an apostolic adventure

6. The Gospel must be presented to the poor

The poor?  The poor!?  Who are the poor?  I just had two children in college.  I feel pretty poor!  The poor are those who have just about not enough.  Like me.  My bank account just about runs out of money.  My funds just about don’t last long enough.  My credit cards just about can’t keep up with my spending desires.

So, I am the poor.  Right?  Well, pretty much.  I guess we all have basic levels of poverty.  And the good news is that “The Good News is preached to the poor!” Matthew 11.5.

While I may be thinking about my bank account, I know that every day on our street, there will be around a dozen people who will systematically pick through around 30 bins of trash.  These “neighbors” are looking for something to eat – like some stale bread or meat; something to use – like a warmer coat or shoes; or something to sell – like some glass wine bottles.

What do I do about those who have been evicted from their homes, separated from their loved ones and have lost their jobs?  What do I do about the woman who has been repeatedly abused, the nine year old child who never attended school and the retired pensioner who doesn’t have enough money to heat her flat in the winter?  What do I do about the teenage girl who has been lured away from her east European home to “a better life” in the west – only to find herself a slave to forced prostitution?

Yes, what do I do?!  What can I do?

Jesus came “To seek and to save what was lost” Luke 19.10.  I don’t know about you, but I kinda want to avoid the lost, the poor, the sick.  I want to avoid seeking lost!  Don’t you?  How can one person change poverty anyway?!

I remember one day I was running.  It was a great day.  A great run.  And just about to finish my run when I saw a traffic light still green!  At the same moment, I saw a homeless man near the corner and the thought IMMEDIATELY came into my mind, “Invite him over to take a shower!”  Was this the voice of God or just my inner voice thinking this up?

Oh, I hope it was just a crazy thought.  I don’t think my wife would appreciate, “Hey, Hun, I’m home!  And I brought a homeless man with me to take a shower!”  Plus we had a young two year old at home.  Nope, just a thought.

But it kept coming back to my mind over those few seconds.  As I ran those last few strides toward the traffic light, I kept staring at this man and then at the light.  What do I do?!

Then a brilliant bargain with God came to my mind.  “OK, Lord, if this light stays green, I’ll run on home.  This was just a thought in my head.  If it turns red, I will stop and invite this man to have a shower in our home.  Yes, then I’ll know it was Your voice.”  It sounded like a fair bargain to me.

So I started sprinting toward the light.

But it turned red.

So, while out of breath, I turned to the man with dirty clothes and down cast eyes, “I’m just running home.  Would you like to come and take a shower?”

He looked at me in disbelief.  “What?”

“Would you like to come to my home and shower?”

“Why, sure!  Are you sure?  I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Yes, I’m sure.  Come on.”  I didn’t tell him about my bargain with God and the traffic light.

The light turned green and we walked across on to our home.  On the way he told me that he just came from Alaska where he lost his job.  He’s out of work and has no permanent place to stay.

All this was interesting and sad.  But I wasn’t fully engaged.  The thoughts kept coming to my mind about what my wife will say as I introduce my guest.

I walked in the door with my new friend and to my relief; my wife smiled and welcomed this homeless man into our home.  She not only gave him a fresh towel, but she stole some of my clothes to give to him and invited him to our table for a home cooked meal.

Our offer quite simple:  a shower and a meal.  He ate with our two year old on his lap.  He ate with new found energy, bright face and cheerful heart.  The change in him dramatic.  The change in that traffic light affected all of us!

The most noticeable form of poverty is the physically poor:  without home, food, family.  But we also need to dig a bit deeper to find the emotionally and spiritually poor.

Sometimes those people who have little physically have full, rich spirits.

Sometimes those people, who have so many physical riches, have poor, impoverished spirits.

Regardless, there is a home for each one.  Jesus invites them home.  You and I are His extended family making space for the poor in a new home. 

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

Matthew 9:12-13 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

The gospel must be presented to the poor.

·        Who are the poor in your neighborhood?

·        Where do we find them?

·        What do we do for them?

·        What could the Church do for them?

