Intro
As we conclude this little series on where we’re going, I want to recap where we went last week. I used this image of a stony path leading home, cutting through a stormy sea, with raging currents all around and a howling wind threatening to knock you into the waters. I said that was a picture of the church, always tempted to get sucked into the agendas of the world and to lose sight of home. The task of the church is to be aware of those winds and currents, but to stay on the path, with our eyes set on home, on our vision. I talked about our vision as a church, which is that we live to know Jesus Christ personally and to make him known. Nothing groundbreaking, but one restatement of what has always been true of the faithful church.
Last week we talked about knowing Jesus and we used Paul’s testimony from Philippians 3. Paul said that everything he once valued so highly he now considered total garbage. He saw it all as worthless compared to the righteousness that came from Jesus. Righteousness meaning a right standing with God, not determined by what Paul had done, but by Paul’s faith in what Jesus had done. This had set him free, and it had set him on a new course in life where everything was about knowing Jesus. Even the sufferings of life were a way to grow in the knowledge of Christ.
Today we’re talking about the second part of that vision statement, which is to make Jesus known. Last week, knowing Jesus, this week, making him known. And this gets at a bit of a debate that takes place in the church: depth vs. width. Should you try to go wide and get as many people in as possible, even if it means keeping things somewhat shallow? Or should you focus on depth, aiming for deep discipleship and not being terribly concerned about those outside the church? That’s a simplistic way of putting it, but that’s the spectrum. Which task should you emphasize?
I was in a church once where my role included overseeing the young adult ministry. Young adults meant age 18-25ish years old, 30. I felt like this group could be challenged a bit more, could go deeper in their faith, so among other things I was emphasizing Bible studies and evangelism. Well, one day one of the dads of the young adults came to me. He was actually in leadership at the church. He said to me that I should stop talking about Jesus so much. That the emphasis for this age group should be playing basketball, having fun, but that talking about Jesus would be a turn off. In his view, depth would compromise width. I was admittedly dumbfounded when I heard this and didn’t know how to respond! So I wrote him a letter afterwards. I said to him that I thought what he was suggesting was a little bit like having a steakhouse restaurant with the best steak in the city. But imagine if that restaurant’s advertising centred around the fact that they offered Coca-Cola. This was on the front of their menu, it was on the front of the restaurant, it was all over their social media. This is what the restaurant emphasized: Coca-Cola. Sure, offer Coca-Cola, that’s fine, but that’s not what you have going for you as a steakhouse. You have steak. Make that central. Well, as the church, we have Jesus! Yes, we have some other things too, but Jesus is the best thing we have going for us! He’s who we really want to introduce people to. Make him central. Make him known!
The thing is, you can only really introduce people to Jesus- in consumer language, promote Jesus- if you yourself know him. The depth vs. width thing is totally mistaken because if you go truly deep. Truly deep as in, not just having head knowledge, but a relational knowledge of Jesus where he has impacted you, formed you, where you are passionate about him. If you truly go deep in that way, you can’t help but make him known. So these two things, knowing Jesus and making him known, are not two separate tasks. They are two sides of the same coin. You don’t have to choose between them. If you do the first, you will have a desire and an empowerment to do the second. We see that pretty clearly in Paul’s life, a guy who oriented his whole life around knowing Jesus and was maybe the most impactful missionary in the history of the church. And we see it clearly in a story I want to bring you into from John 4.
I want to focus on what happens at the end of this story, but for it to mean anything I need to get you in on the main events of John 4. And to do that, I want to share a clip with you from a show called The Chosen. The Chosen, if you’ve never heard about it, is a powerful, beautiful portrayal of the Gospel stories. They do add some dialogue and background events that are not straight from Scripture. It’s not word for word. But here’s the disclaimer they give at the beginning of the show: “all biblical and historical context and any artistic imagination are designed to support the truth and intention of the Scriptures. Viewers are encouraged to read the gospels.”
