by Steve | May 8, 1981 | Archive - 1981
Often Satan snares Christians in
Archive: Financial Bondage—The Deadly Trap
By Larry Burkett
Reprinted from his book, “Your Finances in Changing Times”
©Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc., 1975.
Part II
It is important for a Christian to be able to recognize financial bondage, but it is equally important to know how to achieve freedom. Financial freedom manifests itself in every aspect of the Christian’s life—relief from worry and tension about overdue bills, a clear conscience before God and before other men, and the absolute assurance that God is in control of his finances.
This is not to say that a Christian’s life will be totally void of any difficulties in the area of finances. Often God will allow the consequences of earlier actions to remain in order to reinforce the lesson; also God does not promise to remove every difficulty.
How can we achieve financial freedom? What must we do according to God’s plan? The following are nine steps to financial freedom:
Transfer Ownership: A Christiam must transfer ownership of every possession to God. This means money, time, family, material possessions, education, even earning potential for the future. This is essential to experience the Spirit-filled life in the area of finances (Psalms 8:6).
It is simple to say, “I make total transfer of everything to God,” but not so simple to do. At first, anyone will experience some difficulty in consistently seeking God’s will in the area of material things because we are so accustomed to self-management and control. But financial freedom comes from knowing that God is in control.
Freedom from Debt: A Christian must get out of debt altogether. Again, let me define a Scriptural debt. Debt exists when any of the following conditions are true:
1. Payment is past due for money, goods or services that are owed to other people.
2. The total value of unsecured liabilities exceeds total assets. In other words, if you had to cash out at any time, there would be a negative balance on your account.
3. Anxiety is produced in the area of financial responsibility, and the family’s basic needs are not being met either because of past or present buying practices.
Freedom from debt involves getting and staying current. I suggest these steps:
A. Written Plan. A written plan is an absolute necessity for the Christian who is in financial bondage.
Use a written plan of all expenditures and their order of importance. The order of importance is crucial because we have lost the point of reference between needs, wants, and desires. Let’s examine the differences between a need, a want, and a desire:
1. Needs. These are the purchases necessary to provide your basic requirements such as food, clothing, a job, home, medical coverage, and others. “And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content” (I Timothy 6:8).
2. Wants. Wants involve choices about the quality of goods to be used. Dress clothes versus work clothes, steak versus hamburger, a new car versus a used car.
3. Desires. These are choices according to God’s plan which can be made only out of surplus funds after all other obligations have been met.
The difference between needs, wants and desires can be illustrated this way: we can see in our society today that most people need an automobile. That need can be satisfied by a used Volkswagen. The want can be satisfied by a larger car such as an Oldsmobile. And the desire may only be satisfied by a brand new Cadillac.
Each of us must assess these levels according to the plan that God has for our lives. We must also assess movies or vacations accordingly. Those who are in debt have no prerogative but to meet their needs and then satisfy the needs of their creditors according to God’s plan. Always analyze every expenditure made in terms of these categories.
B. Living Essentials. A Christian in debt must stop any expenditure which is not absolutely essential for living (Proverbs 21:17). Look for services around the home that can be done without outside cost. Also begin to develop some home skills. By utilizing individual skills, you can begin to cut down on some of the expenditures which are not really essential.
It’s also important to learn to substitute for items of lower depreciation. For example, when purchasing appliances, select those without so many frills on them.
What I’m expressing is an attitude of conservatism. Begin to eliminate expenditures which are not essential, remembering that many expenditures are assumed to be essential only because of our society.
C. Think Before Buying. A Christian who is in debt (and even those who are not) should think before every purchase (Proverbs 24:3). very purchase should be evaluated as follows:
1. Is it a necessity? Have I assessed whether it is a need, a want, or a desire?
2. Does the purchase reflect my Christian ethics? (For example, Playboy does not reflect Christian ethics.) Can I continue to take magazines, encyclopedias, or other book and record subscriptions while I owe others?
3. Is this the very best possible buy I can get or am I purchasing only because I have this credit card?
4. Is it a highly depreciative item? Am I buying something that will devalue quickly? (Swimming pools, boats, sports cars all fall into this category.)
5. Does it require costly upkeep?
D. Discontinue Credit Buying. A Christian should also begin buying on a cash basis only. Often someone in debt, with an asset that can be converted into cash, will ask, “Would it be better to sell this asset and pay off the debts?” That’s normal mistake to make, but it only treats the symptom rather than the problem.
The principle to observe is this: If you are in debt from the misuse of credit, stop—totally stop—using It. Mail the cards back to their respective companies and ask them to mail you no more. Include in your letter the plan for paying that credit card debt, and then commit yourself to buying solely on a cash basis.
E. Avoid Leverage. When in debt, avoid the use of what is called “leverage.” Leverage is the ability to control a large asset with a relatively small amount of invested capital.
For example, if you bought a piece of property that cost $10,000 and required $1,000 down, that represents a nine to one lever. You have invested 10% of your money and borrowed 90%.
It should be understood that although the practice of leverage itself does not violate a Scriptural principle, it can fall into the category of a “get rich quick” scheme if used excessively.
F. Practice Saving. A Christian should practice saving money on a regular basis. This includes those who are in debt. Even if it is only $5 a month, develop a discipline of saving.
This does not mean to store up a large amount of money to the sacrifice of creditors, but one of the best habits that a young couple can develop is saving a small amount on a regular basis.
Everyone in our society living above the poverty level has the capability to save money, but many fail to do so because they believe that the amount that they can save is so small it’s meaningless. Others believe that God frowns upon a Christian saving anything. Neither of these two reasons are Scriptural. “There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man swallows it up” (Proverbs 21:20).
Establish the Tithe: Every Christian should establish the tithe as the minimum testimony to God’s ownership.
It is through sharing that we bring His power in finances into focus. In every case, God wants us to give the first part to Him, but He also wants us to pay our creditors. That requires establishing a plan and probably making sacrifices of wants and desires until all debts are current.
Accept God’s Provision: To obtain financial peace, recognize and accept that God’s provision is used to direct each of our lives. Often Christians lose sight of the fact that God’s will can be accomplished through a withholding of funds; we think that He can direct us only by an abundance of money. But God does not choose for everyone to live in great abundance.
Each Christian must learn to live on what God provides and not under pressure brought on by driving desires for wealth and material things. This necessitates planning lifestyles around the provision that God has supplied—it can be done.
How can a Christian actually apply this principle and find the level of living God has planned for his life? He can begin putting these attitudes into practice in the following areas:
A. Extra Income. Often when a family cannot pay its bills, the first thought is, “More money will help.” Perhaps the husband takes a second job or the wife goes to work. Before either step is taken, a Christian should assess whether he is living outside God’s will for his finances. Is a lack of money the problem or is it a wrong attitude?
Seek the possibility of extra income only after correcting buying habits. Quite often, when analyzed on paper, a working mother does not contribute any more actual income. In many cases it costs more money, considering the costs of child care, travel, and clothing. But the greatest sacrifice is the loss of family guidance from the mother. I believe there is no provision in God’s Word for a mother with children to work if she must sacrifice her children’s welfare. If there are no children at home, or the children are in school during the day, it should be an individual family decision. But it is necessary to first assess whether you are rationalizing that you cannot live within God’s provision.
B. Ask God First. Before making any purchase, regardless of the amount, give God the opportunity to provide that item first. Many times we pass by the blessings God has in store for us because, being Impulse buyers, we purchase without giving God the opportunity to show us His will.
