The Evangelical Tradition
Excerpts from E. Stanley Jones, Sadhu Sundar Sigh, Francis of Assisi, Madame Guyon John Chrysostom, Charles Spurgeon, and Watchman Nee
Richard Foster states that the Evangelical Tradition is calling people to turn to Jesus. “We are inviting people to believe in Jesus by becoming his disciples, and as his disciples to enroll in his school of living. Thus people become trained in the Way, increasingly taking into themselves Jesus’ hopes, dreams, longings, habits, and abilities.”[1] In this I see three prominent themes: daily bread—the active habit of being in the word, revival—the cry out to God to revive his work, and evangelism—sharing the joys and the Word of God so all may hear it.
Daily Bread
Our lives are being compared to trees in Colossians. The Shepard’s tree which is found in the Kalahari Desert has roots that extend 230 feet deep. What does that say about how our lives should be? We should be so deeply planted in Jesus that people who get to know us, get to know him. “As you, therefore, have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving.”[2] E. Stanley Jones says, “The rooted means we take from God as the roots take from the soil; the built up means we build up as one builds a house, a character, and life by disciplined efforts.”[3]
Jones gives three daily habits that were the foundation of his life. First, reading the word of God, second, praying in private, and lastly teaching others what he learned.[4] Jesus tells us in John, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”[5] Bread fills our physical beings, but Jesus is telling us that he is the Bread of Life, reading the word of God gives us the opportunity to come to God. Furthering this idea, praying privately creates an intimate atmosphere where we physically come to Jesus. Sharing what we have learned creates disciples, we become fishers of men.[6]
Madame Guyon gives two ways to meet Jesus, “The first way, praying the Scriptures, and the second way beholding the Lord or waiting in his presence.”[7] When we pray the scriptures it involves reading; praying until we find the Lord in the passages. While you read, it is not a rushed time, it is slow and steady. You read until you understand “the very heart of what you have read.”[8] There is more of a heart commitment than a mind commitment. In “Beholding the Lord,” you come to the Lord with your mind.[9] “First, read a passage of Scripture. Once you sense the Lord’s presence, the content of what you have read is no longer important. The Scripture has served its purpose; it has quieted your mind; it has brought you to him.”[10]
Being in the word daily can sometimes be hard to do. For this reason, setting aside time to be with the Lord is imperative. The more I am able to stick to a set schedule, the easier it will be for me to bring my mind and body to the presence of God. It is in those moments that my roots grow like the Shepard’s tree, deep and strong.
Revival
“O Lord, I have heard of your renown, and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work. In our own time revive it; in our own time make it known; in wrath may you remember mercy.”[11]
Habakkuk 3:2 NRSV
Charles Spurgeon has so many words of wisdom on revival. I find his sermon gives me a spark to pray “O Lord revive thy work.”[12] Spurgeon states, “I have in some degree substantiated my claim that we are in need of revival, but now I must turn to the solution of this great problem that we face. Our problem is this: there are many who say they want revival, but they do not groan for it, they do not long for it.”[13] He goes on to say that the true believer will long for a revival. That they will not be happy, and they will pray constantly for God to revive His work.[14] In these moments we can give credence to the idea that our conversion, our sanctification is done by our own accord. Sanctification is the entire work of God.[15] “All true religion is the work of God. God is indeed the author of salvation in the world, and religion is the work of grace.”[16]
Spurgeon expresses concern of the wickedness of the world, “the lives of too many of the men and women of the Church give the world cause to wonder if there is godliness in any of us. We reach after money, we covet, we follow the wicked ways of the world, we oppress the poor and deny rights to the working class—and yet we profess to be people of God!”[17] If we are living in true religion then we live by the work of God, for us to accomplish this we must go to our knees in prayer and exclaim the need for revival. We must not cease until it has come, and we must believe that it will happen.