So this is not a replacement for reading the actual words of Scripture. But in order to give you the context in a dynamic way, we’ll watch seven minutes of this conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well.
1. Evangelism is for every believer
That’s the background, here’s the text we want to focus on, picking up from the conversation at the well:
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
John 4:28-42
I want to make four points about evangelism. And I know that word might have some unpleasant connotations for people. For now, I’ll just say that the basic meaning of that word is the practice of making the good news of Jesus known to others. Here’s the first point about it: evangelism is for every believer.
The Samaritan woman has this transformative encounter with Jesus, and what is the first thing she does? She goes into Sychar and tells everyone to come see Jesus. No hesitation. Jesus doesn’t stop her and say, “back the truck up, young lady! You need to get a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies, maybe a master’s. You need to listen to these 50 podcasts and watch every Bible Project YouTube video ever created. Then you might be ready to actually tell people about me.” Which is kind of how some of us think, isn’t it? We think we’re not ready for evangelism because we don’t know enough stuff. Was this woman? She had one conversation with Jesus, and off she went. And she was pretty effective at it, right?
Later on, when Jesus is talking to his disciples, he mentions this saying that must have been a well known agricultural slogan. “It’s still four months until harvest” (4:35). The point, it seems, was patience and timing. Recognize the seasons, respond accordingly, don’t rush things. That’s actually great advice, and it’s echoed by Jesus at other points in the Gospels. Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that begins almost imperceptibly, grows underground, before emerging and growing into a massive plant. We’ll talk in the next couple of weeks about Jesus telling the disciples to wait for power on high before sending them out as witnesses. And we all know that some people might be “ready for the harvest” in terms of openness to Jesus, but many others aren’t. For them, there’s lots of seed planting and watering required. So there’s wisdom in that. But that’s not Jesus’ point here. His point is that it is harvest season in Samaria, and so now is the time to get involved, no excuses.
I’ve read about a principle in the underground house churches of China- not underground in that they have subterranean meeting places, though that’s sometimes true, but in that they’re illegal. They call it the “immersion technique”. As soon as someone becomes a believer, they’re thrown into the work of the Gospel in one way or another. They can’t afford not to. A few decades ago, most church leaders were being thrown into prison, so you needed to have a constant stream of new ones. Again, this doesn’t discount the need for growth and maturity and training, but it says that the mission is for every believer, no matter what stage they’re at.
These Chinese churches also found that if you didn’t get people involved in evangelism from the start, it becomes harder and harder as time goes on- like hardening cement. That’s one of the reasons, by the way, that I’m really excited about our Sunday evening service we’re starting at The Bridge. It’s not for youth and young adults, it’s for anyone, but it’s going to be primarily led by our youth and young adults. Instead of saying to them, “wait until you’re 30 or 40 and then you can make a meaningful contribution to the vision of our church”, we’re saying “you can do this right now”. If you’ve met Jesus, get involved in making him known. Don’t make excuses, don’t sit on the sidelines. This woman at the well sure didn’t! It might look different depending on your gifts and experience, but the fundamental act of making Jesus known? It’s for every believer.
2. Evangelism is driven by witness
Here’s the second point: evangelism is driven by witness. In verse 39, we read that many Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the women’s testimony. Another English word that translates the same Greek word is witness. And the basic sense of this word is that someone is affirming that they have seen or heard or experienced something. Think about a law court. Someone’s on trial, the truth is being discerned, and a crucial element in proving their innocence or guilt is the testimony of witnesses. They share what they heard or saw, and their testimony, if it’s reliable, will sway the jury in their verdict. Or think about a celebrity endorsement of a product. Some ripped athlete tells you that he looks the way he does because he downs this protein smoothie every day. He’s testifying that he’s experienced the power of this product and believes in it enough to tell you (that, or he’s getting paid a lot of money. Moving on!). In any case, this woman’s personal testimony about what she experienced in Jesus is the major reason many Samaritans believe.