Several things a Christian should cl before every purchase that is outside his normal budget are:
Pray about purchases. Absolutely no purchase is too large or too small to pray about. How can you know God’s will if you never ask Him?
Seek family counsel. Bring the entire family into the petition before God and allow them to share in the blessing of God answering prayer.
Seek God’s will. Learn to discern God’s will in requests. God is not under any obligation to grant our every wish since often we ask for things that hurt us. It is God’s wisdom that we are seeking; not ours. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?” (Romans 11:34).
A Clear Conscience: A Christian must have a clear conscience regarding past business practices and personal dealings.
God is saying, “Don’t give anything to the Lord as long as you have transgressed against your brother and you are not willing to make it right.”
Put Others First: A Christian seeking financial freedom must always be willing to put other people first. This does not imply that a Christian has to be a floor mat for others; it simply means that he doesn’t profit at the disadvantage of someone else. The key, again, lies in attitude.
Limit Time Involvement: A Christian must also limit time devoted to business affairs when family involvement suffers. “Do not weary yourself to gain riches, cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens” (Proverbs 23:4,5). Many Christians are trapped in this cycle of overcommitment to business or money pursuits.
It’s important to remember that the priorities God sets for us are very clear and that every Christian seeking God’s best must understand them. The first priority in a Christian’s life is developing his personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
The second priority of a Christian’s commitment is to his family, including teaching them from God’s Word.
This training requires a commitment to the family unit—and that means a specific time commitment, too. Christ deserves the best part of our day. If you study best in the morning, get up early in the morning and give time to the Lord. Sacrifice if necessary to do so. If you find that your family time together can take place best between eight and nine in the evening, commit that time to God.
The third priority in a Christian’s life should be church activities, social groups, work and all the hobbies that he might have.
Every Christian needs to assess whether he really allows God to have first place in his life. An assessment of this can be made by keeping a 24-hour calendar for about one week. Write down, on an hourly basis, each activity of each day. Observe how much time you give to God, how much time to your family, how much time to work, and how much time to pleasure.
I don’t mean to imply that God expects us to set aside eight hours each day for Him. But how much time do you give to God? ls it five, 10 minutes a day, or even less than that? How much time is devoted to television or newspapers that might be given to God? When you find a balance in your life, God will make the time spent more profitable. I believe that the majority of Christians could, if they planned their schedules properly, trim their average day back substantially and accomplish the same amount of work or perhaps more. But seek a balance. If business involvement requires that you sacrifice God’s work or your family, it is not according to His plan.
Avoid Indulgence: Every Christian, to achieve financial freedom, must avoid the indulgences of life.
The range in which God’s will can be found is between Luke 9:23 when Christ said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” And John 6:27, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on him the Father, even God, has set His seal.”
Does your lifestyle fit within this range? Are you willing to trust God and deny yourself some indulgences?
Christian Counseling: It is important to seek good Christian counseling whenever in doubt. “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22). God admonishes us to seek counsel and not to rely on our own resources.
The very first counselor to be used is the spouse. Many times God will provide the answer right within your own home. Husbands should not avoid their wives’ counsel in the area of finance, for many times I have found the wife’s suggestions to be useful and enlightened. Husbands and wives can frequently work out financial problems that would frustrate either of them separately.
Don’t avoid the counsel of your own children, either. Let them know what your problems are, keep them involved. Allow them to know and understand why you must adjust your living standard.
If necessary, seek professional financial counseling. I would advise counseling only from a Christian source. Often good, sound financial counseling can come from a non-Christian source, but many of the things that you want to accomplish will be nonsense to the non-Christian.
So we can see, as we examine the concept of financial freedom, that God clearly outlines when a Christian is in financial bondage, as well as the steps that lead out. Begin to put these principles into practice in your life and share them with other Christians.
by Steve | May 7, 1981 | Archive - 1981
Archive: Is War Ever Justified?
YES!
says Elizabeth Richman, Lay Member, Oregon/Idaho Annual Conference, Alsea, Oregon
A recent Judicial Council decision makes it clear that the Social Principles statement (Discipline, pp. 86-104) does not have the force of law in our church. Yet every step United Methodists take is shadowed by statements in Social Principles! We see this in annual conference resolutions on political matters and in political statements which are justified in terms of our Social Principles. We see that often when United Methodists speak on certain moral issues, as well as foreign relations and military defense.
Is it possible, we are justly asked, to be a true follower of the UM Church and at the same time to favor a strong national defense for the United States? Does our church have a theology of war and peace? Should it?
In this article I am not trying to define a position but rather to raise a basic question which has already been placed by others on the United Methodist agenda. Examine the Social Principles statement. Even though this is not binding law, nevertheless it serves widely as a guideline for inner church teaching. And very importantly, it is a part of what those outside our church see when we talk United Methodism to them.
Notice ¶74 G, Military Service (Discipline, p.101). It makes a stab at carrying water on both shoulders but not unexpectedly winds up slightly off balance. And ¶75 C, War and Peace (p.102), is either pacifist or says nothing; I’m not sure which.
Consider the resolutions adopted in 1979 by a number of United Methodist annual conferences. Newscope for July 6, 1979 made a summary of these pronunciamentos. It reported:
At least 33 conferences passed statements on reduction of military forces, 13 conferences called for ratification of SALT II and one asked to study the treaties. Another eight urged arms reduction; three called for studies on disarmament; and seven opposed any draft reinstatement.
In 1979 the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference recorded its opposition to any “proposal to further institute or increase civil defense activities against nuclear war …” fearful among other things lest such activities “… might alarm Soviet leaders.”
According to Newscope for Sept. 28, 1979, the UM Board of Church and Society presented to General Conference resolutions opposing any form of military draft and supported SALT II. The UM Boards of Church and Society and Global Ministries both have been acting as sponsors of the Religious Committee on SALT which seeks ratification of SALT II. As a church, we have been up to our necks in lobbying for SALT II!
I wonder what are the ethical/theological grounds by which our church is advocating both (1) decreased military defense for the United States and simultaneously (2) ratification of SALT II. This proposed treaty would not lessen the arms deployed by the two countries involved. But it would have an effect upon the relative military strength—to the disadvantage of the United States.
The frequently-cited standards for judging doctrinal correctness among United Methodists are Scripture, tradition, experience, and reason. These might well be used also as a framework for judging stands on SALT II, and other military-defense positions taken by our UM Church.
Scripture is often used as an argument for pacifism. I know this not because of anything I read in the Bible but because, in my own personal experience, I have often heard such arguments. There is Exodus 20:13, “You shall not murder.” However, this is closely followed by laws relating to the death penalty and later on in the Old Testament by quite a lot of non-pacifist material on the subject of war. Should not the word “kill” in Exodus 20:13 be more properly translated “murder?” Clearly this text is not referring to war, otherwise God Himself would not have sanctioned war as right for His people of the Old Covenant—and in fact ordered them, in some instances, to kill His enemies.
Pacifists often quote the well-known “… They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Isaiah 2:4) and Isaiah 11:6: “The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.”
How many illustrations against war have I seen on these themes? But how many farmers would keep a wolf in the sheepfold or a lion in with the cows? And climbing into the lions’ den at the zoo is strictly a no-no! When we properly consider the context of these proof-text pacifist Scriptures, it becomes clear that Isaiah is prophesying concerning the Day of the Lord, still in the unpredictable future. He refers not to the present, but to the time yet to come, a blessed time of peace and tranquility. Jesus taught us to pray for this and we do every Sunday: “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). But until that blessed time arrives, and sin shall be no more, we will live in a world that is not yet made perfect. For this reason, war and violence are very present realities which Christians must deal with realistically. To confuse the future age of Kingdom- completeness with the present evil age is an error constantly made by idealists who do not “correctly handle the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15b).
