I suppose they’re out there, but I haven’t met one – a kid who doesn’t like to ride a bike.
Most of us started out the same way. As little tykes we got a hand-me-down from a big brother or sister or maybe there was a present under the Christmas tree or at a five-year-old’s birthday party. And with some exceptions, we all started out with training wheels. The training wheels made riding the bike possible, but no ten-year-old showed off his cool training wheels to the other kids in the neighborhood. Like when a sixteen-year-old gets his driver’s license, a kid loves the day the training wheels come off.
While training wheels allow a little kid to do what he otherwise could not, training wheels prevent a bigger kid from doing what he could. From extreme riders to Tour de France competitors to middle age men getting back in shape, none of them could ride with any measure of success if training wheels were a necessary part.
Further still, while training wheels get a little one on a bike, does anyone really view riding with training wheels as an accomplishment? When the training wheels come off, so much more can happen.
TRAINING WHEELS AND THE GOSPEL
In a similar way event evangelism is the gospel with training wheels. Holiday concerts, wild game dinners, Vacation Bible School, and a week of meetings with a traveling evangelist all serve Christians in local churches to assist them in the proclamation of the gospel. Event evangelism gets us on the bike.
Event evangelism can be the easiest form for making disciples, as simple as extending an invitation, Our church is having a concert this Wednesday night at 6:30. Can you come with me? It can’t get much easier than that, kind of like riding a bike with training wheels – just get on the bike and start pedaling. There’s not much else required.
Great things can happen from these invitations. People come at your invitation, hear the gospel, and believe. When we get to heaven, we will meet untold numbers of those who came to faith because they attended an event where they heard the gospel. When these events come around, we should take advantage of the easy gospel opportunity. If, however, we rely on events to communicate the gospel, then like a big kid still using training wheels, we will miss out on so much more that could happen.
A GOSPEL CULTURE
We are trying to develop a gospel culture in our church. We use events to help us and are thankful for every opportunity they bring, but we cannot be dependent on events to communicate the gospel to our families and friends like a little kid depends on his training wheels to ride his bike. We want the language of the gospel to be a part of our everyday conversations, “woven in” as someone recently stated. This is the pattern of the New Testament.
While Jesus preached to great masses, individual conversations with Zacchaeus, Matthew, Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene and so many more were the way they came to faith. The same was true for Paul as he told the gospel to his jailors and to Onesimus.
TRUST THE GOSPEL
The Bible says the gospel is the power of God to salvation. Too often we mistakenly think we will mess up if we talk about Jesus. That’s a lie from the devil. The power that brings salvation is not in our capacity to deliver the message but in the message itself. Just trust God that His gospel is powerful. Tell people you want them to go to heaven, and tell them about Jesus. Leave the results with God.
When a church becomes a community of believers engaged in gospel conversations and not only a place for gospel events, that church will see so much more happen in the making of disciples.
As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.
Mike VerWay
Pastor for Preaching & Vision