They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn
within us as he
talked with us on the road and explained the
Scriptures to us?”
Luke 24:32 NLT
Luke’s account of Jesus’
resurrection and subsequent exposure to his disciples is among the most
glorious narratives in the Bible. In a few short verses he takes the reader
from the disciples’ depth of despair regarding Jesus’ crucifixion to the
euphoria of their discovery of his resurrection. In this brief passage we see sub-stories
of the disciples’ unbelief, the supernatural encounters of the women with
angels and the disciples with Jesus. We see reinforced the miraculous nature of
Scripture as Jesus recounts his story from the writings of Moses, the prophets
and the Psalms. We also see the power of the Word to bring revelation as Jesus
opened the eyes of the disciples on the Emmaus Road and “they knew him.”
Of all the marvelous
sub-narratives subsumed under this account of Jesus’ death and resurrection,
the one I find most intriguing is the brief exchange on the Emmaus Road between
disciples with one another following their encounter with Jesus. “Didn’t our
hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road?” I think the thing that
excites my interest in this particular situation is the impact Jesus had on the
disciples as he related Scripture to them. Not only did they have awesome
revelation from Scripture, but something very significant also took place in
their hearts that they could only describe as a “burning.”
Since we are dealing here with
a metaphor, we can only attempt to supply meaning through a contextual
interpretation. What is it that we believe these disciples meant more literally
when they referred to hearts that “burn within us”? I can only relate here my
own conjecture as to their meaning. First and foremost, their hearts were made
incredibly alive to Jesus and his words to them. In some measure the disciples
became through this encounter greatly heightened in their awareness,
attentiveness and earnestness toward Jesus. Their hearts were aflame, lit up!
One of the properties of fire that I believe is germane here is its consuming
nature. In this case the disciples were completely consumed with Christ. It was
as if nothing else in this world existed or mattered except their focus on
Jesus and his revelations. So consumed were these disciples with Christ that
they interdicted their original journey to remain in Emmaus and returned to
Jerusalem that they might convey what they experienced with Jesus to fellow
disciples.
Understanding that there are
many significant messages intrinsic to the Luke 24 account, this particular narrative
relating the encounter of two engaged disciples with Jesus most arrests my
attention at the moment. It is my belief that not only does Jesus desire to have
this same impact on all his followers, but he also intends that the lives of
his followers have a similar influence upon those with whom they interact in
his name. Imagine bringing the compelling life of Christ into every spiritually
fertile scenario. Isn’t this the authentic reality of the incarnational life in
Christ? This is what from eternity past Father God has always desired, that is,
to inhabit his temple. In the Old Testament God declared his intention to dwell
among his people. With the advent of Christ, his followers become the spiritual
fulfillment and reality of that desire.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you (1 Cor 3:16 NKJV)?
In studying this passage I am
intrigued with the possibility that embedded within this account could be a New
Testament paradigm for evangelism. I introduce this thought with not a little
reticence based on the average person’s penchant for organizing things
methodologically. History confirms how linear and systematizing we tend to be
in approaching such topics as evangelism. We want everything neatly packaged
and tied up and capable of being presented in precise little steps that can be
easily memorized and rotely presented. Most of us learned the “Roman Road”
early in our salvation experience. Do you remember the introduction of the Four
Spiritual Laws? I believe this tract was
introduced through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ in the early 90’s.
Another popular method—generally known as the “Wordless Book”—uses multiple
colors to present the gospel by relating various concepts to a particular
color. I’m sure others of you could recall additional similar plans of
salvation that have been adopted and utilized down through the years.
It is not at all my intent
here to disparage these various methods for how one might share the gospel with
another person. I have no doubt many have come to know the Lord through their
employ. However, I believe there can be a subtle flaw inherent with all
systematic or methodological approaches to conveying the gospel. The most
compelling aspect of Jesus’ conversation with the disciples was not the
soundness of his argument. It was not even the profound veracity of his words.
The most compelling reality in this interaction was Jesus’ very presence. In
our urgency to convince all believers to effectively share the gospel, there is
a great tendency to equip and encourage them by providing the most facile tools
we can. Everyone is capable of learning a series of steps or scriptural
references and using such methods does help many persons overcome their
reticence or fear in sharing the gospel. We all tend to be creatures of habit
and most of us are uncomfortable with ill-defined scenarios. Having an
established “roadmap” for getting into, going through and then getting out of a
situation can offer a lot of comfort and encouragement.
I want to suggest several
objections to the above kind of approach to personal evangelism and then
examine whether we can ascertain a legitimate paradigm for evangelism from our
Emmaus Road passage. Once again, I want to acknowledge that there have no doubt
been countless conversions to Christ through the use of various formulaic
approaches to personal evangelism. However, it is still my contention that
given the statistically poor recidivistic rate associated with this approach it
behooves and challenges us to explore a more potentially biblical effort. My
heart in this is that persons being evangelized not be confronted with an
intellectual choice but brought to an encounter with Christ himself. No effort
at personal evangelism is going to guarantee perfect success. However, we can
do some things to ensure that persons with whom we engage with the gospel will
be challenged with having to respond to a personal encounter with Christ.