In the New Testament, Matthew 16:52 warns: “… all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” But if we take time to read this entire chapter we can see that war is not under discussion. So the use of this text to validate pacifism involves some real distortion.
In the closely related Luke 22:36 we read: “… if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” What is the significance of that non-pacifistic word of Jesus?
Probably the most important Scripture passage related to Christian understanding of war is often ignored by the promoters of pacifism:
Everybody must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. (Romans 13:1-7).
This passage has a depth of complex meaning and a long history of difficult interpretation. But one thing stands out clearly in it: God has ordained structures of authority and government in our fallen world. Their purpose is to keep evil in check. Think about it—without police, murderers and robbers would kill, terrorize and steal uncontrolled. And without opposing military force, the Hitlers, the Pol Pots, the Idi Amins, and the Kremlin dictators would be able freely to commit genocide, invade, and pillage. Obviously, governments often do abuse their authority. But think what our world would be like without police and military power to control aggression against people and nations?
This passage from Romans teaches that God has ordained armies and police. They are entrusted with the awesome right to use ultimate force in order to restrain evil while the world waits for Jesus Christ to return and bring an end to war and violence.
Tradition. St. Augustine comments in a sermon:
If the Christian Religion forbade war altogether, those who sought salutary advice in the Gospel [from John the Baptist in Luke 3:14] would rather have been counseled to cast aside their arms, and to give up soldiering altogether. On the contrary they were told: “Do violence to no man; …and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14 KJV). If he commanded them to be content with their pay, he did not forbid soldiering (quoted from Ep. ad Marcel., CXXXVIII, Chap. 2, as quoted in Aquinas, Summa Theolog).
Furthermore St. Augustine, whose writings show his dedication to peace and his horror of war, often refers to “a just war.” Few Christian thinkers have exerted so great an influence as St. Augustine.
Thomas Aquinas, in Summa Theologica, Question XL, Of War, asks “whether some kind of war is lawful?” He goes on to say:
In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary. First the authority of the sovereign by whose command war is to be waged. For it is not the business of a private person to declare war, because he can seek for redress of his rights from the tribunal of his superior. …
Secondly, a just cause is required, namely that those who are attacked should be attacked because they deserve it on account of some fault. …
Thirdly, it is necessary that the belligerents should have a right intention, so that they intend the advancement of good, or the avoidance of evil.
So there is ancient church tradition supporting the use of force under certain circumstances. But to listen to the pronouncements and policies of our denomination, it sounds as if pacifism is the only tradition that ever was!
Experience. Winston Churchill, in his Memoirs of the Second World War, and Gen. Telford Taylor in Munich, The Price of Peace, both made clear how military weakness on the part of the democracies led to the aggressions of Hitler. But where in United Methodist publications and/or policy statements can you find any acceptance (or even discussion) of the “peace-through-strength” approach to national defense?
Lack of military preparedness may actually encourage war because aggressors think they can safely break the world peace unopposed. Therefore, in a fallen world, strong military force may be one of the best means of being a “peacemaker” (Matthew 5:9). Failure to recognize this suggests a defective sense of awareness concerning the fallen condition of our world. I believe pacifism rests upon a fatal naivete and idealism which fails to take sin and depravity as seriously as all Scripture and the lessons of human history require.
Reason. By what reasoning do our church bodies consistently advocate reduction of U.S. military strength? Certainly no one living in today’s world can be ignorant of the logistic realities of modern warfare. Well, maybe someone, but whole conferences of church leaders?
I can see only three possible reasons why our church advocates a weaker United States defense. One is a creeping in of the pacifist fog. Second is a belief that the threat to world peace today comes mostly from the United States—a swallowing whole of that Marxist, third world propaganda line about “imperialistic Amerika.”
There is, however, a third possibility. It is probably closer to what is actually happening. Perhaps we are not approaching the question from any logical point of view. We may be simply “going along” with the liberal mindset of those who for long have dominated the structures of our church. To object to their “official” views is to be considered “disloyal.” And rather than bear this awful stigma, many church leaders and people just go long as a course of least resistance. It is to precisely this possibility that I address my final comments.
I can see three fairly logical alternatives: (1) that we are, indeed, a pacifist church; (2) that we base ourselves upon the “just war” concept and accept the duties inherent in it, namely of supporting the strengthening of our national military; or (3) that we, as a church, consider the issues of national defense to be outside our realm of competence. Therefore, we would take no official position as a church; we would confine ourselves to explicitly spiritual matters.
There is “pluralism,” I suppose. It should allow United Methodists to hold various opinions of war, peace, and national defense, but the “powers-that-be” in our church do not play that game! Instead, they promote only one view and will tolerate no other. How else can we explain the total absence of views such as mine from the official statements of a church with 9,400,000 members?
As I said at the beginning, I am not defining a position but rather am throwing out some questions which need desperately to be studied by the whole church. Take it from here.
NO!
says Scott Andress Pastor, Forest Hill United Methodist Church, Amarillo, Texas
My final year in seminary I spent three weeks in Israel. My course of study included a trip to Yad Vashem[1], the Holocaust memorial. Yad Vashem stands a somber testimony to the consequences of the church allowing the state to be its master and conscience. It marked the final step for me in seven years of study and prayer. I could no longer reconcile Christianity with violence and silence. From that time I considered myself a pacifist, as well as a Christian committed to the authority of Scripture over my life. Indeed, my belief in the authority of the Bible first led me to question the acceptance of war and violence as a necessary part of Christian lifestyle in the world.
United Methodists subscribe to the interpretation of their faith by Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. I wish to share some thoughts on non-violence and peacemaking as a Christian lifestyle and vocation.
Scripture. The Old Testament is a bloody book. Men of God not only used violent means but, we are told, were enjoined by God to do so. Yet the taking of life, whether of criminals or enemies, was not casual. The prophets speak out against the idolatry of trusting military power supremely. Isaiah tells us security comes to Israel through faithful obedience to God—not in foreign alliances.
God’s sanctioning of violence in the Old Testament cannot be understood apart from its context. The heathen worship practices presented a danger to the people of God in their immaturity. Yet no Christian today (I hope!) feels divinely guided to kill his neighbor who holds to pagan views and lifestyle. One has shown us a more excellent way. We need not destroy our enemy, for Jesus’ death purchases for him or her the possibility of conversion.
Jesus never directly addressed the attitude his followers should take toward war. Some argue from his silence that violence is not forbidden. A similar reason lent support for slavery a century ago. The Gospel proclaims the arrival of the Kingdom in this world. His followers repay no man evil for evil, but love their enemies, bless those who persecute them, and seek to bring all men to Christ through the life they live submitted to Jesus.
What evidence confirms Jesus’ identity? It must be the love His disciples show to one another and t the world, and their commitment not to live for themselves but or Christ and the lost. Christians are called to live ordinary lives in extraordinary love and obedience. I may consider no man my enemy if Christ died to make him my brother.
