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Sharing in the joy of Jesus, the Jews and John Wesley

As Israel celebrates another independence day, I look forward to a special birthday of my own in a few weeks.

Yes, the magic milestone reached last year by the modern Jewish state means I was conceived in Cape Town just a few months after Israel’s re-birth.

My own re-birth came nearly 23 years later – on 20 May 1972, at around 10:30pm. And I remember how this rather precise dating of my encounter with Christ proved of great fascination to Labour peer (and former deputy leader of the Party) Roy Hattersley.

Identifying with Wesley

We were showing South African friends around the small Lincolnshire town of Epworth, famous as home of the Wesleys and only 13 miles from where we live in Doncaster, when I noticed a familiar figure striding up towards me.

I immediately recognised him as he was often rolled into TV studios for political comment, but I also knew him from way back, when, as Fleet Street correspondent for the South African Press Association, I would often report on his Dispatch Box statements about Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) or apartheid during his time as Foreign Office minister.

Although claiming to be atheist, Hattersley is a great admirer of Wesley, and of the Salvation Army founders for that matter, and has written biographies on both counts.

He was busy doing research for his Daily Mail column on why people like me made pilgrimages like this. I began by telling him that, though I was not a Methodist, I identified with Wesley in the sense that I had come into an experience of the risen Christ, just as he had done.

Though not a Methodist, I identify with Wesley in the sense that I have come into an experience of the risen Christ, just as he had done.

In fact, just as with the legendary preacher, I too could name the exact time and place where the change had taken place.

Furiously taking notes (as I used to do when he was speaking in Parliament), Lord Hattersley’s eyes grew wider with amazement. Like Wesley, I explained, I had felt my heart ‘strangely warmed’ as Jesus, at my invitation and at the prompting of another South African friend, came into my life in the north London home of my half-Jewish grandmother.

Great Awakening

Wesley’s re-birth took place on 24 May 1738 – also in London – after hearing an explanation of Luther’s introduction to a commentary on the Book of Romans. He was already a clergyman, as was his brother Charles, following in the footsteps of their father, who was rector of Epworth for some 40 years.

But now Wesley knew for sure that his sins were forgiven and that, by faith alone, he was accepted by Christ. The strange warming turned into a raging fire as he passionately proclaimed the Gospel for the next 50 years, riding a quarter-of-a-million miles on horseback in the process.

Historians are agreed that the subsequent awakening, also involving George Whitefield and others, averted a revolution of the kind that brought chaos to France.

My Own Testimony

Running with perseverance: Charles Gardner completes a 10K cross-country ‘trail’ around Yorkshire’s famous Castle Howard estate in 2010. Photo: Linda Gardner

Although I can’t claim a Damascus Road encounter of the sort that caused the Apostle Paul to fall off his horse, my own conversion was preceded, just seven days earlier, by an experience in which I was stopped in my tracks during a marathon race in Scotland – on the road to North Berwick, as it happened.

At 22 miles, the same point in the 26.2-mile race that Paula Radcliffe came to an abrupt halt in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, I too ‘hit a wall’, so to speak. But the disappointment paved the way for my greater openness when my friend, Brian Jackson (an accomplished athlete), challenged me to follow Christ.

I have never looked back, and have become increasingly aware of our debt to the Jewish people, which is why, upon my retirement from full-time work in the newspaper industry, I began serving as a volunteer for the Church’s Ministry among Jewish people (CMJ).

Wesley passionately proclaimed the Gospel for 50 years, riding a quarter-of-a-million miles on horseback in the process.

I am also proud of my own Sephardic Jewish ancestry, and was especially helped in my early Christian life by a lovely Jewish lady called Helen Macintosh, who effectively became a spiritual mother to me.

Helen became a believer through Billy Graham’s 1954 meetings at Haringey in London and always afterwards described herself as a ‘completed Jew’. Like her, I long for the widespread spiritual restoration of the Jews promised in the scriptures (e.g. Zech 12:10; Rom 11:26) following their much-prophesied return to the Holy Land.

Beautiful Sound of the Gospel

To complete this season of birthdays, I will be heading for Epworth on Saturday 25 May at 2:30pm to watch a play on the Wesleys being performed by friends from Sheffield.

Oh that these islands would ring once again with the passion – in words and music – that awoke sleeping hamlets all over England to the beautiful sound of the Gospel!

Monica Hill continues to look at the ministry gifts of Ephesians 4.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

“It was Christ who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 4:11-13, emphases added)

An evangelist is usually defined as one who has the ability to communicate the good news of the Gospel in meaningful and convincing ways to those who have not heard or understood it fully, with a view to people responding in faith, baptism and commitment to the body of Christ. Without evangelists, the Church would lose its calling and settle down to being just another community group.

