought some nice mangoes to my house because I had been visiting him and he was interested in talking about Jesus. There were no hard feelings between him and I. There are a lot of people who are easy to criticize. You have to resist this. This person was one of those but instead we were trying to build a relationship.
He came and asked me, "How come I never see you give any donations to the monk's bowls in the morning?"3 I went to my kitchen and got some rice and said, "Thank the Lord for this chance. Please let me give this donation to you Teacher, in the name of Jesus Christ." What do you think happened? As the monk left he said, "You don't need to worry about making any more donations in the future."
Each time we have an opportunity, let what we do be done in the name of Jesus. If I hadn't given in the name of Jesus he would want me to give all the time. In the name of Jesus he was afraid. There were no further complaints from that monk in my village. We have to find ways to learn from others, ways to be friends with people first. Don't make enemies. Find ways to build relationships and not to be distant from others.
Endnotes:
1. This talk was originally given as hour two of a four hour seminary by Rev. Tongpan Phromeddha at the Isaan Congress II held in Khon Kaen, Thailand October 18, 2000 2. Referring to all the religious trappings and tradition expressing Christianity in western forms. 3. To "sai baht" is when the monks come out in the morning and people are given the opportunity to put something in their bowls as a way to make merit.