Tradition. For most Christians in America, participation in war is traditional. This tradition does not stem from the 1st century Church. Noted church historian Roland Bainton states, “From the end of the New Testament period to the decade A.D. 170-180 there is no evidence whatever of Christians in the army.” Rather, the pagan Celsus rebuked Christians for their refusal to serve in the military. The idolatry of the Roman army offers one explanation for their refusal. Early Church fathers Tertullian, Origen, Athenagorus, and others testify to a concern for loving enemies and an aversion to killing as a primary cause for not serving in the military. Some early Christians sanctioned military services so long as it entailed only police functions and no bloodshed.
With the wedding of Christianity and the Roman Empire under the Emperor Constantine, pacifism halted abruptly. Constantine “defended” the faith and the faithful were expected to defend the empire. The Bride of Christ became the bride of the state.
Justification for Christian participation in war often centers on variations of a “just war” theory. Early Christians such as Augustine drew from Greek and Roman philosophy to define the situations which would allow Christians to fight.
A “just war” must be fought for a righteous cause with the purpose of securing justice and peace, and then only as a last resort. Christians are to control their violence, using the minimum necessary and never against civilians. The just warfarers act from pure motives—never greed, hatred, vengeance, or selfish interest. The good achieved should outweigh the evil of war. Victory and the goals of just war must be obtainable.
Yet all men believe their cause to be just! One can argue that all wars fought by the United States violate the just war theory, especially our American revolution. Even in World War II, massive bombing of civilian populations such as the fire-bombing of Dresden, violated just war principles. The destruction of Dresden served no strategic purpose save to placate our Russian allies who desired vengeance for the destruction of their civilian populations. The U.S. policy of demanding total surrender fell outside the just war ethic by giving the enemy no hope in early negotiations of peace.
Modern warfare cannot be made to conform to just war. Likewise the church has consistently proved unwilling or ineffectual in calling “Christian” nations to adhere to just war. No nation recognizes the right of Christians to refuse to participate in unjust wars. The local church fails to prepare its young people adequately to make the moral decisions called for by a belief in the theory of just war. Instead, a simple-minded national idolatry takes the place of an informed Spirit-directed conscience. We are left with a situation ethic in which everyone does what is right in his own eyes.
Reason. The secular world relies on reason. As Christians we acknowledge that sin corrupts man’s reason. Therefore reason is subject to Scripture. Yet the justifications of Christian participation in war generally echo those of the secular world. This agreement with those who do not recognize Jesus as Lord deserves reconsideration.
Christian reason presupposes the belief in Jesus as the resurrected Savior and that all men are sinful and in need of salvation. God charges all Christians to respond to evil with love, the intentional willing and seeking of our enemies’ highest good. “Reason” which denies God’s purpose in Christ Jesus cannot be trusted as the basis for Christian action.
We praise a Jim Elliot who died taking the Gospel to savages. We applaud his wife whose forgiveness and love reached out and brought a people (her husband’s murderers) to Christ. But we fear to put into practice such an attitude when we, as a group or nation are threatened.
Let us admit the truth. We’re afraid. Supporting a television evangelist to broadcast the Gospel comes easier than developing a relationship with individuals. It is simpler to plead the righteousness of our cause as an excuse for war than to pay the price in time and lives to reconcile men through Christ. We would rather kill to preserve our way of life in this world than die to save the souls of men.
Experience. The Nazi death camps appear persuasive arguments for just war. Yet the documented horrors of Uganda, Cambodia, and Chile indicate some other basis for engaging in war. In these cases it wasn’t in the national interest.
Thousands of European Jews were denied refuge in America prior to World War II. The Allied Air Force refused to bomb the gas chambers of death camps. Not one country entered the war to save the Jews.
At Yad Vashem, pillars commemorate the number of Jews killed in each occupied country. In Denmark 95 percent of the Jewish population survived. When Danish Jews were ordered to wear the Star of David, King Christian called on all Danes to wear one. The Germans rescinded the order. Risking death and torture, Danes hid and smuggled Jews to Sweden.
The tragedy of World War II lies in the abdication of moral authority by the church. Experience teaches that war begets war, hatred begets hatred. Good fruit cannot come from bad seed.
Nuclear Pacifism: Many today feel they cannot reject all use of force, but class nuclear war as morally wrong. Noted evangelical John R. W. Stott writing in the February 8, 1980 edition of Christianity Today says nuclear weapons violate the just war principle of discriminating between combatants and civilians:
…the same principle is sufficient to condemn the use of strategic nuclear weapons. Because they are indiscriminate in their effects, … it seems clear to me that they are ethically indefensible, and that every Christian, whatever he may think of the possibility of a “just” use of conventional weapons, must be a nuclear pacifist.
A few men reserve the decision to use nuclear weapons. Should Russia attack us, those who instigate the war will be least likely to die. Our retaliation would be against innocent men, women, and children, including our fellow Christians (many who suffer for refusal to serve in the Russian army). Billy Graham compares such a holocaust to the hell of Auschwitz. The United States no longer rules out initiating such a conflict.
Waging Peace: The word pacifism creates an impression of passivity and a willingness to do nothing to halt evil. A Christian peacemaker cannot run from conflict or, acquiesce to evil. Neither will he willfully participate in evil or call it good. The peacemaker seeks by his witness to convert his adversary. Sadly, Christians fail to reflect a clear example of living in peace even with each other. Our disagreements exhibit the same bitterness and malice which plague the world. As Daniel Berrigan puts it, “There is no peace because there are no peacemakers. There are no peacemakers because the making of peace is at least as costly as the making of war.”
Peacemaking demands involvement and a willingness to let the Bible stand in judgment over our actions. Belief requires positive action. Christians bear a responsibility to mirror Jesus’ life to the world. Likewise, Christians share the responsibility of showing what it means to live in a Christian community. Christian peacemaking is a way of life, not a political belief.
Questions surrounding Christian pacifism cannot be adequately answered in so brief a space. If all evangelicals cannot accept pacifism as Biblical, consider John Wesley. Although he supported military service, Wesley also defended John Nelson, a Methodist preacher, who refused military service. I hope the reader will go beyond old preconceptions and wrestle with the implications of Jesus’ call for Christians to love their enemies.
[1] A memorial in Israel for Jews who died in Nazi Death Camps. It is a repository for evidence of what happened.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
*1. Bainton, Roland H. Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace, Abingdon Press, 1960, (page 67-68).
*2. Ellul, Jacques Violence, Seabury Press, 1969.
*3. del Yasto, Lanza Warriors of Peace, Writings on the Techniques of Nonviolence, Alfred A. Knopf Press, 1974.
*4. Holmes, Arthur F. ed. War and Christian Ethics, Baker Books, 1975.
5. Hostetler, Paul ed, Perfect Love and War, Evangel Press, 1974.
6. Lynd, Alice ed. We Won ‘t Go, Personal Accounts of War Objectors, Beacon Press, 1968.
7. Macgregor, G.H.C. The New Testament Basis of Pacifism, Fellowship Press, 1954.
8. Merton, Thomas Faith and Violence, University of Notre Dame Press, 1968.
*9. Ramsey, Paul The just War, Force and Political Responsibility, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1968.
10. Sider, Ronald J. ed. The Chicago Declaration, Creation House, 1974.
*11. Stott, J.R.W. “Calling For Peacemakers in a Nuclear Age” Part I and II, Christianity Today, February 8, 1980, (page 44-45), March 7, 1980 (page 44-45).
12. Stringfellow, William Conscience & Obedience, the Politics of Romans 7 3 and Revelation 13 in Light of the Second Coming, Word Books, 1977.
*13. Yoder, John Howard The Politics of Jesus, Eerdmans, 1972.