The enabling aspects mentioned in Ephesians 4 include the ability to galvanise God's people in the area of evangelism, so that it becomes a prime factor in fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Old Testament Teaching

Evangelism is a New Testament concept – introduced to spread the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ widely across the nations. Neither evangelism nor the evangelist are mentioned in the Old Testament. Judaism is not a proselytising religion¹ – you are born into it. The religion is passed on from generation to generation and proof of ancestry (especially in the maternal line) is needed in order to be recognised as Jewish.

Without evangelists, the Church would lose its calling and settle down to being just another community group.

God-fearing Gentiles were acknowledged, and even one of the Outer Courts of the Temple was called the Court of the Gentiles. It was set aside for them to pray and was probably the one that Jesus cleared of money-changers (John 2:12) just before Passover, when he became very angry over its wrong use.

New Testament Teaching

Although there are only three references to an evangelist in the New Testament (Acts 21:8; Eph 4:11; 2 Tim 4:5), there are numerous references to people evangelising (euangelizo in Greek) in the book of Acts. This is referring to the spontaneous witness of ordinary believers who could not keep quiet.

Evangelism became of paramount importance following the stoning of Stephen, when Christians began to suffer great persecution (Acts 8:1). In fact, the more persecution there was, the more the Church grew! In the 2^nd Century AD, Tertullian commented: “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”. And certainly this was the way the early Church grew.

When the Christians were forced to leave Jerusalem following the stoning of Stephen, there was a significant change in recording this growth – from “the Lord added to their number” (Acts 2:47) to “the church…multiplied” (Acts 9:31 ESV). Even those with little mathematical understanding will be able to deduce how significant this was.

There are numerous references in Acts to the spontaneous witness of ordinary believers who could not keep quiet.

There were named evangelists in Acts 8: Peter and John after their visit to Samaria evangelised many villages on their way back to Jerusalem (v25); Philip evangelised the Ethiopian eunuch in the desert (v35) and then evangelised in all the cities as he travelled to Caesarea (v40). But the greatest growth was brought about by every believer sharing their faith.

Ministry vs General Calling

We are all called to be witnesses and should be brimming over with the Good News to share with others - although only some will be called to the ministry of an evangelist. But even they are dependent on God entering the lives of those they have introduced to the Gospel, because only God can bring that life-changing relationship into being.

Evangelists are single-minded and so full of the Good News that they are able to share it wherever they go - and in all situations. Paul even said “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16-19). It was his whole calling – he as so full of the risen Jesus that he could not keep quiet!!

In fact, only Philip, one of the Seven, is called an 'evangelist' (Acts 21:8), although Timothy is told by Paul to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim 4:5). Timothy took every opportunity to share Christ – so Paul probably meant that that Timothy was not to wait until people came to him asking questions.

But of course Paul is often seen as the model evangelist – the one who does not settle for too long in an area but is an itinerant tent-maker and church-planter. Our concept of evangelists usually accepts this definition - but there may be ways in which in future we need to change our mindset towards evangelism, in order to be more effective.

Evangelists are single-minded and so full of the Good News that they share it wherever they go.

In the ministry of Jesus, we can see all five ministry gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4, including that of an evangelist: in the synagogue at Nazareth he claimed that he was the fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy “to preach good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18).

Evangelists Today

Today, we have often taken evangelism out of the local church and assigned it to para-church organisations, who flourish, commending different types of evangelism. But this in many ways means that evangelism is seen as an optional extra – reserved for ‘professionals’ or those from an evangelical tradition.

Crusade evangelism with named individuals like Billy Graham or Luis Palau is still seen as a major (if not the main) form of evangelism, with seaside, street, marketplace or door-to-door outreach drawing church members away from activities with the faithful to become involved with not-yet-believers. But these kinds of evangelism rely on limited encounters. This does not mean they are not worthwhile, but they must be supplemented with the building of continuing relationships, which is so important. This is where the personal sharing of faith – or friendship evangelism - has been proved to be the most effective.

Ideally, every church member should be taught how to share their faith with others - and when and where. They should be prepared to share their faith especially in their links outside the church – say in the family, workplace, school, and even in prisons (although all of these are becoming more difficult). Surely the worst comment any believer can receive is “I did not know you were a Christian!”.

Evangelism is the most important gift for the continuity of the Church – we know in theory that ‘God has no grandchildren – only children’ but we are not very good at passing the baton on to others, and so there is a large gap in age within many of our churches.

