“You are the Light of the World”

Chapter Three: Evangelism and Its Role in the Church

By Pastor Stephen Kurtzahn

If we only glance at these words, their full import escapes us. But let’s look more closely at what Christ says here, as we would look at fine print under a magnifying glass. Jesus says “go” – don’t sit around waiting for people to come to you, but you go to them. “Make disciples of all the nations” – all people, whether they be young or old, rich or poor, foolish or wise, black or white or yellow or red or brown, are to be told the Good News of Jesus so faith can be created in their hearts. This evangelism effort must be accompanied with baptism and instruction. New born Christians are to be raised and nourished on all the teachings which Christ has given us in His Word.

It has been almost 2,000 years since Jesus ascended into heaven, but His final command is as applicable to us as it was to those first disciples. The message of the Savior has spread throughout the world, and wherever you travel on this globe you are almost certain to find a Christian church. But the command still stands. Jesus still wants His followers to “go” and “make disciples of all the nations.”

I don’t know if it’s our heritage, our human, emotional makeup, or our battle scars and wounds which seem to have caused us to lose sight of what Jesus commands us in Matthew 28, but it would appear that many Lutherans – even confessional Lutherans – are not all that concerned about evangelism. Yew, we have had faithful pastors and teachers who have not stopped proclaiming unto us “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Since the days of the Lutheran Reformation we have had men in the pulpit and men and women in the classroom who have proclaimed nothing other than “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). So what is our hang-up as far as evangelism is concerned?

On the apostle Paul’s last trip to Jerusalem before he was arrested by the Jews and taken to Rome, this messenger of the Gospel stopped at Ephesus to say good-bye to the leaders of the congregation there. In his farewell address, Paul warned about false teachers and heretics (Acts 20:29-31).

Just as heretics infiltrated the church after Paul’s death, such was also the case in the Age of the Reformation. Even before Dr. Martin Luther passed away, Satan was placing his men in important positions in our Lutheran church. So, from the mid 1500's to the present, faithful shepherds have been warning their sheep about false prophets and the spiritual dangers of even the smallest false doctrine (cf. John 8:31-32; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Romans 1:16-17).

Our own Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC) was brought into existence fifty years ago because faithful Christians were disturbed over the teaching tainted with spiritual poison in their former church bodies. Out of a godly zeal for the truth we have told the world what God says in the passages above. The Gospel of Christ, the message of His forgiveness and salvation, is so dear to us that we don’t want to place it, or our souls, in jeopardy.

Indeed we have been mocked and ridiculed for our Scriptural position. Our CLC has been called “the Romans 16:17 church,” as if that’s all we teach. In this age of ecumenism, when doctrinal differences are swept under the carpet for the sake of outward unity, we are looked upon with a sneer and a scowl. But what we believe is no different from what the first faithful Lutherans believed – in fact, no different from what the first faithful Christians believed. Those who have joined hands with Bible-deniers and treat them as brothers are in the wrong. For listen to what the early Lutherans had to say in the Formula of Concord, one of the great Confessions of our church: “In them (the Smalkald Articles) the doctrine of the Augsburg Confession is repeated, and some articles are explained at greater length from God’s Word, and, besides, the cause and grounds are indicated, as far as necessary, whey we have abandoned the papistical errors and idolatries, and can have no fellowship with them....”

It is true, we are not the first Lutherans who have separated from false teachers for the sake of the Gospel.

The message of the Gospel is the heart and core of our Christian faith. What the Bible says about Creation, the Inspiration of Scripture, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the End Times, and yes, Religious Fellowship and Separation, would mean nothing if we were not straight on the facts of how Jesus rescued us from eternal condemnation and earned fur us a home in heaven.

The message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is like the hub of and old fashioned wagon wheel. All the other teachings of Scripture are like the spokes. If the hub is gone, the spokes do us no good. If one or more of the spokes are missing, the whole wheel eventually collapses and the hub is ruined. The Gospel of Christ is the hub of our faith. All the other teachings are the spokes. We just can’t have one or the other without losing everything all together.

Someone once said that confessional Lutheranism is a sleeping giant. It’s time that this giant be awakened. We have the Gospel of Christ and by His grace it has been preserved for us. Let’s share it, and after we share it, show these people how they can grow in it and protect it. Share it, grow in it, and protect it: This is responsible evangelism in the church.

•         Continue to pray for your pastor, your church body, your congregation and your own evangelism efforts.

•         Continue to update your personal Responsibility List, praying for these people by name.

•         Practice your Law and Gospel presentation, so you can present it with ease.

•         How do the following false teachings take away from the Gospel of Christ?

1) Evolution;

         2) Jesus was not born of a virgin;

         3) The Bible has mistakes and errors in it;

         4) People can “decide” on their own to believe in Jesus;

5) Jesus will establish for Himself a 1,000 year kingdom on earth, with the capital being in Jerusalem;

         6) Babies are not born sinful.

•         The Redeemer wants us to share the Good News with the unchurched, as well as with those who are searching and looking. But yet He wants us to remain faithful to His Word and stay away from error. How can both be done?

Note: This study was prepared by Pastor Steven Kurtzahn and was used at Zion Ev. Lutheran Church, Lawrenceville, Georgia by Pastor Nathanael Mayhew.

If you would like more information about this study,
please contact Pastor Mayhew