When Words Are Not Enough

Lessons about mission with no strings attached by Gordon Cotterill

John is one of the many characters who come into our church looking for community. His life has not been easy and he is a captive to his own failures. He sees no way out. Frequently we help him with food, sometimes clothing. Mostly we just sit and chat, and give him the respect he feels he does not deserve.

One day John limped in. Outside it was raining, it was cold, and he had obviously been walking for some time. As we shared coffee and talked, I could see that he was in pain. I noticed his limp so I asked him if his feet were all right. “You want to look?” he asked, almost daringly. “Sure.” Shivering, he struggled for some time with his boots. As the boots and then his socks came free, I saw his feet were a sodden mess, rubbed raw by wet leather.

Words Not Enough

We had a good conversation. We talked about his life, his adventures on the road, his mother (whose death had seen him turn to alcohol) and his young family who he left because of his shame. Eventually his boots were dry and when we had found some clean socks, he was ready to move on.

Seeing him struggle to put his boots on again, I knelt to help. Looking down at me, his face screwed up in mockery, he said, “The trouble with you Christians and the Church is that you are full of bull” (or words to that effect). For several moments we simply looked at each other. I was winded. I said, “I’m sorry you think that, John. But tell me one thing I have got to bull about.” I was insistent: “C’mon, John, one reason.” No reaction. He just got up and limped out.

I went about the rest of my day with mixed emotions; sorry that our conversation had ended in such an abrupt way; thrilled that I had learned the lesson of grace-centred mission. Mission with no strings attached.

We sat and drank coffee and John gave his heart to the Lord

A week later, having spent some time in the community, I wandered back to the church. Crossing a street, I saw John. He looked awful. “Hey, John, are you all right?” I asked. He looked at me and then simply said, “No! I need the Lord.” We sat and drank coffee and John gave his heart to the Lord.

Lessons in Evangelism
I have an ill-kept journal in which I jot lessons I have been taught. Working in the inner city, it has been a privilege to participate in the outpouring of God’s love in an area captive to poverty and need. It is a privilege to be learning about evangelism daily. It is a privilege to be taught the most profound truths through the most unlikely of people.

I would not swap those lessons – some of them hard learned – for anything. I would not trade them for all the evangelistic programs and models that some mega-churches market so well. In fact when I read such material, I smile and thank God for placing us where the only authentic evangelism is the “primitive” kind. The kind I see at work in the Gospels.

The single most important lesson I have learned is that our evangelism has to be more than words. Did Francis of Assisi really say, “Preach the gospel always and if you need to, use words”? I hope so. To be authentic it has to be grounded in the same mission principles of Jesus. It has to be grace centred with no hidden agendas. When our mission is authentic, the name of Jesus cannot be kept down.

When our mission is authentic, the name of Jesus cannot be kept down

Patrick defies definition. There is no one else like him, yet he is one of those individuals that every church needs. He is well known in our market as he scavenges and causes mild havoc; as he chortles, mutters and converses with everyone whether they listen or not.

Patrick is always at the church for breakfast and lunch; not because they are cheap, but because we are family to him. He brings to us all his problems and it is a privilege to be able to help and even sometimes fight his battles for him. In response, he brings us lovingly his many trophies from the refuse from the estates that surround us.

There are times when Patrick makes you want to scream, yet I thank God for him and the lessons he has taught us.

What I love most about Patrick is the way our church embraces him as an integral part of everything it does. There is something special about the way people in the corps sit and give respect to someone the world rejects. There is something special in the way parents in the church trust him to befriend their children.

These relationships give authenticity to God’s message of love. I was talking recently with one of the parents at our eldest daughter’s school and she said, “That Patrick, he comes into your church…” “Uh huh,” I replied, ready to hear of his latest exploit. “I’m glad he has a family in your church, it’s good that he has people like you lot.” Then she completely surprised me as she continued, “When are your services, I’d like to come to a church like yours. Can I come?”

Nice one Patrick.

Mission
Theologian Jurgen Moltmann suggested that, “’Evangelism is mission, but mission is not merely evangelism.” Using this as a title for a college essay opened my mind to how religious I had become about evangelism – giving ’em both barrels whether people listen or not, feeling the warmth of knowing I’d done my bit for the day. Now that essay is a living, daily reality as I am learning that evangelism without mission will just limp painfully on.

In our outreach we are called to be authentic, by living and loving the gospel out in our community. Our evangelism has got to be incarnational. If it isn’t, it is nothing more than another of the “isms” that smother and choke this world.

In our outreach we are called to be authentic, by living and loving the gospel out in our community

Are people bothered about our preoccupation with having answers to the “Top Ten Hot Potato” God issues? They are not. Nor are they bothered about clever arguments and apologetics. They looking for something genuine, something real, something with no strings attached.

Kingdom
Thankfully we live in an era that talks about holistic mission. We live in an era that calls us to be “kingdom people” and not “church people.” That distinction helps keep evangelism real. A quote I frequently re-visit suggests:

“Kingdom people seek first the kingdom of God and its justice; church people often put church work above the concerns of justice, mercy and truth. Church people think about how to get people into the church; Kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church; kingdom people work to see the church change the world.” (Howard Snyder)

Such thinking is perhaps unpalatable to those that have bought into the McGavran-style church growth principles. Programs with strings attached – however noble – simply do not cut an authentic edge. It is hard to see how anything we do with a “hidden agenda” reflects Jesus’ spirit as seen in the Gospels. We need to careful, we need to be kingdom people.

Let’s look at the example of the master and reflect his unconditional approach to demonstrating the kingdom of God. Let’s reflect his grace-centred approach to mission. I thank God for grace-centred mission, for the people we as a church serve and who come to us for family and community.

Gordon Cotterill finds total fulfillment in demonstrating the Kingdom of God in leadership with his wife, Kate, and alongside their church in the fragmented inner-city community of Poplar, London, UK.