Friday: Further Thought – Jesus Mingled with the People
Read Ellen G. White, “Our Example,” pp. 17-28, in The Ministry of Healing; “Levi-Matthew,” pp. 272-280, in The Desire of Ages.
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
The church’s mission is to the world, not only unto itself. It was organized for service to others. A church of another faith community has a sign at the end of the driveway, just before the driveway enters the road into the community in front of the church. The sign says: “Servant’s Entrance.” That says it all, doesn’t it?
Jesus was a great mingler, and Ellen White indicates that so must be God’s church today. The members are salt and must permeate the community.
“There is no call here to hibernate in the wilderness evangelizing jack rabbits. Here is an awesome invitation given by the prophet of the Lord to mingle, like Jesus, with the unlovely, the poor, and the lost. Jesus was friends with sinners. He attended their parties-met them where they were. Jesus never compromised His faith, but He loved to go where there were sinners. The people most comfortable around Jesus were sinners, while the ones most uncomfortable were the so-called saints. But Jesus didn’t pay attention to that, because He had His priorities straight. He came to save sinners. That was His mission, and it should be our mission, even if we make some saints upset. . . .
“For too long Adventists have isolated themselves in safe havens and ghettos, as if the rest of the world did not exist. That time has ended. We cannot, we dare not, live in apostasy any longer. It is time to enter the community as individuals and as a church.”-Russell Burrill, How to Grow an Adventist Church (Fallbrook, Calif.: Hart Books, 2009), p. 50. 1
Discussion Questions:
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- Russell Burrill, How to Grow an Adventist Church (Fallbrook, Calif.: Hart Books, 2009) available at the Adventist Book Center online. ↩
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"Jesus never compromised with His faith". So when we mingle with the rest (non believers) we must take the example of Jesus Christ, lest we might end up falling.
And what was the example of Jesus?
Spending more time bickering about internal issues than focusing on outreach is a form of corporate depression. To some extent, depression is not only something we have, but something we do. And, we can find remedy for it. Our social life is but an extension of our individual presence. Complaints about inward conditions is a form of self protection from the social and emotional assaults we have experienced. It is a type of "fig leaf" garment with which we clothe ourselves. Allowing Christ to live in us is to accept our nakedness, along with the common nakedness of all mankind, and to be clothed with His love, loving others even as we are loved. That they may be clothed, even as we are.
I pray for my church to learn something from these lessons we have become like a social club very good socialising but less and less community involvement or evangelism not even a prayer band please pray for us to have a revival sometimes I feel demoralised I pray everyday for my church to wake up please pray with us
Listen carefully is a social environment for the prayers of others. I believe we are God's ears and we should be praying that we are listening for him. Listen for people who are lonely, or who do not fit in. Listen for those who are sick or who have troubled minds. Sometimes all you have to do is listen. Evangelism does not need to be overtly religious to be successful.
Doesn't the extent and purpose of our "isolation" determine whether or not we are in apostasy? Salt remains in the shaker until ready to mingle with food to enhance it's taste and health-giving properties. It's isolation is to preserve it's ability to be effective when it is mingled with purpose. Yet, if it never leaves the shaker, it has no purpose.
Good point. However it could also very well indicate our degree of Pharasaism. At the time of Christ Good's chosen people were very careful to preserve their uniqueness and prevent their contamination by the world. Yet they crucified Christ.
Food for thought, don't you think?
Every individual has their personal reasons, and yes, some could well be like the "professed" people of God in Jesus' day(His true people received Jesus and went on to serve the Lord through the church), remaining isolated from any outreach. Servants of God will serve Him, while others will serve themselves.
My main point was that mingling just to mingle in this life will usually corrupt. When choosing to move where he did for personal advantage, Lot did nothing to help the sinners in Sodom, but lost his family to the character of those they mingled with. Same with Israel many years later, who mingled with the nations and forgot God. We are no more safe than they were, and our mingling must not be on the terms of the world, but under the wisdom and guidance of the Lord. Chapter 41 in Patriarchs and Prophets gives wonderful insight on this issue and reveals God's purpose for His people and how they are to mingle with others in this world. If not for the purpose He has commissioned, the risk is too great to take, as so many succumb to the allurements of this world if faith does not prevail at all times.
