The Cost of Being a Disciple

I have been reading John Piper's book; "Spectacular Sins: And Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ" yesterday and I must confess I wasn't largely thrilled at first. Piper writes in his usual God-centred glory focus but also in his usual rather depressing eschatological outlook. Essentially he believes and quotes extensively from the Scriptures that the world is going to get worse and worse and that evil will continue to abound and that we will begin to suffer and die for our faith. My one caveat is that while yes I also believe this - I also believe the Scriptures point to the church ever-expanding and the Kingdom of God more than matching this advance of darkness. "The Spreading Flame" - F F Bruce called it.

But then I also happened to be reading through my most recent copy of Evangelicals Now that I get and was interested to read an article by E M Hicham on "Receiving Muslim Converts?". He is a Muslim evangelist and writes with that as his focus but some of his comments gripped me;

"There is perhaps no more baffling, unsolved problem than the care of the new convert ... our churches need to receive converts from Islam with open arms and to share in their trials ... many local churches are often unwilling to receive Muslim converts for fear of the consequences ...

Such cowardliness and faithlessness are inexcusable. Do we have any idea of what conversion may mean for a Muslim? Do we realise the cost for any Muslim who wants to be a disciple of Jesus? ... Shall we give them a cold shoulder because our own comfort and complacency may be threatened?

I cannot conceive of any justifiable circumstance where a local church could refuse to extend a warm hand of fellowship to a convert brother from Islam and I have little doubt that wherever this does occur, it will be nothing less than the church's concern about its own vested interests that will be the root cause of it.

For a local church to reject a brother or sister in order to protect it's own security is to surely anger God".

He then goes on to discuss his view that Muslim converts must make a complete break from Islam and join the local church but honestly admits he has no easy answers. For someone who lives in Birmingham with such a high cosmopolitan community I have often thought the same. The church has many evangelists looking to reach converts. But does the church have apostles and prophets who are building grace foundations in those churches to receive the converts and disciple them when they come?

A key Newfrontiers prophecy is "It is too small a thing for you to restore the house" and goes on to address that the heart must be reaching the lost and indeed that must be so. But the house must be still built properly at the same time! For a house built without proper foundations surely will never reach the heady heights it was meant to.

I found while I was reading the article in Evangelicals Now that my heart and my thoughts went to the issue of reaching people with same sex orientations with the Gospel of grace. Surely the very same issues face them! For instance;

1. Our churches need to receive converts with same sex attractions with open arms and share in their trials - most specifically we are asking them to live a life of celibacy.

2. Many local churches are unwilling to receive converts (maybe not for fear of consequences) but because of their own prejudices.

3. Such cowardliness and faithlessness surely is also just as inexcusable as not receiving Muslim converts.

4. Do we have any idea of what conversion may mean for someone with a same sex attraction?

5. Shall we give them a cold shoulder because our own comfort and complacency may be threatened?

It is rather sad that the very same issue of Evangelicals Now does indeed mention homosexuality but only to bemoan the fact that the new Equality Bill coming through Parliament will soon mean that churches must employ gay youth workers. I can't imagine many gay youth workers who would actually want to work in a lot of churches - but I wish that the same issues would be discussed and challenged for the many tens of thousands of gay men and women sitting on our doorstep who surely need to hear the same gospel of grace as Muslims.

How many church elders and pastors have sat down and discussed how best to care for - say two lesbians who are converted as a couple and come into the church and welcome them with open arms and see them discipled? If there are churches out there that do this - then praise God! But my experience of spending my entire known life in church is somewhat different and sadder.

The spreading flame of the gospel means that sooner or later all nations and all people groups will come - so this issue must be faced one day and one day soon. Maybe that is why the tidal wave of glory and revival hovers on the horizon still. Are we ready for what's coming?

A Book Review by Dr Stanley Jebb!

When Stanley Jebb recommends a book everyone would do well to take notice particularly if he thinks well of it, for Dr Jebb taught us from when we were children that the "unexamined opinion is hardly worth holding". One of the main reasons I enjoy taking "Evangelicals Now" newspaper is to see if Dr Jebb has reviewed any book (as he does every now and then). I was not disappointed this month. He reviewed "Atonement Matters" by Tom Barnes.

Here it is: