Dear Bill

Chapter twenty-two

My brother-in- Christ, please get this: It was a Jesus-and-me christian that published and distributed The Main Issue (although others contributed, some of whom were Jesus-and-us christians).

Though outnumbered by Jesus-and-us christians dozens to one I did more to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout Kelowna than all of the churches combined.

The apostle Paul was a Jesus-and-me christian. (“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” “That I may know Him.”) “The disciple whom Jesus loved” was alone when Jesus instructed him to “write in a book and send it to the seven churches”. Do you think blind Fanny Crosby, the lyricist who wrote 8,000 hymns, was primarily Jesus-and-me or Jesus-and-us? And John Newton?…. and Andrew Murray?…. and A.W. Tozer?

Jesus-and-us christians don’t do much. Yes, they do, but they don’t do much. Though active, they do little; they do little because they live, mostly, outside the governance of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit does not control the rudder of one’s christianity, how can he/she expect “much fruit”?

In the ninth issue I suggested that one of the churches, or a combination of churches, could create a similar newspaper to reach Kelowna with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Within their ranks were accomplished writers, free labour, lotsa money and a ton of testimonies, each having the power to save….

The purpose of this article is to find out if there is a group, a church or even an individual that feels lead of the Lord to carry on the work of reaching the lost in Kelowna through the newspaper media. How good it would be if there was a persistent voice from the body of Christ – a monthly or bi-monthly, year after year – expressing the gospel message.

It has been said that freedom of the press is limited to those who own a press. In this publication I spoke of the power of the media. Generally, I feel, the media leads people away from Christ, away from their salvation freely paid for. The power of the press should also be in the hands of the redeemed. There ought to be a voice, a persistent voice crying in the wilderness of humanistic, ungodly voices, pointing to the way of salvation.

Much time and energy and talent should be invested outside the church box. I once read a statistic that more than 90% of world ministry is directed toward 6% of the world’s population. I wonder what percentage of local ministry is directed toward the lost in Kelowna.

A paper the size of The Main Issue is affordable for even a small congregation. There is so much talent in most assemblies, talent that could be used to present Biblical truths in a compelling manner. One can write, another is an artist, someone has computer skills, one has the finesse to do layout, another can oversee finances. One has an idea, another a testimony, another a prophetic word. A congregation has the manpower to man phones, answer letters, do follow-up, make visits. And in an assembly there is much prayer power.

The most distressing part of producing The Main Issue is the lack of prayer support. I understand that long before a Billy Graham crusade multitudes are laying a foundation of prayer, and the success of the crusade is relative to those prayers. Although I have received encouraging letters and phone calls, I feel there is very little prayer for The Main Issue before delivery.

To have a voice in the community is a powerful weapon that very few possess. Surely the Body of Christ should have access into the community, whether it be radio, T.V., door-to-door visits or a newspaper. For a congregation of believers intent on reaching Kelowna for Christ a paper perhaps is the most effective way of making inroads into the community. The paper could be used to focus attention on an evangelistic crusade, draw the unsaved into Sunday services, promote home Bible studies.

My brother, what’s your guess?…. do you think there was a response from at least one of the forty-plus evangelical churches in Kelowna and area?…. just a little interest?…. maybe a hint of excitement? You guessed correctly. (Is the pope a protestant?)

There will, I suppose, eventually be church people all over the world reading this Open letter to Bill Johnson of Bethel Church. How many will take up the torch? A printed publication isn’t expensive when the cost is divided by hundreds. My wife and I did it without appealing for help. (Approximately 20% of the cost was covered by unprompted contributions.) A newspaper-sized publication in every city in every country would make a powerful impact on God’s kingdom. (Multitudes would get saved!)

Why haven’t, and why won’t, churches reach out to their communities via a printed publication?

The simple answer is because churches consist of, mostly, Jesus-and-us christians. Jesus-and-us christians direct the bulk of their giving to the care of themselves (buildings, salaried pastors, etc.). They are paying for services rendered, yet somehow conclude they are being generous.

How does a Jesus-and-me backslide into a Jesus-and-us?

Everyone begins his/her christianity Jesus-and-me. But soon the overwhelming Jesus-and-us crowd, motivated by salaried pulpit-people, seduce the young Christ-centred, making of him/her another bored and discontent church adherent.

Jesus-and-us doesn’t and can’t work. The Holy Spirit cannot direct us. So us requires a leader through whom the Holy Spirit can direct the bunch. Who will that leader be? Well, he must be someone trained and capable. He must be credentialed so the people can have confidence in his integrity and ability. He must be salaried because he has a family to support and kids soon going off to college. Let’s call this leader Pastor Whoever.

As Jesus-and-us christians (not disciples, christians) proliferate, Pastor Whoever must have an assistant pastor, a youth pastor, a secretary, etcetera. And what’s a church without a choir? And of course the Jesus-and-us gang needs to be comfortably housed. Church expenditures pass from generation to generation. There is always a need for replacing, repairing, repaving, re-something!

Who is going to pay for all this? Pew-people, of course. But can they be coaxed to cover the burgeoning overhead? No problem, we just impose a ten percent tithe? Is that biblical? Sure it is…. just stretch the bible here a little, there a little, and if needed reach back into the Old Testament; we can always find something in there to justify anything. But why would the people give their tithe to the church instead of elsewhere? Hey, no problem. We just create a church membership and make one of the requirements support of the church. Support the church? You mean you tell them they must pay to be a member!? No, no no, silly! You don’t just blurt it out! You simply assume people will support the church through their giving. Assume? Yes, if you assume people will give to the church they attend they will soon get the hint that it is expected of them. Jesus taught us, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” People’s money is their treasure. They sweat for it, scheme for it, trade life for it. Where it goes, so goes their heart. If their treasure goes to Jesus, Jesus gets their heart. If that same treasure goes to church, church gets their heart…. their attention, their affection, their loyalty.