by Timothy Keller

Any person interested in spiritual matters will benefit from reading this book. Skeptics will be forced to consider the consistency of their worldview and defenders of the faith will be motivated and encouraged by Keller’s pastoral, yet intelligent approach to these subjects.

Keller, the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, draws on more than twenty years of pastoral ministry in an environment of skepticism to present common doubts and provide succinct, biblical responses.

First, Keller dismantles the seven most common “doubts” voiced by skeptics during his ministry. Among others, he addresses topics like “How can a good God allow suffering?” and “Hasn’t science disproved Christianity?” His carefully crafted logic and pastoral approach effectively identify logical inconsistencies behind these and other popular objections to faith in God.

Second, his presentation provides a credible, intelligent foundation for believers to defend their faith as coherent and rational. Not only does he defend belief in a god, he argues well for belief in the God of the Bible. In fact, he reveals why faith in the Christian God does not require a person to jettison intellectual integrity.

Whether you are struggling to believe or feeling overwhelmed by the questions of unbelieving friends, this book (which is now available in paperback) is an excellent resource.

On June 17, I presented part one of this series in which I wrote…

“Unless the Church redefines how she understands and uses this medium, television preaching may (in the long-run) do more harm than good for the spread of the gospel.”

I return to the subject today to present the fourth reason televised preaching poses a threat to worldwide evangelism.

Televised preaching ignores the connection between the witness of a believer’s life and evangelism.

God uses His interaction with people to draw others to salvation. Conversion does not generally take place in a vacuum even though it can. The Israelite nation was set apart to show the world that Yahweh is the true God. From His interaction with them, the other nations would know Him. The New Testament reinforces and strengthens this tie.

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:14-16).

And the Apostle Peter later wrote, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:9-12).

Both passages present a simple truth: God’s work in the life of an individual believer is an instrument for evangelism. Television ministry eliminates this instrument and ignores the fact that disciples have been and always will be made through personal investment.

On June 17, I presented part one of this series in which I wrote…

“Unless the Church redefines how she understands and uses this medium, television preaching may (in the long-run) do more harm than good for the spread of the gospel.”

and

“If our commitment to discipleship wanes as the fascination with televised preaching grows, this approach will harm the spread of the gospel.”

On July 5, I provided a first reason for my conclusion and today I expound upon a second reason televised preaching poses a threat to worldwide evangelism.

Televised preaching restrains personal responsibility in evangelism.

When we believe the world is being reached through the airwaves, we concede to a separation between the “evangelist” (a term I use most loosely here) and the lost person. This separation inevitably clouds our perspective of lost-ness both near and far.

The perception that widespread broadcasting of sermons in America is reaching our communities for Christ tempers our urgency to share the gospel individually. Furthermore, the perception that television ministries are reaching hundreds of countries around the world eases our burden for the millions of people who die without hearing the name of Christ.

We must never forget that even where the gospel can be heard through technology, we still have a responsibility to ‘GO’ and share. Often televised preaching ministries dampen our resolve to share the gospel personally by causing us to forget that disciples have been and always will be made through personal investment.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16a

The entry for June 9 entitled Finally, Some Good News articulated the gospel. Once again, that explanation provides a context for the following…

My explanation of the gospel is not new or especially well-written. It contains no secret meaning or fresh perspective. The truths presented are older than time. These truths form a story. The story is the gospel. The story is true. The story is universal. The story is foundational. The story is messy. The story is ugly. The story is beautiful. The story is sad. The story is happy. The story is confusing. The story makes perfect sense. The story is terrifying. The story is surprising. The story is powerful.

So why belabor the point? Because confidence in the gospel’s power is embarrassingly low among the masses of modern Christendom. Few in the church will raise an objection to the gospel. But many don’t believe the gospel is powerful.

Their words and lives and ministries scream: the gospel is weak! I will help it by watering it down or dressing it up or softening its rough edges or strengthening its arguments or sweetening its offer or improving its marketability. I am not confident in this story, but it isn’t bad and I can work with the basic outline.

Just remember, the gospel doesn’t need you, but you desperately need the gospel.

So confidently share this simple story.

On June 17, I presented part one of this series in which I wrote…

“Unless the Church redefines how she understands and uses this medium, television preaching may (in the long-run) do more harm than good for the spread of the gospel.”

and

“If our commitment to discipleship wanes as the fascination with televised preaching grows, this approach will harm the spread of the gospel.”