The first potential flaw
relative to following a method of evangelizing is that the use of an
intellectual argument often leads to an intellectual response rather than an
authentic encounter with Christ. One’s acceptance of and belief in Christ
cannot be predicated on reasonable or sound logic. We are not interested in
winning persons over to our way of thinking but rather to bringing them into a
legitimate encounter with Christ. Personal evangelism is not about introducing
persons to a way of thinking or a belief but to a person. Conviction not only
is a function of the truth of Scripture and the working of the Holy Spirit but
is also dependent on the readiness within one’s heart to embrace the reality to
which that person is exposed.
The kind of truth that would
never be denied or relinquished, the truth for which lives would be laid down,
doesn’t come through clever or cajoling arguments but rather by revelation. Revelation
is something that happens in the presence of Christ. When Jesus inquired of the
twelve as to whom they thought he was, it wasn’t an intellectual or rhetorical
question. It was establishing the relational reality of how they knew him. “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are
you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this
to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’” Later, John would reference this kind
of knowing Christ when he shared the following:
That
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim
concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared;
we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life,
which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We
proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have
fellowship with us (1.Jn 1:1-3 NIV).
The essence of what John was
conveying is that the principal role and duty of believers is to bring the
presence of Christ into every relationship and every situation. You can’t be in
the presence of Christ and remain unchanged. The nature of the change you
experience will be predicated on your openness to his transforming life and
will.
Another potential flaw in formulaic
approaches to personal evangelism is the risk of leading persons into a false
conclusion which will ultimately redound in a false spiritual security. The
goal of personal evangelism is not bringing persons into an intellectual
consent of Christ or even inviting Christ into one’s heart. The biblical end of
evangelism is bringing persons into the kind of relationship with Christ that
results in their utter surrender to and ultimate following of him. The offer of
salvation is far greater than the hope of gaining heaven. The truest sense of
what it means to be “saved” is coming into a surrendered, following
relationship with Christ that sets one on a transformational path that leads to
conformity to the image of Christ. Recall that what most Christians refer to as
the great commission—Matthew 28:19—is not about getting persons “saved,” it is
very specifically about making disciples. In essence then, salvation is all
about commencing a spiritual journey. Robert Mulholland defines the journey
thusly:
"The
process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others…"
Easy believism is devastating
to the authentic call to give up one’s life and follow Christ. When Jesus bid
persons to come and follow he was calling them out of one world into another.
There is nothing more radical than the demands of the Gospel.
As he
walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth.
“Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed
him (Mk 2:14 NLT).
Consider
from the Greek New Testament the biblical depth of the word “follow” as given
in Thayers Greek Lexicon:
To
follow one who precedes, join him as his attendant, accompany him; to join one
as his disciple, to become or be his disciple; to cleave steadfastly to one, to
conform wholly to his example, in living and if need be in dying also…
During WWII in Germany an
aberration to institutionalized Christianity emerged known as the “Confessing
Church.” This movement was very much fostered and led by the renowned Lutheran pastor
and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer whose work, The Cost of Discipleship, remains a classic within Christian annals
today. In his discussion of the costliness of grace, Bonhoeffer comments on
Jesus’ invitation to follow—“When Christ
calls a man, he bids him come and die." He further
elaborates on the subject of “cheap grace” thusly—“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without
requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without
confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace
without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ,
living and incarnate."
When Bonhoeffer incorporated
the living and incarnate Christ in his understanding of discipleship and grace,
he was nailing the core value and essence of what comprises personal
evangelism. Anything short of bringing the living and incarnate Christ into the
evangelism equation is simply an academic exercise leading to mental assent and
false eternal security. Those disciples on the Emmaus road whose hearts burned
within them where responding to God incarnate in the form of Jesus Christ.
Given the above discussion,
is it possible we could extract a meaningful concept of personal evangelism
from our Emmaus road passage that could be so adaptable so as to actually be
considered a legitimate paradigm? There is a distinct difference between a
formula and a paradigm. With a formula one follows given steps to the nth
degree. With a paradigm, one is given a pattern or model for guidance allowing
considerable leeway within the structure for individual adjustments. I believe
we can extract from this encounter—not an absolute or end all model—but a very
helpful paradigm for how one addresses personal evangelism.
