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Now we come to the critical issue of how to help people convert to Jesus. Once again, "And" is the key, holding together words and deeds.

Jesus Used Words and Deeds

Jesus attracted huge crowds of gawkers and graspers because of his remarkable deeds—healing the sick, casting out demons, and calming raging seas. While the uniqueness of these events was obvious to all, their meaning was not. Jesus wasn't just a miracle-worker. He was also a preacher.

In fact, he was so focused on preaching the gospel that he once snuck away from Capernaum in the middle of the night to escape his popular healing ministry. "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out," he told his stunned disciples. (Mark 1:38)

He's building his church by the same pattern. The first church exploded when he poured out the Holy Spirit in a remarkable display. Peter then preached a sermon to explain what it all meant. This words-and-deeds dynamic has been the game ever since (even when herds of pigs and tongues of fire aren't involved).

Not Just Preaching. Not Just Doing.

Unfortunately, we often make mission into a preaching-only event disconnected from the life of the church. In this scheme, "good deeds" are just hooks to gather a crowd, not genuine fruit of the gospel. Right now, I'm having flashbacks to a college mission trip where we swarmed a beach and lured unsuspecting tourists with a 50-foot banana split. Doped up on frozen sugar and cream, we sprung the gospel message.

Jaded by such "evangelism," many people today suggest that mission is showing, not telling. The old Saint Francis of Assisi legend that says, "Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words" is their mantra. The subtle implication, of course, is that words are rarely necessary.

How Words and Deeds Work Together

In reality, neither approach makes true converts; "And" knows a better way. Preaching is always necessary for genuine conversion because confusion and stubbornness are two of the biggest effects of sin. This means that even if spiritually disoriented people are attracted to the church's life, they won't interpret it correctly. Their questions must be answered, misconceptions cleared up, idols challenged, and objections removed. This requires words.

But their obstacles to the gospel aren't just cognitive. They also need to see what life might look like if they become Christian. Will I have any friends? What about my sex life? Will I turn into a foaming fundamentalist? Will I have to listen to cheesy Christian music? The church answers these questions by inviting them in and showing them what a gospel life looks like.

Avoiding False Dichotomies

Strangely, many emerging pastors say that if a church effectively embodies the gospel, then preaching becomes less important. Others fear that if we welcome unbelievers, we have to water down the message. In reality, just the opposite is true!

The more a church embodies the gospel and welcomes unbelievers, the clearer its preaching must be if anyone is to know what a Christian truly is. Vigorous gospel preaching begets changed and attractive lives, which begets the need for more gospel preaching, and on the cycle goes. This words-and-deeds dynamic is the engine of a resurging church.

Advance Conference:

Advance is coming June 2009. The Resurgence is hosting this conference in Raleigh, NC, to provision the local church for the advance of the gospel. Find out more.

From the daily grind to unethical demands, Christians struggle to honor God at work. How do we find our identity amidst the challenges of vocational excellence, ethics, evangelism, and essence? If we emphasize one of these aspects to the neglect of the other, our motivation for work is easily distorted and our results can dishonor God. However, if we approach our work with these four aspects of work in proper focus, work can become worship! We can work in the workplace and not be "of it."

Ethical Work
The way we carry out our work can honor or dishonor God. If we fudge on the books, arrive late to work, or lie about our progress, we deny God honor in the realm of creation and culture. Even if our ethical compromise produces a superior product, we cheat the Creator of his glory by denying his moral nature and biblical commands. The end does not justify the means. Christian work cannot be excellent and unethical. How we work reflects who we are.

Excellent Work
On the other hand, we can work ethically without producing excellence. You may be punctual and honest while turning out inferior reports and products. If we are to do our work in an excellent way, we must not only strive to honor the moral nature of God but also the essential nature of God, his manifold excellence and comprehensive glory.

Evangelistic Work
Too many people use their workplace as a platform for evangelism. The film The Big Kahuna comes to mind, in which Bob makes work an excuse for evangelism. As a result, he blows the business deal. Christian work does not compromise excellence for the sake of evangelism.

To be sure, the workplace is a place of people, eternal beings with eternal destinies, people with real struggles and issues that only the gospel can solve. But if we do our work without redemptive concern for others, we reduce the purpose of our vocation to self-concern and self-promotion. Thus, it is important that we work with a broader view of the gospel, as a message that affects all of life, from people to culture.

Theological Work
Work as reflection on vocational essence is simply working with the nature and character of God in view. The attributes of God are reflected in the essence of our work. Artistic work reflects God’s life-giving creativity. Computer based work relies upon binary code, a sequence of ones and zeroes that enables our computers to function. In essence, computer work reflects order, order that reflects the orderly nature of God. Orderly computers can be used to crank out pornography, or they can be used to help care for hospital patients. But the essence of what computers do in our work reflects the orderly character of God.

Identity and Work
How do we find our identity in God instead of in work that is ethical, excellent, evangelistic, and theologically reflective? In order to avoid the pitfalls of these approaches to work, we must work from our acceptance in Christ, not for our acceptance. We should not seek the acceptance and applause of our coworkers or competition through unethical or less than excellent work. Instead, we can rest in God' acceptance and approval, working excellently to honor him (Col 3:22; 1 Cor. 15:50-58). No matter how tight our work ethic, we will inevitably fail. Instead of taking comfort in our superior work ethic, Christ calls us to rest in his finished work on our behalf (Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 9:23-28).

Instead of approaching work with a narrow view of the gospel, we can take the whole gospel into the whole workplace, contributing to the whole of society and ministering to people’s individual needs. As a result, we do excellent, ethical, and evangelistic work, not to earn God’s favor or to impress others, but as a faith effort, as an act of worship. As you work, rest in his acceptance and work for his honor.

Reflections on Pollution and the Death of Man by Dr. Francis Schaeffer

…God treats His creation with integrity: each thing in its own order, each thing the way He made it. If God treats His creation in that way, should we not treat our fellow-creatures with a similar integrity? If God treats the tree like a tree, the machine like a machine, the man like a man, shouldn't I, as a fellow-creature, do the same — treating each thing in integrity in its own order? And for the highest reason: because I love God — I love the One who has made it! Loving the Lover who has made it, I have respect for the thing He has made.¹

A popular modern phrase, used most often in politics, is "flip-flopping." To be perceived as a "flip-flopper" is to be seen as weak and lacking in deep convictions. I am not sure who created this much-used phrase. but the Republicans used it very successfully against John Kerry in the last presidential election. Somehow the word conjures up a sense of opportunism, of outright compromise, or moral spinelessness.

In a recent issue of Martin Marty's, Sightings (Monday, January 8), the esteemed historian and religion writer refers to these changes we call "flip-flops" as "about faces" or "180-degree turns." When a politician changes a position, especially on an issue crucial to some people, it creates quite a stir. Steve Chapman, writing as a pro-life columnist for the Chicago Tribune in a December article, cited Governor Mitt Romney's change of view on abortion as a case in point. It is a fact that Mitt Romney was pro-choice for some years. Now he wants to assure his conservative political base that he is strongly pro-life. In Romney's words, "I'm in a different place than I was in 1994." Even his strongest critics admit that he has sincerely changed and that his actions have demonstrated this consistently. For the record, Ronald Reagan changed his view on abortion, as did George H. W. Bush, both having been pro-choice at one point before becoming pro-life. And Jesse Jackson and Al Gore also changed their views, from being pro-life at one point in the past, to their present pro-choice position.