Each must determine if they serve God or serve Him not.(Mal 3:18)
Robert, it seems to me that the discussion was about mingling with people as Jesus did - to do them good and to minister to their needs so that we might invite them to follow Him as the opportunity arises. The gospels demonstrate that that was exactly what Jesus did.
It was never about "mingling just to mingle" any more than preaching the gospel is to speak just to talk. 😉
The specific wording of "mingling" appears to be based on this statement by Ellen White:
“There is no call here to hibernate in the wilderness evangelizing jack rabbits."
Is this a good description of the work of John the Baptist?
Some would probably describe it as such. But we must remember that while John's ministry was away from the cities, his methods were attractive enough to get people out of the cities to hear him. He certainly made an impact.
Interesting to note in this particular discussion of John the Baptist, that "Multitudes flocked to the wilderness" to hear John's message from God.
What can we learn from this? A proper way to mingle? We might also examine some rather recent counsel from the Lord to His remnant through which they are instructed where to set up schools, health centers, etc, and that "if we have the truth, many searching for truth will be led to us"(somewhat paraphrased quote). Only our churches and small outposts were/are to be in the city centers.
When God's methods are followed, as with John the baptist, great success will attend the work. We are to mingle wisely or as has happened to many, the world will be a polluting influence. God will lead some into the midst of such influences when they are completely hid in Christ, but even they are not to linger long in such places of corruption.
It may be that God calls some to live and minister like John the Baptist. The test would seem to be the results: Do people flock to hear them give God's message?
The rest of us are more likely called to follow the example of Christ:
Notice that if we wish to follow Christ's methods, we need to start by mingling with people, with the desire for their good and ministering to their (felt) needs. Doing this will win their confidence so that we can invite them to follow Him. We can do this wherever we find ourselves - except of course in isolated places.
If I recall the counsel for evangelizing the cities correctly, the idea was to establish health centers and small restaurants in the cities as a way of mingling and ministering. The mingling is always necessary for genuine success. (Remember Christ's parables of salt and yeast?)
A good demonstration of the necessity of mingling would be the stunning lack of results of "evangelistic" meetings held at great expense without the members first doing the mingling and ministering. In such a situation I have observed $60,000.00 spent without any observable results - even looking back years later. And I suspect that much more has been spent in other places without any more results. (In the situation I observed, there were no people prepared for baptism before the evangelist arrived. In most other situations, a number of people are generally ready to be baptized before the evangelist arrives. Their baptism doesn't really count as results for preaching without first mingling.)
There is one other consideration for the lack of results where the truth is taught. The condition of the church where the effort is being held. Is God going to bring new converts into a situation where the church is not living according to its profession? Why the need for the great shaking if all is well?
I suspect that we can learn that it is one way to mingle. Jesus mingled with publicans and sinners, that is another way to mingle. I once knew a Pastor who used the fact that he did not have a TV to visit homes of people he knew so that he could watch tennis. I went with him once. The visit would go like this.
Pastor: Are you watching the tennis today?
Visited Person: Yes we are watching it. Do you want to come and look at it for a bit?
Pastor: I was just waiting for the invitation.
He would then go and watch the tennis for 15 minutes or so.
Pastor: I better be going - I have a a couple of visits to make this afternoon. Do you mind if we have a prayer before we go.
The sound would be turned down on the TV and a prayer would take place that encouraged the visited folk. Then he was off to the next place.
We visited three homes that afternoon, watched tennis in all of them. And prayed in all of them!
Time past and both the minister and I moved on to the next phase of our lives. About 5 years later however, the same minister, now retired, was asked to go back to that church as a retiree to look after it. I took the opportunity to visit him while he was there. And on Sabbath I went to church with him and those three families who he had faithfully watched tennis with were there in church as baptised church members. I was totally surprised at the outcome.
Of course they had eventually had Bible studies but the effectiveness of the shared tennis watching and the prayers should not be discounted.
All the comments are excellent, but I would add that one huge problem is ego. It must be done my way, or I can do this better, or nobody is listening to me so I won't go along with the ideas. I have seen really good situations destroyed by these attitudes. The humble, loving, accepting heart of Jesus, added to a listening and patient ear, should be the cornerstone of our work. Let us pray for that.