Sharing the joy of Christ with others contributes to revival, “Almost everyone has an inner capacity—some more, some less—to sense spiritual truths without knowing how they have attained them.”[18] When God gives us revival, we know the spiritual truths and we seek to share them with others. Without this joyfulness, we suffer. Sadhu Sundar Sigh exclaims, “This real and permanent joy is found only in the Kingdom of God, which is established in the heart when we are born again. The secret and reality of this blissful life in God cannot be understood without receiving, living, and experiencing it.”[19]
Evangelism
The story of the Prodigal Son, John Chrysosotom used to illustrate us coming back to God, our Father. The general synopsis of the parable is a man had two sons, and the youngest asked his father for an early inheritance. The son then set off squandering his fortune. After living in destitute, he remembers his father and returns to him recognizing his poor decisions. The father instantly forgives him and asks his servant to prepare a feast of celebration. The older brother is outraged after coming home from a full day of work. The father says to him, “Son, you are always with me, all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”[20] Chrysostom explains, “as soon as he said, “I will return to my Father,” this one word conveyed to him all the blessings; or rather, not the word alone, but the deed which he added to the word. For our Father has a natural yearning toward us and will honor us if we are changed. He finds great pleasure in receiving back his children.”[21]
One area that I struggle with is procrastination, especially when I feel overwhelmed by the tasks at hand. I am not a great homemaker because of this. Luckily my husband has an easier time compartmentalizing tasks and is able to focus on one thing at a time, so he does not procrastinate. In this tradition, procrastination hinders the ability to reach others. Evangelizing is not an easy task, but Sadhu Sundar Signh explains, “The inner life cannot be freed by changing the place or by killing the body, but only by putting off the old person and putting on the new person, thus passing from death to life.”[22]
Francis of Assisi felt the Holy Spirit pushing him to do more and so he sought out wise counsel to determine his next move. He ended up going out and preaching and bringing men and women to Christ. “He preached there so fervently that all the men and women of that village, as a result of his sermon and the miracle of the swallows, in their great devotion wanted to follow him and abandon the village.”[23] Francis told them no, that he would arrange for their salvation through the Third Order of the Continent for people everywhere.
Watchman Nee expresses a threefold provision that God has made. “First, Jesus has come as the Friend of sinners; secondly, it is He personally whom we are called to meet; thirdly, the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all flesh, to bring to pass in us the initial work of conviction of sin, repentance, and faith, and all that follows.”[24] The examples he gives of what Scripture says and those who live it are inspiring. Nee says, “in the Scriptures, we are often told to believe, the Word lays stress on the necessity of faith.”[25]
A woman came to him saying she cannot believe. She would like to but cannot. He let her know that it is all right, telling her, “You can’t believe. But you can ask the Lord to give you faith. He is prepared to help you to that extent. You pray: Lord help Thou my unbelief.”[26] In Mark it is written, “I believe; help my unbelief!”[27] Belief is not something we can obtain without Christ, faith is a gift from God. We must pray for it.
I thought it was interesting in this passage as well that when Jesus was asked by his disciples why they could not heal the boy. His answer was “This kind can come out only through prayer.”[28] Only through prayer can certain things happen. Only by communicating with God can he give what we ask, and only through a relationship with Him will it be granted. Another example is when a man came to him and said he did not want to repent, that he was still young and wanted to live his life as he pleased. Watchman Nee got the man to pray about it, telling God that he did not want to repent but knew he needed a Savior. The Lord worked repentance in him and was saved.[29]
Through these experiences, we understand that all we have to do is go to God and literally tell him what is on our hearts and minds, and God will do the rest. Nee reminds me that “the first condition of salvation is not knowledge, but meeting Christ.”[30] Richard J. Foster points out that, “it becomes easy in our sophistication to miss the simplicity of inviting people to Jesus Christ. We do not need elaborate plans or erudite speeches. We need only love.”[31]
“Praying the Scriptures” Following Madame Guyon
Heavenly Father, “For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, reveals his thoughts to mortals, makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth—the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!”[32] How comforting this is to know you are bigger than me. For there is really nothing that you cannot do.
In your holy and precious name, Amen
Making the Word of God a Habit
I find it hard to set days and times for God. I already live a busy life with children, doctor’s appointments, and activities. Sometimes squeezing one more thing on my schedule I feel like I could explode. I have terrible mom guilt, that time spent with God I could be doing something with my kids, but I am a better person, a better mom, and a better wife when I make God a priority. I know when I write it down on a day and give it a time, it happens. I have become intentional about that day and time, and it has become sacred. So Friday mornings, while my littlest is taking his morning nap, I am in the word and praying scripture.
[1] Richard J. Foster, Streams of Living Water: Essential Practices from the Six Great Traditions of Christian Faith, (New York: HarperCollins, 1998), 221
[2] Colossians 2:6-7 NRSV
[3] Richard J. Foster & James Bryan Smith, Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups (New York: HarperCollins, 2005), 281
[4] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 282-283
[5] John 6:36 NRSV
[6] Matthew 4:19 NRSV
[7] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 302
[8] Ibid, 303
[9] Ibid, 304
[10] Ibid, 304
[11] Habakkuk 3:2 NRSV
[12] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 319
[13] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 318
[14]Ibid, 318
[15] Ibid, 316
[16] Ibid, 316
[17] Ibid, 317
[18] Ibid, 289
[19] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 290
[20] Luke 15:31-32 NRSV
[21] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 310-311
[22] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 290
[23] Ibid, 297
[24] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 324
[25] Ibid, 325
[26] Ibid, 325
[27] Mark 9:24 NRSV
[28] Mark:29 NRSV
[29] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 325
[30] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 326
[31] Ibid, 328
[32] Amos 4:13 NRSV