This shows again why it’s so important to know Jesus to see real growth in the Kingdom of God. You can grow a church superficially in a whole bunch of ways. But if you want to see real disciples made, your testimony is probably going to be involved, and you only have a testimony if you personally, relationally know Jesus. It’s why Billy Graham would usually incorporate people’s testimonies in his services. It was one thing to tell people the Gospel, it was another to actually display the power of the Gospel to transform lives.
This is also another reason why evangelism is for every believer. It’s why you don’t need a PhD in theology, though there’s nothing wrong with that. The most basic, and maybe the most effective way of making Jesus known is simply by saying, “this is what I have seen. This is what I have heard. This is what I have experienced.” It’s telling your story. And actually, it’s not only telling your story about what Jesus has done, but why you needed him to do it. One book on evangelism puts it this way:
“One of the best things you can do is authentically share your need for the gospel with others. I call this sharing the gospel with yourself out loud.”
Jonathan Dodson, The Unbelievable Gospel
Isn’t that good? Share the gospel with yourself out loud. You’re not imposing it on others. You, like the Samaritan woman, are saying, this is why I needed Jesus and this is what he’s done for me. He’s set me free. He’s shown me what love really is. He’s healed me in the deepest way.
Evangelism is driven by witness. We could get even more specific: evangelism is driven by authentic witness. It is driven by testimony that is backed up by a changed heart. I think The Chosen’s portrayal of this scene is powerful because you see the change in the woman, and I think it’s a change evident in the text itself. The woman comes to the well a bitter, isolated woman. She leaves renewed, eager to share with others.
Charles Spurgeon was one of the greatest preachers in church history, if such things were ranked. I sometimes watch these viral clips of journalists debating who the greatest basketball player of all time is- it’s Kyle Lowry, obviously. Can you imagine pastors doing the same with all-time preachers? It would get at least 20 views. Anyways, Spurgeon said this about sermons:
“The greatest force of the sermon lies in what has gone before the sermon”.
Charles Spurgeon
That’s convicting. A sermon has force because of what has come before it in the life of the preacher. Same thing with a testimony. It has force because of what has come before it in the life of the witness. So, again, devote your life to knowing him, growing in relationship with him, and your witness before others will carry more and more weight, and will help lead more and more people to Him.
3. Evangelism is a team sport
So: evangelism is for every believer, and it is driven by witness. The third point is that evangelism is a team sport.
At first glance, you might not think this is from the text. I mean, the woman single handedly goes around telling the whole town about Jesus. She’s the superstar in a solo sport like tennis (yes, even sports like tennis involve a team, in terms of coaching and support. You get it). The point is drawn out more from what Jesus says to the disciples as she’s off doing her thing. He says, “the saying ‘one sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (4:37-38
What’s Jesus talking about? In context, I think the most likely explanation is that he’s referring to what we could call salvation history. He’s talking about all those who have gone before- way before. He’s alluding to all those big, important figures in the Old Testament, people like Moses, people like the prophets, all the way up to John the Baptist. Those are people who had sowed centuries before the disciples of Jesus, pointing to the Gospel in one way or another.
This is relevant in Samaria too. The Samaritans were descendants of the northern tribes of Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel tended to be wayward and syncretistic in their worship, so God allowed them to be exiled by the Assyrian empire in the eighth century BC. However, some stayed behind and intermarried with other people groups and became known as the Samaritans. They rejected a lot of stuff that came later in the Scriptures, but they did hold to the first five books of what we call the Old Testament. They knew Moses. They knew the law. They knew that Moses had talked about a greater prophet than him who would someday lead God’s people (Deuteronomy 18:15). In other words, seeds had been sown. What the disciples were about to see in Samaria was the culmination of a process years in the making, and they were actually partners with all those who had gone before them. Likewise, if we see God do anything of significance in and through us at The Bridge, it will be because many others have come before us.