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Biblical Principle #5

The body of Christ thrives as each one ministers in Spirit giftedness.

I discovered how I could thrive in ministry when I changed one word on my card describing my life vision.

A month or two after seeing that clear vision for my life in September 1988, I wrote down a concise statement summing it all up. Paul’s helped me as I saw that he begins most of his writings with his “business card” or life vision. Ephesians 1 really helped me. This is what I wrote:

Jerry Coleman

ambassador

of Christ Jesus

by the will of God

for the praise of His glory.

My card still says this with the exception of one word. I’ll tell you how that changed.

Within our first year as missionaries here in Hungary, in Spring of 1997, Jan and I attended a conference taught by Dwight Smith on “Saturation Church Planting.” During one of the sessions, he taught on five leadership gifts as expressed in Ephesians 4:11. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.” These are summaries:

·        apostle: church planter, visionary, catalyst,

          constantly pushing the borders

          Impact = Extension of the Gospel purpose of the church

·        prophet: preacher, catalyst, speaks the voice of God,

          constantly pushing the wake up call

Impact = Integration of the Gospel foundations in the people of the church

·        evangelist:        passionate for the lost, builds relational bridges,

          constantly pushing the Gospel

          Impact = Expansion of the Gospel story in the church

·        pastor:   a people person, compassionate, caring,

          constantly pushing the love of God

          Impact = Nurturing the truths of the Gospel in the church

·        teacher: systematic, steady, solid,

          constantly pushing the truth

          Impact = Explanation of the truths of the Gospel to the church

While Dr. Smith was describing these gifts, my ears perked up on his description of an apostle. He clarified that this is not intended to describe “one of the Twelve” or “The Office of.” But this is a gift mix with leadership, faith and vision.

Jan and I began laughing out loud as he described this gifting as someone who constantly thinks about the future and who is constantly pushing the borders. The description fit me so well that it was funny to us! But in my mind I felt a conflict. I am hearing this teaching and it describes me so well. But I’ve never, ever heard someone accept the fact that he/she thinks he/she has the spiritual gift of apostle.

At lunch break, Jan and I sat across from one of Dwight Smith’s colleagues, Robert Mountford. We began discussing the teaching and especially these spiritual gifts. As we talked, I began to remember that in September 1988 I wanted to write down, “apostle,” on my card. (I’ve since confirmed this by looking back at my private journals.) I resisted that because I had never heard anyone refer to this as a modern day gift. Plus people would misunderstand and laugh at me and so on.

But after this teaching, I could see more clearly what God was calling me to be and do. He wants me to be a man of faith in spreading the borders of the church and leading people into the future! It’s in these things I am most at home and most comfortable. An apostle?

I later found out from my missionary friend in Greece that in Greek

“apostole” means “letter”

“apostolos” means “one who is sent”

The function of an apostle is to be sent with the message, the Good News of Jesus to those people and places God leads and directs.

I finally said to Robert in the middle of our meal, “I have a card here from September 1988 that has my life call on it. It’s just that now I remember that I wanted to write down ‘apostle’ but instead I wrote down ‘Ambassador.’”

“Well,” Robert quickly replied, “I have a pen.”

I immediately began to shed tears. The Holy Spirit cut to my heart and will. I knew that in this one moment I was in the crux of accepting more of what God has called me to be. Or I could further shut it out because of fear of what people might think. I looked at Jan. I looked at my card. I looked at Robert. All the while my heart raced and my eyes blurred.

I took his pen. I scratched out “Ambassador” and wrote in “an apostle.” Small “a.” One of. Accepting the gift of.

“Oh, Lord, I accept who I am, who you have made me, and how you have gifted me. I am willing to be:

Jerry Coleman

an apostle

of Christ Jesus

by the will of God

for the praise of his glory.”

The body of Christ thrives as each one ministers in Spirit giftedness.

·       What is your spiritual gift?

·       In what ways is God using you in your gift?

·       In what ways are you working outside your giftedness?

·       In what ways do you help others discover their Spirit giftedness?

·       How can we help church leaders discover and use their spiritual gifts?

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