Table of Contents

Ministry Matters

by Wayde I. Goodall

On January 13, 1850, the weather was snowy and cold. The young man shivered as he walked the narrow streets of Colchester, England. Trying to keep warm, he thought about how far he needed to walk to the church his mother had told him about. Considering his refined, dignified, Puritan Reformed religious background, he felt hesitant about visiting this church because it had a reputation of being somewhat loud. But the 15-year-old thought that perhaps there he would find relief from his burden of sin and guilt. He had read Pilgrim's Progress several times and knew that he had to reach the "gate."

When he arrived, 14 people were in the church. He sat near the back, miserable and cold. He couldn't even look at the preacher when he began his message. The minister struggled and stumbled and was obviously not a seasoned communicator. The text was: "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 45:22). The preacher made a few comments and then quoted the verse again. Over and over he continued.

After about 10 minutes of this repetition, the preacher looked at the teenager, pointed his finger at him, and said, "Yes, young man, you look terribly miserable." He continued, "Young man, you will be miserable in life, and you'll be miserable in death unless you obey my text. Young man, look to Jesus." Then he shouted, "Look, look, look!"

This unorthodox (and most of the time not recommended) way of communicating greatly affected the teenager. He later said, "I did look to Jesus, and I lived."

Although still a teenager, 4 years later he was called to pastor the historic New Park Street Baptist Church in London, England. On his first Sunday morning about 80 people showed up. Within 6 months the building, able to seat 1,200, was packed with crowds up to 2,000. Many Sundays hundreds of people were turned away.

In the next 37 years, this determined, passionate pastor turned London upside down; and he still has a tremendous effect on preachers and congregations around the world. The once cold, shivering, miserable teenager was none other than Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "prince of preachers."1

"Young man, look to Jesus." Those five words hit the bull's-eye of Spurgeon's heart. He later wrote, "The written Word convicted me, but the preached Word converted me." The simple message of Jesus Christ accomplishes incredible things for God. It will never change.

Week by week as you communicate the precious gospel, know that a miserable person could be sitting before you, inwardly begging you to communicate truth to his or her heart.

Francis Schaeffer said: "Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting."2 Your city is unique. The church you pastor or preach in, or the field you serve on has a history and need that only God knows.

Every church is made up of people with different backgrounds and different cultures. Vance Havner said: "Diverse are the ways by which men come to Christ. And great is the temptation to judge others if they do not have mud put on their eyes and go to Siloam exactly as we did."3 God can show you creative ways to minister and can help you reach your community for Christ. I believe that as God used Spurgeon to shake London, He can use you to change your city. We must never forget that there is an inherent power in the gospel message and that God will always honor the gospel when it is shared.

Many have tried to define the word evangelism and the best ways to accomplish it. Someone appropriately said evangelism is "proclaiming Jesus Christ as God and Savior, persuading men to accept Him and become responsible members of His church." Another said evangelism is "one poor beggar telling another poor beggar where he can find bread." Both are right. Whatever way you verbalize the definition of evangelism, always remind yourself that what God has made primary we dare not make secondary.

ENDNOTES

1. Story abridged from Lewis Drummond, "What Is the Message?" Equipping for Evangelism (Minneapolis, Minn.: World Wide Publications, 1996) 29‚30.
2. George Sweeting, Great Quotes and Illustrations (Dallas, Tex.: Word Publishing, 1985) 130.
3. Ibid., 222.