Follow the Joy
Evangelism isn’t about what we should be doing. It is about what Jesus has done in us. It is about who the Spirit has brought to life in you. When Dandelion gets the honor of coming alongside a church, who wants to reach out to their neighborhood, but isn’t sure how or what to do, we start by listening. The command that Jesus gave as he rose into heaven to make disciples of all nations is not something we can do (Matthew 12:19,20). It’s too big. It’s impossible. Go change the heart of that family member who won’t talk to you about faith. Convince. Initiate. Be extroverted. Be funny. Be winsome.
Be exhausted.
Jesus’ commission to “go” hinges on the last part: “And behold I am with you always even to the end of the age.” His commission is too big for us. That is by design. Jesus knows us better than we do ourselves. He is our Savior, our Rescuer, our Redeemer. He knows the terror of rejection that lurks within us and the childhood wounds that so easily reopen. He knows our “uncomfort” zone. When he gives us commands (or law) he is acting upon us. He is giving us a holy exhortation to expose our fear and doubt and attempts to do stuff on our own in order to drive us back to him. He is putting our sin to death. The Scripture is a living, active Word from God that (who) is acting upon us right now!
Jesus has saved us from what we should be doing. We weren’t doing it well anyway. And it was crushing us.
“For God has done what the law (you should love God and others!) weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:3,4).
He has saved us from the domain of darkness where our sin skittles about like cockroaches, and the law smacks and whacks like when we grab our spouse’s shoe. Jesus saved you from darkness and hiding and accusation and brought you into his beloved kingdom, of forgiveness, of grace, of being for you (Colossians 1:13,14). Jesus’ commands drive you to his promises. You can’t, but He can. He is actively taking us out of relying on ourselves and into banking on His Spirit. The world of the Christian is fueled by Jesus’ promises, not by commands: I forgive you; I am with you; I am able to do this through you. It is born out of your forgiveness, out of the tomb where your sin was put to death and the redeemed-you was brought to life.
Rhyan, age 2, painting during one of our outreaches. She is so stinkin’ cute!
Jesus’ promises awaken the redeemed-you, the “new man” (Romans 5:17). We see this trajectory of death-to-resurrection in Romans 7 and 8. The holy and good commands expose our sin (Romans 7:12-24). They drive us to our Savior and we hear and experience his forgiveness afresh (“Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God though Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 7:24). This is what makes you a Christian. It is also a constant cycle for the life of a Christian. The Holy Spirit is always taking us deeper into Christ, into his forgiveness, into his grace, into his love for you and me. It is never puffing us up or making us trust in ourselves. The Spirit makes Jesus’ promises hit home. Jesus’ promises awaken our faith, our desires, our energy, our giftings, our hope, our redeemed-self.
“But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (Romans 8:10)
Life, life, life! Promises! Promises! Promises!
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)
He will do it! He gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist! He has given you gifts and passions and desires. They are so strong that you will suffer for them. They will never go against God’s holy, good and righteous law. They come from your death by the law. I’ll say that again: Spirit-led desires come from your death by the law. They grow where you were cut down, pruned, where the seed died (John 12:24). That’s where the cross of Christ matters. That’s where Jesus plants his grace. That’s where the new life grows. Resurrection comes from your redemption, your forgiveness. You love much from being forgiven much. They are fruit of the Spirit of God in you. They are beyond the law. The law cannot produce them. Only Jesus’ grace can.
When we think about evangelism, about “reaching out” to our neighbors, we listen for the Spirit in you. What are your desires, your gifts, your longings? What are the tangible needs around you? Where do they match up? What is one small thing you feel prompted to do? Where do you feel the joy? Follow the joy as you discern the next step of sharing your faith. That’s the Spirit leading you. You will worship as you do that joyful sacrifice, even if there is opposition, even if it doesn’t go as expected, even if the results are smaller than you hoped. They never are to the Lord.
I have a story about this. During our church plant in Pittsburgh, we hosted “Open Mics in the Park” right on Carson Street (the main drag in our neighborhood) we . Our gifts and passions matched up with the artsy-music-tattoo vibe of the neighborhood. We had prayed into these, gathered teams, gathered sound equipment, organized free food, planned painting projects, publicized. We planned to do them every month during our first summer of the plant. However… each time we did them (4 in all) it rained. Three times we persisted. One time it rained so hard we had to cancel – it seemed like a bad witness to drag our kids out into it. We had some folks say that we lacked faith for cancelling. Or that we hadn’t prayed enough and/or that “the enemy had taken us out” with the rain. That did not ring true. In fact, the morning of our first one there was a double rainbow in the sky that encouraged us greatly. We knew the Lord was leading us; we worshipped him with the few rainy-day folks he brought by our park. There was powerful ministry. I think our team grew stronger. We grew bolder. The Lord focused us on worshipping him, not on the results. It kept us humble (I so wanted to be a super successful new church plant! Praise God for the rain!).
Years later, I was pondering those rainy outreaches and wondering why God allowed so much rain right when we would go out. Then a new thought floated to me. I had the impression they were the Lord’s tears of joy. It totally changed my perspective. All those outreaches suddenly seemed like I was his very beloved daughter and that he was huge and holding us and wisely working in ways we needed. It was as if every effort for evangelism was so easy for him, he was not anxious about a single person out there. He was just delighting in us. There were lots of rainbows that summer. We needed them.
Still do. Now, I drink in the rain.
We have been honored to see the Lord bring life in all of the churches we have served up and down the east coast. These are just a few ways we have been privileged to see His Spirit in you. This is just a taste. We look forward to more.
Your Spirit-given desires… matching your community’s need:
We want to make a fun, free fall festival to delight our children and theirs with the free gift of Jesus’s grace…
… the parents in our city need fun, free, excellent things to do with their kids
- Incarnation Church
We want to bless the foster families in our city with the love of Jesus…
… the local Department of Children and Families need partners to furnish an apartment for a mother and children fleeing domestic violence. They need more partners to host gift card give aways.
- St. Timothy’s Church
We want to partner with other Christians who are loving the homeless in our city…
… banquet for the homeless needs volunteers who will love others in Jesus’ name and restore their dignity.
- St. Timothy’s Church
We want to share the Gospel through art and music with children and parents who do not yet know Jesus…and go deeper into grace for those who do…
… local parents want art-focused camps and classes for their kids and a place where they can connect to each other.
- Dandelion Ministries
We want to engage the young families in mission and bless a missionary in the process…
…parents and their children make friendship bracelets with the word “LOVE” on them for the women and children living on the streets of Bangkok for Missionary Claire Sullivan to bring back to them along with more bracelet making supplies.
- Dandelion Ministries and St. Michael’s Church
We want to help churches suffering from loss and grief to begin healing…
…the church leadership gathers together for a creative healing night walking through Psalm 22 and putting their wounds into the wounds of Jesus through oil pastel.
- Dandelion Ministries and St. James Church
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