*Designates the more important sources.
by Steve | May 5, 1981 | Archive - 1981
A young pastor tells how he began writing folk songs to celebrate God at work in the lives of his congregation. He is …
Archive: God’s Troubadour in Hale Center
by Wesley Putnam Pastor, United Methodist Church, Hale Center, Texas
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love music. My dad tells a story about my standing on the front pew and singing my first solo in church at the age of three or four. The only problem was that it was in the middle of his sermon.
I was always fascinated with my dad’s guitar and any instrument I could toot, pound, pluck, or play. My parents reinforced this interest by giving me piano lessons and encouraging my brothers and me to sing together. Our gathering around the piano to sing developed into a boys’ quartet. We sang in church and wherever else we could get someone to listen.
During my high school years in Vivian, Louisiana, I played in the band, sang in the choir, and began to sing solos. By the time I graduated I was certain that music would be my life. went to college to become a performer and teacher of music.
But in my sophomore year I had a great experience with the Lord, and in the summer of 1972 I felt strongly that I was to go into the pastoral ministry. My reaction to this revelation was disbelief. I had my heart set on music and, after spending my life in a parsonage, I had very little desire to be a minister. But I knew that God loved me and was only going to lead me toward what was best for me.
By November of that year I was standing behind the pulpit of my first charge in Northeast Louisiana and I was making plans to study at Asbury Theological Seminary after finishing college.
The pastorate did not, however, silence my love for music. During student pastorates in college and seminary I began a tradition of singing my Christmas and Easter sermons. In these sermons I spliced traditional and contemporary songs together. in a sequence, connecting them with narration. I began to see that I need not choose either music or preaching, but that the two could be merged into a fuller ministry.
The first song I wrote as a pastor was an unexpected treat. I was preparing my first Easter Sunday sermon in a student pastorate in Grayson, Louisiana, and was meditating on the great love God had shown us through Christ. I picked up a pen and paper and the words seemed to flow effortlessly onto the page. I ran excitedly next door to the parsonage, grabbed my guitar, and began to put the words to music. From the writing of the first word to the time I was playing this song for my wife, Felicia, only 20 minutes had passed. This song was named, “The Gift,” not only because of His gift to me of the song, but also because of His greatest gift, Jesus. These are the words:
You know that there’s love in His heart for you,
For He’s done what nobody else could ever do.
He laid down His life in suffering and shame
And didn’t look around and ask, “Who can I Blame?”
No, He said, “I give my life freely!”
He said, “I give my life freely, and I give it for you.”
I can’t understand how God could give His Son.
But He did! You know, He gave His only one!
And now I can look to God and call Him my Father,
And Jesus Himself has called me His brother.
All because He gave His life freely.
Yes, because He gave His life freely, and He gave it for me.
Now this is the message that I carry with me,
“When you walk in the Spirit, you walk in the victory.”
For there’s nothing below, no, there’s nothing above
That can ever separate us from His perfect love!
For now He lives and gives new life freely!
Yes, he lives and gives new life freely, and He gave it to me.
This was the first, and as far as I knew then, the only song I would ever write. I remember wanting to write and even sitting down and making the effort. But for the next five years I wrote no songs.
I can see now that God was working in my life, preparing me so that the music I would write later would minister to people. Many things were preparing me. The years of study in seminary would give me a sound theological base from which to work. And the student pastorates would show me the needs people face every day. The semester I worked in a university hospital confronted me with the real world of suffering. And the struggles I had facing temptations showed me my own dependence on God. Through all of this (and much more) God was refining me—making me more sensitive to Him, to people around me, and to myself.
After graduation from seminary, I was appointed to the Lazbuddie United Methodist Church in Lazbuddie, Texas. Here I began to write songs again.
This was the first church I had pastored that had an organized youth group. Out of my own struggles with temptation, and the realization that our youth were struggling too, came “The Intercessor.” What would Jesus say if He confronted us in the moment of temptation:
Don’t do it, My child. Please don’t do it.
Satan wants to tear you down.
Don’t do it, My child, please don’t do it.
He wants to rob you of your crown.
I know he makes things look so pretty.
But all it is is make believe.
His lovely package turns up empty,
He just can’t give you what you need.
I ‘II give you strength! Stand on My promise!!
I’ll help you walk the narrow way.
I gave My all that you might know this,
My victory all his power breaks!
In July of 1979 I was moved to Hale Center, Texas. Here I began to see every situation in terms of a song. A sermon series, a special occasion, a personal struggle, or an experience in the life of one of the members-all gave me reasons to write songs.
For example, Buddy Keeler and his wife, Reba, had been married for almost 53 years. She died suddenly in the fall of 1979 and because they had no children, Buddy’s grief was compounded by loneliness. I was sitting with him in his home on the day of the funeral when he looked at me and said, “Wes, this house seems so empty now.”
What can a pastor say in a moment like that? I couldn’t say much. But I went home and tried that night to voice to God what he felt and what God would say to Buddy. The song was titled “To Live Again.”
Lord, this house seems so empty.
I never felt so all alone.
Since the one I love so left me
This house just doesn’t feel like home.
I can see her face everywhere turn
I don’t know if I ‘I I ever learn—to live again.
My child, I know it’s hard to see Me
When your eyes are filled with tears.
But I’m right here where I said I would be
And I will always be here.
Just put your hands in Mine when those tears burn
And with ‘My help I know you’ll learn—to live again.
I will never leave you! No, I will never forsake you.
Remember I once had a Son to die.
I will never leave you! No, I will never forsake you.
I will always be here by your side.
So, put your hands in Mine when those tears burn
And with My help I know you’ll learn, to live again.
A few nights later I called Buddy over to the church and I sang this song to him. It was able to minister where my spoken words could not.
In November of 1979 I was involved in an accident that did muscle damage to my lower back. In January of 1980 I was admitted to the hospital for the second time.
On the same day I was admitted, Betty Alexander had surgery for the removal of a cyst. Near the end of the week while I was tired of lying there and feeling sorry for myself, my wife told me that Betty’s biopsy was positive. It was devastating news for both Betty and her husband, Gene, who lost his first wife to cancer.
I prayed that somehow God would minister to them through me. I had my guitar with me in the hospital, so quietly, I began to work on a new song. The next day I was able to go to her room and sing the song God had given me for her situation:
When I’m cry in’ He sees my tears.
When I’m hurtin’ He really cares.
When I’m weak, on Him I lean
And nothin’s happened He hasn’t seen.
He’s all I need to see me through.
There’s really nothin’ my God can’t do!
So when I’m frightened and feel all alone
Well I may be weak—but He is strong.
When I’m walkin’ and the road is dark
He sees the finish right from the start.
So I ‘II make sure my hand’s in His
And I ‘II be stronger for know in’ this.
There are now over 30 such songs. Each has its own story. I pray that they will keep on coming and that they will minister to the needs of people in ways that my sermons alone may never do.
by Steve | May 4, 1981 | Archive - 1981
Archive: I Am Convinced…
By James V. Heidinger II, Editor, Good News Magazine
This is my first word to you on the editorial pages since becoming the new Executive Secretary /Editor of Good News. I am still adjusting to the awesome responsibility of giving leadership to Good News. The challenge of continuing the faithful and courageous leadership given by Dr. Charles W. Keyson the past 15 years is nearly overwhelming to me. I appeal to you for your prayers on my behalf.
After 12 years in the pastoral ministry (four as associate pastor at Dueber UM Church in Canton, Ohio, and the past eight as pastor of the Scott Memorial UM Church in Cadiz, Ohio), the new assignment to Good News is a definite change of direction. I am excited about the challenge before me and about the opportunity of working with the outstanding staff of Good News.
