Celebrations of Disciplines | Evangelizing: Turning the World Upside Down
Celebrations of Disciplines: Part III
EVANGELIZING: TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN
Acts 17: 1-8 ESV
17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.”
I believe there is no doubt that we love the idea of sharing the good news of Jesus to the lost. But if we are honest, we all have some level of hesitation. In fact, many of us may feel guilty of it from time to time. Do you feel the same? How we wish we could have done more?
I loved sharing the Gospel of Jesus, although the intensity varies. In 1988, I was 13 years old, Grade 6, when our Youth Pastor, Benny Rebaya, taught us how to evangelize using the “4 Spiritual Laws.” As a newly baptized believer and follower of Jesus, I became very aggressive in evangelizing, walking the streets, parks, and school areas, looking for someone to “catch” as a spiritual “fisherman.” I went to most of my friends and tried to share the Gospel, knowing it’s their only hope to be saved. My early high school years were filled with evangelistic adventures, trials and errors in my approaches, as well as joy and frustrations. I go home joyful when someone accepts Christ and frustrated when someone doesn't. I counted the souls won until I had to give it up and check my motives if I'm just making a scoreboard out of it. Nonetheless, I realized, then, that age doesn't matter regarding evangelism.
When I went to the seminary, where Ptr Jerry taught, I joined a church planting team, a theater club, musical team, and more, all of which were Gospel-centered ministries. I also founded the BBSI Evangelistic Team and toured several towns and cities in the Philippines using basketball as a medium in reaching out to people. My players would do one-on-one evangelism during the half-time break, after I have preached an evangelistic message to the crowd.
But honestly, in all these years, there were times, I’m timid and hesitant to do evangelism. I'm guilty of missing a lot of opportunities--and a lot of it I may not be able to recover. I don’t know how many “bloods in my hands” from friends I got, strangers I met along the way. For that reason, there is a compelling and constant prayer inside: “God give me the grace to get your Gospel in time before it’s too late.”
How about you? Do you consider evangelism as a lifestyle or a burden? When was the last time you ever led someone to confess Christ as their personal Lord and Savior? Do you still have the passion for proclaiming Jesus Christ?
From time to time, when some of you report that you reached out to someone and they come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior, I cannot help but rejoice with you. Angels in heaven are also rejoicing.
I pray that this message will inspire you to share the Gospel.
We’ve been inspired to do a preaching series on spiritual disciplines based on the book of Richard Foster, entitled Celebration of Discipline. We kicked off with the sermon “Alone with God,” and “The Word in the World.” While the book presented classics on solitary and prayer, as well as meditation and study, the book did not include evangelizing the lost as an essential discipline. It is frustrating that it did not even include the Gospel as an essential topic at the core of Christian life. I’m deeply concerned with the idea of what I call a “Gospel-less Godliness” or “Spirituality without Proclamation.” Why?
When non-evangelizing, professing Christian leaders would take over the church leadership in the post-Christian culture, it’s a death sentence. Instead of the church, “turning the world upside down,” it could possibly be that the world would turn the church upside down.
The definition of “turn the world upside down” means “to change someone’s life completely, often in a way that is shocking or upsetting,” depending on which angle you take a look. In other words, when we use such a phrase for a local church or a personal discipline, it means you and I are making a difference in someone or people’s lives through the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Remember this. We are not the ones transforming people’s lives. God is changing lives through Christ’s Gospel message. We are agents only.
Here are some insights in becoming God’s transformation agents through evangelism.
I. BE INTENTIONAL IN EVANGELIZING (vv.1-3)
One of the biggest blunders of today’s Christians is the lack of intentionality and will to share Jesus. This problem is opposite to the early church that “turned the world upside down.” How did they do it, and what can we learn from them?
A. Evangelizing Must Be Strategic (v.1)
Jesus said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). For the early Christians, evangelism is a non-negotiable discipline. It is actually part of discipleship. It’s because it is an act of obedience--meaning, if you don’t evangelize, you are living a disobedient life. It’s so basic that early Christians obeyed Jesus and went where the people are.
However, if these believers wanted to turn the world upside down, they have to be very strategic in evangelism. They targeted major cities in major highways. Acts 17 said, “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews” (v.1). Each of these cities is along the “Egnatian Way.” One of their effective strategies was identifying public areas where people meet, like synagogues, marketplaces or business areas, and other venues. For them, if you want maximum impact with minimum effort, with much prayer and sensibility to God’s leading, be at the center where most people are.
B. Evangelizing Must Be Scriptural (v.2)
The truth is there are many methods of evangelizing the lost, but only one source and message. Even Jesus used one-one-one, as well as group evangelism. But he often used the Scripture--the same approach his disciples did. The Bible says, “And Paul went in [the synagogue], as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures” (v.2). The phrase “as was his custom” indicates that doing strategic evangelism was a usual activity for Paul. It is like second nature, a habit, or a lifestyle.
The word “reasoned” (Gk deilexato) means Paul may have applied several ways in proclaiming the Gospel through preaching, lecture, dialogue, debate, or arguments. However, it is very clear that the foundation of his message is the written Word of God. This discipline is also important for us to base the Gospel on the Bible, not on philosophies, culture, psychology, ideologies, etc. If you want to be effective in evangelizing the lost, you must be filled with God’s Word (review the message “The Word for the World” by Pastor Jerry).