I return to the subject today to present the first reason televised preaching poses a threat to worldwide evangelism.

Televised preaching is incapable of completing the Great Commission.

In commissioning the disciples for the worldwide spread of the gospel, Jesus said…

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt 28:18-20

The Great Commission calls for conversion AND disciple-making. The apostles were charged to make disciples, which includes explaining and properly administering baptism and providing comprehensive instruction regarding His teachings. Television communication is intrinsically incapable of completing the first task and insufficient at completing the second.

Even the most gifted communicators cannot baptize via television. Furthermore, even the most well-rounded and theologically-sound teaching ministries cannot model obedience. At the end of the day, the best televised preaching can do is lead a person to faith (and I do not diminish this work), but it cannot make a disciple.

Unless a person accompanies the gospel, we have no assurance that disciples will ever be made because disciples have been and always will be made through personal investment.

“So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” Romans 1:15 (ESV)

The entry for June 9 entitled Finally, Some Good News articulated the gospel. That explanation provides a context for the following…

Remember the good news? Remember the wonderful story? We call it the gospel. The gospel is a true, universal, foundational, messy, ugly, beautiful, sad, glad, confusing, ordered, terrifying, surprising, amazing, life changing story. This story must be told. Yet too often the story goes untold. Paul’s words in this verse leave at least two challenges.

First, he must have had a list of people with whom he wanted to share. The people in Rome were on this list. The word ‘also’ implies they were in a category with other people.

Second, he was eager to share the gospel. Many adjectives could be used to describe my attitude about sharing the gospel. I’m not sure eager would be very accurate.

Do you have a list like Paul? Is it embarrassingly short? Might you ever use ‘eager’ to describe your desire to share with them?

God give us a burden for our friends who need good news. God make us eager to share this amazing story with them.

Audio and video technologies are powerful instruments for sharing biblical truth with mass audiences. The messages of extraordinarily gifted communicators are reaching growing numbers of people and increasingly, churches are using these technologies with great success and great benefit for the cause of Christ. Make no mistake, I am convinced these efforts can and often do build God’s Kingdom.

Despite its usefulness as a catalyst for spiritual formation, however, I’m afraid television preaching is fast becoming an obstacle to world evangelism. Unless the Church redefines how she understands and uses this medium, television preaching may (in the long-run) do more harm than good for the spread of the gospel.

With the proliferation of video ministries, the Church is growing more dependent on television messages to accomplish the Great Commission. This shift – from personal evangelism to video evangelism – threatens the spread of the gospel by leading Christians away from at least two essential truths. First, the biblical call to evangelism is to make disciples not merely converts. Second, every believer is personally responsible to fulfill the Great Commission.

What’s at stake in the long-term is the further erosion of the biblical pattern of evangelism: making disciples through personal investment. If our commitment to discipleship wanes as the fascination with televised preaching grows, this approach will harm the spread of the gospel.

The Church mustn’t jettison these approaches completely. Instead, we must recover the biblical commission for evangelism and make a clear distinction between our use of video as a means for spreading the truth and the illusion that televised sermons will “reach the world for Christ.”

Disciples have been and always will be made through personal investment.

Through a series of entries scattered through the next several weeks, I will expound on this perspective by providing several reasons televised preaching ministries will not reach the world for Christ.

From perhaps the best book (outside the Bible) ever written on evangelism, the following quote expresses an essential part of my philosophy of life (and ministry).

Before you read it may be helpful to know…

• The “it” he writes about is reaching the world for Christ by making disciples.

• By “making disciples” he means leading another person to follow Christ by teaching and modeling a Christ-like life.

• For him a disciple is “made” when he or she begins to follow this pattern by “making” a disciple.

• This plan follows Jesus’ example of selecting the 12 men and then focusing even more closely on 3 of them (Peter, James, and John). In one sense Jesus didn’t call disciples; He called men and then “made” disciples.

• I’ve added the portions in brackets for your edification… you’re welcome.

“Here is where we must begin just like Jesus. It will be slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by people at first, but the end result will be glorious, even if we don’t live to see it. Seen this way, though, it becomes a big decision in the ministry [or in life]. We must decide where we want our ministry [or life] to count – in the momentary applause of popular recognition or in the reproduction of our lives in a few chosen people who will carry on our work after we have gone. Really it is a question of which generation we are living for.”

From Robert E. Coleman’s The Master Plan of Evangelism, 2007, page 32.

How much time will you invest in another person this week?