Also, I am grateful to Bishop James S. Thomas for granting me the appointment “beyond the local church,” which allows me to maintain my relationship with the East Ohio Conference.
With a move to Kentucky planned for mid-June, this spring brings a number of new things for our family: the new job, a new home and community, and in the next several weeks a new addition to our family as my wife, Joanie, is due with our third child in early May.
This first editorial is an appropriate time for me to share some of my reflections and personal convictions about Good News and the United Methodist Church. Some of these ideas, perhaps, will be themes treated more fully in future editorials.
First, I am convinced that spiritual and evangelical renewal is happening across America in the mainline denominations to a greater degree than any of us can imagine.
This past March 9 and 10, I met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with leaders from renewal groups representing nine mainline church bodies. In attendance were delegates representing the Anglican Church, the Church of the Brethren, American Baptist Church, United Church of Christ, United Presbyterian Church in the U.S., Southern Presbyterian Church, Mennonite Church, Roman Catholic Church, and the United Methodist Church. This was my first involvement with these renewal group leaders who come together with an amazingly similar agenda of concerns. These are devoted pastors and laity who love their churches, who are concerned about the loss of spiritual vitality and Biblical witness in their churches, and who care enough to become involved in working for renewal.
All of this convinced me that God, in His Sovereignty, has raised up Good News and these other renewal groups to fulfill His purposes in His Church. In a similar way, God has raised up some 52 renewal groups within the United Methodist Church in as many annual conferences. God is saying to us once again, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19).
Second, I am convinced that doctrinal and theological faithfulness is vital to lasting church renewal. Our present renewal in United Methodism, whether via the Lay Witness Mission, Good News, Charismatic Renewal, or the Church Growth Movement, needs right Biblical doctrine to inform it and give it stability. Right doctrine remains indispensable for right faith and practice.
All of this says that we must be willing to enter the arena of doctrinal controversy. At the risk of seeming narrow or exclusive, we must insist on doctrinal definition.
Dr. Tom Oden, in his highly significant work, Agenda For Theology, Harper & Row, 1979, observes that “Doctrinal definition is as essential to the task of theology as identifying a phony dollar bill is to the job of a bank teller” (p. 107). To define anything is to be forced to set a boundary. There can be no definition of anything, he adds, without “excluding from that definition that which is different from it” (p. 108). He goes on to note that it has been the task historically of both pastor and theologian to say, “Here marks the exact line that distinguishes authentic from counterfeit Christianity.”
Unfortunately, we embraced “theological pluralism.” This has helped make United Methodist pastors and theologians so irenic that many have become “theological pacifists”; they are offended by nothing, regardless of how heretical. It is time for doctrinal renewal.
Third, I am convinced that Good News has prevented untold thousands of United Methodists from leaving their church. Others may speculate whether this is true. But for those with long-time involvement with Good News or for those opening the mail in the Good News office these days, we are sure of this. The “letters” section of the magazine has attested to this in nearly every issue. The familiar phrase is, “If it were not for Good News, my wife and I (husband and I, family) would have left the United Methodist Church by now.” I thank God for those of you who have stayed. I urge all of our Good News supporters to stay with us, work, pray, and’ trust God to bring deep and lasting renewal to United Methodism.
Fourth, I am convinced that Good News is representative—not of the extreme right of our church, as we are so often portrayed, but of the large grassroots middle of United Methodism. Personally, I do not view Good News at the opposite end of the continuum from the Methodist Federation for Social Action, as we are so regularly positioned. In reality, I believe that hosts of pastors and laypersons across our vast church are in basic theological agreement with us. I feel many district superintendents and even a number of our bishops share our concerns for renewal within the church. Unfortunately, we have been caricatured so long as extremists and/or right wing reactionaries (the emotionally-loaded phrase used automatically to dismiss a valid perspective without consideration), that many who would agree with us have not risked involvement with Good News. I invite many of you who—for whatever reasons—have remained spectators in this serious struggle, to join us in our efforts for Scriptural Christianity within the United Methodist Church.
Finally, I am convinced that many reading this editorial have enjoyed the luxury of neutrality and non-involvement too long. It is time you let your voice be heard. If one is halting and timid in entering the fray for the very future of United Methodism, I fear that person is also halting and timid in his stand for truth within the local church.
As Dr. Keysor mentioned in his final letter to the Good News family in April, there are new sounds and indications that some of the church leadership are beginning to talk again about accountability. He wrote in that letter, “None of this would be happening without the pressures from Good News. For 15 years we have articulated some deep, across-the-church concerns which have found expression in print through Good News only.” Dr. Keysor was exactly right in so saying. There are hosts of us indebted to him for his visionary and faithful leadership to Good News. I just pray for many hundreds of you to break the bonds of your timidity, neutrality, non-involvement, fear, and institutional loyalty, to help us in this vital ministry to bring Scriptural renewal to our church. God is indeed saying, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19). I pray you will not only perceive it, but that you will be a part of it.
by Steve | May 3, 1981 | Archive - 1981
A miracle happened to missionary Gene Lewton on the
Archive: Night Train to Nairobi
by Dwight Harriman
Condensed from A Call to Prayer, with permission
Gene Lewton awoke and peered through the predawn grayness of the room and wondered what he had eaten last night that would make him greet the day with such a vile stomach ache. But this was his vacation. He was determined that nothing would interrupt it. He rubbed his midriff in condolence and got out of bed.
It was 1961. Gene and Marion Lewton, with their three young children, were taking their yearly vacation on Kenya’s east coast at Mombasa. It was a favorite spot for missionaries desperately needing a temporary respite from heavy work loads, a place to “let their souls catch up with their bodies.”
For days now, the Lewtons had watched blue waves come crashing in over white sand, swum in the churning water, and marveled at resplendent sunsets. Their souls were just catching up with their bodies. …
“I think we better go to Mombasa to see a doctor,” Marion said after they had eaten a simple breakfast.
Gene was hardly one to be terribly concerned about the aches and pains of life. But since the discomfort had not let up since he’d risen, he conceded, “I’ll go.”
The doctor at Mombasa pronounced the verdict. “A simple liver infection,” he said. He reached for a darkly colored bottle. “Just take this and you’ll be all right. ”
They returned to their cottage on the beach. The pain increased throughout the day. By 3:00 that afternoon, Gene was lying on the bed in the cottage.
Then Marion remembered Dr. Barnett, a doctor with Africa Inland Mission. He was staying not far from them and she hurried to summon him.
By now Gene was feeling a pain that spread like a hot blanket over his midriff, ever tightening around his entire abdomen. He was starting to grit his teeth. Marion felt a dark anxiety growing in herself. Something was very, very wrong.
Dr. Barnett arrived, took one look at Gene and declared, “This man must get to the hospital immediately!” Nairobi was 300 miles away. The only remotely comfortable way to get there was via a train that docked in a station separated from them by 20 miles of rough roads and a strand of ocean that had to be crossed by ferry. The train was leaving in less than an hour.
“Lord, somehow help us get there on time,” Marion prayed. In the rush of the moment, a thought entered her mind. She knew she would have to find a policeman who had the authority to call the station and ask them to delay the train’s departure. Finding a policeman would be a miracle. Having the station master hold up the train would be a bigger one.
But, in one of those baffling “coincidences” of divine providence, she had no sooner stepped out the door and walked a few paces than she ran directly into a Kenyan policeman. She explained the emergency to him, and he agreed to make the call.