C. Evangelizing Must Be Systematic (v.3)
Take note that the Apostle Paul was “explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.’” (v.3). This approach is very systematic. It means Paul explained Jesus Christ in a literal and figurative sense from the Jewish Bible because they were Hebrew people. If he is talking to Greeks, he would start on the resurrection and direct them to Christ. Either way, he always used the Scripture as the basis, not the prevailing culture.
Paul proclaimed this Gospel of Jesus Christ consistently. “1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
Today, there are so many kinds of gospels--like social gospel, prosperity gospel, socio-political gospel, etc. Recently, Netflix showed a documentary movie “The American Gospel: Christ Alone,” and you’ll have a deeper idea of where many American churches are heading if it will not repent. I’m reminded of what happened to the Galatian church that turned to “a different gospel.” Paul said,
“6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him [God] who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians1: 6-8)
No doubt, this Gospel of Christ saves people from their sins. When was the last time you really shared the true Gospel of Jesus Christ to anyone?
II. BE IMPACTFUL IN EVANGELIZING (vv.4-5)
If you want to turn the world--or someone else’s world--upside down, you need to be impactful. That’s what the early church modeled to us. Let me ask two questions about your lifestyle in relation to evangelism.
A. Are You Persuasive? (v.4)
The Bible says, “And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women” (v.4). Indeed, an indefinite number of people believed in the Gospel--and they were multiethnic. There were “some” Jewish people, as well as many religious “Greeks” and influential “women” who were convinced to believe and follow Jesus. It is not because of the disciples’ presentation but God’s power through persuasion.
When you trusted or accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, were you convinced that he alone saved you and that it resulted in an obedient life to him? It’s because to be “persuaded” here means you trust and obey. These people “associated” or “joined” themselves with the apostles and their teachings, but the most important is the fact that they were not just members or sympathizers, but growing believers and followers of Jesus Christ.
B. Are You Proactive? (v.5)
Why be proactive? Do not expect that everyone will believe in what you say, even if it is the Gospel of Jesus. If you live faithfully for the Gospel, people will resist and oppose you. “But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd” (v.5).
So far, from these angles, we can see three groups of people--the believers, the false Christians, and the non-believers. The believers trust and follow Jesus; the false Christians profess to be believers, but are not totally persuaded and obedient; and the non-believers who refuse, reject, and rebel against the Gospel. Here , the “wicked” opposed God and his goodness; they also intimidate and bully those who proclaim and follow the Gospel.
This kind of “mob mentality” has been prophesied by Jesus Christ in relation to witnessing to all nations.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away [“will be offended” NKJV]
and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matt 24:13:14)
Are we living in such a time where the culture of offense, hate, and lawlessness prevail? Are we seeing so many false teachers tickle the ears of the listeners, because people could not stand the Word of God? How about a time where many will fall away and leave their “first love” (Rev 2:4)?
III. BE IMMOVABLE IN EVANGELIZING (vv.6-9)
Whether we are living in the End Times or not, sharing the Gospel would be tougher. Either or, we need God’s power. Only God’s grace will sustain us and give us joy in doing it.
If the Gospel is such good news, how come it sometimes brings out bad outcomes?
A. THE GOSPEL CONFRONTS POWERS (vv.6-7)
It’s interesting that the non-believers and haters of the Gospel confessed that these Christian witnesses “turned the world upside down.” The Bible said, “And when they could not find them [Paul and Silas], they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, ‘These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus’” (vv.6-7).
The phrase “upside down” means “to cause trouble” or “start a revolt.” However, this is not a political revolt but a spiritual revolution. The biggest difference of today's nominal Christians is they compromise with the godless world systems, instead of confronting or transforming the world through the Gospel of Jesus. Even modern preachers nowadays twist the Bible out of context to suit their worldviews, ideologies, and presumptions, thereby producing “class A Christians” (see Ptr JP’s message).
The moment your loyalty to King Jesus starts, your loyalty to any politics ends. A genuine Christian’s utmost loyalty is to the kingdom of God and Jesus as King, the ultimate ruler. There is no other in between. Either you join the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Satan. Anything you put beside Jesus is idolatry.
B. THE GOSPEL CHALLENGES PEOPLE (v.8)
The Bible further said, “And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go” (v.8). Disturbed? It’s interesting that the previous phrase “upside down” also means “to disturb,” or “throw into commotion.” This event is double jeopardy for the city.
Why were the people and the city authorities troubled? Were they afraid of the Roman Empire because of another king rising? Maybe.
Were they “stirred up” that the Gospel transformed influential leaders in the community? Were they anxious that the church is transforming the city for the Gospel that would make their city a better place?
How come when they got the money as bail, they were silent?
Again, if the Gospel is such good news, how come it sometimes brings out bad outcomes? It’s because Christ is offensive to the world, its religions and cultures. The Bible said about Jesus,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame” (Romans 9:33)
Evangelizing and proclaiming Christ will become very offensive. It is because Jesus is the “rock of offense.” He did not come into this world to please everyone but to save those who believe and repent from their sins.
Does our church or personal Gospel witness disturb our community or city or workplace? Do you really care for those non-believing friends and families you have?
If you think you care, here’s how to test if you genuinely care. “So we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well” (1 Thess 2:8 NIV).
Imagine we stand in God’s heavenly presence, and he would ask, “What did you do for the time I gave you on earth?
“Well, I obeyed your greatest commands: love God and love my neighbors!”
“In what ways do you love your neighbors?”
“Well, I make friends with them. I mean, like, I care for them.”
“How come your friends are dying without Christ--and some of them are already on their way to eternal death in hell?”
Silence.
And God said, “I thought you care.”
-Dr. Glenn Plastina