The Jesus Program
The last words of Jesus before ascending were, “Go and make disciples of all nations1, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus issued few commands, so when he does command, as in this case, it is worth noting.
First, it is a command to the apostles. They are present at his specific direction after the Resurrection in order to hear from him. It is not a suggestion, nor is it a random encounter. These are the instructions, the marching orders, to the apostles, to be carried out from henceforth.
Second, they are clear and absolute, unmistakable in their meaning. They are universal, without exceptions: all nations. Not “to my people,” “to the chosen nation,” “to the good people, the righteous,” but to everyone. It does not address the consequences for those who fail to accept what the apostles are teaching. It is directed to the apostles, not to their audience.
Third, he has gathered only the apostles to be commissioned for this, rather than all the disciples. The premise on which his command is based is stated: “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18). Jesus then delegated to the apostolic order the responsibility for reaching, teaching and baptizing. They are to be the ones leading and directing this. In modern times, it seems to have been forgotten that the task of evangelizing, including not simply “converting” but teaching and administering the Sacrament of Baptism, is specifically assigned to the Church through the apostolic authority thus delegated. It is the Church’s responsibility to harvest the generations into the baptized family of God in the Body of Christ. Equally, that responsibility includes teaching everyone, so that the truth of Christianity is well known among all Christians, and not just the clergy.
Thus, the command involves three completely necessary and related parts: reaching, baptizing and teaching “all nations,” no exceptions allowed, and no excuses accepted. The authority to do so is part of the “paradosis,” theTradition, passed on in the apostolic succession to each new generation.
Jesus does not specify how to do this. Into that vacuum, and feeding on the feelings of inadequacy (guilt?) which most Christians have about carrying out this command, a plethora of questionable programs have emerged. Jesus apparently can be marketed like any other product, if we believe the gurus and their plentiful schemes to “grow the church,” or “reach the unchurched.” Many are expensive, justifying the cost on the predicted results of filling your church.
Few, if any, begin with analyzing the three-fold command of Jesus and then proceeding to fulfill all three aspects. Most pay no attention to the apostolic authority involved. Some are simply free-lancers who come to town to put on a “revival,” often now cloaked in the smooth techniques of outfits like the Billy Graham organization. These evangelism programs, a few specifically Anglican, most more general, are often knocking on our doors to propose a program for our congregation which will grow it. Yet please note that church attendance, baptisms and accurate knowledge of Christian belief have been declining for years, in spite of all the programs, most of which, of course, only include the first of these goals.
Surely, with the partnership of the Holy Spirit given us to guide our efforts, we can do better.
First, we can do what Jesus mandates, not the programs trying to sell themselves to us. This means integrating the three goals (evangelize, baptize, catechize) as one effort, based on our apostolic succession. In short, it is based on the sacramental grace of the Body of Christ, the catholic community of the historic Faith.
Second, why not try approaching people as Jesus approached them? There are several easy lessons to learn from him on this.
Jesus begins his ministry by being baptized. In looking at the event, we note it is his anointing from the Father by the Holy Spirit, his consecration/ commissioning/ ordination (see John 1:32-34, Matt. 3:15-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22). Properly ordered and having done a forty-day retreat, Jesus is ready to begin. The modern programs would kick this off with a stadium or concert hall event, or at least a large tent, where Jesus would preach his message. As much media coverage as possible would be arranged.
What actually happened was the wedding at Cana, where there was no preaching and no media. Jesus opened his ministry, as a team effort with his Mother, by helping people in a tough situation. For many modern Christians, the action is puzzling. It had no “religious” implications or “evangelism” involved. But it was the heart of manifesting Christ: help people. Don’t start by preaching at people, or pushing them to show up at a “religious” event. True evangelism is to manifest the love of God to people in whatever condition they find themselves. That help may be making many gallons of excellent wine for a family in social distress. It may be giving loaves and fishes to a crowd of people hungry after a day of listening to Jesus. It may be, as per Matthew 25, giving people food or clothes or visiting them in prison. The lesson is to start where people are at, to help them with their needs, not your agenda. In so doing, you are, as Jesus notes in Matt. 25, serving him. You can, without words, be the face of Christ to people. If you help people without needing praise or glory for it, you are manifesting Christ. Jesus did that, and let the Holy Spirit do the follow up of connecting the dots. Unless, of course, the people wondered, and asked him, in which case he explained it.
In the encounters with Jesus that follow for the next four years as he exercises his ministry, a constant is that they begin with diagnosis, with listening to the person. Almost all the encounters were object lessons for the disciples who observed them (remember, the disciples were present at Cana). Sometimes, the diagnosis was simple, as when the discussion began with polemic, usually with the Pharisees or Sadducees. Often, it is clear Jesus does not expect to convert the Pharisees or Sadducees. The teaching is primarily for the others present, the disciples or a crowd of bystanders. Other times, the diagnosis means Jesus must introduce painful topics, as in John 6, where introducing the concept of his Eucharistic real presence in the bread, alienates many novice disciples, or the concept that he will be killed and resurrected is greatly disturbing to his closest disciples.
But his response is never an assembly line, hands laid on and a command to “heal.” Often the response is quite unexpected. When confronted with the paralytic (Luke 5:18-25), “when Jesus saw their faith” [i.e. the faith of the men carrying the paralytic as well as the man himself], he did not heal his paralysis, he forgave the paralytic’s sin. Only when challenged by opponents did he heal the physical problem. For Jesus, the priority was absolution, because that is what was needed most. Rarely in modern evangelism, Anglican or otherwise, is that the priority. For Jesus, the diagnosis of the problem may or may not be directed by the problem presented by the supplicant. Instead, it is directed by what Jesus hears the real need to be.
Likewise, the response directs the supplicant away from the formal, legal answer, so prized by the rabbis of Jesus’ time and the Christians of our time. The case of the woman caught in adultery turns the judgement away from her and onto those eager to punish her according to the Law (John 8:3-11). The complaint that Jesus’ disciples harvest grain on the Sabbath is turned away from them and onto the hypocrisy of the Pharisees’ rigid but inconsistent observance of the Law (Luke 6:1-5). Jesus in conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:4-30) does not begin with condemning her for her sexual behavior, nor dismiss her as a Samaritan heretic. He starts by asking for a drink of water. He then leads her carefully and compassionately through a remarkable and often deep conversation. It ends with the woman becoming the evangelist, despite what many would see as her unworthiness to be so commissioned.
To fulfill the mandate to evangelize, I would encourage you to further analyze the way Jesus encounters people, and to understand that evangelists are those who are commissioned within the apostolic Tradition and proceed with the three-fold command to go, baptize and teach in the name of the Trinity. Understand also that you cannot legislate, push or harangue people into Christianity. Like the Samaritan woman’s message to her village, it can only point to Jesus, without focus on self or ego, his accomplishments, not ours. There is no valid “program” for evangelism or church growth. There is only our calling to carry the Holy Spirit through the myriad of complex encounters we have with others, always reflecting the non-judgmental love of God in word and/or deed.
The Greek New Testament word is “ethney,” which can be translated with equal accuracy as “ethnicities,” without implying a sovereign or political structure.