“They said they would try to hold the train for 15 minutes,” he said.
But now, before any more action was taken, something had to be done about Gene’s pain. It was like a sword, probing inside him, whose blade grew keener and fiercer with each passing minute. His knuckles were ivory white as they gripped the edge of the bed he lay on. He inhaled in short, quick breaths.
Dr. Barnett reached in his medical bag and pulled out a small vial containing a colorless fluid, labeled “Morphine Sulphate.” He plunged a needle into its rubber cap, drew out 1.5cc of the clear liquid, and injected Gene as quickly and carefully as possible.
“In 10 or 15 minutes the pain will go away,” he told Gene. “That will last three, maybe four, hours. After that, you’ll need these.” He handed him a bottle of 15 wide, white tablets. “Take two every three to four hours.” Little did he know that soon Gene would be in such an agony of pain he might not be alert enough to take them.
Quickly now, with a sense of each passing second, Dr. Barnett and Marion removed a mattress from the cottage, put it in the back of his station wagon, and helped Gene onto the cushion. Marion told her children to remain there until they got back and then they got into the car and headed out to catch the Nairobi-bound night coach. Marion remembered that the policeman had said they would try to hold the train. He hadn’t said they would. She prayed again. She didn’t know it, but Gene and the doctor were praying, too.
The roads to the station were everything they had expected them to be. Potholes, bumps, and curves sent giant throbs through Gene’s body as he waited for the morphine to take effect. Each jolt was a new experience in sounding the depths of pain. They careened down the road as carefully yet hastily as they could. Gene’s occasional groans and outcries became less frequent as the injected drug took its miraculous effect.
The station finally came into view. The train was still there, steam pouring impatiently from its sides. They drove up to the loading platform, and things happened in rapid succession. The conductor, who had apparently been keeping an eye out for them, hurriedly ushered them to the train. Then, amid a flurry of movement, Gene was laid out on a berth in a small compartment. Marion desperately wanted to go with him, but she knew she could not leave her small children alone in an unfamiliar cottage by the beach. She would have to go back, then get to Nairobi on her own, as soon as she could.
Fortunately, she remembered a visiting American friend who happened to be on that very train to Nairobi. Thankful for having recalled the fact, but having no time to find the lady, Marion explained the situation to the conductor.
“Have her check on him until the train reaches Nairobi,” she said. The cars began moving out of the station.
“Lord, help him to make it,” she prayed.
But Gene doubted if he would. Pain—like a knife; twisting and stabbing its way through his sides and exploding in his brain. His body rocked back and forth in grotesque crescendos with the swaying of the railroad car. The morphine had worn off.
Gene was too irrational at the time to know it, but someone else prayed for him—all night. Marion’s friend on the train had received the message about Gene, and checked on him at intervals throughout the long journey. There was nothing she could do but pray.
Somehow, during the night, he was able to remember the pills. After much staggering and slopping of water in his glass, he got them down. But what good was codeine against that excruciating torture? He longed for morphine—sweet, relieving, heavenly morphine.
He was incredulous that he could feel such convulsive pain and still live. He had never known such fierce agony in his life. Was there no limit? Was there no end to it?
Dr. Barnett ·had called ahead so an ambulance was waiting to pick Gene up at the Nairobi station. It was an army truck ambulance which, if it had springs at all, were certainly the firmest set of springs any vehicle ever possessed. As it wheeled Gene from the station to the downtown Nairobi hospital that morning, the bouncing was one last terrifying experience which he was to be years in forgetting. After 14 hours on the train he was only half coherent, but aware that he was off the train and probably headed for the gleaming, modern, Nairobi hospital. With doctors and nurses. And morphine. Maybe they would give him morphine. …
But they gave him ether instead, and after that he didn’t feel anything. …
“My appendix had burst,” Gene explained weakly to Marion as she stood by his hospital bed. “The doctors said it had probably been that way for three or four days before I got to the hospital.”
Most men would scarcely have been alive under Gene’s circumstances. But medically speaking, a very unusual thing had happened. After Gene’s appendix burst, a protective sac had formed around the poisonous fluid, sealing it off from spreading totally through the rest of his body. Gangrene had already begun to set in, but the unusual sac had been enough to help keep him alive until he reached the hospital and the operating table.
“It’s a miracle I’m alive,” Gene said. Marion smiled. Miracles had a way of happening when they prayed.
by Steve | May 2, 1981 | Archive - 1981
Archive: Does anyone care about 3,000,000,000 Lost Souls?
An exclusive interview with Dr. Robert Coleman, internationally recognized authority on evangelism
Q What was the Consultation on World Evangelism (COWE); who was invited, and what was the main theme?
A About 650 invited Christians in various positions of leadership, together with a couple hundred official observers and staff, came together in Pattaya, Thailand, in June, 1980 for ten days to consider ways to reach the remaining 3,000,000,000 people in the world who do not know Jesus Christ. Following up the Congress on World Evangelization held six years ago in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the theme was “Let the Earth Hear His Voice,” this smaller meeting addressed the more technical question, “How Shall They Hear?” By its purpose, then, the gathering was essentially a working conference designed to develop effective strategies of evangelism for the 80s.
Our great diversity of cultures and religions, of course, call for different kinds of approaches. To get at this, the Pattaya meeting actually comprised 17 mini-consultations, each focusing on some major “unreached peoples group.” Included were traditional religionists in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Buddhists, Hindus, cultists, Jews, Marxists, secularists, Muslims, Chinese, city dwellers, refugees, and nominal Christians among Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants. The world assembly was the culmination of study groups meeting on the local level for over a year, gathering grassroots input from as many and diverse segments of society as possible.
Q What do you see as the thrust of this Consultation on World Evangelization with reference to United Methodists in America who are interested in world missions? Has our mission board been “missing the mark”?
A To me the Consultation’s reaffirmation of the primacy of world evangelization in our Lord’s missionary mandate focuses the real issue today before the church. It is not that evangelism and social action are unrelated, as the Thailand Statement points out, “but rather to acknowledge that of all the tragic needs of human beings none is greater than their alienation from the Creator and the terrible reality of eternal death for those who refuse to repent and believe. If, therefore, we do not commit ourselves with urgency to the task of evangelization, we are guilty of an inexcusable lack of compassion.”
Our Board of Global Missions, much as the World Council of Churches, has tended to minimize, or, at least, obscure this priority in their obsession with liberation. I believe that the forthright Declaration of COWE, representing as it does such a great body of believers, serves to keep the Biblical perspective before our officials, while also giving encouragement to the millions of Methodists who still hold evangelical convictions.
Q Were there any new currents or directions discernible? If so, what were they, and will they intensify opposition?
A In terms of strategy, I think there is an accelerated concern for reaching unevangelized groups of persons who have a natural affinity with one another. Worldwide there are nearly 20,000 such groups that have been identified where at present there is no realistic Gospel witness. As ways are found to penetrate these neglected peoples, and cross-cultural messengers are trained to communicate with them, Christian missions will become more effective and universal. I think that it is fair to say, too, that such evangelism will become more sensitive to the social needs of the oppressed people of the earth.
Along with this intensifying outreach ministry, we can expect to see increased opposition to the Gospel from the old religions, like Islam. Just as threatening will be proliferation of new demonic cults. Marxism and humanistic secularism also are likely to become more defiant and insidious in their attacks upon the Church of Christ.
Q To what extent are evangelical Christians from around the world willing and able to cooperate in evangelism? Can we unite on the priority of preaching the Word of God?
