After The But, Preach

Evangelism. It is not just a good idea; it is a matter of survival.

Without evangelism, there would be no Christianity, because without evangelism there would be no Christians.

If we read the various accounts of Jesus’ last words to the apostles, we discover that he left no doubt at all that Christianity was something to be shared, not horded. He talked about how the church would need to be witnesses to those who were close by and to those who were at the very ends of the earth. He commanded them to teach what he taught, to make disciples, to baptize those disciples and to help the disciples make disciples. What he didn’t do was tell them that what they had was good enough.

Evangelism is one of those words that tends to scare people and intimidate them, but it is really a simple word. It just means being a bearer of good news. Most of us like to tell people good news. How often do we tell people about the great new restaurant we just discovered, or about the great deal Ikea is having?

When we are talking to recent graduates, we have no problem extolling the virtues of our Alma mater. When someone tells us they are looking at buying a new car we are quick to tell people what we like about the car we drive. That is evangelism. Sharing the good news.

Our theme this Spring has been: After the But comes the truth and we’ve been working from the definition given in the Collins English Dictionary. But: conjunction (coordinating)

1. contrary to expectation

I.e. he cut his knee but didn't cry

And while “but” is a small word it can turn the entire meaning of a statement or sentence. You think you know where it’s going and then comes the but.

It was Alice Morse Earle who wrote, “Every day may not be good... but there's something good in every day.” After the but, comes the truth. And over the past two months we’ve been looking at how but has changed how we looked at a scripture.

This morning the but comes after these words, Romans 10:13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”

What a promise. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” And it would be great if we could just finish with that statement. However, the corollary is this “Everyone who does not call on the name of the Lord will not be saved.” And that isn’t nearly as inspiring.

What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord? Maybe we could better ask what it doesn’t mean to call on the name of the Lord?

We discover this warning from Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

It would appear that simply calling yourself a Christian doesn’t necessarily make you a Christian.

I could tell people I was a gifted singer or a gifted athlete but me verbalizing either of those statements wouldn’t make them so.

So being a follower of Jesus entails more than a simple verbal acknowledgement. It is living out the commands and teachings of Jesus.

Which leads us to the next verse and the “but”. Romans 10:14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?

Now if you are one of those folks who writes in the margin of your bible who preached on a particular passage and when, then you have already clued in to the fact that I preached from this passage on November 5 of last year. This is not that message.

So, we have the promise, that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, and then we have the principle that in order for someone to call on the name of the Lord they need someone to tell them about the name of the Lord.

And it’s easy to think this scripture just applies to preachers and missionaries. But that isn’t the reality. The book of Romans wasn’t written to be read aloud at a pastor’s conference, it was a letter written to the church. And 2000 years later it is an admonition for those of us who call Cornerstone our church home, but what does that mean on a practical level?