We also often fail to recognise that the best evangelists are the newly converted – they still have non-Christian friends and the experience of conversion is a living daily subject with them – they are excited by everything that is opening up for them. Perhaps this was what was lacking in Ephesus (referred to in Revelation 2:1) – that the members had lost their first love. This enthusiasm and excitement for sharing the Good News with others should continue to be present in every member of the Body so that there is a living witness portrayed to the world.

We often fail to recognise that the best evangelists can be the newly converted.

But we also need to realise that evangelists are not pastors – and should not try to be – churches and believers do not grow up to maturity with just evangelism. Pastors and teachers are needed to take people to the next stage of discipleship and continue the work started by the evangelist. This is why all the five ministry roles are needed in the Church.

Finally, two or three illustrations that might help from the world scene:

• From South America – where one flourishing new church would not allow anyone to become a full member until they had brought someone else to Christ.
  
• From Singapore – where at one time, acceptance to membership in the Anglican Church required training which included a week on mission to share their faith with Muslims in neighbouring Malaysia.
  
• From the underground Church in China - where they could not build up large congregations as meetings of more than ten were restricted; they were in a way ‘forced’ to send their new converts out, and the Church flourished.
  

Next week we will be looking at the more familiar role of the pastor, which is indispensable in our churches today.

Notes

1 Proselytising is converting or attempting to convert someone from one religion to another. Islam is a proselytising religion – by force if necessary, whereas Christianity evangelises by love. In Islamic nations, conversion away from Islam is usually banned.

Catharine Pakington reviews 'Too Many to Jail – The Story of Iran's New Christians' By Mark Bradley (2014, Monarch Books)

I had heard of the rapid growth of the Iranian Church, so was pleased to come across this book about a house church movement that now has too many members to be confined to jail. Growing in the face of great opposition it can have lessons for us in a changing political climate.

Mark Bradley works as a researcher for a mission agency focussed on the Middle East having been involved with the Iranian Church for over 20 years. His earlier books 'Iran: Open hearts in a Closed Land' (2007) and 'Iran and Christianity' (2008) explored reasons for openness to the Gospel in this inaccessible nation. Too Many to Jail brings the story up-to-date, looking at the impact of disputed elections, tension with the West over nuclear capability and increasing official persecution of Christians. Why have these events encouraged rather than hindered the Church?

Iranian Revival: Hype or Reality?

The author outlines former president Ahmadinejad's objections to Christianity before presenting evidence that the reported Church growth is not mere Christian hype. Three chapters explore reasons for Iran's new Christians turning from Shia Islam. I was intrigued to see how the promotion of Islamic revolution by Khomenei and, later, Ahmadinejad resulted in many looking for answers elsewhere.

But then, what is it about Iran's culture and history that makes Iranians particularly attracted to Jesus? It is interesting to see how different aspects of Iranian culture are fitting together at this time: positive images of Jesus in Muslim writing as well as revered poetry combining with a surprising attraction for Western ideas and attitudes. The full account is worth reading.

House Churches Vital

What are the house churches? Examples are given and common themes identified before considering why they have been reaching the majority Muslim population in a way that "building churches" seldom did. These churches share an expectation that God will work supernaturally; family plays an important part and all groups have experienced persecution and suffering. Unlike 'building churches', these meetings are ones that Iranians feel comfortable joining. It can still be risky, but so much less so than entering a closely monitored church building with an alien culture. When persecuted, it is easier for house churches to regroup.

There is also the important role of technology providing the means for the Iranian Church in the diaspora to support, teach and set a standard of orthodoxy protecting a new movement from heresy. Others in the worldwide Church contribute through prayer and resources, some interceding fervently from their own experiences of persecution.

Suffering Part of the Story

Suffering is still very much part of the story and there is a substantial chapter in this book describing the pattern of persecution with some detailed testimonies. This part is not easy reading but necessary to understand what continues today. It should challenge us as we read that most come through the fire stronger in their walk with the Lord and with greater zeal to bring others to know Him.

We are left with a sense of awe at God's sovereignty as He builds His Church in Iran through suffering linked with His working through Iranian believers in other lands and the worldwide Church. That means we can all be involved and see God equipping us to stand for Him, wherever we might be, whatever changes we may face.

A Gripping Read

I came to this book with limited prior knowledge and found it gripping to read and deeply challenging. There are many testimonies from those involved with the Iranian Church, supporting the sense that the book has been thoroughly researched and carefully presented to give an accurate view.

The format and style make it accessible with a summary of the history of Christianity in Iran before 1979 given in an appendix, as are a list of aggressive acts towards Christians in Iran and the Final Testament of Mehdi Dibaj, murdered shortly after his release from prison.

Too Many to Jail (Lion Books, 303 pages) is available to purchase for £8.99 from Amazon.