A The Lausanne movement, broadly conceived, is one answer to this question. For it encompasses on the world scale a vast spiritual fellowship of evangelicals from virtually every communion of the universal Church who recognize the imperative of the Great Commission. As such, it reflects probably the greatest ecumenical thrust of our generation.
That Bible-believing Christians can unite around evangelism is a witness to our sense of priorities in the Word of God. This does not minimize the need for basic doctrinal integrity, nor ignore differences on non-essentials, but it clearly demonstrates the power of the Gospel witness in bringing people together.
The American Festival of Evangelism in Kansas City, July 27-30, 1981 reflects this cooperative spirit. Already more than 140 denominations have endorsed the meeting, including the United Methodist Church. The four-day celebration will feature not only great inspirational rallies to begin and end each day, but will also include over 150 workshops and seminars in practical aspects of evangelism, discipleship, and equipping, plus first-hand presentations of 36 exciting, growing congregations. (See page 19 for exciting plans about Good News satellite meetings at Kansas City.)
Q Are there places in the world where the fires of evangelism are burning today? Is the UM Church doing anything in these areas?
A Oh yes, there are brush fires of evangelism burning all over the world, and in some places the flame has spread into a ventable conflagration. Look at Korea, where a few months ago 2.7 million people gathered in one service to hear the Gospel, with more than a million remaining to pray through the night. In that nation six and one-half new churches are being started every day, and it is very possible that the membership of the church as a whole will double in size in the next three years.
In the large Aymara tribe in Bolivia, there were only 20 churches six years ago: Today there are 1,000. In Chile some single congregations have grown to 40,000 to 50,000 members. The Jotabeche Church in Santiago now numbers 60,000, with most of the members involved in weekly prayer meetings, Bible study, and street evangelism. In the little nation of Costa Rica in the last eight years evangelicals have expanded from one percent to eight percent of the population.
This kind of growth is by no means limited to countries friendly to the Gospel. Behind the iron curtain in Romania, for example, both the Baptists and Assemblies of God have increased from 30,000 to 164,000 since 1945. Even in a place like China, those who are in a position to know estimate that in addition to the few city churches now being reopened, there are 20,000 house congregations scattered over the land, and the number is growing.
While in Thailand last summer I visited several of the refugee camps along the border of Cambodia. It is a depressing sight, seeing multiplied thousands of helpless people crowded into these bamboo enclaves of bare subsistence. Yet in one of the camps, amid incredible deprivation, I found a joyous fellowship of 20,000 believers, most of whom were converted to Christ in the last nine months. This is more Christians than there were in all of Cambodia before the war.
God is doing a new thing across the earth. While the examples I have cited may be exceptional, nonetheless they can be multiplied many-fold.
As to the extent of evangelism in United Methodism, I am afraid that on the whole we are not in the forefront of the action. Still there are spots where real growth is taking place. Brazil stands out in my mind, for I was there last spring to speak at their National Congress on Evangelism. All six bishops were present, as were delegates from most of their 500 churches. I felt the excitement among the people. A plan was projected to increase church membership by fifty percent in the next four years, and to double in size by the end of the decade. With their momentum, I see no reason why they cannot reach their goal. Would that the UM Church in America could venture forth with as much vision!
The spirit of Wesley—the passion to bring men to God—is more alive today than ever before. It can be seen in the purpose of a Billy Graham Crusade, in the discipline of a Campus Crusade action group, in the joy of a Catholic Renewal Fellowship, in the earnestness of a neighborhood home Bible study, in the aggressiveness of a Salvation Army street meeting, in the enthusiasm of a Holy Spirit Conference, in the vision of a growing Baptist Sunday school, or in a thousand other dynamic forms of outreach. Though it is unfortunate that the UM Church is not leading the advance, thank God that other people are in the harvest. And wherever you see men and women being constrained by the love of God to reach the lost and build them up in the Lord, there is the heartbeat of the Wesleyan revival, by whatever name it is called.
Q What UM involvement is there in the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and at the Pattaya Consultation? Are you our only representative?
A I think that we are well represented in LCWE. In addition to my own membership, George Hunter (Assistant General Secretary of the Section on Evangelism, Worship, and Stewardship of the Board of Discipleship) has recently been elected, doubling UM participation. In addition, there are several new persons from other Methodist communions in South Africa, India, and Germany who have come on the Committee.
A Methodist presence is also evident on various auxiliary bodies. For example, Bishop Earl Hunt is a member of the Planning Committee for the American Festival of Evangelism, which is an outgrowth of the North American Lausanne Committee.
Q If people are interested in world evangelization, where can they write to get information from the Lausanne Committee?
A Everyone who would like to receive the LCWE Information Bulletin can get it for the asking by writing: LCWE, P.O. Box 1100, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. Overseas persons might get faster service by writing the: International Office LCWE, P.O. Box 21225, Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa. (Note our Good News book ad on page 45 and send off for “The Lausanne Covenant,” an exposition and commentary by John R.W. Stott.)
I would hope, too, that Good News people would like to get in on the American Festival of Evangelism this summer. Information may be obtained by writing P.O. Box 1981, Kansas City, Missouri 64141. (See their ad on page 15.)
Q As a man who has given his life to the cause of evangelism, what are your opinions as to evangelism today, both in America and across the globe? Will evangelism become easier?
A In terms of corning to grips with the Great Commission, I believe that most of us have not taken to heart the urgency of our task. Of the 4,000,000,000 people now on the earth, three-fourths still have no professed relationship with Christ. By the end of this century, the projection is that there will be 7,000,000,000. What makes this figure so overwhelming is that unless the course of things is changed, in the year 2000, 5,200,000,000 people will not be Christians. That is, there will be more lost, aimless persons 20 years hence than there are human beings now living on the earth. Clearly the pace of evangelism must be vastly accelerated if the church is to fulfill her mission.
Yet I believe the tide is turning. The very feeling of despair and futility of our age is causing people to look beyond themselves for answers to the ultimate questions of life and death. Materialism and hedonism have not satisfied the soul. Into this vacuum the Gospel speaks with new hope and assurance. I am not saying that everyone will respond to the message with gladness, for there are many voices appealing to the restlessness of man, not the least of which is the beguiling nature of sin.
I look for the evangelical church to come under increasing attack, especially as disciples become more daring in their witness. Before it’s over we may see open persecution on a scale hitherto unknown. Yet the fire of adversity, even martyrdom, should not be feared. It will only serve to refine the gold of Christian character, and thereby make the church more beautiful in holiness.
A revived church, sensitive to the priorities of the Kingdom, could fulfill the Great Commission in this generation. And if we are approaching the last days of history, we can anticipate just that happening. What a day to be alive!
Q How would you advise people who care about evangelizing the world to get involved? Obviously, we can’t all go “to the ends of the earth.”
A I would say for us all to move with the Holy Spirit where we are. God is out to reach every creature, and all who believe on Him are called to have a part in the work. Whether one is considered clergy or laity makes no difference. In the Body of Christ, we are all ministering servants, and can make disciples whatever our gifts or vocation. Find those of like mind, and work together. You can help each other learn. When all is said, the only way to make disciples is by doing it.
Each of us has to answer the question for ourself. Are we willing to follow the Great Commission lifestyle of our Lord? Such disciples of Christ will invariably become disciplers, and as they in turn do the same, through the process of reproduction, ultimately the Gospel will be known unto the ends of the earth. Then the King will return in His glory.