And what’s true in the big picture of salvation history is true in the smaller picture of individual lives and stories. I remember years ago watching a testimony of a Punjabi woman who had come to faith in Jesus. There were quite a number of barriers, and she listed off all the people and events that led her to finally receiving faith. I think there were something like 10 Christians significantly involved in her story. It wasn’t one person out of the blue sitting down, drawing a picture of a bridge, and boom, she was in. It was a team effort. Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul tells the Corinthians that he had planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. There were different people with different abilities involved at different times, and all are teammates in this work, not competitors.
This means you should not be discouraged if you don’t get to be the person harvesting, because you may have played a different role in someone knowing Jesus. And it also means you shouldn’t bear the weight on yourself no matter what role you end up playing. In the Gospels, Jesus sent the disciples out two by two to proclaim the kingdom and heal and drive out demons. As we’ll see in Acts, most of the mission of the early church was done by teams of people, not individual vigilantes. You were created to make Jesus known in community.
It’s ok if you’re a tennis fan, and once in a while evangelism resembles that. But more often, evangelism is like football, requiring a whole team of people with different skills and abilities.
4. Evangelism is done by Jesus
However, despite all we’ve said, evangelism isn’t ultimately really about us at all. Which leads to our final point: evangelism is done by Jesus.
In verse 34, Jesus says that his food is to do the will of God, to finish his work. And then he launches into this whole teaching about sowing and reaping, and how it’s harvest time. What’s his work? It’s what we’ve been talking about, it’s the work of evangelism! It is the work of making himself known, and making His Father known, to the world. This is what Jesus is all about! He’s passionate about evangelism!
A crowd gathers because of the testimony of the Samaritan woman, and they persuade Jesus to stay with them for two days. At that point, the Samaritans say something remarkable to the woman, verse 42: “we no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” At first, their belief was based on the woman’s testimony. But that wasn’t sufficient. They needed to meet with Jesus themselves, they needed to hear his words. That’s when belief took on a whole other meaning, that’s when they knew him as Savior– as their savior.
In the end, your job is not to save anyone. It’s to introduce them to the one who can. One of my favorite definitions of evangelism is from my friend and mentor Darrell Johnson. This may not be word for word, but he says that evangelism is entering into a conversation that Jesus is already having with someone. When we talk to someone, when we as a church minister to someone, Jesus has already been at work in their life long before we showed up. Not only that, he’ll continue to be at work after you’re gone. You might sow, or water, or reap, but as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, God is the one behind the growth from start to finish.
Conclusion
To conclude, here are four next steps, four implications of all this. First, as we emphasized at the beginning, commit to growing in your knowledge of Jesus. You cannot make him known without knowing him, so get involved in discipleship. Set aside regular time for Scripture and prayer, get involved in a discipleship group or a community group.
Second, testify. Tell your story. Maybe you ask a friend or coworker if you can share life stories, and when it’s your turn you can tell them about what Jesus has done. Be a witness to what Christ has done in you.
Third, pray evangelistically. If this is a Jesus thing from start to finish, prayer is an indispensable element in making Jesus known. This is what we emphasize at our prayer meetings at The Bridge. We pray evangelistically, we are almost always praying for Jesus to be made known by others.
And fourth, do all of these things in community. You don’t bear this on your own. I know of a couple of women who go together to places like Lonsdale Quay or Panorama Park and ask people they meet if they can pray for them. There is a boldness that comes from going with others. Participate in the mission of the church. Helping out in kids’ ministry is really the practice of making Jesus known to our emerging generations. Setting up and taking down on Sundays is participating in the preaching of the Gospel. In other words, making Jesus known.
As the Samaritans discovered, Jesus is the Savior of the world. His death and his resurrection means forgiveness of sins, salvation from judgment and condemnation, and freedom to live as beloved children of God. As the apostle Peter says in Acts, salvation is found in no one else, and there is no other name given under heaven by which people can be saved. So let’s make him known in this place!