So much of what has passed
for legitimate personal evangelism down through the years has left many sincere
Christians spiritually disabled, ineffective and feeling guilty. Teachings on
this subject run the gamut from cold calling hard sells to anonymously leaving
tracts in public places. The success rate for most of this type of evangelism
is woefully poor and often when persons are led to the Lord by means of some
formula they only remain committed for a relatively short period of time. What
is it that we can derive from our Emmaus road narrative that could encourage
and serve all believers in having an active life of personal evangelism that
redounds to meaningful conversions and enduring discipleship?
It is a little difficult to
definitively categorize the men with whom the Lord interacted as to their
actual relationship with God. Minimally they were sincere seekers who wanted to
believe that Jesus was the true Messiah. However, like many other early
“followers” of Christ, they were eventually dissuaded by failing to comprehend
the reality of Jesus’ crucifixion.
But our
leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to
death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to
rescue Israel (Lk 24:20, 21).
The point I want to make here
will probably be controversial to hard-line formalists but I believe it has
real merit. Attempting to proclaim the gospel to other than those whose hearts
are already predisposed to receive it is minimally folly and ultimately
destructive to the cause. Once again, you cannot argue someone into belief in
Christ. It is never a matter of logic or mental reasoning. We ultimately comprehend
truth through our hearts having first processed data in our minds. Leading
someone into a personal relationship with Christ based on logic makes salvation
an intellectual pursuit. It leaves persons knowing “about” God rather than
knowing him. The results of this type of approach are reduced to who comes off
as the best debater. Intellectual conversions do not disciples make.
There is nothing more
precious or higher or more holy than the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is through
the Good News that we enter into that walk that calls us fully into the eternal
relationship with God that cost Christ his life. The essence of this
relationship is defined by no less than that which Jesus himself has had with
the Father from eternity past. Our handling of this priceless message is
further informed by instructions Jesus gave his disciples during his earthly
ministry. On one occasion, Jesus instructed them to respond to those rejecting
the gospel by simply ceasing their efforts and moving on. They were to “shake
off the dust of your feet” as a sign to those being addressed. This shaking of
the dust from the feet was not a sign of contempt on the part of the disciples.
Rather, it was a message to the hearer that the disciples were basically
“washing their hands” of the situation and bore no more responsibility toward
them.
On another occasion—part of
what we call the “Sermon on the Mount”—Jesus gave the following instructions:
“Do not
give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they
will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces (Matt 7:6
NASV).
At a surface rendering these
words sound incredibly harsh and even inflammatory. However, given the
picturesque and metaphorical language of the New Testament Greek—as well as the
character of Jesus—we know that Jesus was not literally calling people dogs and
swine. His contrasting language was structured in such a manner so as to place
the greatest emphasis possible on his key message. That message was simply that
the precious truths of God’s kingdom were not to be indiscriminately broadcast
to persons who would summarily despise God’s word and bring an angry response
upon those sharing it.
How is it that one would know
he has a willing recipient of his witness? I believe Peter answers this
question in this manner:
But in
your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do
this with gentleness and respect…(1 Pe 3:15 NIV).
The key to personal
evangelism is to live such a demonstrably surrendered life in Christ that
others will be compelled to ask regarding the hope your lifestyle exhibits.
This is making Christ attractive to the world’s lost. Living in this manner is
not about being a goody two-shoes or someone who never messes up. It is talking
about a lifestyle so selfless in all aspects that Christ is inexorably and
palpably exalted in one’s life. When Christ in you is so exhibited and others
begin to ask, you know you have fertile ground upon which to sow the word.
Another part of the key in this scenario is learning to give out only as much
as the inquirer is seeking. As Paul so plainly showed, some sow the seed while
others watch and then it is God who gives the increase. Lifestyle evangelism is
not about “closing the deal” on every occasion. It is about satisfying the
present hunger being expressed in one’s questions. We should learn to simply
answer the questions being asked, not those which are not being asked.
Another aspect of the
paradigmatic evangelism found in our Luke 24 passage is seen in how Jesus
interacted with those men on the Emmaus road. His first response was not to
start immediately preaching the gospel to them. Jesus took time to discover
just where these guys were coming from. He asked questions of them and
determined their state of openness, the quality of their interest and their
level of understanding. Few persons care to have someone start preaching to
them regarding things they have known and embraced for years. Jesus in essence
pin-pointed exactly how to connect with these disillusioned followers. When
Jesus did begin to share, they were filled with awe and wonder.
The most compelling aspect of
personal evangelism is the very presence of Christ himself. When the bewildered
disciples and other disillusioned followers were gathered after Jesus’
crucifixion, he made a point of more than once appearing in their midst. On
these occasions Jesus emphasized the physical reality of his resurrection and cemented
his relationship with them. Additionally, Jesus ensured them that the
experience of his presence was to be a continued reality through the giving of
the Holy Spirit. Through these encounters Jesus’ followers came into renewed
faith and belief which would manifest in the beginnings of a movement—the
church—which would turn the known world upside down.
F. Stoner Clark
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